Page 55 of In a Haze

“This girl,” I say, handing him the file.

“Claudia?” he asks, reading the label.

“Yes.” I take a deep breath. “Did I ever tell you about that dream I had? That one where the girl was trying to talk but just screamed?”

“I think so.”

“That’s her.”

“Are you sure? It’s not a girl who looks like her but it’sliterallyher?”

“Yes, Joe, it’s her. I know my memory’s not the most reliable, but I promise that—”

“But it was adream, Anna, not a memory.”

I get ready to argue, but he’s right. “That’s even weirder. How am I connected with her? With these women?”

He shakes his head. “This is weird, too.” He hands me Raquel’s file, the woman he calledZombierella, and says, “What about her file is different from the others?”

I scan and it doesn’t take me long to notice. “There’s no DOA date or initials or city.”

“Yeah. I wonder if they meanDead on Arrival.”

“Did that Claire woman die? Is that why you think that?”

He shrugs. “Just grasping at straws.”

At this point, I know I could look through these files all night and probably not figure out anything else. “Maybe we need to talk to Raquel.”

“Good idea.”

I look through the last filing cabinet. It’s full of what appear to be reports, mostly financial and insurance related. When I turn, I tell Joe, “I don’t think we’re going to find anything else in here—unless you were able to get into the computer.”

“I couldn’t find a password anywhere.”

“Even if you could, we’d have to know what application to use and how to use it. It might not be easy to figure out.” I lean over to look at the monitor because there are a couple of sticky notes on it, thinking maybe they have passwords, but they don’t seem to be. One seems to be a reminder of an upcoming meeting and the other looks like a small grocery list.

“So do you need to look at anything else?”

“No,” I say. And, while I like the idea of talking to Raquel, I doubt she’ll be able to give us any information. I know what I need to do next, and it doesn’t involve Joe. I can’t trust him anymore.

“Let’s get everything back in order then.”

I push in the locks on the three filing cabinets, ensuring first that the files appear to be in order while Joe locks the one drawer on the desk and straightens everything out there. Then he stands and shuts off the desk lamp and I retrieve the lab coat from the floor and hand it to him. He drapes it over the chair that he then rolls up to the desk while I try to put the other chair where I hope we found it.

“They probably have cleaning crews who comes in here. If it’s a little off, she probably won’t think twice about it.”

I hope he’s right, but I don’t like taking chances.

Joe opens the door and looks both ways before walking into the hallway. He starts heading back toward our section, but I say, “I’m going this way. I’ll see you later.”

“What are you doing?”

“I want to explore more.”

I hear him sigh in the semi-darkness. “Then I’m coming with you.”

“You don’t need to,” I say as I begin walking in the direction of the elevators. I know Joe said I’d need a badge to use them, but I’m curious anyway. I want to find out for myself, especially since now everything Joe says is questionable.

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