Page 41 of Range
Saying goodbye to my freedom.
Mentally pulling the trigger of my gun until it stopped shooting and then reloading and emptying the clip again.
Time wasn’t a friend of mine. Neither was procrastination. Not right now. I pushed my feelings aside and tapped the button on the bottom of his screen to access the internet. I searched his bookmarks, but came up empty-handed again. All of the sites marked were linked to the work we both did at BP as lead pharmacists.
The browsing history was a mile long. However, the frequency of his visits and the websites that were familiar to me helped narrow down the results of my search. Within seconds, I was catapulted into a dark hole.
An abyss.
A different world.
A dark pit.
A well that would dry soon, now that I knew of its existence.
A username and password were stored on Anthony’s computer, granting me access to the dark side of the internet. The black screen and small words in the center were proof I was in the right place.
Just as I entered the site, an email notification appeared. GeoPharma was the sender. The first three lines of the email were visible. Clicking on it would be evidence of the unauthorized use of the computer, so I decided against reading the entire message. What was visible was more than enough.
“Good morning, Blackwood Pharmaceuticals. I regret to inform you that I won’t be making this morning’s meeting. We have another situation on our hands that need my immediate att–”
As the notification disappeared, the office phone rang up front. Rachel wasn’t in, yet. Neither was Anthony.
Fuck.
I unlocked my cell and opened the camera, quickly capturing the address of the website. Anthony’s passwords were next. I located them and took pictures of them as well, along with each website a password was stored for.
Before logging out, I viewed the calendar. By heart, I remembered each date. I needed his availability, his plans, his time with Aubrey, and his time alone. It all mattered, suddenly. Anything else hardly did, even the postponed meeting with GeoPharma. As a distraction, I would still study the data and arm myself with the information that I’d delegated to Anthony, because it was highly likely he wouldn’t make the meeting with Geo. He’d be cold, stiff, and gray by the time Todd walked through our doors.
Upon exiting the files, I initiated the print job on the file I’d come for. I shut down the desktop and made my way out, bodystill in flames and head still spinning. My walk to the front of the office to retrieve the papers from the printer up front was long, dreadful, and full of disdain for a beloved pharmacist, brother, and the father of my niece. The respect I held for him dissolved instantaneously. All that was left was malice and mayhem.
I reached the front of the office as Anthony burst through the door. I pressed my teeth together, nearly shaving them down a millimeter from the intensity of my grinding. My nostrils widened almost three inches. My nose was partially flattened on my face. My chest was swollen.
My heart…
My heart was broken.
I hope you told Janeese goodbye, because today is likely your last day on Earth,my brother.
My eyelids stretched apartat the movement of steel around me. The unit was loud, rowdy, and brimming with chatter. I remained still as the locks were initiated, forcing everyone inside their cell for the night.
With each passing second, the quiet grew louder. Still, I rested my head against the pillow, unbothered by it all.
Daylight was my preferred rest period. There were too many spirits roaming the halls and the common areas. Half of the men here had nothing to lose. The rest of their lives would be spent behind these bars and their pain was apparent. They wanted anyone they came in contact with to feel it.
While I wasn’t afraid of those encounters, I avoided them. Giving the prosecution hard evidence of a crime I committed while awaiting the dismissal of a case for a crime they couldn’tprove I committed was not in my plans. In fact, it would be foolish of me.
So, I slept when the unit was awake. And, I was awake by the time the unit was put to rest. The quiet was my sanctuary. My solace. My sacred place.
I reached toward the back of the mattress, splitting open the small hole. The cell brushed against my fingertips, making it easy for me to remove it from the cushion. I powered it on.
“Uh hm.”
I cleared my throat as I placed my feet on the floor. A text appeared, marked for two hours earlier. My heart rate increased as I etched the digits in my head like the words of a spelling test on Thursday night.
The time on the watch on my wrist was revealed. I’d slept for more than six hours. My body wasn’t exhausted, but my mind was. It kept my lids sealed as it recouped. Reset. Rested.
8:26p
