Chapter 3

CHAD MALCOLM

Chad Malcolm stared at his computer screen.

His fingers rested on his keyboard, but they were still. He hadn't added anything to his report on the internal investigation into who the whistleblower may be in the last fifteen minutes. In the last hour, he had only added a handful of sentences he knew hardly counted as somewhat passable writing. At least he had Malibu who would translate the document into proper writing for whomever it was going to. She could get it into the language that was to be expected from co-owner and CEO of Leviathan Inc.

Chad glanced up at his wife over the top of his computer. Her silky hair cascaded over her shoulders, and light glittered on her ruby necklace. She really was the most beautiful woman Chad had ever had the privilege of laying eyes upon, with intelligence that matched her looks— Darcy was a goddess walking the earth of Waverwell, and Chad was the one she had married. He was so lucky.

Darcy's eyes were fixated on her own computer as her fingertips tapped away at her keyboard.

A pang of jealousy cut through Chad's chest, but he didn't give it any more thought— Darcy had her own work and it was getting done. I'll just have to come up with my own way to get words on the page, he thought, returning his attention to his screen.

The cursor flashed at him in an accusing sort of way, and he frowned at it.

Chad curled his fingers into tight fists as frustration washed over him, egged on by the rhythmic ticking of the clock hanging on the wall between his desk and Darcy's.

He took a sip of coffee. A hair over room temperature, it wasn't very good, but coffee was coffee, and he needed the caffeine. Perhaps that little bit of energy would jumpstart his brain, and he'd be able to get the rest of the report. Wishful thinking, but it will work. Believe it, and it would turn true.

There really wasn't very much to be put in the report— much of it was what had already been figured out: the whistleblower was likely a current or past employee of Leviathan Inc., the whistleblower had released another statement to Waverwell News, the whistleblower had made demands that Leviathan Inc. expose themselves and show what they had done, and the whistleblower had refused to give any indication of their identity when Waverwell News had asked.

At Chad's request, Malibu had begun an internal investigation into every employee in Leviathan Inc. But since the company was the largest employer out of any company in Waverwell —close to ninety-thousand people received paychecks from them, almost a fifth of Waverwell's entire population— sifting through every employee file was no easy task. No quick task, either.

Malibu had people working around the clock, but there were still countless more to go through, even with computer assistance.

And who knew if the whistleblower was working alone? Chad thought with a frown.

How many of his and Darcy's employees were betraying the very ideals Leviathan Inc. stood for? Loyalty, dedication, hard work, intelligence, quality, outstanding customer service, things he thought no one should have to think about— it was so obvious what a company should look like. But it seemed not everyone working at Leviathan Inc. held the same beliefs he did.

The quiet patter of Darcy's keyboard stopped, and Chad looked up as the silence settled over the room.

"Did Malibu ever find who the whistleblower was?" She asked.

Chad shook his head. "No, not yet."

"Oh." Darcy's lips pursed. "That's unfortunate. I would've thought she'd have found them by now. I will have to speak with her later." She drummed her manicured nails on her desk, face wrinkling in a frown Chad wished he could wipe away so she would never feel upset again. "I really would've hoped Malibu would have been able to figure out who the whistleblower is, that little coward. If you're going to make such a drastic claim like the one they made, at least have the guts to put your own face behind it and say it was you."

"I couldn't agree more, honey."

Darcy smiled, and Chad felt his heart melt in his chest. He wanted to make her smile again, just so he could see the expression once more. If he had any say, she would always be happy, would always be content.

Chad returned his attention to his computer when Darcy began typing agin. The cursor on his screen flashed as he tried to formulate his thoughts into something he could turn into sentences.

We are still conducting an internal investigation into the identity of the person who made the claims that the disease spreading through Corville, Dal, and other possible cities doctors have yet to confirm was caused by Leviathan Inc.'s energy source Arkreon.

Help support creative writers by finding and reading their stories on the original site.

With close to ninety-thousand employees, the investigation into possible persons of interest is taking time, but we will not stop until the person is found. We are confident the person is a current or past employee of Leviathan Inc., as some of the information they released in their claims included things that only someone who worked at Leviathan Inc. would know.

But it wasn't enough. There was the data— people cleared, people somewhere between possible persons of interest and cleared, people closer to persons of interest, and people still being puzzled out, what was being looked for, time with Leviathan Inc., what the job in the company was. But none of that would make for a report on its own; more was needed to connect the data, show its relevance to the search for the whistleblower and to the other data, make it so heads and tails could be made of everything.

Two paragraphs couldn't do that.

"I'm going to take a walk and stretch my legs and clear my head. The report will be done by the end of the day, but I can't really get anything more written down right now," Chad said as he stood up from his chair, arching his arms over his head to release the tension from his back. His spine popped, relieved after being hunched over at a computer for the last several hours.

"Ok. Let me know if you need anything. Where will you be heading?" Darcy's eyes were warm as she gazed at him.

"I'll be going up to the rooftop balcony, I think. I won't be gone long; I just need a moment to breathe. It's so frustrating knowing that this little whistleblower is likely right under our noses. Hiding in plain sight. But we cannot find out who they are."

"Yet," Chad added. "We cannot find out who they are yet."

Darcy nodded her head. "Yet, indeed. We will find them."

xxxx

Chad swiped his key card and tapped the button in the elevator for the roof, which had lit up green after his key card had been approved. The elevator lurched and then began moving upward, coming to an abrupt halt at the top. Chad stepped out onto the roof

The air was still, tinged with just enough warmth that it was comfortable. The strings of light strung up between trellises cast blurred rings of white on the ground, and the succulents in the bowl on the table gave a vibrant splash of color against the dull grey tones of the furniture.

Traffic was light; early afternoon never got very busy since most were at work, just past lunch and waiting until late afternoon when they could go home. Chad heard a few honks, but not the near-constant blare like he always heard when people started their commute back home.

He sat down on one of the couches, and the cushions cradled his body as he leaned back and closed his eyes. The sun's gentle rays shone down onto his face, warming his skin.

Chad wondered if the whistleblower was somewhere beneath him, working at a desk, perhaps, tech support, maybe, receptionist, possibly. Or were they a secretary, custodian, intern. Were they sitting in a chair here in Leviathan Inc.'s Corville office?

Did they know just how hard he was looking for them? Did they know that he would talk with every single person Leviathan Inc. employed if it meant finding them? Did they know that he would scour every inch of Waverwell if it meant uncovering their identity?

But what Chad couldn't understand was why. Why had the whistleblower done what they had done? Perhaps they were bribed?

Chad leaned forward, forearms on his knees.

Leviathan Inc. paid well. Highly competitive pay, even at entry-level jobs. Gave good vacation time. Offered good benefits. People stuck around. Chad had made sure Leviathan Inc. was a company people would be proud to work at. He wanted their logo —the teal serpent's head— to be a badge of honor, an image that showcased where somebody worked, to say that yes, they worked at the greatest company in all of Waverwell.

He supposed that a bribe could've been made, but depending on what job the whistleblower held, it would've had to have been huge— Chad took pride in being able to offer some of the best salaries across the board, even amongst companies not in the energy production business.

Perhaps blackmail? Maybe a family member was threatened? Unwanted photographs that were to be exposed? A secret revealed?

He couldn't understand what would've caused someone to make such terrible claims. What use would he have for setting a horrible disease loose on the citizens of Waverwell? They paid him to provide energy for their homes and businesses. Without customers, Chad had nothing.

But then the thought crossed his mind that perhaps there wasn't an external reason the whistleblower made those claims. Perhaps they weren't forced.

Anger churned in Chad's gut and he narrowed his eyes, curling his lip.

Perhaps the whistleblower made those false claims of their own accord. They might not even have talked with anyone— it might have been entirely their own idea. It might have been only them writing everything up and sharing it with Waverwell News and Did You Hear?! The idea made rage simmer and bubble in Chad's gut.

He clenched his fists, but before he could scream like he so badly wanted to, he exhaled slowly, imagining every bit of his fury getting thrown out into the sky in fiery curls of red from his breath. Snapping would hold no greater purpose. It would not help find the whistleblower. It would not help cushion Leviathan Inc.'s fall. It would not help rebuild Leviathan Inc.'s empire.

"Ok, Chad," he whispered to himself. "What do we know about the whistleblower so far?"

So little was known— the claims were known, and it was known that the person likely was a current or past employee of Leviathan Inc. But past that, nothing was known, and it frustrated him to no end.

Chad tilted his head up to the sky, and the sun shone down on his face. The fiery rays lit up the sky and cast stark shadows on the ground, crisp lines outlining where the sun could not reach.

Anger won't help, he reminded himself. It will only blind you to the simplest, most obvious things. Your actions will turn childish and stupid. You need to keep a level head, Chad. Only then will you be able to get ahead of the whistleblower and find out their identity. Be patient and leave no stone left unturned. Go through every scrap of information you can find.

The whistleblower might have been keeping their identity under lock and key, but Chad knew no one was invisible. They did exist. There was something out there that would lead to them, and he would find it. He was so close he could taste it. They were right under his nose.

Right under the nose of the serpent.

It was a game of cat and mouse, and the whistleblower would walk right into his waiting claws.