“No,” I said, looking at the scattered paperclips on my desk. “I’d rather stay busy.”

“Alright,” Marcus said. “But let me know if he contacts you again. I’ll have security monitor the lobby for the rest of the week.”

“Thank you,” I said.

Marcus nodded and walked back to his office, closing his glass door behind him.

The rest of the office slowly went back to work, though I could still feel the weight of their hushed whispers.

I picked up the paperclips one by one and put them back into the plastic cup.

My phone sat on the desk next to the keyboard.

I wanted to call Jerome, but my hands were still too unsteady to dial.

I stared out the window near my desk.

The autumn sky was a dull, heavy grey, threatening rain.

I wondered how Scott had gotten so desperate so quickly.

He had always been greedy, but this level of recklessness was new.

The inheritance must have been much closer to slipping away than I realized.

An hour passed in a blur of spreadsheets and unanswered emails.