The Zero Game

Edit.”

“What’s going on?” Viv asks.

“Try just Wendell,” I add.

“Wendell,” the computer repeats as Barry types the word and hits Enter. There’s another beep. “Client not found. New search? Edit.”

“This doesn’t make sense,” Barry says. His hands are a blur of movement.

The female voice can’t keep up. “Ne — Sys — Wen — Min — Searching database...”

He’s widening the search. I stare intensely at the computer screen even though it’s all black. It’s better than watching Viv panic by the door.

“Harris, you still there?” Barry asks.

“Right here,” I reply as the computer whirs.

“Client not found in system,” the mechanized voice replies.

Barry respells it.

“Client not found in system.”

“What’s the problem?” I ask.

“Hold on a second.”

Barry hits the W, then the downward arrow key. “Waryn Enterprises,” the computer says. “Washington Mutual... Washington Post … Weiner & Robinson...” It’s searching alphabetically. “Wong Pharmaceuticals… Wilmington Trust… Xerox… Zuckerman International… End of record,” the computer finally says.

“You kidding me?” Barry says, still searching.

“Where are they?” I ask.

“End of record,” the computer repeats.

Barry hits the keyboard once more.

“End of record.”

“I don’t understand,” Barry says. His hands move faster than ever. “Full — Sys — Searching...”

“Barry, what the hell is going on?”

“Search error,” the female mechanized voice interrupts. “Client name not in system.”

I stare at the blank screen; Barry stares down at his keyboard.

“They’re gone,” Barry says. “Wendell Mining’s gone.”

“What’re you talking about? How can it be gone?”

“It’s not there.”

“Maybe someone forgot to enter it.”

“It already was entered. I checked it myself when I did the lobbying forms.”

“But if it’s not there now…”

“Someone took it out… or deleted the file,” Barry says. “I checked every spelling of Wendell… I went through the entire database. It’s like they were never clients.”

“Morning…” a short man in an expensive pinstriped suit says to Viv as he walks past the door to Barry’s office.

She turns my way. People are starting to arrive. “Harris, the longer we’re here…”

“I got it,” I say to Viv. My eyes stay on Barry. “What about hard copies? Is there anything else that might show that Pasternak worked with Wendell?”

Barry’s been blind for as long as I’ve known him. He knows panic when he hears it. “I–I guess there’s Pasternak’s client files…”

A loud chirp screeches through the air. All three of us wince at the sharpness of the sound.

“What in the hell-?”

“Fire alarm!” Viv calls out.

We give it a few seconds to shut itself off. No such luck.

Viv and I once again exchange glances. The alarm continues to scream. If Janos is here, it’s a perfect way to empty the building.

“Harris, please…” she begs.

I shake my head. Not yet.

“Does Pasternak still keep his files in his office?” I shout to Barry over the noise.

“Yeah… why?”

That’s all I need. “Let’s go,” I call to Viv, motioning her out into the hallway.

“Wait…!” Barry says, shooting out of his seat and following right behind us.

“Keep going,” I say to Viv, who’s a few steps in front of me. If Barry’s not involved, the last thing I want to do is suck him in.

As Barry steps into the hallway, I look back to make sure he’s okay. The short man in the pinstriped suit comes by to help him make his way outside. Barry brushes him off, rushing after us. “Harris, wait!”

He’s faster than I thought.

“Oh, crap,” Viv calls out as we turn the corner. Forcing our way out to the bank of elevators, we see this isn’t just a drill.

All three elevator doors are closed, but now there’s a chorus of three elevator alarms competing with the main fire alarm. A middle-aged man shoves open the metal emergency door to the stairs, and a wisp of dark gray smoke swims into the hall. The smell tells us the rest. Something’s definitely burning.

Viv looks at me over her shoulder. “You don’t think Janos-”

“C’mon,” I insist, rushing past her.

I dart for the open door of the stairs — but instead of heading down, I go straight up, toward the source of the smoke.

“What’re you doing?” Viv calls out.

She knows the answer. I’m not leaving without Pasternak’s records.

“Harris, I’m not doing this anymore…”

An older woman with jet black dyed hair and reading glasses around her neck comes down the stairs from the fourth floor. She’s not running. Whatever’s burning up there is more smoke than threat.

I feel a sharp tug on the back of my shirt.

“How do you know it’s not a trap?” Viv asks.

Again I stay silent, pulling away from Viv and continuing up the stairs. The thought of Pasternak working against us… Is that why they killed him? He was already involved? Whatever the answer, I need to know.

Leaping up the stairs two at a time, I quickly reach the top, where I squeeze between two more lobbyists just as they enter the stairwell.

“Hey there, Harris,” one calls out with a friendly laugh. “Wanna grab some breakfast?”

Unreal. Even in a fire, lobbyists can’t help but politic.

Twisting and turning through the hallway, I head toward Pasternak’s office and follow the smoke, which is now a thick dark cloud that fills the narrow hallway. I’m blinking as fast as I can, but it’s burning my eyes. Still, I’ve been coming this way for years. I could make it here in pitch dark.

As I make a sharp right around the last corner, there’s a crackle in the air. A wave of heat punches me hard in the face — but not nearly as hard as the hand that reaches out and clutches my arm. I can barely see him through the smoke.

“Wrong way,” a deep voice insists.

I jerk my arm to the side, quickly freeing myself. My fist is clenched, ready to take the first swing.

“Sir, this area’s closed. I need you to make your way to the stairs,” he says over the screaming alarm. On his chest is a gold-and-blue Security badge. He’s just a guard.

“Sir, did you hear what I said?”