Treasure of the Dead

Chapter 20

Fabi smiled as she eyeballed the computer program open on the monitor before her. It was the same one she had designed, and the familiar software made her feel more at home in her new work environment. Not that she felt uncomfortable or out of place so far — she had found the employees to be warm and welcoming, and it seemed like she would fit right in here. Not only that, but she shared an office with a co-worker with whom she got along well.

Cassandra Damas was a city girl, born and raised in Port Au Prince, relocating to the Cap-Hatien area as an adult. Fabi judged her to be in her mid-thirties. The mahogany-skinned young woman sported a medium afro and favored big hoop earrings and statement necklaces. She had worked for this clinic of Dr. Avila’s for several years, and throughout the day so far had filled Fabi in on everything from office gossip to work procedures to where were the best places to go for lunch. Now, comfortable that they were on friendly terms, and as they both sat at computers fine-tuning the new database system, they were comparing notes when Dr. Avila appeared at the open doorway.

“Good afternoon, ladies! Fabi, I trust you are finding your way around okay on your first day?”

Fabi wheeled around on her chair and smiled at her boss. “You bet, Dr. Avila. Cassandra here’s been a tremendous help.”

Avila beamed. “Excellent. Well, I don’t want to keep you two from your good work. Just wanted to check in and welcome you personally to our Cap-Hatien clinic, Fabi. If you need anything, don’t hesitate to reach out to me. Carry on!”

Avila left and she and Cassandra resumed discussing the work issue they had been focusing on before he showed up. Once they had worked through it, Fabi took advantage of a lull in the work to ask Cassandra about Avila. “Does he stop by a lot, or only on someone’s first day?”

Cassandra raised her eyebrows. “He’s here a lot. Especially lately, he’s really been burning the midnight oil. I go home normal hours, you know, four or five, and he’s always still here when I leave. And when I get here in the morning, eight or so, he’s already been up and running for some time.”

“Not always easy being the boss, right?”

Cassandra shrugged. “I guess not. Not like I would know,” she finished with a laugh.

On a whim, Fabi decided to broach a different topic with Cassandra. She looked over at the woman. “Hey, can I ask you something that might seem a little strange?”

Cassandra took on an amused look and said, “No honey, I don’t go that way, if that’s it.”

“Seriously, that’s not it. It’s about…” She lowered her voice and looked behind them to make sure no one was within earshot. “Zombii. I’ve heard there have been attacks recently in Cap-Hatien. Is that true?”

Cassandra shifted in her seat and pursed her lips. She stabbed at a couple of computer keys and then swiveled to look Fabi in the eyes. “Yes. But no one is taking it seriously.” She emphasized the last word with a Creole sing-song lilt.

“There is no actual evidence?”

“Well, no hard evidence yet, as far as I know, but I do know that the zombii reports coincide with the disappearances of people I have personally seen — patients here at this clinic. And then there’s…”

Cassandra cut off the conversation at the sound of approaching footsteps. Two people passed by without lingering, but Cassandra didn’t take up the topic again, returning instead to her work, where she concentrated on the screen. Fabi couldn’t help but wonder what was going on that made her coworker so uncomfortable. She was highly rational in all other respects, but the subject of zombii at Cap-Hatien seemed to have unnerved her completely.

Fabi turned back to her own computer and forced herself to concentrate on her work.