• Note: Make sure to read chapter 1 first.

    Chapter 2

    Chapter 1 - Part 1
    Chapter 1 - Part 2
    Chapter 1 - Part 3

    What am I doing here? God, I can’t even tell what’s going on. It all seems like a dream that happened in another world, another time. Everything seems so normal. The same people greeting me as I walk into the building; even the same lame jokes about Mr. Douglass’s obvious comb over. It’s hard to believe she’s at home in the basement laying their limp like some washed up rag doll.

    “Patrick.”

    How do you even get rid of a body? You can’t just burn it can you? No, they would find out. Not to even mention the smell. I don’t think I would be able to dispose of it in parts... it… Maybe wrapping her in a blanket and throwing her in the river… Like that would ever work. It’d only be a matter of time until some fisherman finds her. Oh god, why am I so calm?

    “Patrick! Hey! Are you listening?”

    “Huh?”

    “Damn it Patrick I’ve been standing here for three minutes as you just been sitting there dosing off! Are you done with the Sandiego NPV analysis yet?”

    “Yes Mr. Douglass.”

    Damn that comb over is horrible. It looks like he tried to gel it down to his skull. I wonder if it’ll collect dust if he sits in one place for too long.

    “Well? Where is it?”

    “It?”

    “Damn it Patrick! What’s wrong with you today? We need to get these new analyses down ASAP! We’re going live in 6 months we can’t afford to be wasting time! We still have a construction crews to find, contracts to write, not to mention going through all the red tape and getting the funding. So, whatever is wrong with you, get it out of your head and get back to work! Now where is that report!”

    “Oh, I’ll email it to right away. I just have to pass it through legal to check on a few of these figures first. I’ll have it emailed to you within in two hours.”

    “Fine, just make sure you finish up these calculations! And don’t make any mistakes! I don’t need to demote another analyst just for messing up a decimal again!”

    It’s like a leaf bobbing in the wind. Up and down, up and down. God… what am I doing here? Oh no! What if he suspects something! I shouldn’t have been so spaced out. Damn it, he might think something’s wrong! Ok calm down, just calm down. There is no way he could think anything is up. No one knows what’s going on. I’m safe… for now. But what if someone finds out later? What if they start questioning people and they say I was spaced out? I’ll be caught! I know I’ll be caught! Damn it! I can’t be doing this. I’m just glad it’s a Friday. Maybe I can send Rebecca over to one of her friends for the weekend. I’ll just tell her that her mom is busy at work. Maybe she had to leave out of town for an assignment. I’ll figure something out. Her work…

    “Oh man that guy is such a hoot! I swear you can see his veins popping right out from under that comb over!”

    It’s only an hour before I can get out of the office for lunch. Maybe I should call my wife’s work, tell them she’s sick.

    “Hey Pat man you alright? You’re spacing man.”

    “Huh? No, I’m fine. It’s just these reports.”

    “Damn it Pat, be more careful. I told you everything would be alright. Listen it’s not even under our names. This guy does it for a living. All we have to do is give him 10 percent of whatever we make! Just don’t go spacing out or people will start suspecting something’s up.”

    Suspecting something’s up? Yeah, if he only knew what he was saying. If only he knew what little surprise I had waiting for me when I got home.

    “I’ll be alright. I’ve just been having a lot on my mind lately.”

    “Oh you’re telling me! Damn it my wife’s been bitching at me none stop since I told her I was tapping into our savings, but don’t worry she has no idea anything’s up. Trust me Pat, when this place goes live our portfolios will light up like a Christmas tree. This is going to be huge!”

    “Just remember once the initial price rises we’ll have to wait a while before we can do anything.”

    “Oh don’t worry about that. We have a few tricks up our sleeves in marketing. This whole going green thing is going to put us on the top! I love marketing! The second people start complaining about big companies and the evils of oil, they all start getting environmentally concern and are willing to push out an extra 25% to buy a smaller container of detergent just because it says environmentally friendly. To top it off the things cost 10% less to produce because of the smaller container. I think we should start pushing powder detergents.”

    “You do know we don’t even carry household items?”

    “I’m just saying man! It’s the beauty of marketing, the second people get pissed off at something we come around and give them the exact opposite and make a killing off it. I mean think about it, once we open all these new stores we’ll be huge! The best part is no one has leaked it out to the press yet! Think about it, a whole new region based off in California. Every store we will open will be LEED certified. That means reduced energy costs due to ceiling windows and everything else. Everything in the store will be low costs in the long run and yet we’ll be able to charge more because all our products will be green.”

    “Yea, I know, you’ve told me this same story over and over again. Which I don’t really get since I’m the one figuring out these numbers all day.”

    “Listen Pat, just make sure you keep quiet to your wife. You know how she gets about these things, and remember man, it’s for your daughter. Anyway, I have to go before Mr. Comb Over there starts getting on my a** for not finishing up those reports.”

    I should go send that report over to legal and have it looked then I can go to lunch and figure this whole thing out. Wait… I told him two hours. Damn it! I’ll have to take a late lunch. It’ll be too late to call in for my wife being sick. They’ll think something is strange. I’ll get caught if I try to call then. Maybe I should call now… or maybe not… If I don’t call… that’s it! If I don’t call they won’t suspect a thing from me! I’ll tell them she was off to work and I haven’t seen her since! Wait the car! Damn it. What if someone notices the car wasn’t move… but we keep the cars in the garage. So maybe no one noticed. I can take the car out tonight and dispose of it somewhere. Then I can take a bus back home.

    I’ll have to pay for everything in cash. Though, it might make me look suspicious if I take out a large sum of money the same day she goes missing. Damn it what am I to do! Wait, I can pad it. I can purchase a large item and sell it to a pawn shop. That way they won’t be able to trace the money. What if they go to the pawn shop though… My watch! That’s it, I’ll buy a new watch. I’ll say my old watch was lost, so I went to pick up a new one after work. I’ll pawn it, and use the money to purchase the gas for the car. The watch is worth at least 500 cash. I can make this work… Can’t I?

    “Patrick, Mr. Douglas was telling me about the NPV analysis you’re working on. Mmm…”

    “Ouch! Why did you flick me with your pen?”

    “He also told me you were all dazed off today. Rough night?”

    “Just didn’t get much sleep. My wife got upset and walked out. She wasn’t there this morning so I assume she called up a friend.”

    “You probably said something chauvinistic again to her. You want me to call her up later?”

    “No, it’ll be alright Pat.”

    “Alright, Pat!”

    “Ok, don’t start this whole Pat thing again Patricia.”

    “You were the one who started it. Anyway, what did you need to ask?”

    “Well you see these numbers here for the legal costs. Something doesn’t look right.”

    “Mmm…”

    “Ouch! Why did you did you do that again?!”

    “You messed up the decimal! God Patrick, you need to be more careful. Listen, we can’t be dozing off right now. Anyway, let’s see… There, everything should be fine now for the legal figures. Now just go to lunch early and come back and check everything over and email it all Mr. Douglas once you had a chance to collect yourself.”

    “Maybe you’re right. I’ll still have 30 minutes if I leave right now.”

    “Exactly, now if you’ll pardon me I have work to do. Got to love those these slip and fall law suits. Everyone thinks we’re McDonalds or something.”

    Perfect, I can say we got into a fight last night and she walked out. It’ll work perfectly. I’m sure Rebecca heard us. That had too of been the reason she left early without eating breakfast. She always hides when we have a fight. Maybe Silvia walked out and got assaulted last night. That would explain it. The car would still be where it is. I won’t have to worry about calling work. And when her works asking where she’s at I can tell her we had a fight! And it also explains why I’ve been dozing off all day! Oh Patrick! I think we have this figured out. I just have to get rid of the body…

    Next time on Chapter 3:
    How will Patrick dispose of the body? Will Silvia's work suspect him? What about Rebecca? Will Patrick get in trouble for insider trading?

    Wait until next time for the third chapter of: "I didn't mean to do it"

    Read Chapter 3 - Part 1