Atonement(24)

“Okay, you are way too excited for my tastes. I don’t think I will find out much ‘dirt’, seeing as I am just the manager for HR,” I replied in a non-committal voice. “Besides, I can’t just tell you anything you want to know because an employee’s file is confidential. I could get fired for blathering off at the mouth.”

My sister rolled her eyes. “I don’t expect names, you retard. Just some juicy details is all. I’ve heard some pretty interesting stories about some of the employees at uConnect—I’m sure you have too.”

“Actually, no, I haven’t. Liam took me out for lunch at S&S and all we did do was make small talk. We talked about the company in general but he didn’t get personal with me and I didn’t get personal with him either.”

This wasn’t exactly the whole truth but the way Caitlyn’s eyes lit up about knowing a few secrets wasn’t exactly endearing. It reminded me of university where everyone always was on the look out for trash on someone else. It felt backbiting, small and petty. I didn’t do well with any of them and I certainly took no joy in hearing about other people’s suffering or their problems. My job as a counselor at the halfway house and food shelter for battered women had taught me more than I needed to know about secrets and most of all, I found them tragic. There was nothing noble about rejoicing in another person’s misery to me.

“Fine, I’ll share but I don’t want you to call up Liam and resign before you’ve started. It’s all rumor anyway and although there might be a modicum of truth about it, I don’t know the complete circumstances.”

I stared at Caitlyn as she sipped from her wine and played with the stem of the glass. “That HR manager whose job you’re inheriting, she isn’t leaving because of her pregnancy. It’s a good excuse to use but it goes deeper than that.”

“Okay?” I began in a soft voice. “What’s it all about then?”

“Well, from what I heard, she was close to that woman, Stephanie McLaughlin.”

I arched an eyebrow. “Isn’t she the one who jumped from her condo after a night of indulging in Bath Salts?”

“Mmm hmm,” Caitlyn replied cryptically.

Everyone knew the story of someone who had known someone who had tried Bath Salts and it didn’t end too well for them. It had officially become an urban legend. The brand new designer drug that had been introduced to the American market less than two years’ previously had originated in Europe sometime around 2009. It was odorless and tasteless, could be ingested, snorted, smoked or taken intravenously and was dangerous as hell.

The problem was no one knew what was a safe limit but the people who had tried it often did too much and it caused a reaction very similar to that of a zombie or a vampire. However, although these were fictional characters, a person who was under the influence of Bath Salts had super human strength—similar to PCP users—could be incredibly dangerous, and usually suffered from severe hallucinations.

There was a story in the paper a few months previously about a man who had beaten a homeless man to death with his bare hands before he took on three patrol officers, two who were so severely injured, they had to be treated at the local hospital.

For some reason, even “intelligent” and affluent people had used the drug as well. Though they never had attacked a homeless person, Stephanie’s story was the most famous of them all. She’d been with her boyfriend, Clark Jameson, who had put the Bath Salts in her drink. They’d had sex, he left and the drug had just began to take its effect in her system. She’d walked out onto the balcony of her thirtieth floor condo, climbed the railing and jumped, Lethal Weapon-style. She never screamed or made a sound and her body merely ended up broken and battered on the sidewalk where shocked pedestrians witnessed her emotionless actions.

There was a lot of talk and the story made the news. Clark, her boyfriend, came from a well-to-do family and although it was his actions which caused her death, he’d gotten off with two years’ probation. This did not please the McLaughlin family who were angry and indignant there seemed to be no justice for their daughter but that was the way of the world.

It wouldn’t have had the press coverage it received if she hadn’t been an employee at uConnect.

“Okay, so the HR Manager—”

“Her name is Rebecca Desouza. Apparently she is married to Dennis’ cousin,” I interrupted.

“And I thought Amazon was incestuous!”