The Freelancer – Chapter 16

Chad smiled at a group of his colleagues gathered by the water cooler, talking in hushed tones.  He knew they were making the final arrangements for his surprise farewell party the next day.  Of course, he knew nothing about it.  He was little more than the simple fool who sat at his desk and figured out how to make the company rich all day.  It wasn’t as though he could ever figure out they would use any excuse to serve cake.

It was pathetic, really, they thought he wouldn’t see through their ruse.  The common man didn’t have a chance when they were up against a man whose IQ was so clearly off the charts.  He didn’t have to take a test to know it for a fact.  For that matter, Chad didn’t think anyone he knew would be able to match wits with him.

He put away the busy work he was given to fill his last days.  It was only four, but he doubted anyone would care if he cut out early.  After a few pleasantries with the conspirators in the corner, Chad headed to the lab.  He wanted to talk to his friend Alex before he left for the day.  He was the single person Chad told about his encounter with destiny.

He passed a pair of official looking men in black suits as he neared the labs.  They’d been having site visits from the big shots up at corporate all week so he didn’t think anything of it.  When Chad got to Alex, he seemed shaken.

“Dude, what are you doing here?”

“I was cutting out early and I thought you might want to get out of here too.”

“I’ve got a lot of work to get done here.  I should probably stay.  Rain check?”

“You realize that I leave in a few days, right?”

“Yeah, but I have a lot of work to get done, man, and I have to finish it.”

Chad was suspicious.  He walked over to the door and pushed it closed until he heard the faint click.  He knew all of the doors to laboratories were self-locking.

He also knew all the other chemists chose to work the early alternate shift the company offered.  They all left over an hour ago and wouldn’t return until early Monday morning.  Some things were just too easy – even for him.

“What are you doing, dude?”

Anger flashed in Chad’s eyes before he turned to face his so-called friend.

“Who were the suits, Alex?”

“You know how it is…” Alex looked everywhere but at Chad, “We’ve had corporate on our ass all week and…”

“Don’t toy with me.”  Chad took a menacing step forward.

“Dude, they already knew.  I swear they didn’t find out from me.  I only told them what they already knew.  I swear to you.”

Alex watched his friend’s face change before his eyes.  He never honestly believed his mild-mannered friend was capable of what he said.  He always assumed he was all talk, that he was trying to sound important again.  Chad had a monster inferiority complex that was so deep rooted that it wasn’t uncommon for him to cover with his big talk.  Even this thing with the girl back home – Jenna – didn’t seem believable.  But in that instant, all Chad told him became real.

“Who knows?” Chad asked firmly.

“The FBI.”

“You spoke to the FBI.”

“I had to.  My kid sister is screwing some big shot drug dealer they’ve been monitoring.  They told me they could bust him when she was with him, so pumped full of amphetamines that she’d never get out of prison, or they could bust him when she was gone and get her treatment.  They said the choice was mine.”

“I thought we were friends, Alex.”

“We are, but Christ, she’s my kid sister.”  Alex stood and stepped back.  “She’s barely out of school.”

Chad shoved him against the wall.  “Do you think that I give a damn about your druggie slut of a sister?”

Alex shoved Chad back.  “Don’t you ever talk about Maggie that way again or I’ll…”

“Or you’ll what?  She’s a cheap slut and you know it.  Shit, she fucked me in the bathroom at your birthday party last month.”

“Fuck you!”  Alex took a swing at Chad, but missed.  “I hope the Fed’s catch you, you twisted prick!  I bet they haven’t gone far.  All I have to do is make the call and they’ll haul your sorry ass off!”

Chad calmly walked over to the desk and picked up the phone.  “Do it.  Come on.  Do it!  You don’t have the fucking guts.  Do it!”

Alex walked up and snatched the receiver out of his hands.  “You should have kept your filthy hands off Maggie.  We were supposed to be friends.”

“Whatever; she begged me for it.”  Chad knew that was a lie.  She’d actually been in too deep of a chemical-induced haze to understand what was going on, but he wasn’t about to let Alex know that.  Playing with his mind was too enjoyable.  “Your sister’s into some freaky shit.  Hey, I bet she’d do you if you asked.”

“That’s enough.”  Alex pulled a business card out of his shirt pocket.  “You only had a chance with her because of the drugs.  She’s disgusted by you.  She told me that once, back when she was clean, before she got mixed up with that dealing bastard.  She thinks you’re fucking scum.  She thinks that you’re nothing but a sniveling little coward who’s never been with a woman for free.”  He glanced up to meet his eyes.  “I think she’s right.”

Alex looked down at the telephone to dial.  In one fluid motion Chad picked up the base of the phone and slammed it across Alex’s temple.  He crumpled to the ground, blood pooling on the pristine laboratory floor.  Calm now, Chad retrieved the door key from the desk and picked up the business card.  If only Agent Bradley knew he’d just cost a man his life.

A smile played at the corner of Chad’s crooked mouth as he walked across the parking garage to his car.  The adrenaline was still pumping through his veins as he headed home.  He’d never realized how satisfying it could be to end a man’s life with his bare hands.  Perhaps that was why people lifted weights…

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