Monsters by Matt Rogers (bill gates books to read TXT) 📕

business and she was a new woman, a new human, because of it. Maybe Ava had thought it’d be a once-off. She hadn’t thought the behaviour was replicable.

But it was.

Ava said, ‘I don’t know what to say. “Thank you” isn’t enough.’

‘“Thank you” isn’t even necessary.’ Alexis sat forward. ‘Give me her number.’

10

First Ava showed Alexis a photo of Mary Böhm on her phone, which made Alexis freeze up.

It was a corporate headshot, bright and clear, infinitely high-res. Mary wore a woollen suit jacket and a white shirt open at the collar. Her smile was broad, all neat white teeth. Intense green eyes, wide, and straight black hair. Alexis took the phone and zoomed in, absorbed the detail. She lifted her gaze to Ava. ‘Are you sure you came to me because you thought my brother-in-law worked for the Boston Globe?’

Ava furrowed her brow. ‘Yeah. That’s what I just told you.’

‘It’s not because I look like your niece?’

‘I noticed that,’ Ava said. ‘But what good would it have done bringing it up? What good does it do now?’

Alexis had to remind herself civilians didn’t think the same. Where Ava only saw a funny coincidence, Alexis saw an opportunity to protect Mary from danger. If it came to that.

She took down the woman’s number.

Ava said, ‘You want to do this now?’

Alexis said, ‘Why not? If you’re coming to me for help, we’re not half-assing it.’ She hesitated. ‘If this is really what you want. If not, go to the cops. I can leave before things get messy.’

Ava lapsed into quiet then finally shook her head. ‘Based on everything Catherine told me, they’ll kill her before the cops sort it out. There’ll just be endless delays with authority. It’s Silicon Valley. Money talks and Heidi’s got a limitless supply of it.’

‘But that’s based on bullshit deals, right? If this entire thing is a sham…’

‘Doesn’t matter. She’s made the deals. She has the money. It’ll take court battles to get it back, so it’s not happening in a hurry. There’s a hell of a lot Heidi can do if she’s really as psychopathic as Mary thinks she is.’

‘Thinks? I thought you told me she was shown a photo.’

‘That’s what she said.’

Alexis digested Ava’s tone. ‘You have reason to believe she might be lying?’

‘No. But this is a little fantastical. Maybe there’s truth to it, or maybe only some truth to it. That’s an important difference.’

She was visibly uncomfortable, shoulders beginning to twitch.

Alexis said, ‘You honestly think she made that up? The beaten body? I assume Jack Sundström is actually missing or you’d see right through this whole thing.’

Ava nodded slowly. ‘There was a small bulletin on the San Francisco Chronicle’s website this morning. He didn’t make it home from work last night. He didn’t take his meds with him. It’s being treated as suspicious. So I think I believe her…’

Alexis said, ‘You’re hesitant to involve me, aren’t you? You think you jumped the gun.’

‘Mmm.’ Ava shrugged.

Alexis said, ‘Don’t worry. I’ll find out.’

She hit: CALL.

11

Mary considered ordering meal delivery, then shook her head and rocketed off the sofa, angry at herself.

‘What are you gonna do?’ she muttered to herself. ‘Stay inside the rest of your life?’

She’d already missed work today. That’d have to be the only proof of her paranoia: going forward, it’d need disguising. There was a way out of this, somehow, but just because she couldn’t see the light didn’t mean she should make things far worse. Sure, she’d spent all of last night in bed riding out a horrendous mental breakdown, and this morning hadn’t been much better, but if she let the fear take control there was no telling when the ride might end, when she’d be allowed to get off.

It was time to reclaim her strength before things got out of hand.

Yes, Jack Sundström had been brutally killed. Yes, her boss was a soulless psychopath with billions of dollars at her disposal. Yes, Heidi Waters would do literally anything in the interest of self-preservation. Yes, Mary knew too much.

But cowering would only seal the deal, give Heidi an excuse to make her vanish. Silence was suspicious. She had to resume her life, no matter what it took, and buy time to figure out how to keep herself alive.

Running wouldn’t work. Heidi had the resources to find her.

Going to the press wouldn’t work. Heidi would have her slaughtered sheerly out of spite before the story ever made the headlines.

Calling her mother had been a mistake. Any hint of a familial leak, any whisper of word spreading, and Heidi would pounce.

Mary thought, Why hasn’t she pounced?

Probably because her and Jack back-to-back would look too suspicious. His disappearance had already graced the news cycle. There was no word of a body being discovered. It’d be a long time before anything unravelled. He served on multiple boards, Vitality+ only one of a handful of projects, so the spotlight was broad and far-reaching. No one had narrowed it to Heidi.

Mary tore herself away from her thoughts and left the apartment. She passed no one in the halls of the swanky Santa Clara high-rise. The thought of going back to the office was radioactive, but she’d have to do it. It was Friday, though, so she could spend the whole weekend mustering courage. For now, it was important that she go to the café across the road and get a smoked salmon bagel. She couldn’t explain why it was such a big deal, but something intrinsically told her that if she slipped into a negative spiral she’d end up too anxious to leave the house for anything. It was better to step out now before the mortal fear crystallised into a mental barrier. It wasn’t there yet, but it was close.

Her palms became slick and her heart reached her throat as she left the lobby, looking both ways before she crossed.

Sweat down her spine clung to her shirt fabric.

She stopped in the middle of the street and made to turn back.

No.

She corrected course, shuffled