Cloud to Cloud

Episode 48: To Get a Fresh Start

EMTs finally called off their attempts and covered Fred's face. His body, now vacant of energy, lay on the gurney. As they wheeled his body from the room, the military man from the far end of the table put a consoling hand on Evan's shoulder.

"We feel your loss. He was like family to us, too." The man smiled sympathetically.

Evan continued to watch as the EMT's and suits filed out of the boardroom.

Once the last of the administrators had cleared the door Evan was left alone with the man with the greying crew cut. "We are not doubting Fred's work. But he did seem to be struggling for some time, and this latest heart attack, though sudden, wasn't all that surprising. I apologize if I come off harsh, but, was there any truth in what Fred said? Or was the rant a symptom of a stroke?"

Evan scowled at the man. "I don't know what to tell you."

He pulled away from the man's grasp to follow the EMTs along the corridor. He glanced through the glass wall at the lingering image of Hannah on the screen.

As the gurney disappeared down the hall, Evan was drawn back to his cubicle. He made his way to Fred's cluttered workspace.

"What are you doing here?" Evan set a hand on the back of Fred's occupied chair.

"How much did you actually complete?" Staring at the flickering screen sat the man with the military haircut.

Stacks of papers, Post-it notes, and multitude of opened tabs were spread across the workstation.

Evan knew it meant nothing to the man in the chair, to some degree it still meant nothing to Evan. Whatever Fred had been accessing, it was beyond what he shared at Hannah's.

The man reached for the keyboard.

"What the fuck are you doing?" Evan all but tore the keyboard off the desktop.

People in surrounding cubicles peered over their walls.

The man continued to stare at the screen. "How much did Fred complete? How deep did he get?"

"I don't know." Evan lied. "I've been focused on the network security issues."

Hannah's name suddenly flashed across the screen.

The man quirked a brow at Evan. "It appears you may have been securing the wrong data."

Evan swallowed. He licked his lips.

"Would you like your old office back?" The man rose from Fred's chair to stand toe to toe with Evan.

"Excuse me?" Evan was taken aback by the unexpected offer.

"Your former office. Would you prefer to work there?" The man repeated the words with such stoicism Evan was left speechless.

"You mentioned a need for a new living arrangement as well." He pushed the chair neatly in alignment with the desk before side stepping Evan.

"Yes." It was the only word Evan could purge from his mind.

"Good." The man stood and stepped into the walkway outside the cubicle. "I think it's best if ITower keeps a close eye on you Mr. Gabriel. We wouldn't want anything to happen to you."

The man's words burrowed into Evan.

"You may, of course, take some time to mourn and get your uncle's affairs in order." The words should have felt sympathetic, but the man's tone was so hollow Evan sensed them more as a command, or perhaps even a threat.

"What if it was just nonsense?" Evan knew how poor the lie sounded even as it left his lips.

"It's not." Finality weighed the words.

In the next breath the man had straightened his jacket and stepped out of Evan's view.

"Fuck." Evan gripped the back of his head.

He paced the tiny cubicle and stared at Hannah's name burned into the monitor.

"Damn it."

In a burst of frustration he shoved the stacks of papers to the floor. Most of Fred's equipment remained at the store. Evan threw a stack of papers into a box and stormed out of the office.

Eyes watched Evan storm from the office. He could feel them, all of them, including the man with the military haircut.