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Friday - September 17

Taking silent, baby steps, I carefully move the door with my foot, hoping that no one's going to jump out at me. When I have the door opened far enough to go through, I poke my head around the corner, and notice that the door leading to the back hallway to Julie's office is open as well.

I look back into the conference room to make sure I'm still alone. Then I look down the corridor and decide to head to Julie's office through the back way.

Walking slowly, and as silently as I can, I reach the door that opens to the hallway to Julie's office. I begin to sweat from nervousness and ask myself what in the hell am I doing. Call security you idiot! Instead of taking my own advice, I decide to proceed.

While Julie's office is on the sixth floor, I know I will have to descend two floors once I reach the stairway. Finally reaching the stairs, I bend over the rail to see if anyone is there; I see no one. I take the first step with considerable hesitation. I take each step with caution. I've never been as frightened as I am right now.

I step foot on the sixth floor and see that the door to Julie's office is closed. I reach for the door handle, hoping that it's locked. With my palms sweating, I twist the handle downward, and to my surprise, the door opens. Afraid of what I might encounter, I take a deep breath and fling the door open, and take a big leap into her office. It's dark. The hall light illuminates Julie's office, but not as far to the door leading to Jeff Hollister's area.

"Shit!" I blurt out. Shut up, John! You idiot!

I dig into my pocket to get my cell so I can have some light. Since Julie's voice command didn't open the door, the lights weren't activated. I turn on the cell light and pan it around Julie's office.

"John, what in the hell are you doing here?" I mutter under my tongue.

After I pan the room a couple of times, I decide to snoop around, hoping I'll be all right.

I go to Julie's desk to see if anything's disturbed. I try every drawer, but they're locked. Knowing where her safe is, I go to the clock hanging on the wall, open the face cover, and turn the hands to one and seven. The clock opens, exposing Julie's safe. I never knew the combination, but I check to see if it's locked; it is. I close the clock, recover the safe, and decide to check her closet.

My heart begins to beat faster. I'm scared, but what is there to fear? There shouldn't be anyone in the CDC that isn't supposed to be here. But I soon dismiss that thought when I remember that thug Stevens was here.

I go to Julie's closet, and when I begin to reach for the knob, I quickly bring my hand back, look around, and then slowly turn the knob until it clicks. Shit! It's opened! Unsure if I should open it, or leave, I whisper, "Screw it!" I swing the door open, jump back, and shine my light into it. I see two coats and some shoes. I pan the light up towards the upper shelf and notice a brown envelope tucked away in the corner. I turn around to make sure no one's here, and then I snatch the envelope like a child stealing candy from a store. I quickly go out to the hallway to see what the envelope contains.

I check the stairway to make sure I'm alone, and then decide to sit on the steps. The envelope is brown, normal size, but it's secured tightly with clear tape. I glance up the stairs once more before I open it. I check over the envelope to see if there are any markings; there aren't. Anxiously, I start peeling the tape away, and to my surprise, it comes off with ease. Finally, enough of the tape is removed for me to open. I put my hand inside, and pull out a sheet of paper with the words "Raw fish can be poisonous" typed on it. "What in the hell does that mean? And why is this paper secured in a brown envelope as if it were a map to a lost treasure?" I mutter.

Worried that someone might be coming, I quickly shove the paper back into the envelope and reseal it as best I can. I return to Julie's office and put it back in its original place. Before I leave, I shine my light around her office to see if there's anything else I've overlooked. Many meetings took place here between Julie and me. Even though we didn't see eye to eye on some things, she was a great director, and I'm sorry to see that she crumbled under the pressure of this madness. I do hope she's okay.