We entered through a janitorial door in the back corner of the building a few paces from the alley Smith and Jones attacked me in. I refused to look down the alley way as I kept my head down and followed Lyle. Although Frankie had explained his methods for making a locked door suddenly open I always got lost before he began and was content enough to credit the man with magician status when it came to technology.
The lobby was dimly lit by the beautiful modern chandeliers that hung from the vaulted ceiling. Lyle motioned for me to stay by the elevators while she made her way to the main desk that would carry the logs of the night watchmen. According to her and Frankie's estimate the guards would have already checked floor thirty-two by this hour leaving it free for us to sneak around.
As she hopped over the counter to the enclosed circular desk I paced back and forth by the elevators. Suddenly a stream of colored light hit my face and I froze. Laboriously, I twisted to look above me to the flat screen T.V set at an angle on the wall.
My face contorted with disgust as Monroe's grinning face washed over the screen. The televisions were motioned censored I wondered? I crossed a few feet to the other screen, which promptly turned on as I came to stand under it.
"For fucks sake." I mumbled.
"What's this?" Lyle asked appearing by my side.
To her question I pointed at the scrolling words along the screen. Frankie was right. Monroe was indeed planning an event to officially announce his own promotion. I rolled my eyes as Monroe pointed from beyond the screen while the words "Be there or miss the biggest announcement of your life time.".
On the display to the right of us a looped interview of Monroe on some fluff morning show played silently. My bet was that all of the televisions in the building featured some image of Monroe talking about his company take over.
"Fucking ego maniac." I repeated Frankie's earlier comment as I looked away.
Lyle and I made our way to the thirty-second floor without incident – another nifty magic trick via our computer wizard. The thirty-second floor was completely dark save for a few lights left on in random cubicles. Using the flashlights I borrowed from White Pine we made our way through the maze of cubicles. The door to office room 321 was locked and Lyle knelt while I held a flashlight on the lock in order for her to pick it.
Monroe's office was just as I remembered and in the sparse lighting from the row of windows at the back wall I could make out the intimidating stare as the gaudily framed painting watched over the room.
I stayed with my back to the closed door as Lyle went immediately to the computer and began typing on the keyboard. My throat felt constricted as I focused on taking calm breaths. Quiet honestly, Monroe's threats aside I held no intention of revisiting his office or the city unless if it was with a court order and the entire police squadron. Just occupying the same space as him made my skin crawl and something more. At another level I felt my mother, not here in this exact room but here in the city - in the building. This was where they met and this was where he pushed her away without an inkling of compassion. Being in the space made my anger more tangible, tangible enough where I knew I could not cower in the doorway any longer.
With my heart beating strong I felt as though every part of my body was pulsing to a constant rhythm. I eyed down the painted bust as I crossed the room. Making my way from the interior wall of the room I came to a steel filing cabinet with no labeling on its drawers. To my surprise the first row opened smoothly and I began leafing through the alphabetized manila folders.
"May what are you doing?" Lyle flashed her light in my direction to get my attention.
"There's got to be something here. He couldn't have washed her completely away, there has to be an employee file or-"
"May it's been twenty-two years, he may be a narcissist but he isn't dumb."
"People do dumb things all the time." I closed the drawer and started on the next one below it.
She grunted but gave me a warning to be careful not to disturb anything and went back to downloading the files.
A few minutes later satisfied that I'd combed through the contents of the three filing cabinets without mention of my mother I met Lyle at the desk. Completely in the zone she clicked rapidly on the screen selecting multiple files at a time and dragging them to another window.
While I waited I scanned the room. Book cases and filing cabinets lined the walls backing up to the rest of floor. Slightly behind me sat a mantle fixed to the windows at the right of Monroe's portrait filled heavily with trophies and plaques. Other than that there were no other personal items in the office save for his desk.
I refocused on his desk. The only photo was a picture of him and an older man who I recognized from my first visit to X-Enterprises. The man commemorated in a portrait in the lobby much like Monroe's but much simpler and more regal.
"Must be the current president." I mumbled to myself. AKA Monroe's father in law.
Both men were smiling as they shook hands in front of the building.
Did Monroe's father in law know about the shady dealings Frankie found in Monroe's finances? I doubted it. I knew I shouldn't judge a book by its cover but he looked so kind compared to Monroe. Even though both wore wide smiles the older man appeared so much more genuine than his son in law.
I shrugged and shifted to opening up the drawers at the side of the desk. Beginning with the bottom two. I found nothing but blank files and menial office supplies. The top drawer however stuck as I pulled on it. I jiggled the handle and something inside the drawer rattled. I leaned down to peek into the crack but it was too small. More office supplies I guessed but I couldn't let the handle go, I needed to know what was inside. This time I yanked on the handle and drawer came flying out. Its sudden movement knocking me off balance and I stumbled backwards.
In seconds, the back of my head knocked against the trophy mantel causing the crowded assortment of awards to fall onto me. I'd released the handle once the drawer slid open and with my free hands I managed to grab as many fallen awards as I could before they hit the ground. Still that didn't prevent me from making a loud enough racket. I caught Lyle's attention and she raced over to me.
Lyle swore under her breath as she helped me up from the mess.
"Are you alright?" She whispered brushing some hair from my face.
I nodded.
"There shouldn't be anyone up here for ten minutes. Put everything back where you found it, I'm almost done." She returned the nod and went back to the computer.
Taking stock of my incident I concluded it could have been a lot worse. Though it'd felt like a barrage of tokens falling on my head I counted only four none of which appeared to be broken.
Thank god.
I picked up a modern triangular glass piece with smooth edges and rubbed my head. That was going to leave a mark. I gathered the rest in my arms and began arranging them on the mantel but it wasn't until I was placing the last piece that something unusual caught my eye.
On top of a dark wooden base sat a goldish metal sculpture of what appeared to be a lily pad. It was moderately detailed with the classic slice taken from the otherwise natural looking circle. Raised a few centimeters from the grooved lily pad sat a frog staring straight ahead.
"Lyle?"
"May we've got five minutes until the guard circles back around."
I ignored the urgency in her voice. "Lyle look at this."
I stayed transfixed on the trophy as she made her way to me.
"Done, let's get out of here-" Her voice trailed off as I held the trophy up to her. "No fucking way."
"The Lily Pad Place." I quoted my mother's journal recounting her last meeting with Monroe.
My eyes trailed to the inscription below written in small script on a metal plaque screwed into the wooden base.
To Richard Monroe, a proud member of the Bull Frog Country Club for over twenty years.
I clutched my locket with both hands to keep them from trembling as Lyle took the lily pad sculpture from my hands to take a photograph.
I opened my mouth to say something but was cut off by the sound of a faint elevator ding. Shooting each other a look of fear Lyle restocked the award and ran back to the computer. I did a quick 360 of the room to make sure everything was in place before landing on the open drawer. I swore under my breath as I made my way to it but before I could close it something metallic caught my eye.
A gun.
-
May wanted to take matters into her own hands.