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She nodded sadly as I entered the office. Guy was behind the desk, a glass of whiskey in his hand. Ryder stood looking out the floor to ceiling windows and Chase and Brad were each posted in one of the chairs, their ties undone, scrolling through their phones. Guy glanced up at me and nodded. “Daniel, you okay?”
Ryder looked over his shoulder. “We thought you high tailed it out of here.”
I undid my tie and grabbed a glass at Guy’s small bar. I poured a shot of whiskey and threw it back. “Someone’s gotta do work around here.”
Chase put his phone down and rolled his neck. “Is it true?”
I turned to him, leaning against the bar. “What?”
“The message,” Chase replied, leaning forward. “There was a message etched in his chest?”
I swallowed back the bile rising in my throat. “Yeah. It’s true.”
“What did it say?” Chase asked, almost too excited.
I turned back and poured another drink, walking over to the window. “Surf’s up.”
“Holy shit,” Brad choked. “Was that to you?”
I shrugged, staring at the ocean in the distance. “Who knows.”
Guy leaned forward. “Well, what I do know is we need to come up with a united message to send to the investors. They are a little shocked, to say the least.”
“We all are,” I replied. “But I think the best bet would be to tell them what we know. Don’t keep them in the dark. Everything is fine business wise. This is…not business related.”
Chase snorted. “Seems business related since it happened in our freaking building. Broad daylight.”
“We don’t know when it happened,” Guy pointed out. “Shelly spoke to him yesterday evening. He was staying late working on packing the office to move it. Could have happened any time.”
“Didn’t he check in this morning?” Ryder asked. “You know with the badge.”
I turned away from the conversation, having gone over those details ten times since it all happened. He clocked in, or someone clocked him in. No one saw him come in or out and the security tapes were in review. We didn’t know much more than that.
“But they know the building is clear, right?” Brad asked, sounding a bit nervous. “I’m not gonna go take a piss and end up the chalk board for this psycho’s next love note to Daniel, right?”
I rolled my eyes. “The police checked the place top to bottom. The building is clear.”
The door to the office flew open behind us, and I jumped, feeling my heart rate skyrocket. I tried to play it off but I could see Guy eye me for a second. Mitch came strolling in, his jacket over his shoulder. He meandered over to the bar and poured a huge glass, taking a sip. He closed his eyes for several moments and let out a long breath. “I tell you one thing. My maseur is going to need arthritis medication after he’s done with me. What the hell is going on with all this?”
I walked over and shut the door behind Mitch, shaking my head. “We don’t know anymore than what I told you guys an hour ago.”
Mitch scoffed, shaking his head as he sat on the edge of the desk. “They can find Jimmy Hoffa but they can’t figure out a little murder in a building in the middle of the day?”
I hated how nonchalant Mitch was. I knew it was a defense mechanism. A way to make it look like this hadn’t affected him, but the crassness really got to me sometimes. Guy sat forward in his chair and rubbed his temples. “I’m gonna need migraine medication. Tomorrow is going to be hell.”
“Remind me,” Ryder said. “What department was this guy in?”
Guy glanced up. “Maintenance. He was head of maintenance.”
Mitch rolled his eyes, taking a sip of his drink. “Ernest something. The guy was an asshole. He was older, grumpy, and paid no one respect. I didn’t even like the guy.”
Brad and Chase chuckled quietly. Ryder rolled his eyes and rubbed his face, turning from Mitch in shame, and Guy shook his head. “Try to have some respect. The guy’s dead.”
I turned away from them, setting my eyes back on the horizon. Under my breath I mumbled to myself sadly. “I never even noticed him.”
I felt guilty. I knew we had a huge company, one that grew far faster than any of us anticipated, and it was impossible to know the name and face of every person that worked there. Still, I couldn’t help but feel like I was a shit stain of a human being for not even knowing who the guy was. I had been the only one that had tried to stay in tune with the people working at the company, understanding the day to day lives and work. It was in my personality to do so. We all had jobs, and the other guys had a lot to handle too, but mine was the people. But when it came down to it, I was almost just as disconnected.
Truth be told, the only thing that had carried me through the day was doing everything I could to protect those people I didn’t even know. Especially the one caught in the back of my head the whole day.
