Blake Schwendiman's Blog and Blook

Chapter 65

Monday, 14 March 2022 – 5:30 a.m. MST

“You shouldn’t be here,” Valerie stammered when she recognized Sireesha’s face. “You should never come here.”

“Things changed,” Sireesha replied. “Something happened that changed the rules of the game, so I responded.”

“Leave,” Valerie demanded. “You can’t be seen here.”

“Nobody has seen us. The whole building is buzzing about your IT manager.”

Valerie searched for a hint in Sireesha’s eyes about Bryan. “You did it.”

“Actually,” Daniel smiled, “I did it – if you want to be accurate.”

“Why?” Valerie gaped.

“He was hacking my network,” Daniel said flatly as he made himself comfortable in one of the office chairs. “And he was aware of the futurestream.”

Valerie sat down. “Please ... no ...” she whispered. “The police are here. They’re going to be investigating ... asking questions.”

Daniel smiled. “Don’t worry sweetheart, Bryan died of a heart attack.”

“Never call me that,” Valerie shot back. Her eyes filled with rage. “Never.”

“Sorry,” Daniel chided in an exaggerated voice. “I was just remembering...”

“Stop remembering,” Valerie cut in. “Pig,” she shot out in disgust.

“That’s enough,” Sireesha scolded. “We didn’t come here to argue about the past. We just wanted to let you know that we’re close. We’ll be expecting the messenger as soon as he returns.”

“He’ll never give it to you.”

“He will. I can think of at least four reasons that he will,” Sireesha replied as she motioned to a framed picture of Quinn’s family.

“No,” Valerie said in fear. “Not all of them. You told me ... it was just going to be Laura.”

“We will see,” Sireesha responded. “So much has changed.” Sireesha raised her chin and looked at Valerie through the bottom of her eyes. “And I need to make sure that you and Quinn understand the stakes. If you try anything ... I cannot guarantee that the kids will be safe.”

Valerie stared back at Sireesha. “What happened to you? You used to be ...”

“You’ve been with Quinn for too long,” Sireesha interrupted. “His naivety seems to have affected you.”

“But you helped him. You helped me.”

“Strategy. You really are like him. He never understood strategy and apparently neither do you. I put you in all the places I needed you and I molded you. You would never have come this far on your own. I should think you would be more grateful.”

“Get out of here.”

Sireesha nodded. “We’ll be close.”

Valerie maintained her defiant gaze until Sireesha and Daniel had entered the elevator. When she was sure they were gone, she withered into the chair and sobbed.