Free Tanked: TANKED by Cheri Lewis Page B

2:00. I don’t know if he would have left then if I hadn’t reminded him and that seemed to make him grumpier.  When he left I went into his office to put away any files he’d pulled and to grab his empty coffee cup.   I notice a new picture of his family, him, his wife and their daughter.  They seem happy and his wife is a typical trophy wife, with beautiful shiny brown hair, and their daughter having the same hair as her mother.  I set it back down on his desk, and then see a letter sticking out from under a stack of files.  I quickly read over the letter then find myself sitting in his chair.  It’s a letter from an attorney regarding the estate of his father .  His father had passed away. That was the family emergency and he never said a word?  No wonder he was in a terrible mood, I don’t think I could’ve gone back to work so soon after dealing with something like that. I would’ve been devastated. He’s going to know I saw the letter, I wonder if I should say something?  I wish I would’ve sent flowers.  I fold the letter and stick it back in the envelope that had been lying underneath it, grab the files and put them back in their proper place.  
    When he arrives back from his meeting it was a little before 5, he lays the proposal file on my desk.  He seems happier but not his normal self “We got a new account today.”
    I give him a smile. “That’s great; I’ll get started setting them up in the system.” He gave me a smile and it didn’t seem genuine or reach his eyes.  “Um, Mr. Samford.” He had just stepped away from my desk, but turns back toward me.  “I was putting away the files on your desk and saw the letter about your father; I hope you don’t think I was snooping.  I’m sorry for your loss.  I’ve still got both my parents so I can’t imagine what you’re going through.”
    His face saddens, he looks down at the floor and then back at me. “Thank you, Ms. Morrow.” I watch him walk back into his office and shut the door behind him.  I stare at the closed door for a while wishing there was something I could do or say.  I sigh and decide to go over our new client information.
    I have to work a few minutes over to finish entering the new client’s information, which works out great because I have an appointment for 6 p.m. at Hands and Hooves to get my nails filled in and my waxing done. 
    When I leave my appointment at the nail salon, I leave with strawberry margarita polish on my fingers and toes and less hair everywhere.  It is a little before eight and the sun is setting fast. I’m starving so I decide to run through and pick up a sub to take home to eat.  When I turn onto my road my heart drops. I see Tank’s SUV, a cop car and another truck I don’t recognize in front of my house.  I pull into my driveway and Tank is there to open my door before I even get the car parked. “What’s going on?”
    He rubs his hand through his hair then rubs the back of his neck with his hand. “He came back.”
    My heart drops. “Did you catch him?”
    “No.  No, we didn’t catch him.”
    “What happened? What did he do?” 
    I try to step around him but he catches my arm. “You can’t go in there right now not till we figure out what all has gone on.”
    “What do you mean what all has gone on?”
    I turn when I hear a voice I vaguely recognize. He is talking to the police officer as he comes around the corner of my house. It’s the big man from yesterday, Alexander, and he looks pissed and sounds even more so when he says, “There’s an attic entrance in the storage shed in the back. It comes out into the hallway.  The motherfucker crawled all the way across the house in places that were about eighteen inches wide.”
    I look at Tank even more confused. “What happened? How do you know he was here? I thought the alarm company would call me if the alarm was triggered?”
    Tank asks Alexander, “Is it okay to go inside now?”
    Alexander puts his hands