The Corporation

CHAPTER NINETEEN

MICHELLE FOUGHT TO get control of her emotions. She held back her tears, wiped her eyes and cheeks with the back of her hand. Connie Dowling’s prone body lay on the cot, motionless. Michelle took a deep breath, fighting every emotion back down into a tiny place in her mind to be dealt with later. Right now she had a job to do and she had to finish it. She’d lost fifteen minutes in this immersion room. Any minute now Rachel would attempt to jam the signal in an attempt to wake her up. Instead, what she got was Rachel Drummond’s voice coming through the tiny speaker in her ear. “Michelle! Michelle! You okay?”

“I’m fine,” Michelle said. Her throat was raw. “I’m getting out of here.”

“My God, I heard everything!” Rachel said. For the first time, Rachel sounded scared. Michelle wiped the moisture of tears and sweat off on her pant suit and straightened herself up. “I tried jamming the signal but it had no effect. I couldn’t get past it!”

“You did? You tried getting through to me?”

“Yes. I tried several times. I kept hoping you would fight her, that—”

“I killed her, Rachel. I killed my mother.” She felt dead, on the verge of crying again.

“You set her free, Michelle,” Rachel said. “You know that, don’t you?”

Michelle took a deep breath and looked at her mother’s lifeless body. “Yes,” she said. She couldn’t cry now. She had to regain her strength and get out of this.

“You have to get out of there,” Rachel said. “Now!”

“Affirmative.” Michelle picked up the briefcase and went to the door.

“Michelle?”

“Yes.”

“I can’t raise Alan. He got caught.”

Michelle stopped, suddenly feeling cold. “Corporate Financial got him?”

“Yes, and they brought him down to the basement level. They sent his—”

“I’ve got to get him,” Michelle said. She turned the doorknob to go out into the hallway.

“No!” The tone of Rachel’s voice stopped her. “They sent his ex-girlfriend in. The one Corporate Financial snagged years ago. She’s completely fooled him. He broke down. He…” Rachel sounded upset, on the verge of tears. “He bought it, Michelle. He got suckered in by her, by them, and he broke down. I listened to the whole thing and I was trying to stop it. I kept trying to jam their signal but nothing went through. I even tried yelling into his ear and he didn’t respond. She got him, ensnared him, and now he’s under immersion. He’s totally under and there’s nothing we can do now. You have to get out of there.”

“Oh my God,” Michelle moaned. She felt her knees turn rubbery.

“Get out of there! Leave now!”

The urgency in Rachel’s voice was strong and Michelle picked up the briefcase, and opened the door. “I’m leaving,” she said.

She closed the door behind her and stepped into the darkened hallway just as she heard the elevator outside the immersion department open.

A single pair of footsteps made their way out of the lobby and headed toward the immersion department.

Michelle slipped back into her role quickly, fighting back her nervousness and fear, and walked calmly and purposefully toward the reception area. If it was Sam or Gary she already had a plan in mind.

She met the figure walking into the immersion area just as she reached the still empty receptionist’s desk and was so into her role, had conditioned herself to look and act and sound wooden and unemotional, that she didn’t react visibly or emotionally when she saw her father—dressed in an immaculate gray three-piece suit, looking every much like a powerful corporate CEO—smile and hold out his hand. “Ms. Dowling, I presume?”

“Yes,” she said. She shook his hand, noting that in many ways he hadn’t changed at all since the last time she saw him over twelve years ago. If anything he looked even more slick and sinister.

“I’m Frank Marstein,” Dad said, smiling.

Michelle would have reacted visibly had she not prepared herself for this. Instead she nodded and said, “Pleased to meet you, sir. It’s an honor.”

“I understand you came here for immersion training,” Frank Marstein said. His demeanor, his very presence, commanded power. His behavior was totally unlike the man she’d known when she was growing up. Dad had always been somewhat aloof and preoccupied with work, but his demeanor now was very different. “Mr. Greenberg and Lawrence recommended you very highly and I admit I was very pleased by your credentials and track record. Sam is in my office now with the rest of the executives. I came down to see how you were doing.” His smile diminished slightly. “Why are you out of the immersion room?”

“I finished,” she said, keeping her voice wooden.

Her father’s frown deepened. There was no sign of recognition that he was looking at his daughter. “I was led to believe Sam had just brought you in.”

“I was here early,” she said. “He wanted to get me in early so I could attend your strategy meeting. I was just leaving to go upstairs. In fact, I have something for you.”

“Oh?”

“Last night I was going over the reports for Project Reign when I had an idea.” Her voice was crisp, business-like. “I drafted a report that I think you’ll want to see. I project that we can cut the production time of Project Reign down by half.”

“Half?”

“Yes. We’ll not only see increased profits within a quicker time period, but my report will show that implementing it will save on costs.”

Her father’s expression changed from slight disapproval to interest. “Increased profits and we can save money on costs?”

“Yes.” She held up her briefcase. “I worked on this report all night. It’s in here.”

“I’d like to see it and hear your presentation on it.”

“I’ve been looking forward to presenting it to you all day,” Michelle said.

“Then let’s adjourn to the executive suites,” her father said. He motioned toward the double-glass doors that led out into the main foyer of the basement level and she headed out, her father following her.

When they reached the elevator lobby Michelle handed the briefcase to Frank Marstein. “I’m going to freshen up in the ladies room to ensure I look presentable. Why don’t you take this up to the conference room and familiarize yourself with it before we meet?”

“Good idea,” Frank said, taking the briefcase. Like Sam Greenberg and Gary Lawrence, Frank Marstein could pass for a human being on the street. What gave him away was his veneer, the miasma of evil that seemed to envelope him, the dead look in his eyes that one had to pay attention to in order to see that no human spirit lived within the flesh and blood shell that used to be her father. “By the way, you look fine and very professional.”

Michelle acknowledged the compliment with a nod. “Thank you, but I’d like to make sure. I’ll only be a moment.” Then, without waiting for an answer, she turned and headed toward the Ladies Room.

She entered the restroom and immediately stopped behind the closed door. She waited, held her breath. A moment later she heard the elevator door open, then close. She glanced at her watch quickly. Two and a half minutes left.

“Rachel?” Michelle whispered. “You there?”

“I’m here,” Rachel said. She sounded troubled. “That was Marstein, wasn’t it?”

“Yeah, it was,” Michelle said. For the first time she wondered if there was anybody inside the bathroom in one of the stalls. “But then again, it wasn’t. It was my father.”

“Your… father?” Rachel’s voice, at first questioning, became tinged with fear as understanding dawned on her. “Oh man! Oh shit, this is weird. Frank Marstein is now your father?”

“Yeah,” Michelle whispered, not wanting to understand the connections now. “I don’t know what the real Marstein looks like, but he’s my father now.”

“We believe Hubert Marstein’s spirit actually possessed the body of his son Frank years ago,” Rachel said quickly. “They merged, became one. There’s speculation that one of Frank’s children was killed in the late sixties. Drug overdose or something. The family swept it up, nobody will talk about it now. Alan uncovered evidence that suggests they use the bodies of those who rise to the level of CEO to be Frank Marstein’s vessel.”

Michelle understood the concept perfectly and it scared the hell out of her. Marstein was continuing his mission from beyond the grave, possessing the bodies of those high level corporate employees who were most easy to influence. She couldn’t hear anything out in the hall. “I gotta go. If Marstein faked me out and is standing at the elevator lobby, he’s going to start getting suspicious.”

“If he’s still there make a dash for the steps and get the hell out.”

Michelle straightened herself up and exited the bathroom.

The elevator lobby was empty.

With her purse slung over her shoulder, Michelle passed the bank of elevators and made a dash for the door that led to the stairway. She pushed through and took the stairs up to the first floor two at a time. When she burst through the doorway she made a jig to the right past the security station and exited the side door, ignoring the security guard inside who yelled, “Excuse me! Miss! Excuse me! You have to sign out!”

She ran towards the executive parking lot, seeing the green Honda Alan told her about. “The car’s here,” she said to Rachel. “What am I going to do?”

“I can’t get Alan,” Rachel said. She sounded stressed out. “I’ve been trying to jam the signal but I just can’t get through to him!”

The side door of the building burst open and she heard two voices call to her. “Hey! You! Lady! You didn’t sign out! Come back!”

Michelle ignored them, slipped out of her heels, and ran between the cars in the parking lot in her stocking feet. She silently chastised herself for not packing a pair of slip-on sneakers. “Security just followed me out.”

“Fuck!” Rachel said. Her voice changed from worry to grim determination. “Okay, just get the hell off the property. There’s a drainage ditch that runs parallel to the side road that leads to the executive parking lot. It’s bordered by a barb-wired fence. Go through that and run through the field to Highway 1. I’m leaving now to meet you.”

“What about Alan?” Michelle was running, following Rachel’s directions.

Behind her, more voices, the sound of running footsteps.

“Come back! You’re not following procedure!”

Michelle risked a glance behind her as she ran. She had a good hundred yard lead on them. “They’re chasing me!”

“Shit! Just go! Hurry!”

Michelle made it to the drainage ditch and almost tumbled down the concrete slopes to the bottom. She skidded down to the bottom, skinning her knees, and then raced back up the opposite wall. When she reached the top she scrambled on her belly, pushed her purse through and crawled beneath the lower wire. She felt sharp metallic edges rip at the back of her blouse as she crawled underneath the fence. She stood up, checked her pursuer’s progress once more, then started running across the field toward Highway 1, which was a good five hundred yards away.

She heard a car start back in the executive parking lot behind her. Building Security?

“Where are you?” Rachel asked.

“Running through the field,” Michelle panted. Her bare feet slapped the hard, rocky earth as she ran.

“I’m sorry,” Rachel said. “Just keep going. If you have to duck and cover do it, but once you’re able to, get up and get to Highway 1! I’ll be there any minute!”

“What are you doing?” Michelle asked and then the building exploded behind her.

It began as a sudden explosive boom. The sound initially propelled her to run faster and then she felt the tremendous heat as it seemed to push her forward. She didn’t even look back to see what happened. Hearing it was enough to tell her that Rachel had sent the signal out to detonate the explosives. And because that single signal would detonate all the devices at once, the explosive boom was massive.

The ground shook beneath her feet and for a moment Michelle thought she was airborne. She ran faster, feeling something like a warm hand gently push against her back. She risked a glance back and tripped, falling in a sprawl on the ground. She scrambled to her knees just in time to see the fireball burst forth from the center of the building to send another massive explosion through the structure, creating yet another concussive tremor. Debris and concrete rained down all over the parking lot and she ducked as she saw scraps of metal come winging their way down towards the field. They whizzed overhead, striking the ground behind and ahead of her, all around her, and she drew into a tight ball, praying she wouldn’t get hit. The heat of the fireball was intense and already the air was getting thick with smoke. The explosions were so loud, were so reverberating, that she didn’t hear screams emanating from the building. She risked a glance, saw unrecognizable scraps of metal and concrete dotting the field, then looked behind her at the burning structure. A good portion of the building was on fire; the south wing of the structure, which contained Accounting and Marketing, was undergoing a series of small explosions. She wondered if the explosives she planted helped detonate flammable or highly combustible sections of the building.

She sprang to her feet, purse still slung over her shoulder, and started running toward Highway 1 while Corporate Financial Headquarters burned behind her.

Highway 1 looked to be a hundred miles away.

Her feet hurt as she ran toward the highway, her only purpose now to get away, to reach the highway and meet up with Rachel Drummond before the cops showed up. She didn’t even think about what kind of excuse she was going to give if the authorities picked her up. She simply ran as fast as she could, ignoring the stitch in her side and the nicks and cuts the little rocks along the ground pounded into her feet as she ran. She ignored the heat from the fire behind her, ignored the sounds of the building falling apart as it continued to explode elsewhere, ignored the screams of the dying and wounded, ignored her conscience telling her she’d just participated in a terrorist act that no doubt killed hundreds of people (they weren’t people, they were immersed, taken over by Corporate Financial, they were like my mother and father, they weren’t real!), she ignored it all as she sprinted across the field, jumping over mounds of dirt and scrubs of brush, ignoring the heat and the smoke and the sounds of destruction and then she saw a glimmer of metal on the horizon on Highway 1 and she ran faster, the heat searing in her lungs as she forced herself to keep going, just keep going, and then she was reaching the edge of the field and she saw that the glimmer of metal was a car and the driver had seen her, was driving faster, and as it reached the juncture where she was running it stopped at the edge of the field and Rachel popped out of the driver’s side. Michelle was twenty feet away and then ten and Rachel was shouting at her to get in the car, hurry hurry hurry! and then Michelle dived into the open backseat, not even aware of Rachel slamming the door shut after her, not even aware of Rachel getting in the car and peeling away from the field, making a U-Turn in the road and heading away from the burning mass of confusion behind. All she could think about was getting away, getting far away from Corporate Financial and hoping what she’d done had destroyed the evil.

“We’re okay,” Rachel said as she drove down the road. “We’re okay. We’re okay…” Michelle didn’t hear her. She was too involved in her own little world. All she could think about was what she’d done, what she’d experienced, and then she broke down and wept in the back seat.

She let it all out; all the anger and rage and frustration that had been bottled up inside her over the last twelve years. All the emotion she had fretted over, thoughts of her upbringing, her parents, losing Alanis, wanting to see Donald again, hold him in her arms… it all bubbled to the surface and she cried, thankful that she was alive.

“Hey, we’re okay,” Rachel said. Michelle felt Rachel’s hand touch her knee lightly as she drove and Michelle looked up, not knowing where they were. She was lying sprawled in the backseat. Her purse had tumbled to the floor and rested against the rear driver’s side passenger door. The adrenaline was still running through her, making her feel light-headed. “Don’t worry, we’re okay, we’re getting out of here.”

Michelle raised herself up and looked out the window. They were on Highway 1, heading toward the main road that would take them to the Interstate. She risked a glance out the back window. Dark black smoke billowed out from where Corporate Financial Headquarters was. She could make out the tell-tale signs of flames licking upward. Because this was the only road that led to Corporate Financial Headquarters they passed no cars and Michelle heard no sirens. Michelle felt her stomach turn to lead as they approached the T Intersection of the road that would take them to the interstate. While this road was rarely traveled as well, should any passing motorist see them making a right hand turn toward the Interstate and see the smoke and fire, they might remember their car. This must have been on Rachel’s mind as well because she said, “Hang on, keep your fingers crossed.”

Michelle held her breath, not realizing she was doing it as they came to a stop at the intersection. There were no cars coming from either direction. Rachel eased out onto the road and was soon up to the speed limit. Michelle turned around, looking back toward Corporate Financial, watching it burn.

“We did it,” Rachel said, her tear-filled eyes on the road. “Damn, we fucking did it.” She wiped her eyes with the back of her hands. It looked like she was trying to control her own emotions. Their eyes met in the rearview mirror. Michelle saw that Rachel had beautiful eyes—they were a deep green, reflecting care and emotion and that same fiery passion they’d held a few nights ago when they first met in Chicago. Now those eyes were red from sleep-deprivation and watery from crying. “I’m sorry. I can’t cry now even though I want to. I gotta get us out of here.”

“We’ll share a box of Kleenex whenever we get to where we’re going,” Michelle said.

Rachel laughed and Michelle smiled. She was turned away from the flames now. She sat up in the back seat, head resting against the seat, trying to relax as Rachel drove them toward the Interstate. Far off she heard the dim sound of police sirens.

“Here comes a car,” Rachel said. Her fingers gripped the steering wheel.

Michelle didn’t care. She was just glad it was over. But was it?

She caught a glimpse of the passing car. It was a tan Acura being driven by a man.

Rachel relaxed. “Okay, here we go,” she said as she made a turn down another road. “This should take us to the Interstate faster.”

They were now descending downhill, away from the hilly, mountainous region into small towns and suburbs. Sirens could now be heard from all around. Michelle closed her eyes, only wanting to put the nightmare behind her.

“We’re gonna be fine,” Rachel said from the front seat. Michelle opened her eyes. Rachel was calm. She kept the vehicle at a safe speed. “Everything’s going to be fine.” Their eyes met in the rearview mirror again.

And for the first time in weeks Michelle Dowling began to feel that this was true.