Jarvis Street Chapter 9
James chewed on a slightly gritty apple as he sat down at the computer. He was alone in the building at the moment. Bradley was off today, and Amelia, Madelyn, and Gabriella were working on some knife training in the backyard. Amelia was running it, so James had taken the opportunity to duck inside and pull up employee records without being weird about it.
There was nothing weird at all, he tried to convince himself as he opened Madelyn’s record. He needed to make sure they were all up to date because they needed to have that information ready for a change in health insurance that the Foundation had just announced was coming in the next few months. It was on his to-do list. And besides, he was their boss. He was allowed to be in these records.
He’d almost convinced himself of this until he clicked on Madelyn’s work history and the first thing that showed up was a full-color photo of her original injuries. James whipped his head around to make sure that none of the others had walked into the room, then scrolled quickly over to the text.
There was nothing there that surprised him. After all, she’d joined five years ago, and this was the only branch she’d worked at. Referred by Amelia, started training on the job. Is considered a lifelong employee if she so chooses, due to injuries received in the line of duty.
Everything seemed to be up to date except for her latest physical. That window was empty, with a floating bubble above it that stated she was overdue. Not that James was going to tell her that directly. He’d just make a note for everyone to get updated physicals. Maybe the Foundation could send someone and save them the effort of making appointments.
He closed out Madelyn’s chart and opened Bradley’s. Most of Bradley’s work history was missing, which was odd. There was no way he’d only worked for the Foundation for three years. James tried to think back to when Bradley had joined the North County branch. It seemed like one day there’d been peace, then the next there’d been this glowering presence making his life just a little more difficult. How was that even…
Oh, there it was. James turned away from his oncoming flight of fancy and saw the Transfer note at the bottom of the file. Bradley had transferred from another branch three years ago. James knew that already. And of course the Foundation hadn’t linked his old record into his new one. But which branch had it been? James wasn’t about to call Bradley on his day off and ask. Amelia might know. He jotted down a note and kept going.
Amelia. Her file was pretty much exactly what James expected his own to look like. Joined at eighteen, had been with the North Worcester County branch the entire time. But as he scrolled through her work history, he frowned. She’d been to a ridiculous number of training sessions and certifications, more than James had ever realized. And weren’t those trainings supposed to eventually result in a raise? They’d both received a minuscule raise with their promotions, ones that the Foundation had just put through, but she deserved to be earning so much more than she was. James jotted down another note. Beyond that, her file looked good.
Gabriella’s was tiny, which made perfect sense. Referred by James and just now out of her probationary period. He was apparently supposed to have a performance review with her, and it should have been two weeks ago. Another note. Her physical form was also missing. There was also no mention of the fact that her boss had tried to murder her. James figured information like that should be in there, but where? Work history? It wasn’t like there was a box where he could write a note at the end. That would be too convenient.
He clicked over to his own. A photo of a much younger, healthier-looking version of himself appeared at the top. He scrolled through, making sure that everything was accurate. It looked utterly boring and factual, at least until he found the disciplinary action on his account.
Goddamn Robin. He’d literally put his lie into James’s Foundation record.
“James McManus was in charge of the field mission. Due to lax preparation and unanticipated poor leadership in the field, the entity in question escaped, latching onto fellow team member Gabriella McManus and following her home, where it later injured her. I have removed James McManus from field duty until further notice.”
Underneath were Robin’s initials. Heart suddenly racing, James tried to swallow down the sick feeling rising in the back of his throat. It was like he was there again, desperately trying to figure out what had gone wrong in that basement. Guilt squirmed in his stomach and he squeezed his eyes shut, trying to take deep breaths.
It was over. It was a lie, and it was over. Robin had done it intentionally so that he could kill Gabriella and make it look like they were failing left and right. James hadn’t done anything wrong. He was just a convenient prop for Robin’s story.
He knew this in his brain, but it was harder to convince the rest of him, especially as the sick feeling mingled with the fatigue that had already settled into his body. He took a deep breath, then let it out slowly, opening his eyes.
The words were still on the screen. James went up to the top of the record and clicked the little box that said EDIT. Then he scrolled back down to that segment. He highlighted the lie, then clicked DELETE. But the text didn’t go away.
He tried again. Again, no difference. So he placed the cursor at the end of the paragraph, then hit BACKSPACE. But no matter how many times he hit it, the words didn’t go away.
He couldn’t erase it. It was always going to be there, always popping up. Then James shook his head. Of course he couldn’t edit it, it was his file. The Foundation wasn’t going to let him delete a disciplinary action, no matter how bullshit, on his own work history.
He added another note to his list, not that he was going to forget this anytime soon. Then he closed out of his record.
He should have been done. But there was Robin’s name, just under his own in the list titled Active Agents. James shuddered and glanced around the room like Robin might show up again. James just needed to click on the record, change Robin’s agent status, and be done with it. But his hand was frozen on the mouse.
Had he seen Robin? Or was it a hallucination? He still didn’t have a satisfactory answer and it didn’t matter right now anyway. He needed to get this done and get at least one small thing off of his list. So James took a deep breath and clicked on Robin’s file.
Like on his own file, a small photo of Robin appeared at the top of the screen. This was a whole, living Robin, not the nightmare zombie James saw in the bathroom mirror. This Robin looked cheerful, maybe a little overly cheerful in that grating way that you could always tolerate. At least until he tried to kill you.
James clicked the button marked STATUS, which gave him a drop-down menu of options.
ACTIVE
RETIRED
TRANSFERRED
DECEASED
James clicked DECEASED, then hit Save. The screen froze for a second, then went back to the list. As soon as the list of active agents appeared, James bolted to the bathroom before he realized what was happening.
Seconds later, he was vomiting up everything he’d eaten that day. Stomach acid burned his sinuses as his body heaved and his knees ached against the cold tile floor of the bathroom. In a few minutes, he was dry heaving, nothing but bile left to come out.
Once his body had stopped convulsing, James flushed the toilet and sat on the floor, breathing heavily. His mouth tasted like battery acid and his head felt light as he tried to get his bearings. But it was over. Robin was deceased, he was gone, and he wasn’t going to bother James again.
Even still, James refused to look in the mirror as he washed his face and brushed his teeth. Still feeling a little shaky, he walked out of the bathroom and back into the living room.
Amelia was in the kitchen when he got there, taking her lunch bag out of the refrigerator. She frowned when she saw James.
“Are you okay?” she asked. “You look pale.”
“Fine,” he lied, walking into the kitchen and picking up the water bottle he’d left on the counter.
“Knife training went fine,” Amelia said, thankfully moving on. “Gabriella went out to get lunch and Madelyn’s taking a few minutes to catch her breath in the backyard.”
“Good.”
Then James remembered his notes. “Oh, hey, I’ve got two questions for you. I had to check everyone’s records before the health benefits thing goes through.”
“Yeah?”
“Do you remember which branch Bradley transferred from?”
“Essex County,” Amelia said quickly, to his relief.
“Great, thanks. And do you know how to remove a disciplinary action from someone’s record?”
“What did Bradley do?”
What hadn’t Bradley done? James shook his head. “No, it’s mine.”
Understanding suddenly dawned in Amelia’s expression, and James tried not to wince. “I’m not sure,” she admitted. “But I can take a look if you want?”
Amelia went over to the computer and clicked on James’s name in the still open menu. As he watched, she read the report, frowned, and shook her head. “What a load of shit,” she muttered.
Then she was silent as she clicked around on the site, looking for an answer. But after a few minutes, she had to admit defeat too.
“I’d check with Bradley tomorrow,” she said. “That might be something you need a higher up for.”
He’d wanted this to be a quick thing and not dig up those memories for everyone. Especially since it all seemed to come with a chillier attitude toward Gabriella for the part she played. But he also didn’t want this to stay on his permanent record, so he needed to take care of it.
“If I can get him to find out without having anything nasty to say about Gabriella,” he said.
He’d expected some comment about Bradley being nasty to everyone, but instead, Amelia just looked uncomfortable.
Right.
James sighed. “Listen,” he said. “I get it. And I know that I’m not the only one Robin’s plans and Gabriella’s actions affected, even if she didn’t mean any harm. I just don’t want her to feel like she’s being punished forever.”
“I know.”
“I know you’re still mad. And I appreciate that you can still be professional. I’m not expecting everyone to like her.”
“I do like her,” Amelia said quickly. “It’s just…it’s only been a month. And I can be like, she’s just young, but she’s only a couple years younger than me and Madelyn, you know?”
“She’s new, though,” James said, praying this wasn’t about to turn into a fight.
“I know,” Amelia repeated. “But it’s just a lot, you know? And it’s very fresh. I get it that you were impacted most and you’ve forgiven her. So I’m trying. I’m trying really hard. I’m not going to punish her or anything. And neither’s Madelyn.”
He noticed she was very deliberate in only including the two of them, but it made sense. Unfortunately.
“Thanks,” James said. “And I promise, I’m okay. I’m not going to say I’m over it, but I’ve forgiven her and I’m working through it as best as I can.”
“By working yourself ragged?”
“Exactly.”
Amelia laughed and James joined in. “I’m going to go sit in the backyard for a little while with Madelyn,” Amelia said. “Want to join?”
He could use some sunlight after everything. “Yeah, that sounds great,” James said. “Let me get my lunch and I’ll meet you out there.”
Amelia grinned at him, then headed through the dining room and toward the back door. James headed over to the fridge.
James.
James shook his head. It was nothing, it wasn’t real. It was the lack of sleep, way too many energy drinks, and the fact that he’d witnessed the gruesome aftermath of Robin’s death. He wasn’t actually being followed by a ghost.
That said, a little extra protection wouldn’t be a bad thing. If there was a way to do that without getting the others suspicious, he’d give it a shot.
Maybe he should just tell Amelia what was happening. But it wasn’t a ghost. He was almost completely sure of it. They had protections up, he had the cameras, he was doing everything he could to disprove the idea that Robin had returned from the dead and made his way back to his workplace to get revenge on the team that wouldn’t let him kill them.
