She waits as Talia gathers up her bag and phone and pushes through the door. Then she locks herself in a stall and sinks down onto the closed toilet seat, cradling her head in her hands. It’s so tempting to fall apart right now, but she can’t allow it.Stay strong,she tells herself.Gracie needs you. Talia needs you.
Heading back to the ML-team mod pod, Meera gives herself a pep talk: She’s going to get through her inbox, make it through the day, and not give Amanda another thought until she’s home and free to let her mind wander. But on her way back to her desk, she spots Talia sitting motionless in front of her own computer, something clamped between her hands.
“What is that?” Meera asks. Then the stink hits her. She backs up, shielding her nose with both hands. “Jesus, Talia, it smells like death.”
This gets the attention of the whole ML team, who crowd around and watch as Talia opens her clasped hands to reveal the crumpled mess of fur and cartilage inside them.
Meera peers over to get a better look, hands still over her face. “Is that—?”
“It’s a bat,” Talia finishes for her. “A dead bat.”
Most of the team scatters then, dousing their hands in sanitizer and shouting warnings of rabies to Talia.
“They’re right, you know,” Meera says. “You’ll need to get the rabies vaccine.” Noticing that her friend still hasn’t moved, she approaches. It’s possible Talia is in shock. “Are you all right?”
“There’s a note.” Talia nods to her top desk drawer, which she has left open. “I found it under the bat. I haven’t read it yet.”
Meera snags a tissue from the box on Talia’s desk and reaches for the paper. “May I?”
Talia nods.
Grabbing just the tip of the note between her tissue-covered fingers, Meera reads the message out loud. “‘Remember the night he took you to Congress Avenue Bridge to see the bats fly? Remember this instead: I’m going to kill all nice memories you two have together, and when I’m done, I’m going to kill you.’” She drops the note, letting it flutter to the floor. “Okay, this is fucked up, even for Amanda.”
“Don’t throw that away,” Talia says, gesturing at the letter. “We’ll need that for evidence.”
“And what about that?” Meera points to the carcass still held aloft in Talia’s hands. “How long do you think that thing has been in your drawer?”
“It wasn’t here yesterday, I know that. We would have smelled it.”
“Do you think ...?” Meera hesitates. “Could Amanda have snuck into the office overnight to plant it?”
“Is that even possible?”
Meera shrugs. “Probably. Should I grab a bag or something to ...?” Meera inclines her head to the bat. “You can’t keep holding that thing, Tal.”
“But we need to keep it for evidence.” Still her friend seems to be in some kind of trance. Meera needs to snap her out of it.
“Well, we can keep it in a garbage bag. I’m going to get one from the kitchen, you’re going to put the bat inside of it, and then you’re going to scrub the shit out of your hands.”
“And then what?”
“I will help.” The unexpected male voice makes both women jump. Meera whirls around to find Aarav the custodian, likely sent over by one of their coworkers.
“Aarav, hi.”
“Vanakkam, Meera,” he greets her warmly. Then he turns to Talia and gives her a shy nod. “Morning.”
“You’re not giving him the bat, are you?” Talia hisses in her ear.
“No, of course not,” Meera says back.
“Will you ask him?”
“Ask him what?”
“Whether it’s possible for someone to break into the building.”
Aarav looks at her curiously, waiting for a translation.
