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I clicked the personal account, and the screen opened to reveal recent emails, all of which were from the same person, one Daniel Rocha.
His boyfriend, Daniel, I remembered Lillian saying.
I scanned the list, and the display excerpted the first line of each email:
I miss you and can’t wait to see you…
I thought of you today when I saw a copy of…
I can’t believe you’re working so hard and I really hope Stan appreciates…
I love you and you are always in my thoughts. It amazes me…
I scanned the dates of the emails, and they were from last week and the week before. Lillian said that Lemaire had broken up with his boyfriend, but that didn’t seem to be the case. I scrolled down to sample Lemaire’s responses, and they were equally affectionate, so I wasn’t buying the theory of suicidal depression.
“Mango!” I called out, again for effect. I got out a Runstan thumb drive from the drawer, plugged it in, then opened the files on the desktop and scanned them. There were Excel spreadsheets of financial information, and I selected as many as I could for copying.
Suddenly I heard footsteps on the stairs. I hurried out of the office and down the hall to find Lillian at the top of the staircase, shaking her head. I asked her, “Did you find her?”
“No, she must be hiding.”
“Let’s go.” I took Lillian’s arm and led her down the hall. “Maybe she’s under the bed.”
“I was just going to say that.”
“We can get her together.” I led her into the bedroom, turning on the light. “You take the far side, and I’ll take the near side.”
“Okay.” Lillian went around the bed, and we both bent down. It was dark underneath the bed, and I saw a stray sock, but no cat.
“Let’s check the closet. Maybe she got stuck inside. You never know.” I got up and crossed to the closet, opened it, and scanned the contents. It held a bunch of clothes hanging neatly and shoes in a line on the floor, but no cat.
“Hmm, maybe she’s in the office.”
“I just saw her!” I faked a cat-spotting, hustled out of the bedroom, and ran ahead of Lillian to the office. The computer files had been copied, and I took out the thumb drive and stuck it in my pocket just as Lillian was coming down the hall. I was fake-scratching my head when she appeared in the threshold.
“TJ, did you get her?”
“No. I swear I just saw her.”
“There she is!” Lillian whipped her head to the right. “She just went downstairs, that little stinker!”
“I’m right behind you!” I said, giving chase.
It took us over an hour to find Mango, who had burrowed into the seat cushion of a chair from underneath, which I hadn’t even known was possible. It took doing to extract her, but eventually I knelt on the rug and held her in my lap.
“Hey, Mango, it’s going to be okay,” I told her, stroking her soft head while she struggled to get away.
“She likes you already.”
“Don’t oversell it, Lillian.”
“I think you should feed her, so she knows to look to you for food. I also have to show you how to give her an injection.”
“Okay.” I rose with Mango, who kept struggling, and Lillian scratched her behind the ear.
“Mango, meet your new daddy.”
Newdaddy? Me?
