Page 15 of Wild Fever

"As I'm sure Reggie told you, Preston Stewart is deceased,” I said.

Dana frowned, but somehow looked insincere. "I'm so sorry to hear that. I really liked Preston. He was such a nice guy until... Can you elaborate on the cause of his death? Was this some kind of accident? Did he have a heart attack or anything?"

"I can't discuss specifics at this time," I said.

"Sure. I understand.” After a momentary pause, she said, "What can we do for you?"

I flashed a disarming smile. "I just have a few questions. Standard procedural stuff."

"Of course."

"Mrs. Stewart said there were two company security personnel who visited her house earlier today. They mentioned something about a security issue. I'm hoping you might be able to elaborate on that.”

Dana's face tightened. Douglas remained stoic.

"It was an internal security breach. That's all I can really say at this time. Classified information. You understand.”

"Of course," I said. "What exactly did Preston do here for the company?"

Dana frowned. "I wish I could go into detail. But again, most of what we do here is classified. I can tell you, however, that Preston was a fundamental part of this team until today, overseeing various compliance and cost analysis issues."

"Can you tell me if he expressed any symptoms of depression?”

Dana cringed. She shared a glance with Douglas, and he gave a subtle nod. "Preston has been exhibiting… disturbing behavior lately.”

"Disturbing?"

"Manic-depressive episodes. Volatile outbursts. Verbal abuse. He became aggressive, for lack of a better term.”

"Physically violent?"

She shook her head. "No. But that was a growing concern. As such, we terminated his position here at the company this morning."

I lifted a surprised brow.

"It was a difficult decision, but he became a disruptive presence in the office, and we didn't want to take the risk. You know how it is these days.”

"Did he make any direct threats against employees or the company?"

Dana hesitated and shared another glance with Douglas. “Not in so many words. But we felt that given his current trajectory, and the sensitive nature of our work, he posed a security threat to the company.”

"So, you're saying that Preston was the security issue.”

After a hesitation, she said, "That would be one way to describe it.”

"And that's the reason you sent the security team to his house?"

Dana took a deep breath. "We do care about all of our employees, as well as our former employees, including Mr.Stewart. Out of concern and an abundance of caution, we thought it best to send someone to his house to check on him and his wife to make sure everything was okay. Sometimes with a major life change, situations can become volatile.”

"You thought he might become a threat to his wife," I surmised.

"In situations like this, a career change creates uncertainty and stress. Given Preston's recent disruptive behavior, we thought it best to check on the family to ensure their safety.”

It sounded reasonable and prudent given the situation.

"You mentioned an internal security breach.”

Dana cringed and shared another glance with Douglas. He gave her a nod. "We believe Preston may have been disseminating classified information.”