Chapter 10
Chapter
Ten
The Northline account was gone from Nell’s work queue when she logged in on Friday morning. She had expected the senior review to lock her out, but seeing the account disappear still unsettled her. Yesterday she had been tracing changes through those files. This morning, Northline was simply gone.
An hour later, Dana brought Nell into the small conference room. A senior manager was already there, standing beside the wall display. Nell’s original references, her request to Northline, Tessa’s acknowledgment, and the replacement-file timestamps were arranged across the screen.
“Northline called us this morning,” the senior manager said. “They said your requests were disruptive and went beyond what should have been assigned to a new associate. They’ve asked that you be removed from the account.”
For a moment, Nell could only stare at the display. Nell knew she had followed Dana’s instructions, but for the first time since graduating from the Institute, she wondered whether being right was enough.
“Did they say what was wrong with the request?” Nell asked.
“They objected to the scope and to your handling of their records.”
Nell looked at Dana. “But you approved it.”
“I did.”
That should have been enough. But the words new associate still lodged under Nell’s skin. She knew accounting. She knew how to follow records. But she was twenty-three, newly graduated, and only a few weeks into her first job.
Back at her desk, Dana gave Nell a routine bank reconciliation to work on. Moments later, her phone vibrated beside her keyboard. There was a text from Tessa Ward.
I just wanted to tell you that you didn’t do anything wrong.
Nell wanted to ask what she meant, but Dana had specifically told her not to contact Northline about the account. She put the phone away and opened the bank reconciliation.
Normally Nell liked this kind of problem. Everything necessary to solve it was present, and if two numbers didn’t agree, there was a reason. But today, the words new associate kept intruding on her concentration. She forced herself to focus and completed her work.
At the end of the day, Nell shut down her computer, gathered her things, and left work without saying goodbye to Sasha and Luis.
Traffic crawled as Nell left the garage and joined the evening rush.
The words new associate were still bothering her when she stopped at the next red light.
Nell glanced at her rearview mirror. A dark cargo van sat behind her.
Nell moved with traffic when the light turned green. The van followed her. When she turned toward her neighborhood, the van turned too. Nell tried to reassure herself. Then it followed her through another turn.
Fear struck as it stopped behind her at the next red light.
The city around her vanished from her attention.
There was only the broad dark shape in the rearview mirror and the thought of how quickly someone could force her inside and drive away before anyone realized she was gone.
A horn sounded. Nell flinched. Traffic had started moving.
She pressed the accelerator. Her hands closed hard around the wheel.
At the next major intersection, the van finally turned away.
In the lot of her building, Nell parked in her assigned space and crossed to the rear entrance. Up in her apartment, she set down her bag, then stopped. Her laptop was closed on the dining table, but it wasn’t sitting the way she remembered leaving it.
She tried to picture herself finishing breakfast, closing the laptop, and getting up from the table.
The memory was there, but not clearly enough to trust. Nell then walked into the bedroom to change into something comfortable.
One dresser drawer was slightly open. She stopped in front of it.
Nell was meticulous about where she left things and about closing drawers.
Her pulse quickened thinking about the dark van that had followed her home.
She couldn’t shake the feeling that someone had been inside her apartment.
So, she started checking every room. The jewelry on her dresser was untouched.
Her computer was still there. The cash in the half-open sock drawer was still there.
Nell went back to the living room. The apartment looked exactly the same.
The tiny changes didn’t seem worthy of all the anxiety she had pumping through her blood.
She felt inexperienced and paranoid. Just like what Northline had accused her of being.
Her hands were shaking with fear or anger.
She took out her phone and called Ryder.
He answered quickly. “Hey.”
“I...”
“Are you okay?”
“Not really.”
His voice sharpened. “What happened?”
“I don’t know.” Nell sat on the sofa. “A van followed me for several blocks on the way home. And now there are things in my apartment that don’t look right to me.”
“I’m leaving now. I’ll be there in a few hours.”
Nell closed her eyes. “Okay.”