13. Daxton

Chapter 13

Daxton

Things were getting hectic at work. Suddenly, I found myself with a bunch of new projects on my plate. They were all pretty benign projects, ones designed for publicly released data. If I were to guess, it was probably a situation where something unfavorable might have gotten out, and they were trying to counteract it with new data and press releases. I didn't mind the work—it was boring but fine.

What I did mind was that it changed my access, and I was no longer able to see all of the same files I once could. I'd been careful, not digging too far, too fast, and too often. Little by little, I'd been gathering intelligence. And now, that had come to an end.

I closed up my computer and headed down to the cafeteria. It was the time I usually met Willy. Today, they were doing some ridiculous soup festival. Soup itself wasn't ridiculous, but the whole "festival" thing meant that each soup came with little paper flags in them. There were no burgers, no fries—just soup and salad. But worse than that, the entire cafeteria was crowded because the soup festival was a free event, and free food meant more customers.

After a quick look, I grabbed some tomato basil soup and a hunk of bread and headed to the table that Willy and I normally sat at. He didn't show up until it was almost time for me to leave, which was unusual for him.

He muttered something about his boss piling a bunch of crap on his plate all at once. Apparently, it wasn't just my department—it was everywhere. "Do you guys want to grab some dinner tonight?"

"I can't tonight." I didn't tell him it was because I was waiting for a package. It was one thing to have somebody busy, but another to have them say they'd rather wait at their door for a box to show up than hang out with you. "But why don't we schedule it for next week?"

"Yeah, that sounds good. There's a new pasta place, and apparently, they make a mean steak."

"I do like steak." I clapped a hand on his shoulder, then stood up, taking my tray with me. "I gotta head back. I'll talk to you later."

I didn't end up seeing him the rest of the shift.

I went home and waited, and waited, and waited for my package to show up. I was ridiculously excited about this one but also a little nervous that it wasn't going to arrive. The tracking had been a mess—first, it went from New York to Pennsylvania, then back to New York, and then to Pennsylvania again, where it departed and returned daily for over a week. I was beginning to wonder if it would ever leave that state.

And then this morning I got a new notification, one that held some hope. In theory, it had been sent to my hometown, but when it kept leaving Pennsylvania and coming back the same day, over and over again, I had my doubts.

Finally, just as I was about to give up hope because the delivery window was about to close, the truck pulled up. It was here. The moment I had been waiting for had arrived. I could hardly wait to get inside and open the package. My heart raced as I grabbed the box, almost ripping it out of the delivery person's hands in my excitement.

Once inside, I placed the package on the kitchen table, staring at it for a moment, before digging in. I tore open another box of DNA test kits that I'd just received. It was amazing what you could buy online, especially from other countries. If you knew what you were doing, you could probably clone a human pretty easily. It was a good thing I didn't know what I was doing because the worst kind of trouble I could get myself into was finding out I had one of those long slithery beasts inside of me.

I didn't dare say the name or even think it in my head because I was afraid if I thought about that particular beast, I might become one, and I'd never been a fan.

The collection of genetic and cellular tests that I had been able to accumulate was quite impressive. Zoos, governments, and hospitals from across the globe were more than happy to sell CODIS test papers to novice geneticists who promised to share the data they captured.

Obviously, I wasn't planning to share any of my data, but having the kits in my hand meant I was one step closer to finding some answers. I didn't know exactly what I was gonna do with the information once I had it, but I felt better knowing I was making progress.

The phone rang with Oscar's ringtone, so I immediately stopped what I was doing and answered his call. "Hey, cutie. How's your day?"

"Bad." Oscar choked out the word and then started sobbing into the phone.

I immediately turned toward the front door, grabbing my keys and my wallet before I stepped out. "Where are you?"

"On my way home. I got…" His breath shuddered, and he sounded like breathing was difficult. "Fired. I was fired."

"I'll be there in five."