CHAPTER 4
"What's gone?" Cheri looked worriedly from Mother to Lynda and back to Mother.
"The virtual reality equipment! I locked it in my file cabinet before lunch and now it's not there!"
"Are you sure? Maybe someone borrowed it," Cheri asked.
Mother began gasping as if she couldn’t catch her breath. Cheri’s original fears were confirmed. This equipment was more important than even she thought and she knew more about technology than her two sisters. Cheri remembered reading several articles in her computer magazines about hot technology trends and VR equipment was at the top of all the lists.
"No! No one is allowed to borrow the equipment since it is not patented yet. The other members of the design team, David and Margie, are out of town. These are very important new products for my company. I need to find them!"
Cheri and Lynda helped Mother meticulously search her entire office for the missing equipment. Mother opened each file drawer in the cabinet, lifted out and sifted through the contents. Lynda took out every book and pamphlet from the bookshelves. Cheri checked everything in the desk drawers. Sinda was supposed to crawl along the floor and look under every piece of furniture, but, as usual, she got bored and wandered off.
"I'd better inform security and my boss," said Mother unhappily. "I hope this doesn't cost me my job."
Lynda and Cheri watched Mother go into the next office to find Anne Benning, her boss. Anne was not in her office, so Mother continued along the hall towards the security office.
"Geez, this is not turning out to be such a great day, is it?" Cheri commented to Lynda. "I hope nothing else goes wrong."
Lynda didn’t say anything. She plopped down in the desk chair and her eyes began to tear. It was at these times that she wished Dad were here to help them. Dad had a special saying though. “It’s only a problem, and problems have solutions.” This memory made her feel a little better.
After security had been alerted, JT Nelson was assigned his staff to set up stations at each exit to search people who were leaving. He was very methodical in his work, Cheri thought. He reminded her of a bulldog who, once he got hold of something, would not let go.
The search continued for hours. All the people were very upset that Career Day was canceled and that security thought that they would actually steal something.
Finally, it was 6 p.m. and all the visitors were gone. JT came into Mother’s office; he was dragging Sinda by her tee-shirt. “I found her in the cafeteria, trying to eat all the brownies. We didn’t find the virtual reality equipment and everyone has gone. Is there anything I can do before I turn off the lights and go home?”
Mother said, “No, and thanks for all your help. I think I’ll stay a little longer and look some more. I don’t know what else to do. I really need to talk with Anne about the missing equipment. I wonder where she is.”
JT said good night and turned off the lights in the rest of the building. The days were shorter now that it was autumn, so the offices and hallways were instantly very dark except for some scattered light which shone through the windows from street lights. The building almost seemed to sigh when plunged into darkness.
Mother began searching through her office again and ignored the girls who were getting hungry and wanted to go home. The sisters were afraid to say anything to her. So Cheri started to read a computer magazine. Sinda said she had to go to the bathroom and quickly ran down the hall. Lynda didn’t know what else to do so she decided to make sure Sinda got to the bathroom.
Lynda walked down the hall but couldn’t find any bathrooms. She turned the corner and entered a darkened part of the building. She wandered for a while and eventually found herself near the entrance. Walking towards the receptionist’s desk, Lynda saw her shadow walking with her. For some reason, she felt a chill. The Visitor's Book was lying open on the desk and caused Lynda to think of some of the people she had observed that day.
There had been a man in the crowd wearing a suit and sneakers. Lynda had noticed him because his shoes were not the kind a man usually wore with a business suit. He did not seem to belong to any particular group. He weaved in and out of the crowds as carefully as a cat walking through wet grass.
Lynda saw the Sneaker Man glance repeatedly at a woman who was very nervous. Her jaws moved rapidly with the gum she was chewing. The woman had asked a lot of questions during the demonstration and seemed irritated when Mother wouldn’t give her the answers.
But the Sneaker Man had also stared at a principal who had come to Career Day with some of his students. Lynda had read his name badge very quickly and didn’t remember his name. The principal was overweight, Mother told her never to say people are fat, and sweat beaded on his face. That was odd because the air conditioning was so high that people complained about being cold. He also seemed engrossed in Mother's demonstration and didn't notice when a student from his group tripped another student right behind him. Lynda thought it unusual for a principal not to notice rowdy student behavior.
A couple attracted Lynda's attention because they were Japanese or Chinese, she wasn't sure. The woman was so pretty that she looked like a movie star and she was dressed in a business suit similar to Mother’s. They had no children with them and stayed off by themselves--away from the crowd. Now that she thought about it, the couple had no name badges.
Everyone was supposed to have a name badge or they couldn’t get past the security guard at the front door. Lynda thought that was strange. Another anxious thought came to her: Mother would kill her if she didn't find Sinda.
Sinda had left the restroom but couldn’t remember which hallway led back to Mother’s office. She walked down a darkened hallway and discovered that she could make animal shapes with her hands on the walls because of the light from an occasional street light outside office windows. Her tiger was the best, especially when she added a loud roar which echoed down the empty hallway. Dad would like her tiger. Sinda decided that she would show her tiger to her sisters as soon as she saw them again...and she hoped that would happen soon.
Hearing a loud hum, she followed the sounds and stumbled into a dark room. Sinda now recognized it as the copy room; she had been there a couple of times with Mother. She was feeling around on the walls for a light switch when she heard voices close by. Not wanting to get into more trouble, Sinda ducked beside the huge copy machine and crouched down.
A voice floated out of the darkness, "It's gone. It's not there."
"He must have gotten it out."
"Well, he sure could have told us what he had planned."
The voices were angry and Sinda could tell two voices from a man and a woman.
"Shh! I hear someone coming!"
The voices quickly arranged to meet later and
Sinda heard footsteps moving away from her. She waited and waited and then… She heard footsteps coming toward her. Lynda walked into the copy room and switched on the light.
"There you are! Why do you always have to wander off so I have to look for you?
Sinda put on her most pitiful face, the one where her bottom lip stuck out over her top lip. She sniffled just as if she was going to cry. It always worked with Lynda. Cheri—not so much.
"Oh come on,“ Lynda said. “I’m not really angry. Mother wants to go for supper soon."
Lynda and Sinda made their way back to Mother’s office. Sinda ran in first and yelled, “I’m starved. Can we go eat now?”
Cheri was still sitting and reading. "Not yet! Not until I’ve finished this article!"
"Okay, girls! Let’s go. We’ve had enough excitement for today," Mother said. "I don’t want to cook. How about Tex Mex tonight?" All three Floyd sisters nodded happily knowing it wouldn’t be alfalfa and bean sprouts again tonight.