Free Evil Intent by Robert Olsen

emergencies today! This is great, I’ll have time for my research. Easy day!
    “ Mother, would you like a soft boiled egg and a piece of toast? Or, I can cook scrambled eggs and sausage, for you, if you’d like. Ok mom, scrambled it is.”
    Donald had a small two bedroom apartment just outside of Little Italy - on Mulberry Street, just south of Canal. Because of her age, and medical situation, his mother recently had moved out of her home in Far Rockaway to stay in the apartment with her son. Every now and then, they would travel to the beach house and spend the weekend just taking it easy. Donald enjoyed spending time in Far Rockaway, especially this time of year when the weather was nice and he could walk on the ocean beach. The old house had been in the family over 100 years and Donald was not about to sell it now.
    “I’m leaving mother,” he hollered into the other room, “I’ll try to get home a little early today.” Then, he locked the door, and was on his way to the office.
    He walked to the East Side subway, which he took north to Midtown Manhattan, getting off at 57th, in midtown Manhattan. From the subway station, he took a leisurely walk to his office, stopping at a favorite deli to pick up a cup of coffee for the office. It was much better than the coffee the ladies made at work, so he thought.
    “Good morning Sherry,” He said to one of the receptionists, as he entered the lobby of the Rockne Pharmaceutical Company.
    He was walking down a long hallway on the way to office when he passed the copy room. Out of the corner of his eye, he spotted Barbara, Kathryn’s secretary at the copy machine. He turned around and slipped into the doorway.
    “Good morning Barbara, you look wide eyed and bushy tailed this morning. What brings you in here so early? Kathryn hand you a big project?”
    “Hi Donald. No, there’s no big project. Silly me, just completely forgot to do something yesterday that Kathryn needed first thing this morning. Didn’t even remember until after I got home. Now, I’m scrambling! And, I wasn’t even able to get Kathryn her coffee this morning, poor girl.”
    “Can I help?”
    “Oh no, Donald, I’ll be fine. But thanks for asking.”
    “Well, you just take your time and make sure everything is just the way you want it.”
    “Thanks Donald. Hope you have a nice day.”
    “You as well Barbara, bye.”
    Donald started heading toward his office again when he suddenly got an idea. He turned around and headed to the other side of the lobby where Kathryn’s office was located. He made a quick stop before appearing at her door. Kathryn was busy at her desk, working with her head down. She looked up just as he was entering her office.
    “Good morning Kathryn. I brought you a present.”
    “Donald, what are you doing here?”
    “I noticed Barbara was frantically copying something for you and didn’t have time to even get your coffee. I thought I might be able to handle that task! I think you like your coffee with cream and sugar? Or is it you like your sugar with a little cream and coffee? I forgot.”
    “Oh, don’t be so silly, but thanks so much for the coffee. You really didn’t have to bother with that.”
    “Trust me Kathryn, it’s no bother at all. Have a nice day!”
    When Donald finally arrived at his office, he settled in and checked his emails once again. He was trying to get as many of the smaller issues off his desk. He had been working approximately one hour when he spotted a note from one of the Vice Presidents.
    Shit, I completely forgot about this. Maybe I can get someone on my staff to handle it.
    Donald briefly left his office and walked down the hall.
    “Hey, Michael, I need you to do something for me. Massy needs this by 2:00 o’clock today. I want you to get on it right away.”
    “Come on Donald. I’m working on the RMMS program. I can’t do that right now. We have a hard stop on the system this week.”
    “Michael, I don’t need to hear a bunch of