“Oh, good, then I’m calm, too,”
said Edgar without taking his eyes off the screen.
On Irma’s computer monitor a window
popped up with a message that horrified Lorenzo.
“Edgar, we have a problem. It’s
asking for a password,” Lorenzo notified him, alarmed.
“
Geez,
finally. That’s not a
problem, I was expecting that. Put the USB in now,” instructed Edgar.
Lorenzo followed the instruction
and watched the screen without blinking. There was no change in the message.
Actually, nothing happened.
“Okay, now what do I do?” asked
Lorenzo impatiently.
“Nothing, absolutely nothing. Just
wait,” said Edgar, trusting in his program.
But nothing was happening. The idea
that it had all been for nothing and that Edgar’s “invention” would not give
them the hoped-for result started to seep into Lorenzo’s mind. Just then, he
saw that the window that had asked for the password was replaced by one that
simply said: “
Searching
.” The message was accompanied by a bar that
indicated the percentage of the operation’s progress completed by the program.
“Okay, now. It finally got in. It’s
working. I can’t believe it,” said Lorenzo, letting out a sigh of relief.
“Perfect, my
little friend
is working. Don’t touch anything,” warned Edgar. That should have been a moment
of calm, but the fact that Edgar saw the guard on patrol coming out of the
elevator on the fourth floor would not allow it.
Powerless, he watched how the guard
stopped in front of the bathroom door that Lorenzo had left half-open when he
took off running just moments earlier. Colón grabbed his radio to report it.
“García, did you leave the bathroom
door open?” he grumbled.
“I didn’t go into the fourth floor
bathrooms,” replied García with his mouth full of food.
“You did the first round,” Colón
reminded him.
“It was closed,” insisted García,
annoyed.
Colón turned on the light inside
the bathroom and gave a quick look around. After verifying that everything was
in order, he turned it off and shut the door. “
Now
it’s closed,” he said
to himself.
As soon as Colón resumed his
patrolling, entering into the cubicle and office area, Edgar decided to alert
Lorenzo.
“Warning, I think you may have
company,” he said, trying not to alarm him.
“The guard?” asked Lorenzo, jumping
up from the chair and peeking out of a slit in the curtain that covered the
window. He could not see anything in the darkness.
“He should be passing by in a few
moments,” estimated Edgar.
Unlike his colleague who was
nonchalantly eating in the reception area, Colón was meticulous at his job.
Night after night was uneventful, but that should not make you careless. He
walked slowly, deliberately, shining his flashlight into every corner,
illuminating what, from the darkness, could not be seen by the naked eye.
Edgar saw on his screen what looked
to him like the glow of a light emanating from below Irma’s office door. The
guard drew closer to that door.
“Lorenzo, do you have the office
light on? Turn it off!” ordered Edgar.
“Of course not, why?”
“I see a light coming out from
under the door.”
“It must be the monitor. I’ll cover
it,” said Lorenzo, moving away from the window and scanning the office with his
eyes. He was looking for something he could use to cover the light coming from
the monitor. He found a sign announcing a seminar, folded it in half, and hung
it on the front of the monitor screen. It effectively shut out the light that
was escaping through the crack under the door.
Outside, Colón walked in front of
the office door. Lorenzo stopped in his tracks behind the door, not breathing.
He did not want to chance it with such an insignificant detail as breathing. Colón
stopped right in front of the door, which was the only thing separating him
from Lorenzo.
Why doesn’t he leave?
Lorenzo wondered, exasperated.
Seconds felt like minutes.
With a crackle that made Lorenzo
shudder, Colón’s radio transmitted García’s voice.
“Will you be much longer?”
“No. I’m finishing up,” reported Colón.
“Come on, already. I’ve got a job
for you.”
“It’s just that I’m in front of an
office and I could have sworn that the computer or monitor was on. I can feel
it. You know, that sound that you can’t hear but you can feel,” Colón explained
to his partner.
“No, I don’t know. That’s only for
people like you who have
super powers
,” said García jokingly.
“I’m going in,” Colón informed him
while searching for his key-ring. Lorenzo froze.
“Let it be, man! If they left it
turned on, they probably did it for a reason. Don’t snoop. That’s an order,”
said García, annoyed.
“Okay, fine,” responded Colón,
hanging the key-ring back on his belt. “What were you going to send me to do?”
“Go to the second floor, please,
and ask the cleaning staff if they’d like a coffee or something to eat. They
brought us extra,” requested García.
“How many of them are there?”
“Four.”
“Okay. I’m going down now.”
Lorenzo listened to García’s
instructions with terror. If he did not hurry up, he would be absent for the
head-count. As soon as the guard moved far enough away, he pulled off the sign
covering the monitor to examine the progress bar.
“Edgar, how much of this is left,”
asked Lorenzo restlessly.
“I don’t know. You tell me.”
“The bar shows 83%,” reported
Lorenzo.
“A few minutes longer,” said Edgar
while watching on the screen as Colón abandoned the floor. “Look, good news,
the guard’s gone,” announced Edgar calmly.
“Bad news. He left because he’s
headed to the second floor to see the cleaning group,” explained Lorenzo,
triggering another panic attack in Edgar.
The elevator opened its doors at
the second floor, allowing Colón to exit. At first glance, he did not see
anyone in the hallway. The brightness on this floor, which was completely lit
up, momentarily hurt his eyes. He continued moving through the hallway until he
found one of the employees in overalls mopping the floor between the cubicles.
When she saw him, she gave him a friendly smile.
“Marta, where’s Carlos?” asked
Colón.
“I don’t know. He’s probably
working in one of the offices,” she responded without stopping her work.
“How many of you are there?” probed
the guard.
“Today there’s four of us. They
brought a new guy,” answered Marta without taking her eyes off her mopping.
“Mm hmm…what’s his name?”
“I don’t know. He just started
today,” answered Marta with indifference.
“Do you want coffee?” offered Colón,
receiving an instant yes from Marta.
The bar changed to 98%. Lorenzo was
afraid he was going to dig a hole in the floor from pacing back and forth so
much. Edgar asked every ten seconds, without fail, how much was left to
process, which Lorenzo was convinced he was doing while watching the clock.
“How much?” Edgar asked again.
Lorenzo looked at the monitor: 99%.
For him, the final percentage point took the longest to finish. Like the last
minute of a work day.
Carlos was closing a bag filled
with garbage in one of the offices when he was interrupted by Colón. Surprised,
he gave a jump that embarrassed him, especially when he realized who it was.
“Hi, Carlos. You want a coffee? What
happened? Did I scare you?” asked Colón with a loud laugh when he saw Carlos’
pale face and open mouth.
“No, it’s just…I was thinking and…I
take it black,” answered Carlos, trying to stop the questions.
“What’s the new guy’s name?”
“Umm…Luis…why?” asked Carlos,
trying to hide any indication of nerves.
“I want to ask him if he wants
coffee. Where is he?”
“I don’t think he drinks coffee,”
answered Carlos with the intention of extinguishing Colón’s desire to find
Lorenzo.
“No? Well, maybe he’d want a
sandwich. Just tell me where he is and let him decide. Don’t mistreat the new
guys,” insisted Colón with good intentions.
“He must be down the other
hallway,” answered Carlos, annoyed.
A happy
beep-beep
announced
that the data transfer had finished. The screen indicated 100% and Lorenzo let
Edgar know. Then Edgar gave him instructions on how to disconnect the USB and
correctly turn off the machine. Lorenzo, ignoring the instructions,
disconnected the device in one fell swoop and pressed the buttons to turn off
the computer all at once.
“Sorry, but there’s no time. I’m
getting out of here,” said Lorenzo while putting everything back how he had
found it.
“Don’t leave yet. Wait until I tell
you to,” beseeched Edgar, reminding him of the slight detail that he could be
captured on the security cameras. Lorenzo stopped at the door, turning the knob
but waiting for Edgar to tell him the exact moment to leave. All he had to do
was push the door open.
As soon as the camera image
changed, Edgar gave Lorenzo the okay to take off. Lorenzo flew through the
hallway, this time headed toward the stairs. He ran swiftly, following Edgar’s
instructions to avoid being captured by the cameras.
On the second floor, Colón continued
looking through the offices when he spotted Tito, the youngest of the cleaning
staff. He greeted him warmly and offered him coffee as he had to the others, to
which Tito happily consented.
“Do you know where the new guy is?”
Colón asked.
“José?”
“Isn’t his name Luis?”
“José Luis,” clarified Tito, the
smile leaving his face.
In the reception area, García did
not take his eyes off the screen, watching his partner.
“Why haven’t they come down?” asked
Colón over the radio.
“I can’t find one of them,” answered
Colón, shrugging his shoulders.
“What do you mean? Look for him
now,” ordered García, fed up.
Lorenzo waited in a corner of the
fourth floor for Edgar’s signal for the final stretch, the one that would take
him directly to the stairs. He was worried about the possibility of slipping or
bumping into something and not having enough time to get there, or that he
would get hurt, making his escape impossible. When he finally heard the signal,
he focused on his legs and balance while running with everything he had,
charging the security bar at the door that gave access to the stairs and
bounding down the stairs with huge leaps to gain time.
Colón started to find it odd that
he still had not found the fourth employee. He went to the last hall that he
had yet to inspect. There he spotted a man in overalls, his back toward him,
mopping the hallway with astonishing agility. He went up to him in silence and
tapped his shoulder with one finger. The man turned around at the touch.
“I finally found you. Are you José
Luis?” asked Colón seriously.
Lorenzo did not answer. He was
swimming in sweat and was breathing out of his mouth so hard he could not utter
a single word.
“You’re definitely working hard. I
can tell you’re new. You deserve a coffee!” said Colón, putting his arm around
Lorenzo and letting out a loud laugh.
Chapter 13
For Edgar, working with computers came naturally. He just
seemed to know what to do to get them to submit to his will. It was an ability
that he occasionally wondered if he should be taking greater advantage of. Some
of his less talented classmates had managed to sign on to important
multinational companies that specialized in cybernetic technology and had done
exceedingly well. Nevertheless, he stayed behind in his small coastal town, working
at something he knew was far below his true potential.
Although he sometimes wondered what
would have happened if he had left his hometown in search of better
opportunities, deep down he did not regret it. His mother had become ill and he
was all she had. If he had moved far away to earn hundreds of thousands of
dollars a year and maintain responsibilities too important to become careless
about, he surely would have had to send her to a nursing home. No, staying was
the best decision, he was sure of it. Allowing her to convalesce in her own
home, being watched over and accompanied by her son, was the best way to repay
her for the sacrifices she had made while raising him.
Edgar had started working in
Pedroza’s offices as a messenger, among other small tasks, until one day he
heard Doris complaining about her computer’s strange behavior. Edgar offered to
help her and immediately resolved the problem. Doris alerted her superiors and
Edgar’s position was reclassified, which included a significant raise. It was
not until Doris discovered his
special power
that Edgar was pulled out
of the darkness and into the light so that his specialty could be taken
advantage of. The help that Doris gave him fueled his desire to help her and to
unmask the person responsible for the misery she was suffering.
Spending one night digging through
the information extracted from Irma’s computer was a small price to pay in
appreciation for what he considered to be a great opportunity. But that was not
really the reason why he admired Doris so much. Not even remotely. He
appreciated her help, yes, but his admiration stemmed mainly from the way she
treated him. She respected him as a person, without looking down on his
position with arrogance, as others did. She always greeted him with a smile and
a wave, no matter whom she was with. He understood that this was a quality that
should be appreciated and returned. He saw in Doris’ misfortune an opportunity
to demonstrate, with actions, the appreciation and gratitude that he felt.
Since their arrival at Lorenzo’s
house at close to midnight, after the daring incursion into the Pedroza
Enterprises building, Edgar had devoted himself to running his special programs
to find the pertinent information gathered on the USB drive. It would have been
very easy had the files not been erased. Not only that, the fact that Lorenzo
had not properly removed the device prevented some of the data from registering
correctly, adding another level of complexity to the operation. The process was
therefore slower and more tedious than he had hoped, to the point that he had
to write a new program to reduce the time spent and increase the search’s
accuracy.
Lorenzo had resolved to accompany Edgar
on his shift, but his brain automatically shut off at about two forty-five in
the morning. His body lay motionless on the living room sofa the rest of the
night, leaving Edgar to dust off from his memory the all-nighters that he had
pulled in his college years to fight the drowsiness that was overcoming him. Edgar’s
intense desire to see the results and know if they justified his suspicions
about Irma definitely helped him. If he did not achieve those results, it would
have all been in vain.
When Lorenzo woke up around eight
o’clock in the morning, his body would not respond to his brain’s commands with
its normal quickness. Nevertheless, his brain did process without difficulty an
intense pain that seemed to come from his neck and spread throughout his entire
body. He figured he would have to wait it out since he had gone months without
working or exercising, two activities that he had performed in large quantities
last night.
On his second try, Lorenzo managed
to sit himself up on the sofa. From there he noticed that his back also ached.
His eyes fell on Edgar, seated at the kitchen table, completely asleep. His
head was thrown back, which he imagined would cause him bothersome and
prolonged neck pain throughout the day. He was moved by the effort that Edgar
had put forth when faced with a problem that really only affected his family.
He decided to let him sleep a little longer. He deserved it.
After cleaning up and eating a
little cereal, Lorenzo stood, out of habit, on the balcony to observe the sea.
He wondered how Doris was doing, remembering that the health of the baby depended
on her condition. He needed to see her as soon as possible. Perhaps she had
improved a little, maybe even enough to be able to talk. Not to ask her about
the miserable case, but to support and console her. He wanted to give her the
love that she and the baby so desperately needed.
A loud and unexpected thud made
Lorenzo jump. Edgar had fallen out of his chair. Lorenzo felt responsible for
not having awakened him or moved him just moments earlier. At least it looked
like he was not hurt. Edgar woke up, apparently unaware of the fall that he had
suffered. He mumbled a few words about something he had been dreaming and sat
down on the floor, grimacing in pain as he rolled his head from side to side.
When he saw Lorenzo standing on the balcony, he remembered where he was.
“Morning,” greeted Lorenzo. “Tell
me what you want to eat for breakfast so I can prepare it for you while you
tell me what information you were able to find. And, please, tell me you were
able to find something.”
“Some eggs would be fantastic,”
Edgar answered in a hoarse voice. He cleared his throat and stood up with a
jerk.
“Perfect, you read my mind,” said
Lorenzo as he headed to the kitchen.
Edgar tapped the mouse on his
laptop to wake it up and sat down in front of it.
“I’m happy to inform you that I
found what we were looking for,” announced Edgar triumphantly.
Lorenzo dropped the frying pan he
was holding and ran to the table.
“What’d you find?” he asked
eagerly.
“Everything. Look,” said Edgar,
pointing to the screen with his finger. “This is the report that Doris
submitted. Perfect, no mistakes, as only she is capable of. Now look at this,”
he said, moving the mouse’s cursor over a different file and clicking it open.
“Identical, right? Only to the untrained eye. There are a few strategically
placed errors that would indicate that the person who prepared it didn’t make
the proper revisions and submitted it in a rush. This was the report that
Pedroza received, which caused Doris to be fired,” announced Edgar.
Lorenzo remained silent. He was
happy to have discovered the reason why Doris lost her job, but at the same
time he was dismayed by the fact that someone had wanted to hurt his wife that
way. He knew that human beings have been capable of worse atrocities throughout
history, but feeling it so close to home caused him a greater shock. Someone
purposely hurt the person closest to him. He felt nauseated.
“So it was Irma,” said Lorenzo
calmly.
“There’s no doubt about it.”
“She ruined the report because she
knew that Pedroza wouldn’t tolerate those types of mistakes,” analyzed Lorenzo,
pacing the living room.
“Exactly. And then she invited her
to the get-together to humiliate her,” theorized Edgar.
“Correct, but not only to humiliate
her,” added Lorenzo.
“No?”
“No, it was all to frame her. To
blame her for the crime and send her to jail.”
“What?” asked Edgar, looking for an
explanation for the sudden turn that Lorenzo had taken in his analysis.
Lorenzo buried his face in his
hands in frustration while throwing himself onto the couch. It was wonderful
that they were able to bring Irma’s sins against Doris to light, but it was not
enough to be able to avoid jail. There had to be something bigger.
“I don’t know,” conceded Lorenzo,
overwhelmed. He lifted his head and looked out toward the sea.
“At least we can clear up the
office accusation. Irma will have a lot to explain,” added Edgar, looking for
the silver lining.
Lorenzo stared intently outside,
toward the sea’s horizon. He stood up and took a couple of steps toward the
sliding door that led to the balcony, stopping inside the doorframe. For a few
moments he did not utter a single word, which seemed like a very long and
tedious pause to Edgar.
“You know what? I think it’s time
to visit the scene of the crime,” said Lorenzo without taking his eyes off the
horizon.
“Pedroza’s house?”
“Yes. We’ll never completely
understand the facts until we recreate them where they took place,” explained
Lorenzo.
“You’re completely right. But I
don’t know if his widow will let us in. You do know that your wife, Doris,
is…the main suspect,” said Edgar, watching his words.
“She’ll let us. You’ll see. If
there are innocent victims in this incident, it’s she and I. She’ll
understand,” assured Lorenzo.
While watching Lorenzo get ready to
head out, Edgar searched for a way to remind him that he still needed to finish
preparing the eggs that he had promised him.