Profile k, p.11
Profile K, page 11
A girl had been pushed off her bike, leaving her badly grazed and cut on the asphalt. Her attacker had stared briefly as she’d sat up crying, then run away. He’d been in the area. His parents had asked where his bike had been that day, and what he was wearing. Could anyone confirm he’d been with them? But never, ‘Did you do that thing to that girl?’
A young woman had her arm sliced by a razor blade as she’d been getting into her car after a party, late at night. On that occasion, local police didn’t even bother saying that anyone had seen him there. They just started poking around. ‘Is there anyone who can say they were with you?’ his parents had asked that time. ‘Was there something you were watching on TV that you can tell the police about?’
On it had gone. Little incidents, minimal harm done. The shifting sands of his parents’ emotions became predictable. Angry with him and embarrassed by him. Frustrated by his lack of concern and worried for their own reputations. Keen to keep him busy in his room, at the same time desperate to get him out of the house. Until they sent him away to Moorview College. Then afterwards, when he’d moved to London, with their financial help. He suspected they considered it a small price to pay to have him gone.
He got back into bed, wondering if Mae was asleep or awake. Perhaps she had a boyfriend who stayed over. That wouldn’t do. Men just complicated things.
‘We’ll see,’ he said, flipping his pillow one more time.
Killing again was inevitable. He’d known that even before he’d forced his way into Chloe’s flat that it couldn’t possibly just be the once. In childhood, he hadn’t given any thought to the sex of his victims. They’d simply been a means to an end. An experiment, in reality. With adulthood, it seemed his tastes had become more refined. It was women who called to him now. Women on park benches, women in playgrounds, women sitting in chairs at the hairdresser for anyone to stare at through the window. Women at work. His world had become one giant menu, and all he had to do was find the dish that was precisely to his taste. Did women even think about it, he wondered. Who was watching them, following them, who was making a note of the bus they caught and the car park they preferred. Routine was no woman’s friend. It made tracking them all so incredibly easy.
Just like Mae. Beautiful Mae, with her perfect skin and graceful hands.
He wanted her. He wanted to undo her. To experience her.
Tomorrow should really only be about following her home, he knew that. But just thinking about it, anticipating it … he had to be realistic. He wouldn’t be able to hold back. Mae was a feast laid out on a table in front of a starving man.
There was no point pretending. Mae would be his, just as soon as he had the right tool for the job.
Chapter 16
Chloe Martin’s face was the first Midnight saw the next day, and she was beautiful. Hair, dark blonde but streaked with sun-bleached strands, with a tiny smile on rosebud lips and a crinkle at the top of her petite nose. It was hard to be sure of her eye colour from the image, maybe hazel, maybe grey, but her eyes were set wide across her face giving her an elfin look. Her skin had yet to be touched by the years. Midnight increased the size of the image on her mobile phone. Chloe looked like someone Midnight might have been friends with.
At Necto, there was a message flashing on every screen. 9 a.m. meeting in auditorium. Attendance mandatory. Empty pockets requirement.
Amber and Eli stumbled in together, laughing.
‘Hey, you,’ Amber said. ‘Feeling better than yesterday?’
‘Sure. You’re just in time. Our presence is required in the auditorium.’
‘Me too?’ Eli asked. ‘Are we in trouble?’
‘Not yet, but I’m sure Amber will find a way to get us there,’ Midnight murmured. ‘Come on. Oh, and it’s empty pockets.’
‘Empty what now?’ Eli asked.
‘Pockets. Don’t worry. It just means they want us all focused exclusively on them and taking no notes. Don’t worry about it.’
‘Ugh. That means I can’t even take my coffee with me,’ Amber groaned.
‘Especially not coffee,’ Midnight said. ‘There should be no chance whatsoever of you experiencing any pleasure during a company announcement. Let’s go.’
The auditorium was a vast round space with swirls of concrete benches. Up above, the atrium was surrounded by circular staircases lit in mood-enhancing colours. Every seat was full, and staff were standing on the stairs. It was a full company presentation, as far as Midnight could make out.
‘They were trying for Guggenheim?’ Eli asked.
‘More like a sci-fi prison,’ Midnight said. ‘Nowhere to hide.’
‘Come on, Midnight,’ Amber said. ‘It’s not that bad here. You’ll make Eli think he made a mistake. Necto could be worse. The cafe’s great, the building’s set in some of the most beautiful parkland in London, and the pay is the best in the UK at our grade.’
‘Plus, a free juice bar, right?’ Eli said enthusiastically. ‘The last place I worked at only offered water for free. There was nothing like this. It’s like being upgraded from economy to first class.’
‘Where was that?’ Midnight asked.
‘A medical recruitment company, you won’t have heard of them. I was filling in time until I could apply here, but I needed another position on my CV first.’
‘Ugh, the dreaded CV,’ Amber said. ‘At least you’ll never need to update it again if you like Necto. No one leaves here willingly.’
A young woman stood up and pushed to the front of the crowd, not quite daring to stand at the podium. She waved madly to quieten the crowd.
‘Just quickly while we’re all together,’ she said breathlessly, ‘given what happened two miles from here, if anyone wants to join our safe travel group, there’s a route plan on the company digital notice board. You can walk in or home with an organised group or take public transport together.’
There was a rumble of concerned consensus as she walked away. Midnight gave Amber a brief glance but she was deep in conversation with someone from a different department.
Eli leaned forward and looked at Midnight intensely. ‘Are you worried about it? I can’t imagine how it must be for women, knowing there’s a man out there who wants to do such violent things to them.’
‘We live with it all the time,’ Midnight said. ‘It just gets very real when there’s a body in the local mortuary.’
‘Have you ever been attacked by a man?’ he asked.
Midnight gave him a long look as she wondered why he’d asked and if she should answer, then Sara Vickson appeared from a lift, flanked by five people Midnight had never seen before.
‘It’s starting,’ Eli said unnecessarily.
Vickson was shown to the podium, and the lights dimmed to leave her bathed in a soft golden glow.
‘They’ve brought Vickson in, so it must be important. Normally these announcements are handled by someone lower down the food chain,’ Midnight whispered. ‘They must be about to hand out the Kool-Aid. Don’t eat or drink anything they offer you.’
Amber managed to giggle and shush her simultaneously.
‘Your time is precious,’ Vickson dispensed with small talk niceties. It was a thing at Necto to never waste a second when they could be making money instead. ‘So the headline is this – today we opened an office in our forty-third country.’ She paused for the obligatory excited response. Amber, Eli and a fairly large percentage of the crowd clapped enthusiastically, as Midnight performed the action of her hands hitting without generating any audible applause.
‘Congratulations to the biotech company with the most fingers in governmental pies. Every dictator and diplomat in the world must be in their pocket,’ Midnight whispered to Amber.
‘That’s how they can afford to pay us the big bucks,’ Amber grinned, rubbing her thumb against her fingers.
Once the cheering and clapping had subsided, Vickson continued.
‘But Necto never rests on its laurels. In recognition of our continued expansion, we want to keep expanding your horizons too. We want a multi-skilled, three-hundred-and-sixty-educated staff. So this is a doubly exciting day.’
Eli whispered something to Amber that Midnight couldn’t hear, and Amber nodded, briefly touching his arm with her hand. Midnight shifted across the bench a few inches to join in, but they’d stopped muttering by the time she was within hearing range.
‘First, there’ll be plenty of training, so no one need be concerned about being dropped in at the deep end,’ Vickson continued. ‘Second, this is going to be a lot of work for Necto, so bear with us, but it’s being done for your benefit. We always have and always will put worker happiness at the core of what we do.’
There were a few low-level coughs at that, but no one was either stupid or brave enough to actually heckle.
‘The best workforce is a flexible workforce, so we’re making some departmental changes. We don’t want anyone stagnating, and it’s a good idea to have you all cross-trained so we can move you between departments to wherever we have the greatest need.’
‘But yesterday was only my first day,’ Eli said quietly.
‘Don’t worry, they won’t move you,’ Amber said. ‘Not this soon.’
‘For many of you, the move will only be to different stations within your current department. Some of you will be moving to a different department altogether. I myself will be transferring to become Director of Client Affairs, so please don’t think these changes don’t affect us all. I see this as an opportunity and a challenge. You should too. Your new assignments are up on the board at the front.’
‘Ooh, old school,’ Amber muttered.
Vickson coughed loudly to silence the background noise. ‘You have thirty minutes to find your new posting. We’ve provided drinks while you chat about the changes. After that, you should return to your original desk where you’ll have ten minutes to pack your personal possessions, then go directly to your new station. Your security passes will automatically update for access to a new floor. Any questions, just ask your new line manager.’
Vickson headed away, followed by her entourage. It was like watching the American President with his bodyguards, Midnight thought, only Vickson earned substantially more.
‘Is that it?’ Amber asked. ‘No, “Good luck, see HR if you’re unhappy, we’re grateful for all you do.” Jeez. Come on. Let’s see what they’ve got in store for us, then drown our sorrows in caffeine.’ She disappeared towards the board, Eli following in her wake.
Midnight slumped. The last thing she needed was to retrain. Her days were already as long as she wanted them to be, and she enjoyed her work.
Across the auditorium, a crowd had formed around the board. Certain departments would remain untouched. Engineering, electronics, medical and coding all had an absolute pass. They were too specialised for change. The only other people presumably free from Necto’s meddling were site maintenance and catering. Probably.
Amber was striding towards her, spilling a trail of coffee, mouth hanging open.
‘Oh my God … I’m still in data analysis, but I’ve been moved to the social services account as team leader, which means more cash in the bank, or more to spend on glorious me. How cool is that? If Vickson were still here, I’d kiss her.’
‘That would take care of your promotion pretty fast,’ Midnight said.
‘I don’t know about that. You managed to burst into her office and keep your job. Damn, I didn’t check your name. You’ve got to be with me, right? We’ve been together since the start. Come on. We have to find out!’
She grabbed Midnight’s hand and dragged her to where the crowd was just starting to disperse. Running her finger down the list of J surnames, Amber turned to Midnight, frowning.
‘This can’t be right. It says you’ve been moved to client account management.’
Midnight stared at the board. ‘Perfect end to a perfect week,’ she said. ‘What the hell do those guys even do?’
‘Midnight, you have to tell them you’re not moving department! You’re a data analyst, and you’re good at it.’
‘Amber, it’s fine.’ Midnight was all out of fight. She’d been concerned she might not have a job left at all. If the worst that could happen was answering the phone to disgruntled clients, then she wasn’t going to storm into HR and threaten to quit.
‘It’s not fine. They can’t separate us. They’ve bloody well promoted me, and you’re much better at the job than I am.’
Behind them, a girl was crying. On the other side, a group of women were clinking coffee cups in an impromptu toast.
‘We’ll still get drunk together once a month. Nothing’s going to change, right?’ Midnight slid an arm around Amber’s shoulders.
‘Everything’s going to change. And where’s Eli?’
‘Here,’ he appeared. ‘Apparently I’m going over to client management with you. It’s a shame. I was enjoying data analysis, what little I’d done of it.’
‘I’m losing both of you?’ Amber cried. Eli shook his head and disappeared into the crowd, murmuring something about trying to find someone he’d met in his initiation session.
‘You’ve only known Eli a couple of days. I guess they didn’t think you’d be so upset about it!’ Midnight teased.
‘But he’s eye-candy! Our team was perfect. I had you to make me laugh, and him to look at. Plus, he has no home commitments. Lives on his own, always available in the evenings, so I thought I’d have someone to do things with after work when you’re not available. Which, you know, you’re usually not. Not a moan, just a fact.’
‘We can still be lunch buddies,’ Midnight said.
Amber grabbed Midnight and hugged her hard. ‘Every day. You have to promise.’
‘Every day,’ Midnight laughed. ‘We should get moving. Can’t be the last ones to leave. That would be a Necto negative.’ They both grinned.
Necto negatives were imaginary black marks on their records they’d thought up together during their training. They’d awarded them to each other almost every day since. Midnight was going to miss Amber. She had made her working life better since day one and, although they were chalk and cheese, their relationship just worked. They’d always been there for each other.
People were starting to shuffle towards the exits.
‘Take nothing from your former department to your new desk. Confidentiality applies even between departments. Anything relevant will be copied electronically and sent to you by your department head,’ some suit announced.
Midnight felt the sudden rise of nausea. ‘Damn. Got to go. I’ll call you tonight.’ She ran for the doors, ignoring the bank of lifts with the impossibly large group of people waiting, and took the stairs instead.
She tripped twice and forced herself to slow down. ‘Shit, shit, shit!’ Her cheeks were blazing by the time she made it to the department door. Wiping sweat from her face, she walked in faking a relaxed smile.
Richard was busy talking with other data analysts who had their arms full of personal possessions, giving Midnight the space to slip past unnoticed to her desk. She ripped open the drawer where she’d thrown the pen drive with the Profile K applicant’s data. If anyone else found the drive, she’d be on an immediate disciplinary, probably followed by dismissal.
The drawer was filled with a selection of pens and cables, a lip salve and a mascara, other drawer detritus. Her fingers just wouldn’t close on the pen drive. She put her face down to look into the back.
‘Lost something?’ Richard asked.
Midnight whipped her head up, catching her forehead on the sill of the desk.
‘Bugger,’ she said.
‘Not strictly office appropriate language, but as you’re leaving us, I’ll let that one go. Was there something specific you were looking for?’
He found it, Midnight thought. It’s in his pocket and he’s going to draw this out to torture me. I’m not off to client accounts, I’m on my way to the job centre.
Eli barged between them unawares.
‘Just wanted to pick up my lucky pen,’ he said. ‘And to say I’m sorry I won’t be part of this department. I enjoyed yesterday.’
He stuck his hand out to shake Richard’s.
‘Er, yes, well, good luck. Sorry it was a short stay. Do look after Miss Jones, won’t you? She’s actually a very good worker. In spite of everything.’
Midnight’s fingers closed on the pen drive. She stood.
‘That may be the nicest thing you’ve ever said to me,’ she told Richard quietly. ‘Thank you. You’ve been very … consistent.’
He blushed slightly, gave a small nod, and wandered off.
However disconcerting it was to be moving departments with no notice, she certainly wouldn’t miss Richard Baxter’s lectures on taking responsibility and being a team player, never mind his views on how women were more sensitive than men. Hopefully her new boss would have their head firmly in the twenty-first century. Midnight knelt to do her laces and shoved the pen drive into the side of her right boot.
‘Ready?’ she asked Eli. ‘Don’t want to be late on our first day, whatever that’s going to look like.’
They took the lift, Midnight carrying her few personal possessions and trying not to bite her nails. She’d never been to the floor that housed client accounts before. The signs beyond the lifts pointed to the complaints office and human resources in one direction, accounting and Midnight’s destination in the other. She offered up a quick silent prayer to the corporate gods, to keep her away from the complaints end of the corridor, and headed for her new office.
‘Does Necto shake things up regularly?’ Eli asked.
‘Not like this. Random training sessions, security spot checks, and they’ve moved department heads around before pretty brutally. This is a new one, though.’
‘Excuse me, pocket check, please,’ a uniformed female announced before they could enter their new department. ‘Everything into the trays.’
Midnight tensed. If they told her to take off her shoes she was screwed.
‘Am I going to get in trouble? I took some gunpowder tea sachets from the kitchen in data analysis,’ Eli whispered.
