Prospect's Past - ONC2020

∞7∞

The text came at seven that night. I was half asleep in my car in the hospital parking lot. The beeping of my phone and the chime of my watch occurred at the same time, causing me to jerk into consciousness in confusion. I flipped open my phone and opened the message.

"Sybil: Mr. Kendall will pick you up at the northeastern Laboratory parking lot. Drive in three minutes after the bus leaves. Park in the far corner, by the old bakery. He will come soon after."

"Northeastern..." I whispered to myself. They expect me to know where that lot is? The parking lot was for workers who went out to the Lab every day. It was 45 minutes by car from town so they bus the employees in. My grandpa and uncle worked there. I had no idea what they did there. It was the kind of thing where they were building or creating something, in small bits. For example, the Lab helped build the bombs America dropped on Japan during WWII. But they didn't know that's what they were building. Each department did their own thing and no one knew what the final project was until several years later.

There were several bus stops for the Lab. And they didn't exactly announce that they were stops. I would have to ask my dad.

I pressed "two" on my phone and held it to my ear. It rang several times before my dad answered. "Hey, Sybbie," he said. "What's up? How's Maeve doing?"

"Hi, Dad," I said. "Maeve's doing well right now. I'm in my car because the nurses said we were crowding the room. I need to ask you something."

"Shoot."

"Do you know where the old bakery is?"

He was quiet. "Um, no?" He laughed. "Why?"

"Just think. Where is it?"

"Geez, I don't know. There's Hoskin's old place and the Hostess one. There's also Mr. Lowell's mom's place."

This wasn't helping. "What about one by a Lab stop?" I held my breath.

"Oh, yeah! I had forgotten that was an old bakery. Yeah, it's down the road from Wal-Mart. You know, it says, 'Baked Goods,' in huge red lettering. Why?"

"I... wanted to take pictures there. Outside of it. Josie recommended that spot and I didn't know where it was. How's your day going?"

"Okie dokie. It's been going well. Not good for the people coming in, you know. Sucks that someone has to die for me to be paid, right?" He gave a wry laugh. "Had an old woman come in today. Her house was robbed and I'm supposed to figure out if she was dead or alive when the house was broken into."

"Did they catch the guy?"

"Oh, yeah. No, they got him. He claims he never even saw the lady, which supports the theory of she was already dead. I don't know," I could hear the weariness in his voice. I could imagine him running his hand down the side of his face, a nervous tick. "The D.A. is having a field day with this. And they're breathing down my neck to get the autopsy done. They brought her in at six this morning and they've called me four times, asking for updates."

"What's it look like so far?" I asked.

"It's got to be that she died before the kid broke in. Probably a heart attack. The detectives want me to make sure she wasn't poisoned or something."

"Wow, that's exciting." I laughed and added, "Make sure you check between her toes; You could hide an injection site pretty good there."

Dad chuckled and said, "I'll make sure I look. Is that all you needed?"

"Yep," I said. "Thank you so much."

"You are very welcome. Make sure you set an alarm on your watch when you get to the lot. I don't want you losing track of time."