“You kill her?”
“Is this a question or an accusation?”
Wismar coldly stared at Eugene.
“May I go now?”
Wismar continued to stare at him, but he knew he had no evidence to hold him. “Go on, get out.”
Eugene got up to leave when Wismar got one final dig in. “I will continue my investigation, Mr. Sulke. Be in touch soon, I’m sure.”
Gene went back to work in late September, after the funeral, surprising Stu Everson with his return. Eugene realized he needed to keep busy. He put on appearances and even cracked a few jokes, but he was hurting inside.
Stu Everson poked his head into Eugene’s office and asked how it was going. Gene smiled, but it wasn’t a warm smile; it was forced.
“I just wanted you to know how deeply sorry I am about you and Catherine. She was a wonderful lady. Any idea why she did it? I mean, I’ll understand if you don’t want to talk about it.”
“It’s okay, Stu, but I really don’t know why; although I think it had something to do with the Lightning Squad.” Eugene looked down and pursed his lips, while Stu stared at him.
“There’s a Detective Wismar who I think wants to build a case against me. I don’t know why. Killing Catherine is the last thing I’d want to do.”
Stu frowned and looked concerned. “Did you say Wismar?”
“Yeah. Have you heard of him?”
Stu just nodded up and down. “He works for the Lightning Squad. Eugene, I have an attorney that works for some friendly people in government. I think he can slow that bastard down.” Eugene brightened up as Stu left.
Eugene Sulke was Project Manager in charge of Business Dynamics. In his position he would cook the books to make it look like the products or services provided were more profitable than they were. He worked with Mark Packable, the company’s marketing guru. They often worked in tandem: Mark would move the owner to drugs, gambling and prostitution, while Eugene would massage the books. The government legalized the “sin industry” years ago, and government regulation of accounting practices was almost nonexistent.
Gene was given a small but comfortable office next to the Vice President for Business Optimization. Raul Rodriguez was Eugene’s immediate boss and the number two man in the organization. Raul would get the clients, determine the scope of the job, and assign it to one of his four project managers. Each one was an expert in a particular area of business. These areas included marketing, inventory control, organizational development, and business dynamics.
Gene enjoyed his job. He enjoyed the challenge of solving seemingly insurmountable problems. He was a minimalist with few books on a built-in bookcase; a small credenza in one corner with a coffee urn and a few incidentals; and his fairly small desk had just a phone, laptop, and a double image desktop frame picture on it.
Eugene was sitting at his desk, mulling over some problem in his mind, when he picked up the frame and looked at the pictures. On one side was a picture of Catherine looking so young and beautiful, and on the other side, the two of them were in a silly pose. He found himself feeling overwhelmed with grief again, but he couldn’t put the frame down. He stared at Catherine’s portrait and felt anger welling up within. Why couldn’t you tell me what was wrong? Why? Then he stopped and forced himself to put the picture down. He stared at it some more, his eyes getting redder. Stop it! He grabbed the pictures again putting the frame in the bottom drawer. Self-indulgence, he thought. Get back to work. He finished the day working on a spreadsheet and had begun scheduling appointments for tomorrow when Stu came in.
“Gene, I talked to our attorney. You won’t have to worry about that detective. He threw a real scare into him.”
Eugene smiled. “Thank you, Stu. You’ve been a real friend to me; to us.”
“Gene, I need you on something else. It’s time you moved forward. Raul is leaving us to start his own business. I want you to be my new number two. I need someone who I can trust and who’s smart. You’ll be my Vice President.”
“Raul—leaving?”
“It happens. Gene, Raul was the catalyst of our business operations. This is what you know; what you do. You’re the perfect man for the job. I swear to God, Gene, people will forego food to get their drug fix. Others will gamble away any extra money they save, and men will spend their hard earned money on whores, booze, and drugs. I got into this business, Gene, not to help businesses find a way to endure a shrinking market, but to find new ways to make money. I know it isn’t nice, and gee, I wish we could make money the old fashioned way, but those days are gone, Gene. You know this is our future.”
Gene’s smile began fading with a look of concern. Stu picked up on it. “Gene, I need you to play a leadership role on this. The job pays a quarter of a million dollars a year, two months paid vacation, a new car, and other perks.”
“I suppose a person would be crazy to refuse, yet I have some concerns.”
Stu frowned. “Eugene, this is what you’ve worked for. You earned this promotion. Give it some thought. Oh, and one more thing. The job comes with a home in the Fortress. Are you interested? You don’t have to make a decision right now, but I do need one soon. Raul will be leaving at the end of October, and I need a replacement. Take the rest of the week to think about it.”
“Okay, Stu.”
As Eugene headed home Cassandra popped up from his back seat again. “Hi, Gene,” she said with a wide smile on her face.
“Why can’t you give me some warning?”
Cassandra climbed out of the back and jumped into the front seat.
“I’m sort of glad you’re here,” he said. “I suppose you know what happened to my wife. You seem to know everything that’s going on. So suppose you tell me.”
She just looked at Gene with a sad smile. “I’m sorry about your wife. I didn’t know her, but I do know a bit about what was going on.”
He stared at her in anticipation.
“I started to tell you the last time I was here, but I knew you weren’t ready to hear this part yet. Your wife was fooling around with Commandant Jaydan Casimir.”
“The police told me she was pregnant.” He stopped to stare at Cassandra who looked blankly back at Eugene. “Now, you’re telling me she was fucking the Commandant of the Lightning Squad?”
“She was coerced into it. It wasn’t her choice. Anyway, they started a relationship several months ago; about the time she started getting moody.”
“I don’t understand. What do you mean coerced? And what does all this have to do with Dennis? You and Catherine hate him.”
“Dennis works for Jaydan Casimir. Jay found out that you and Dennis were best friends as kids. He likes Dennis; thinks he’s got potential. Now, Dennis gets a nice bonus for information about you. Dennis has a big mouth. He brags about his new assignment, and how he’s going to milk information out of you. If that information results in confirmation that you’re an enemy of the state, he gets an even bigger bonus.”
“I don’t believe you. Dennis wouldn’t do that. I met him and his wife just recently. We’ve talked on the phone. They came to the funeral. They’re wonderful people. I don’t know what problem you and Ray have with them, but I think I’m a pretty good judge of people and you are way off base. How do you know so much anyway?”
“Look, Mr. Businessman, put it together. Dennis works for Jay now. Jay told him about you and Catherine. Dennis talks. When he talks, I know.”
“But you told me you weren’t in the Lightning Squad anymore. How would you know who Dennis talks to or what he even talks about?”