Rachel’s Interview

Setting the Scene - Writing Prompt:

The power outage caused the entire city to go black. Rachel called out for the receptionist to reschedule her interview, but there was no reply. She stumbled to the desk to write a note, but instead of a pen, her fingers landed on…

Rachel’s Interview

The power outage caused the entire city to go black. Rachel called out for the receptionist to reschedule her interview, but there was no reply. She stumbled to the desk to write a note, but instead of a pen, her fingers landed on what felt like an arm. It was covered in something wet and sticky and smelled like metal.

The generator hadn’t turned on and Rachel could not through the darkness that surrounded her.  She knew that something was terribly wrong and pulled out her phone to use as a light. She saw the phone receiver lying on the desk  Rachel realized that the sticky substance had to have been blood. She noticed the receptionist lying face down on the desk in a pool of blood. She put her fingers onto the lady’s neck and checked for a pulse.  Breathing a sigh of relief when found the woman had a pulse.  She was still alive, even if her pulse was weak and she was barely breathing.  Rachel thought, “But she IS breathing!” and knew that she needed to figure out how to help her.

Rachel watched enough crime dramas to know the attacker could still be lurking in the shadows.  She lifted her phone, turned on the flashlight, and looked around the room to make sure she was safe. She knew that she couldn’t help anyone if the attacker hurt her, too. After searching the room from where she stood behind the desk, it seemed as if they were alone in the room,  so she called 911. The dispatcher asked if she saw what happened, saw anyone else in the room, or if she heard anything.

Rachel explained to the dispatcher that when the power went out, she heard a faint popping sound. It sounded like an old-fashioned lightbulb burning out. She thought that perhaps the power outage caused one of the lights to blow out, but she now realized it must've been a gunshot.

The dispatcher told her to be cautious and not to put herself in any more danger.  He said that help was on their way.  He asked Rachel's name and phone number in case they were disconnected. They established that it seemed as if Rachel was alone with the receptionist.  Rachel told him that the woman had a pulse, was barely breathing, and that she was bleeding from both her back and her chest - from what looked like gunshot wounds. The dispatcher asked her to find something to help her stop the bleeding.

Rachel put him phone on speaker phone, picked up the woman's sweater and held it tightly below her left shoulder blade to stop the bleeding. She took off her own sweater, wadded it up into a ball, and placed it on the woman's chest.  She leaned the woman back onto the desk so that she could use her own body weight as pressure on the wound. She then put pressure on the back wound.

Once Rachel had pressure on the wounds, she called out for help to see if anyone else was around. The building was crawling with people only an hour before. They were headed back from their lunch break.

"Where could they be now?" She muttered under her breath. The only thing she could figure out was that the elevators were out of service because of the power outage and the people who returned from lunch are probably in their offices on different floors of the building.

The woman on the desk moaned and try to sit up, but Rachel softly told her that she needs to lie still. She added that she had an accident, and the paramedics were on their way. She then asked what her name is.

The young woman weakly said, "My name is Sylvia St. James. Do you know what happened to me?"

Rachel didn’t want to confuse her, so she told the woman that she wasn't quite sure exactly what happened. She said, "You have two wounds that I know of and I'm trying to stop the bleeding. Sylvia, do you remember what happened to you?”

Before Sylvia answered, Rachel remembered that her phone was still connected to 911 and they were recording everything. She watched enough police shows on television to know that she should ask questions and try to get as many answers as she can, before the woman loses consciousness again. But she also knew that she should not provide any details because it could confuse her and make the situation harder for the police to figure out who did this.

Sylvia told her that she remembered calling Mr. Dyer to let him know that Rachel was there for her interview. She said that her phone rang. She picked it up, but it went dead in her hand. The lights went out as she turned to speak to Rachel. She immediately felt a sharp, burning pain in her back. She didn’t remember anything else until Rachel asked her name.

Trying to get as many details as she could before anything else happened, Rachel asked if she was married or in a relationship. Sylvia replied, “I served my husband with divorce papers yesterday. I found out he is having an affair, and she is pregnant.”   Sylvia started to cry as the last sentence came out of her mouth.  The woman was betrayed, heartbroken, and almost died. Rachel felt sick to her stomach. She whispered towards the phone, “What else should I ask her – in case she…

The dispatcher interrupted to ask if Sylvia was still conscious and breathing.

Rachel said, “Barely – to both questions.“

The dispatcher told her to ask Sylvia if she knew of anyone who might want to hurt her.

Sylvia answered, “Only my husband and his side chick. Maybe someone from one of their families or their friend group... I can’t think of anyone else.”

Trying to dig a little deeper, Rachel then asked if she knew of anyone who may want to hurt her boss.

Sylvia answered that the pregnant girlfriend is the boss’s 22-year-old daughter. She told Rachel that she gave her notice to her boss yesterday and had already found a job in a different town. She was planning to move in two weeks. Although she loved working here, she did not want a daily reminder of her cheating husband. She did not want to see the other woman, her husband, or their child – even in photos. She needed to clean break from this entire situation. Sylvia tried to look at Rachel, she smiled and thanked Rachel for keeping her alive. A moment later, she was unconscious again.

Rachel told the 911 dispatcher that Sylvia was unconscious again. The operator told her that she’s doing a great job. He asked if she was okay and told her to hang in there. He told her that help is on its way.

Just then, the police and the ambulance pulled in front of the building. A few officers ran inside the building, searching the area so that they could clear it for the EMTs to enter.

Rachel stepped back and allowed the EMTs to take over Sylvia‘s care.

As she backed up against the wall to allow the paramedics and police to do their jobs. She took a deep breath, trying to calm the anxiety that suddenly took over. Suddenly, the world went black.

When Rachel finally opened her eyes again, she was in a hospital room hooked up to an IV and oxygen. She looked around the room and saw her sister sitting in the corner, staring at her with a worried look on her face.

“Fancy meeting you here.“ She smiled at her sister as the hospital smells took over her senses. “But this lighting is not your friend.” She joked.

Her little sister forced a laugh through the tears streaming down her face. “You really scared me, Rachel! Are you alright?” she asked.

“I’m okay, Aubrey.”  she answered. “Did I get the job?”

Aubrey told her that Mr. Dyer showed up a few hours ago to  offer her the job. She told him that she would have Rachel call him when she felt better, and he left. “Rachel, I asked the nurses, and he didn’t even check on Sylvia. I thought that was weird.”

Rachel asked, “So how IS Sylvia was doing?”  But the doctor walked in before Aubrey could answer.

Dr. Feldman told her that she had been experiencing a combination of shock and dehydration. He told her that they gave her oxygen to help her catch her breath and an IV to rehydrate her. He would keep her there overnight for observation. He also explained the Detective Myers posted an officer outside of her room as a safety precaution because of what happened. There was an officer guarding Sylvia, too.

After supper, Detective Myers walked into Rachel’s room and introduced himself. He asked her a few questions and told her that he was impressed with the way she handled the whole situation.

He told Rachel that he needed to keep her safe from any fall out of this case. He told her that Sylvia had undergone two surgeries already and would likely need more before she could start her long recovery process. He said that if it hadn’t been for her quick action, Sylvia would not be here with us today.

Detective Myers added, “We would like to put you into witness protection to keep you safe from the people who did this to Sylvia. We are in the process of creating your new backstory and crafting any documents you may need while living that life.”

Rachel told him that Aubrey was her only family. If she left town, she needed to bring Aubrey with her because she did not want her to be all alone.

Detective Myers said that he had already added her story to Rachel‘s new identity.

Rachel then asked, “What about Sylvia? Is she going to into protection, too?”

Detective Myers answered that they were searching for a facility that would be secure enough to keep Sylvia safe. Most of the facilities are either not secure enough or don’t want the responsibility of putting their entire hospital at risk.

Rachel asked, “Couldn’t she just be another sister in our story? The people looking for her would be looking for someone who is alone. Wouldn’t it make more sense to group us together so that we could keep each other safe?”

He told her that they did consider that an option but felt it wouldn’t be fair to her or to Aubrey.

Rachel then asked, “Shouldn’t that decision be up to Aubrey and me? We are the ones who would be taking care of her, so I think if we are both okay with it and Sylvia agrees, the discussion should be over, right?”

Detective Myers told her he would stalk to Sylvia, speak to his FBI contacts, and make sure everyone was on the same page. 

Two weeks later, the FBI showed up to the hospital where all three ladies were awaiting their new identities. They brought men’s clothes, hats, and backpacks, full of outfits to change into. The plan was that the agents would escort three ladies (FBI agents) into different directions as a distraction in case they were being watched.

Rachel, Aubrey, and Sylvia would dress in men’s clothing. They would be escorted by three female agents, pretending to be their wives. The group would travel to a safe house to spend a night.  The plan is to spend three nights at this location.  They would change into female clothing, donning wigs and glasses to change their appearance three more times before heading to their new home.

Twelve days later, Rachel began a new life with a new identity, as Jessica. Her background in criminology and cyber security helped her secure a job working remotely for the FBI.  This new position allowed Rachel to work behind the screen from anywhere in the world.  It was perfect for  her and for this situation.

Aubrey’s new job was working as a physical therapist in an elder daycare center.  It was a brand new, state-of-the-art building that had a ballroom/theater room area, a sewing room, craft room, aquatic center, and even a workroom filled with tools for those who wanted to use them  This center had everything that anyone in the elderly community could want or need.  The center allowed Aubrey (now known as Lucy) to bring her twin sister, Molly (Sylvia’s new name) with her to be taken care of during the day.  They provided Sylvia with physical therapy and any care she would need to help her heal.

The FBI took advantage of the fact that Sylvia and Aubrey were the same age and looked very much alike.  Seriously, whoever was looking for them would never think of looking for twin sisters. It was a genius plan! Even the people who worked with them every day didn’t realize that they were not related.  All they knew was that Sylvia had had some sort of accident, needed therapy, and that Aubrey was her therapist.

Four years after their relocation, Sylvia was contacted by Detective Myers. He told her that they finally got a confession out of Shelby Dyer, her ex-husband‘s new wife. Shelby called Detective Myers to let him know that her husband has been cheating on her with a woman in his office. She found an email from him to his new fling that said, “I love you and can’t wait for the birth of our son. If only we could get rid of my wife, so that we could be together forever.” She explained that this was exactly what he said to her before she tried to get rid of Sylvia.

Shelby was arrested immediately, and there was a warrant out for both, Sylvia‘s ex-husband and his pregnant new side chick.

This whole ordeal was almost over. The girls would soon be free to go back to their own lives.

Did they really want to go back to that life? Couldn’t they remain here in this family that they have created together? Yes, they could. And they spent the rest of their lives living as the loving, close-knit family they had become.