Big Data: A Startup Thriller Novel

Chapter 71

         

Just as I pushed open the car door, it started pouring buckets of rain. The wheelchair had been helpful in getting me out of the hospital, but I didn't actually need it. I was powered by a force deeper than myself.

On the car ride over to Ancien headquarters, I'd asked Phillip about his wife and son. Jake was the sweetest nine-year-old boy I had ever met in my life. But he was mentally disabled and needed a lot of attention. He behaved like he was five. I always thought five was such a great age to be stuck at—if you had to be stuck. Phillip told me his wife had left him and taken Jake with her a few months ago. Apparently, they hadn't even visited him in the hospital. I apologized for asking. He shrugged.

"At least I've got friends like you," he said. He opened his door and hopped out into the rain. Together we ran toward Ancien headquarters for the second time since I'd returned from New York. I wasn't thrilled to be back, but if there was even a sliver of a chance Doug could help us undo the damage Thor had caused, I needed to know.

Or if Doug was in on it, maybe I was walking into the biggest mistake of my life. Again.

We got to the front doors. They were locked. I knew some employees worked weekends—mainly support staff and customer representatives. There should have been at least one security guard near the front door, but nobody was at the desk, and I couldn't see anybody to flag down. We banged hard on a glass door as the rain continued to pour down. In a way, it felt good. Like a shower washing away something inside of me that desperately needed cleansing. Cold and refreshing. I closed my eyes and tilted my face up to the sky.

"Nobody's here," shouted Phillip. "Let's go around back. See if we can find someone walking around."

We began running along the side of the building, when Phillip stopped and started pounding against the glass wall.

"Can you open the door for us?"

When I caught up to Phillip, I looked in. I couldn't believe what I saw. Alex Sonne was looking over at us. He'd been running when Phillip first yelled for him, but stopped when he saw me. He looked as us standing there, drenched in rainwater, and shook his head like he couldn't believe it was me, either.

Then he ran to the window and started yelling.

"What's he saying?" asked Phillip.

I couldn't hear through the double-paned glass. But I could understand his hand gestures. He was telling us to get out of there. Something was wrong.

Phillip responded by pointing at the door and saying the word "door" over and over again as loudly and slowly as possible.

Alex looked exasperated. Then I saw a couple of security guards running toward him. He must have heard them, because he started running again, at full speed. Phillip and I returned to the front doors.

But when we got there, it was still empty. We stood there for a moment in silence. Finally, Alex appeared. He ran to the door and pushed on the handle with all his might. I could see the sweat dripping from his forehead. The door wouldn't budge.

He tried the one next to it. It too was locked from the inside and outside. Alex looked around desperately, then dove behind the front desk. A moment later, the two security guards rushed into the room. They looked at us, then looked around the lobby. One of them held the radio up to his mouth and said something we couldn't hear, then they both dashed out the other way.

I saw Alex pop his head out and glance around. Then he ran to us. He waved his arms madly.

"I think he's telling us we have to go," said Phillip.