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Luke hated Mondays. But he hated Monday mornings with a red blinking light on the group inbox even more. It usually meant bad news.
He clicked through the emails, scanning for updates on Project Polaris—an aggressive, six-week deadline gig that upper management had dropped on his team like a bomb. Every piece of communication was crucial. And now, yet again, something was off.
“Where’s the vendor quote from DeltaTech?” he muttered aloud.
Gone.
Vanished.
He remembered seeing it Friday. It had attachments—licensing costs, scope confirmation. Now it was gone from the inbox, not in spam, not archived.
This was the fourth time something had disappeared. A thread with updated deadlines. A security code. A legal waiver. Now this.
Luke sat back in his chair, rubbing his temple. At first, he’d assumed user error—someone dragging things to the wrong folder or misfiling. But four times?
Someone was deleting essential emails.
His team was five people. Not big. Not anonymous.
There was Nate, fresh out of high school, polite, overenthusiastic, and perpetually drenched in cologne that lingered long after he left a room. Lana, sharp and qualified—just like Luke. She’d been passed over for the PM role. Since then, she kept missing key deliverables, claiming confusion over timelines or updated specs.
“
