Free Broken Mirror by Cody Sisco Page B

office . . .” She breathed hard, clutching her robe’s neckline.
    Victor gathered the medical records into a folder. The book of herbal cures rested nearby. He picked it up and walked to the door.
    Granma Cynthia stood tall as he approached. She pointed and said, “Are those Jefferson’s? Leave those! You can’t rob me like a petty thief.”
    Victor pushed past her and hurried down the hall. Yesterday had strained their relationship to the breaking point. He’d never been a “good” grandchild, not like Robbie, who always won awards and excelled at touting his own accomplishments. But Victor had never stolen from his own family. It seemed every day he found a lower low to sink to.
    “What are you doing?” she asked, following.
    Victor rushed into her bedroom and then the master bath. Granma Cynthia gaped and sputtered while he raided her medicine cabinet and searched through pill bottles until he found one labeled Vasistatin — the one Granma Cynthia had said Granfa Jeff made such a show of taking, which seemed out of character for so serious a man. Victor shoved the pill bottle into his pocket next to the data egg. Granma Cynthia tried to block his way, but he slipped past, hurried down the hall, and took the stairs down two at a time.
    Granma Cynthia called to him from the railing. “You’re out of control, Victor!”
    Without stopping, he escaped through the front door and into his car, trying to blot out the sound of her outraged voice as it repeated in his head.
    “Please don’t let this be a fantasy,” Victor whispered to himself as he drove through the exit gate. The past few days had been upsetting and topsy-turvy. He needed his routine back. Even if he was investigating a murder, he still needed the clockwork normalcy of a familiar environment, a daily schedule, and structured work. But he wasn’t prepared to dose himself. His brain, although broken, seemed to work better off the medication. The world didn’t seem as flat and gray.
    Bereavement leave would allow him several more days off, but the last thing he wanted was idle time on his hands. He drove to Gene-Us Enterprises.
    The Gene-Us headquarters glinted like a glass and steel centipede curving around itself. He parked in a lot that had been shoehorned into the remnants of an orchard. The boughs of orange trees hung heavy with unpicked fruit. Victor left the herb book and medical records in the car. They would only distract him if they were within arms’ reach.
    Victor entered the building. His MeshBit pinged to let him know he’d been registered. Karine LaTour, his supervisor, would receive the notification.
    Inside, he found chaos. Instead of the usual nose-down calm he so wanted, his fellow employees scampered and shouted. Their giddy voices suggested that a party was underway. Some enterprising coworkers stood on furniture and hung golden paper lanterns, signs of good fortune. A pack of administrative assistants huddled together. Victor heard the words, “titles,” “reorganization,” and “quarterly,” and then they saw him, ducked their heads, and spoke to each other more quietly.
    On the reception desk he saw a printed MeshNews article. His family’s company, Holistic Healing Network, had bought Gene-Us, and the newly merged company would be named BioScan. He felt a stab of resentment. The family company was buying his current employer, and no one had said a word to him.
    He headed to Karine’s office to demand to know what the merger meant for him.
    But her office was deserted. Empty drawers poked from their enclosures. Her framed certificates no longer hung on the wall. On her desk, exotic paperweights from far-off places that she liked to show off — volcanic glass from the Kingdom of Hawaii, wooden idols carved by African tribes, beaded animals from South America — were gone.
    Victor called Karine on his MeshBit, and to his surprise, she answered.
    “Why are you here?” Karine asked.
    “Where are you?” Victor