Chapter #10The Copycat by: Seuzz   Yeah, the safest way to lay your hand on the chemicals would be to go in while pretending to be Sean; that way if anyone caught you there'd be no awkward questions.
Except that Sean would be around, too. Would there be some way of getting him out of the way? Or going in when he's not around?
Ah! He's supposed to go out of town this weekend to visit his grandparents, and as it is an extended trip he's slated to take Friday off. That's when you could go in. But then you'd be the one missing work. Hmmm ...
"Will!" It's your dad's voice.
"Yeah?"
"Don't 'yeah' me, mister. When I call, you come down."
Without bothering to remove Sean's mind band, you rush downstairs. Your father stands glowering in the living room. You gulp a little to see that he's holding the thick binder of work-related material you were given to study. "Have you even looked at this thing?"
"Uh, a little."
"Okay, let's see how much you absorbed," he says acidly. He jerks his head, and you follow him into the dining room with a sinking feeling.
Twenty-five harrowing minutes later he pushes the binder away and stares at you in frank disbelief. "You picked all that up just by looking at it a 'little'?" he says.
You shrug. "Mostly it seems like common sense," you improvise. Thank goodness you still had Sean's mind band on, and that he's an expert on Salopek's many policies and warnings.
Your dad shakes his head. "And yet your school work just seems to bounce off you. Well," he sighs. "Carry on."
* * * * *
"Hey Sean, is there any way I'd be able to miss work on Friday?" you ask him the next day at school.
He turns to stare, and his manner, though not exceptionally unfriendly, is distinctly cool. "It's not school. You can't skip," he says bluntly.
"I know that. I just mean, if I asked to take the afternoon off, do you think I could get it?"
"You just started, and you're already asking for days off? That's really not gonna go well."
"Thing is, I'm supposed to have a dental appointment, and they called to reschedule and wanted to know if I could come in Friday afternoon," you lie.
He looks skeptical. "You can ask, but even asking isn't going to make you popular." Now he is very frosty.
"Well, thanks for being honest with me," you say, feeling a little desperate to get back in his good graces. "You were just awesome with me yesterday, I really appreciate it. So, um, I guess I'll see you Friday."
"You'll see me this afternoon." The chill, if possible, deepens.
"Of course, I didn't mean that. I'm just saying I'll be there Friday and see you then, too."
His lips purse, and he grunts. Clearly he doesn't want to have to say that he won't be there on Friday. You scuttle away crabwise before things become worse.
* * * * *
Friday. You snap the brim of the ball cap low over your brow and check yourself out in the rearview mirror. Your disguise is as good as you can make it. The face and body and mind of Sean Mitchell are perfect, of course, but you'd had to improvise with the wardrobe, employing one of your rarely used polo shirts and khakis. It should do, however, until you can get into his work locker and change into the extra stuff he keeps there.
Getting the mask had been tricky, and you'd only managed to score it yesterday. Sean had been on his back on the floor of the machine shop, working under some equipment. You werestanding over him with the mask (you'd been carrying it with you for the past few days) wedged against the side of your hip between your underwear and your jeans. You pretended to accidentally knock a heavy hammer off the equipment; Sean winced and looked away as it clanged heavily onto the floor next to his head. In a flash, you had the mask out and pressed to his face. Then you knelt, hiding him from view, until it reappeared. After you'd woken him back up he cursed you out hard as an accident-prone fuck up and said he'd have to report you. It made you feel bad, since you do like Sean and wish he'd like you. For that to happen, of course, you'd have to stop knocking him cold ...
Taking a deep breath, you exit your truck and stride to the front office.
"I thought you had the day off," Debra, the receptionist, says in surprise.
"Things fell through, thought I'd come in and work anyway," you say. "That gonna be a problem?"
"We couldn't find anyone to cover for you," she says, "so Andy'll be happy to see you. Oh, and Will Prescott called, said he'd be late."
You snort. "Guy's just begging to be fired. Well, when he shows up, send him to find me."
Outside, you look around to check that the coast is clear. The alleys aren't crowded, but no one is paying attention to you, so you're able to get to Sean's locker and change into some of his clothes. Then it's off to score some empty containers. You check your shopping list and trot off to your first destination.
Within the thirty minutes you have all but two of the liquids--some quite flammable--that you need, and decided to sneak some of them back out to the parking lot. But on your way out you run into Keyes. "You already finished in the distribution center?" he asks in surprise.
You blink. "Huh? Oh, I had to step out to the head."
"You give Prescott that warning?"
"Sir?"
"Prescott. He showed up?"
"I haven't seen him."
"You said his truck was out front."
You pale. "I did?"
He looks at you over the top of his glasses. "Are you feeling okay?"
"Yes sir. I just haven't seen Prescott. Uh, not yet."
He rolls his eyes, and which then settle on the four containers you're clutching. "What's that?"
"Uh, I'm not sure. I ran into Jorge on the way back and he asked me to step this over to the front gate for him."
"Well, take this with you, give it to Debra for me." He thrusts a manila folder at you and walks away.
Slowly you return to the front office. Debra looks up at you in exasperation. "You here to tell me again you've decided to come in to work?"
You swallow hard. "No, just dropping this off for Andy." You shift items, almost dropping them, and present her with the folder Keyes gave you. "Anything else?"
"You tell me," she says somewhat waspishly. "Oh, but tell Prescott to trot around to see his dad. The man isn't happy."
You slowly walk out into the parking lot. (Luckily, no one challenges you.) It sounds like Sean actually decided to show up for work, and it's only a blessed coincidence you haven't run into him yet. Well, maybe it's not such a coincidence; it's a big complex, and it sounds like he's been stuck inside the distribution center since he arrived.
You stash the chemicals in the back of your truck, thinking all the while. The safest thing is to ditch Sean's mask and go back in as yourself, pleading an accident, like a flat tire. But it sounds like you're on the verge of getting fired, and if that happens you won't be able to get back in to snag the rest of what you need. Maybe you should just try running the table while you still can.  indicates the next chapter needs to be written. |
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