Chapter 17: Ragnarok and espionage 2 (Chloe)

Sorry for the delay again guys, last week really threw off my schedule

(Pov Mr. Henderson)

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To: [email protected]

From: [email protected]

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Dear Mr. Henderson,

I hope you are doing well. I am writing to reiterate that the offer we gave you for the project manager position in Seattle is still open and will remain so for the foreseeable future. Should your current circumstances change, we would love to have you on the team.

Best wishes,

Sandra Solomon

May 9, 2026

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There were many things you could say about headhunters, though the most polite thing was that they were persistent. Not that it made sense for him to be headhunted. Sure, he had some successful projects under his belt, some very successful ones too. But not enough for people like West Star to be reaching out. West Star was a corporate titan, not as large as things like Google or Amazon, sure. But they owned more infrastructure, manufacturing, and contracts, both private and public, that they had over the last decade and a half become an indispensable part of, well, the entire northwest. If rumor was to be believed, they owned more local and state politicians than anyone else too. Though owned might be far too strong a word in that case.

The project was interesting, of course it was. A massive urban redevelopment project for suburbs outside Seattle after recent changes in zoning regulation to allow for mixed-use development. On top of the recent tax code changes that made traditional suburbs more expensive to both build and buy, while denser designs became far cheaper. It would be a hit, and if the ski resort didn't catapult his career, that certainly would.

He leaned back, sighing heavily. Which brought him back to the problem of the ski resort. They had cut some corners; the schedule didn't give them space to avoid it. Nothing illegal. He had some backbone, even when facing down major investors. Still, it was enough that if reviewed by the wrong people too early, it would trigger a review by the county board or state authorities. That wouldn't be an issue; however, only he and a few others had those files, and they would have the needed reasoning by the time they needed to submit said documentation. Everything would be fine. Of course if it did come to such a  review it might very likely kill the entire project.

A grumbling sound filled the room, echoing in his admittedly sparsely furnished office. How long has it been since I ate? Checking the time, he saw that it was well past lunch, and he had a sinking feeling that it would be a long day.

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(Pov Chloe)

Chloe nearly jumped out of her skin when the door to Mr. Henderson opened.

“Hey Chloe…” He looked at her with a raised eyebrow. “You good?”

She shook herself. “Yeah, you just startled me.”

“Well, sorry about that. I was thinking of going to buy lunch. You want me to bring back anything?”

She shook her head. “No, thank you.”

He gave her a small smile. “Ok then. Do remember to eat though. Just tell me how much you spend, save the receipts. Well, you know what to do.” He waved at her as he started walking back out. “Well then, see you in half an hour-ish.”

She waved back. “I'll remember. See you.”

As the door clicked shut, Chloe let out a breath she hadn't noticed she was holding. She had been on edge all day, and not because the date with Jason was coming up soon. Though the thought of it still made her giddy. No, the thing that was causing her to feel like someone was breathing down her neck was something else entirely. It was that damn thing currently in her desk drawer.

Her eyes felt drawn to it at that, like the entire room was twisting around it. Opening the drawer, she looked down at the hateful thing. It wasn't large, shorter than her finger in fact, thin too. It was easy to pick it up as she took it out of the drawer, looking at it under that dreadful overhead lighting. It should have been heavier, or at least it felt like it should. Though she guessed most USB sticks didn't weigh that much.

Jasmine had called in her favor. It hadn't taken her long; the woman seemed to know exactly what she wanted. And now she would have to commit corporate espionage. She hadn't asked for much- well, not in quantity; the quality of the request itself was another matter. Just some files, not even ones that were gonna remain confidential for long. After all, they were submitting them next week before the next meeting.

When she had tried to explain that to Jasmine, the woman had insisted on getting them before that. Of course she hadn't deigned to explain why. But she hadn't really expected her to; after all, she was willing to ask her to commit espionage in the first place.

In theory she could refuse. She probably should refuse. But a debt was owed, Jasmine had helped her get one of the main things she had been after for years. And without that help it had seemed more and more like it would simply end in heart break. Not even from it simply not working, but because neither of them tried. Some debts you simply had to pay. It also wasn't like Jasmine had asked for anything harmful, Mr. Henderson wasn't the type to mess with paperwork after all.

“In for a penny, in for a pound I guess.”

Mr. Henderson never locked his office while anyone else was here. Just in case she or one of the others had to get something. That said, the maintenance on the building could be improved drastically. Chloe cringed as the door creaked open, sounding like a cat in its dying screams. It's impossible no one heard that, right?

She knew they hadn't; after all, there was another door between her and the closest other person. Why Mr. Henderson had wanted that, she had no idea.

The office seemed corridor-like, stretching until eventually she saw the computer standing on the desk in front of the window. Dim light highlighted the keyboard and the monitor placed to one side on the desk.

The floorboards creaked, like old stairs that were well past their prime, as she walked into the office. The wheels of the chair by the desk squeaked as she pulled it out, and as she sat down, it groaned loudly enough that the neighbors probably heard it. Ohh, come on, I am not that heavy. Am I?

The light on the computer blinked lazily. Mr. Henderson had never been one to actually turn off his computer, and she was fairly certain the only times the thing was actually turned off was when Windows decided to force an update. He had also, luckily for her, never been the type to have a password for his computer. It wasn't the first time she had needed to use it while he wasn't here after all.

She pressed the space bar twice to wake the thing up, and was shortly after rewarded with a picture of Mr. Henderson's family. He hadn't changed that since he first gave her the job. Still, it was strange it didn't go directly to the dashboard. She pressed the spacebar again.

“Fuuuuuuck.” She whispered breathily.

Turns out Mr. Henderson did change from time to time. Now he had chosen to add a password. Chloe could hear the blood rush in her ears. This was bad, really bad.

Breathe girl, breathe. She needed to think. That was fine, she still had plenty of time. She glanced down at the clock displayed on the monitor.

“Oh, for god's sake.” She moaned. How had it already been fifteen minutes? She hadn't spent that long psyching herself up, had she?

Chloe took a steadying breath. She could work with that; she probably still had fifteen minutes after all. Maybe less, but not by much. Hopefully.

Mr. Henderson was a man of habits. And while he had an excellent memory, he had once spent nearly two days trying to get back into his phone when the fingerprint lock wouldn't work, and he had forgotten the password. He was organized and generally risk-averse. He would have the password written down somewhere. Somewhere he couldn't lose it.

​Luckily, there weren't any locks on any of the desk drawers. Though it took nearly five minutes before she found a little black notebook containing his passwords. Turns out there is a reason people shouldn't write down their passwords after all. Just in case some eighteen-year-old has to repay a debt with a little espionage. She chuckled, before her hands flew to her mouth, covering it.

The password listed in the notebook worked, and she was met with the desktop. It took her nearly three minutes to find the files Jasmine wanted and start copying them onto the USB stick. Some were surprisingly large, and it had taken longer than she expected for the thing to even properly register on the old computer.

Glancing out the window, her eyes narrowed. Is that?

“Ohh come on!” She not quite shouted. She was supposed to have more time, yet the line at whatever place Mr. Henderson had been to must have been exceptionally short. She was supposed to have more than 26 minutes after… That's actually right on schedule.

She placed the notebook back in its drawer and as quietly as possible closed it. And her fingers drummed on the desk as the loading bar crawled towards the finish line. She needed an excuse in case he came back before she was done, Something good.

She couldn't think of anything. The sound of her heart hammering in her chest was far too distracting to do any actual thinking. Luckily, the process was complete before she needed one.

She ripped the USB stick from its socket and put the computer back in hibernation mode. As she walked swiftly towards the door. And just as she had managed to sit down, Mr.Henderson entered the hallway that functioned as her office.

He looked at her with a raised eyebrow. “You good, Chloe?”

Chloe could feel her mouth growing dry as sand. “Yeah, I was just gonna… Go get lunch?” Her tone lightened towards the end.

“Were you?”

“Yes.” She hesitated before standing back up. “Also, I… I was wondering if I could take a longer lunch today?”

He gave her a soft smile, that same kind smile that normally made him feel like someone she could trust. She had to force herself to return a smile of her own as she thanked him, but it still felt like it had been plastered on, and poorly at that.

Twenty minutes later, she was standing outside the old lodge. Wiping her hands on her overalls, trying to get rid of an oily feeling that wouldn't disappear no matter what she did.

The door opened, and Jasmine was standing there smiling at her. “Hey, I saw your message. How did it go?”

“Well enough.” Her tone was flat, with a harsher quality than she wanted. She held out the USB stick. Giving it to Jasmine.

Jasmine grinned. “Thank you, Chloe. Just so it's said I do owe you one for this.”

“Sure.” Chloe wiped her hands on her pants again, keeping it as subtle as she could. Jasmine's grin faded into a softer smile, her eyes seeming almost apologetic.

“It won't go away, not for a while at least. But this does help us all long term. Even if it feels wrong.”

Thinking about it, Chloe felt dirty. She also didn't need to be back at work for a while.

“Hey, since you owe me one. Can I borrow your shower?”

Jasmine nodded, that same almost apologetic smile still on her face. “Yeah, of course. Feel free to use whatever you need in there too.