Page 55 of Greed

“Have you ever reported any of these sexual harassment incidents to your boss?” Morris asked.

“No, I let them go. I didn’t want to be a troublemaker. I was hoping he’d take the hint and leave me alone. He seemed like a typical bully just wanting to get a rise out of me, but today was different.”

“How so?”

“For starters, he was in my personal space. Second, he flat out said I must have been a good fuck to deserve all the flowers that were in my cubicle.”

“Is there anyone that can corroborate your story?”

“Ask anyone in the call center. They have all heard him at one time or another. The entire floor clapped and cheered when I hit him because he had been extremely rude to all of the girls on many different occasions. I think we even had a girl quit because of him, but you’d have to ask her to confirm that.”

Minetta leaned back in the chair, crossing her arms as she pictured the look on Jared’s face when he came crying into this office to complain. Such a weasel. Penny was right. She should’ve reported him a long time ago and kept reporting him until his ass was out the door. The problem with someone like him was they would just get a job elsewhere and continue to do the same shit.

“Unfortunately, we will have to take you down to the precinct to formally press charges,” the officer said, and her mouth dropped open as she stared in bewilderment.

“You’re kidding, right? The guy harasses me for months to the point I had to defend myself, and it’s me that’s going to jail?”

Officer Morris rubbed the back of his neck, he looked uncomfortable, and she hoped he knew this wasn’t fair. “Since there is nothing on file and all we have at this point is a co-worker who you have admitted hitting wanting to press charges, we have to follow protocol.”

“Eric, you have to do something. You know me,” she begged her boss.

“I’m sorry, Minetta, but I can’t interfere, and until you are cleared of the charges, you won’t be allowed to come back to work.”

“You’re firing me?” She asked, exasperated.

“No, just suspending you until this mess has passed.” Eric’s chair groaned again as he leaned forward to place his arms on the desk.

“Please stand.” Morris held up handcuffs, and bile rose in her throat. She’d never been in serious trouble for anything, and that puke Jared just got her suspended and carted off to jail.

“I’ll come peacefully. Are the handcuffs really necessary?” In reality, she wanted to bolt from the room and keep running. All she could picture was being stuck in prison for the rest of her life with no way to pay for bail or get a lawyer and would end up rotting there as she slipped through the cracks in the system.

“As long as you promise not to run, we can accommodate that.”

She nodded at Morris and followed the officers out when she stopped and looked back at Eric. “Can you call Penny and let her know what’s going on? Please, she looks after my dog when I can’t?” She stared at him until he nodded.

Minetta followed the officers out of the office, her back ramrod straight. She wasn’t going to allow any of the looky-loos to see her scared. Least of all, Jared himself. She spotted him standing in one of the offices, his face held a fake image of shock, but his eyes glittered with evilness. She stared at him as she passed, a smug smile gracing her lips as he was the first to look away.

Her confidence was short-lived, though. The moment she saw the police car and was asked to get in the back, tears stung the back of her eyes. She knew this wasn’t Riker’s fault, and yet she couldn’t help wanting to blame him for this as well. It was like a giant shadow of shit had decided to drop on her the moment they’d met.

Minetta looked out the window of the car as they pulled away from the curb and drove along the busy city streets. She felt like all eyes were on her, adding to the feeling of shame. They were probably all wondering what the girl in the back of the car had done. She could hear it now, she seemed like such a nice girl, or I never saw this coming from her, or I always wondered about her. She seemed too perfect.

The car turned off one of the more congested streets, and as they did, they drove right past Riker’s building. As if it would help, she glared at the tall, imposing structure as she thought of every nasty thing she could.

She couldn’t help the annoying little tingly sensation in her chest as they passed. Thankfully, the sensation went away as the moving police car put distance between her and the imposing black glass structure. It was as if it was reflecting the blue sky and fluffy white clouds, like the building itself rejected Heaven. She slumped back into the seat and let her mind wander as they continued to drive.

She sat up a little straighter as the tall buildings were replaced with subdivisions and strip malls. She looked out the back window as they turned onto the highway that led out of the city.

“Where are we going?” Morris looked in the rear-view mirror at her, and she bit her lip hard, trying not to scream. His eyes were like staring into black oil slicks, the light brown completely replaced with the eerie color. “I don’t want him,” she blurted out. “I swear I won’t go near him. I just want to be left alone.”

A chuckle-like sound that had her shivering came from the officer that had yet to say a word. He slowly looked over his shoulder at her, his neck turning unnaturally far. Minetta pushed herself back as far as she could into the seat as his lips pulled back, showing off jagged, pointy teeth. As her eyes met his again, a bloodcurdling scream ripped from her throat as his eyeballs made a disgusting sucking sound before they peeled open like sliding doors and two small snakeheads poked out.

“Help,” she screamed, her fists slamming against the glass as her fear took over. Instinct screamed for her to get out and run. One of the small greenish heads stretched through the mesh cage, the red eyes twitching up and down as they looked her over. She wanted to vomit as the little forked tongues slipped out of their mouths and waved in the air. Her body shook uncontrollably as she yanked on the door handle, screaming like a banshee. She would rather take her chances with eighty-mile an hour road rash and a broken neck than spend one more second in this car.

Leaning into the door, she used her feet to slam into the back window, wishing she wore boots rather than sneakers to work.

“Enough!” Morris’s voice boomed, the sound so much deeper than it had been in the office. “We will be there soon enough. Syliss, put your pets away. We don’t want to give her a heart attack before we arrive.”

“But her fear tasssts ssso good,” the man, Syliss with snakes coming out of his eyes, hissed.