Finally Heidi said, ‘There’s a lot I haven’t told you.’
Mary wanted to be righteous, inflamed by the desire for justice, but most people aren’t actually like that. She soon discovered how quickly she fell back on self-preservation. She only wanted out of the room. ‘That’s okay. I’m head of R&D. I don’t expect you to tell me about everything that crosses your desk.’
She shifted in her seat like she was going to get up.
Heidi’s gaze was withering. ‘About Jack.’
‘Oh.’
For the first time since Mary had known her, Heidi seemed unsure about what she would say next, like she wasn’t confident it was the right call. Something told Mary this was a dangerous, dangerous thing.
Heidi cleared her throat. ‘Jack’s done some terrible things. I’m talking corporate fraud at the highest level. I won’t go into detail, because if you knew and didn’t say anything you’d be incriminating yourself as an accessory. But he’s had to go away. For a long time. I don’t expect you’ll ever see him again.’
Whatever Mary had been expecting, it wasn’t that. ‘What?’
Heidi’s eyes darted left and right in a microsecond, a flitter of panic.
Mary had never seen her anywhere close to panic. Not once. Not even in Vitality+’s early years, when nervous breakdowns seemed part of the way of life, integrated in the start-up’s DNA. Mary always figured it was Heidi’s sociopathic tendencies that carried her. So when a sociopath starts to panic…?
Heidi said, ‘You’re going to have to keep this to yourself for now.’
‘Why do you have his phone?’
‘He thought it could be traced. Which, if you’re here asking about it, was an accurate assessment.’
‘So he gave it to you?’
Silence. No one was under any illusions about the volatility of Heidi’s professional relationship with Jack Sundström.
Mary said, ‘What about his wife? His children? Did they run with him?’
‘No.’
‘Where would he go?’
Heidi said nothing.
Mary’s blood turned cold. Realisation thumped in her chest. ‘He wouldn’t do the things you’re claiming he did. And even if he did, he wouldn’t run. He’d face the music.’
Heidi stared.
Mary got up.
Heidi said, ‘Sit down.’
‘No,’ Mary said. ‘Something’s going on here, and you’ll have to do better than—’
Heidi slapped the desk with an open palm. The whole thing shuddered. Her eyes were like nothing Mary had ever seen.
Psychotic.
Through gritted teeth she hissed, ‘Sit. Down.’
In that moment Mary realised she’d never been threatened. Sure, she’d felt unsafe sometimes, walking home through bad neighbourhoods, catching sly glances from men she assumed were predators. But thankfully she’d never come face-to-face with a real threat. Awakening to that fact carried with it a fear, a cold terror that she hadn’t considered possible. She froze up, limbs locked, and after a while she understood she was never going to storm out.
She sat down.
Heidi said, ‘Look over your shoulder, Mary.’
Mary did. The eighteenth floor was divided into the company’s departments — biochemistry, engineering, R&D, IT, sales. There were roughly ten employees per section. Everyone was in on time, already deep in flow state, shuffling between desks to generate that floor-wide murmur that implied productivity.
Heidi said, ‘You’re not going to talk about Jack. You’re going to try not to even think about him. You won’t ask questions. Because if you do any of those things, it’ll jeopardise everything we’ve slaved for the last four years to build. You’re going to realise what’s good for you, and you’ll keep your mouth shut and get back to your work.’ She paused, drummed her fingers on the table, deep in thought. Then she looked back up. ‘I think I’ll leave it at that. Okay?’
Mary weaved through her desire for self-preservation, found a pathway to channel her scorn. ‘Leave it at that? What, you think you’re some gangster now, Heidi? No, I won’t leave it at that. This is fucking insane.’ She took a deep breath. ‘So you made him run?’
Heidi said, ‘You’re sheltered.’
Two words. Spoken in a tone Mary had never heard before. It brought back all that messy survival instinct. She clammed up, went into a shell. All of a sudden deeply scared.
Heidi sighed, pressed her fingers in a prayer sign at the bridge of her nose. Then she stood up, muttering to herself. So quiet, but Mary thought she picked up the words. ‘Didn’t want to do this…’
Heidi rounded the desk, and adrenaline rushed through Mary’s brain. No fucking way. Was she really about to get into a physical altercation in a swanky Palo Alto high-rise, in full view of her coworkers? She’d never even been in a fight.
It turned out to be a whole lot worse.
Heidi bent at the waist behind Mary, leaning down, shielding her phone from any passersby. She brought up a photograph on the screen. Just as quickly as the blood had rushed to Mary’s head, it now drained. Stars flashed in her vision. She fought down vomit.
Jack’s broken, bloodied body lay on a plastic tarp stained crimson. His face was caved in, nose squashed. She could only identify him by his long silver hair and bushy beard. The photo was on the screen for only a second before Heidi clicked her phone off, tucked it back in her pocket.
She bent down further to whisper in Mary’s ear. ‘You breathe a fucking word of this, and the same happens to you.’
Heidi went back around the desk, sat down again. Her face was unreadable. Mary couldn’t look at her. She was going to pass out, throw up. Her heart crashed against her chest wall, beating out of control.
Heidi lifted a brow. ‘Do you think I’m bluffing?’
Mary somehow managed a tiny shake of the head.
Heidi smiled. ‘Great to chat. Now, back to work.’
She shooed Mary away, almost playfully.
The room swayed as Mary rose. The ground tilted like she was on a ship in high seas, and she nearly fell over as she went to the door. She stepped out, unable to shut it
