“I killed her, Rachel. I killed my mother.” She felt dead, on the verge of crying again.
“You set her free, Michelle,” Rachel said. “You know that, don’t you?”
Michelle took a deep breath and looked at her mother’s lifeless body. “Yes,” she said. She couldn’t cry now. She had to regain her strength and get out of this.
“You have to get out of there,” Rachel said. “Now!”
“Affirmative.” Michelle picked up the briefcase and went to the door.
“Michelle?”
“Yes.”
“I can’t raise Alan. He got caught.”
Michelle stopped, suddenly feeling cold. “Corporate Financial got him?”
“Yes, and they brought him down to the basement level. They sent his—”
“I’ve got to get him,” Michelle said. She turned the doorknob to go out into the hallway.
“No!” The tone of Rachel’s voice stopped her. “They sent his ex-girlfriend in. The one Corporate Financial snagged years ago. She’s completely fooled him. He broke down. He…” Rachel sounded upset, on the verge of tears. “He bought it, Michelle. He got suckered in by her, by them, and he broke down. I listened to the whole thing and I was trying to stop it. I kept trying to jam their signal but nothing went through. I even tried yelling into his ear and he didn’t respond. She got him, ensnared him, and now he’s under immersion. He’s totally under and there’s nothing we can do now. You have to get out of there.”
“Oh my God,” Michelle moaned. She felt her knees turn rubbery.
“Get out of there! Leave now!”
The urgency in Rachel’s voice was strong and Michelle picked up the briefcase, and opened the door. “I’m leaving,” she said.
She closed the door behind her and stepped into the darkened hallway just as she heard the elevator outside the immersion department open.
A single pair of footsteps made their way out of the lobby and headed toward the immersion department.
Michelle slipped back into her role quickly, fighting back her nervousness and fear, and walked calmly and purposefully toward the reception area. If it was Sam or Gary she already had a plan in mind.
She met the figure walking into the immersion area just as she reached the still empty receptionist’s desk and was so into her role, had conditioned herself to look and act and sound wooden and unemotional, that she didn’t react visibly or emotionally when she saw her father—dressed in an immaculate gray three-piece suit, looking every much like a powerful corporate CEO—smile and hold out his hand. “Ms. Dowling, I presume?”
“Yes,” she said. She shook his hand, noting that in many ways he hadn’t changed at all since the last time she saw him over twelve years ago. If anything he looked even more slick and sinister.
“I’m Frank Marstein,” Dad said, smiling.
Michelle would have reacted visibly had she not prepared herself for this. Instead she nodded and said, “Pleased to meet you, sir. It’s an honor.”
“I understand you came here for immersion training,” Frank Marstein said. His demeanor, his very presence, commanded power. His behavior was totally unlike the man she’d known when she was growing up. Dad had always been somewhat aloof and preoccupied with work, but his demeanor now was very different. “Mr. Greenberg and Lawrence recommended you very highly and I admit I was very pleased by your credentials and track record. Sam is in my office now with the rest of the executives. I came down to see how you were doing.” His smile diminished slightly. “Why are you out of the immersion room?”
“I finished,” she said, keeping her voice wooden.
Her father’s frown deepened. There was no sign of recognition that he was looking at his daughter. “I was led to believe Sam had just brought you in.”
“I was here early,” she said. “He wanted to get me in early so I could attend your strategy meeting. I was just leaving to go upstairs. In fact, I have something for you.”
“Oh?”
“Last night I was going over the reports for Project Reign when I had an idea.” Her voice was crisp, business-like. “I drafted a report that I think you’ll want to see. I project that we can cut the production time of Project Reign down by half.”
“Half?”
“Yes. We’ll not only see increased profits within a quicker time period, but my report will show that implementing it will save on costs.”
Her father’s expression changed from slight disapproval to interest. “Increased profits and we can save money on costs?”
“Yes.” She held up her briefcase. “I worked on this report all night. It’s in here.”
“I’d like to see it and hear your presentation on it.”
“I’ve been looking forward to presenting it to you all day,” Michelle said.
“Then let’s adjourn to the executive suites,” her father said. He motioned toward the double-glass doors that led out into the main foyer of the basement level and she headed out, her father following her.
When they reached the elevator lobby Michelle handed the briefcase to Frank Marstein. “I’m going to freshen up in the ladies room to ensure I look presentable. Why don’t you take this up to the conference room and familiarize yourself with it before we meet?”
“Good idea,” Frank said, taking the briefcase. Like Sam Greenberg and Gary Lawrence, Frank Marstein could pass for a human being on the street. What gave him away was his veneer, the miasma of evil that seemed to envelope him, the dead look in his eyes that one had to pay attention to in order to see that no human spirit lived within the flesh and blood shell that used to be her father. “By the way, you look fine and very professional.”
Michelle acknowledged the compliment with a nod. “Thank you, but I’d like to make sure. I’ll only be a moment.” Then, without waiting for an answer, she turned and headed toward the Ladies Room.
She entered the restroom and immediately stopped behind the closed door. She waited, held her breath. A moment later she heard the elevator door open, then close. She glanced at her watch quickly. Two and a half minutes left.
“Rachel?” Michelle whispered. “You there?”
“I’m here,” Rachel said. She sounded troubled. “That was Marstein, wasn’t it?”
“Yeah, it was,” Michelle said. For the first time she wondered if there was anybody inside the bathroom in one of the stalls. “But then again, it wasn’t. It was my father.”
“Your… father?” Rachel’s voice, at first questioning, became tinged with fear as understanding dawned on her. “Oh man! Oh shit, this is weird. Frank Marstein is now your father?”
“Yeah,” Michelle whispered, not wanting to understand the connections now. “I don’t know what the real Marstein looks like, but he’s my father now.”
“We believe Hubert Marstein’s spirit actually possessed the body of his son Frank years ago,” Rachel said quickly. “They merged, became one. There’s speculation that one of Frank’s children was killed in the late sixties. Drug overdose or something. The family swept it up, nobody will talk about it now. Alan uncovered evidence that suggests they use the bodies of those who rise to the level of CEO to be Frank Marstein’s vessel.”
Michelle understood the concept perfectly and it scared the hell out of her. Marstein was continuing his mission from beyond the grave, possessing the bodies of those high level corporate employees who were most easy to influence. She couldn’t hear anything out in the hall. “I gotta go. If Marstein faked me out and is standing at the elevator lobby, he’s going to start getting suspicious.”
“If he’s still there make a dash for the steps and get the hell out.”
Michelle straightened herself up and exited the bathroom.