Reduction in Force

In this short story, software engineer Jackie Rousseau loses her job to outsourcing, as do several others in her group. Their manager doesn't seem to care. Jackie manages to stay afloat financially but she sees the damage the reduction in force wreaks on her friends' lives. Art needs to support a family and an ill wife. Raymond seems to be coping and then goes off the deep end. Jackie, a gardener when she's not writing code, decides to deliver a dose of revenge.

This story was first published in THIN ICE by Level Best Books (2010). Jackie is a major character in SPEAKING OF MURDER by Tace Baker, Edith Maxwell's pen name (Barking Rain Press, September 2012).