“Hey, I’m just doing my job.”
“Go to hell,” she snarled, and stomped across the lot to her car.
He walked just as quickly behind her.
“Who would you rather protect? Fierce Force, a biker gang that cooks meth and sells it to little kids; Witigo, the Satanists that stuff babies into dead animals; or your very own employee and lover?”
She whirled around to face him, glaring with murderous intent.
“Me!” she shouted, stabbing a finger at her chest. “My business and its integrity! That’s what I’m protecting.”
“Sure. I get that. But what about Zack?”
Sadie thought of the anguish and grief the publicity would cause Zack, and her heart thudded painfully. She closed her eyes and debated what to do.
“What if I don’t get the call to clean that meth lab?” Sadie asked. “I’m only helping out Scour Power until Egan returns.”
He shrugged. “If you don’t get the call, you’re off the hook. Then I’d just have to try and convince Egan.”
Relief washed over her. The cops could be working that lab for evidence for another few days and Egan would surely be back by then.
“And you’ll forget your attack on Zack if I’m not the one to get you inside?” Sadie asked.
“You have my word.”
Sadie didn’t think that meant a lot, but she conceded.
“Fine. If I get the call to clean that lab, you can do the initial walk-through with me, but under one condition.”
“Name it.”
“You’d have to agree not to touch or take anything that’s inside the house.” Not that she expected he’d make it inside that house. At least not with her.
“Absolutely.”
She nodded stiffly and turned to walk the final couple of steps to her car. Pressing the button on her key chain, she unlocked the door. She didn’t realize Scott was still behind her until he spoke.
“By the way, thanks for coming out for coffee with me,” he said. “It may have been a short date, but it sure was sweet.”
Sadie turned around, surprised to find him so close.
“Scott, you’re crazy.” She laughed in spite of herself. “This was so not a date.”
“Sure it was. The two of us gazing into each other’s eyes in a cozy little coffee shop late at night.” He smiled warmly and took a step closer.
Sadie stepped back and found herself against her car. She planted her hands on her hips and glared.
“You coerced me into meeting with you and then threatened to hurt my employee and my business to get what you wanted. What part of that could possibly be considered a date?”
“This part.”
Scott put his hands on her shoulders, leaned in, and brushed his lips lightly against hers. Sadie lifted her hands up quickly to push him away, but her fingers seemed to get lost along the way. She was surprised by the feathery gentleness of his lips on hers. The kiss deepened and grew hotter. As he drew her closer against him, Sadie was appalled to find that she was kissing him back. It was like her lips had a mind of their own. Just as the embrace loosened, Sadie pushed Scott so hard he stumbled.
“It was not a date,” she said emphatically, but her voice cracked when she got the words out.
Scott chuckled softly and offered her a wave as he walked toward his own car, a sporty black Solstice convertible.
“What’s wrong with me?” Sadie asked herself as she started up her car. “I can’t believe I actually kissed him back.”
She pulled out of the parking lot and gunned the accelerator. She barely remembered the drive back home, but when she turned the corner onto her street, she got a blast of cold reality. At least a dozen Harleys were idling loudly in her driveway.
6
“Are they still there?” Zack asked her over the phone.
“I don’t know. The second I saw all those bikers, I made a U-turn and took off like a bat out of hell,” Sadie admitted. She’d called him up babbling hysterically at first but had finally managed to relay the problem.
“Where are you now?”
“Parked behind a 7-Eleven two blocks away.” She unwrapped a 3 Musketeers bar and took a bite.
“Let me guess, you panicked and headed for the nearest chocolate bar.”
She could hear the laughter in his voice.
“It’s probably the kind of logic only a terrified woman understands,” Sadie said around a second bite of chocolate. “So are you going to come and rescue me or what?”
“By ‘rescue,’ do you mean stand up to a dozen angry biker dudes?”
She thought about it.
“Guess that’s asking a bit much,” she admitted. “How about if you just drive by and see if they’re still there and call me if the coast is clear?”
“And if they are still there?”
“Then call the cops.”
He sighed, then relented.
“Give me half an hour.”
By the time Zack called her back, she’d made her way through an Almond Joy and a bag of salt and vinegar Lay’s, and was almost done sipping a Big Gulp.
“Not a biker in sight,” he announced when he called her back.
“I’ll be there in five minutes,” she said, turning the key in her ignition. “Don’t leave.”
Sadie relaxed considerably when she turned the corner and spotted Zack’s Mustang parked in her driveway instead of a bunch of long-haired thugs with attitude. She parked in the garage and then invited him in for a drink. After a brief hesitation he accepted. Once inside, Zack went through her place and made sure there weren’t any bikers hiding in any of her closets or underneath her bed.
“All clear,” he announced, walking into the living room.
“Thanks.” Exhaling with relief, she handed him a cold beer.
“Now, about what you said over the phone,” he began.
“You mean when you answered and I started screaming hysterically that Fierce Force was waiting in my driveway to kill me?” She smiled wryly as she sank into a chair.
“No, the part when you said that you figured Fierce Force was out for revenge because you turned in the money.” Zack took the sofa and propped his feet up on the coffee table.
“It’s true, isn’t it?”
“I don’t like the fact that they know where you live, but if they were really interested in making you afraid, they probably would’ve done more than just idle in your driveway.”
Sadie chewed her lower lip. “I don’t want to find bikers hanging out in front of my house. My neighbors will kill me. Already I’m not invited to any good parties.”
“I’ve got a friend working the gang task force. I’ll see if he can put the word on the street that you had nothing to do with it. Maybe he can spread a rumor that the cops got an anonymous tip about the money and were on their way already when you called.”
“Think that’ll work? Scott Reed said they’re going to be hugely ticked off that all their cash will now be sitting in an evidence locker.” She regretted the words the second they left her mouth.
“And when did you talk to Reed?” She could tell by the slight twitching in his jawline that Zack was clenching his teeth.
“I met him for coffee tonight. He made me think he had news about that poor baby. Really, he’s just working on a news exposé about a satanic link to Fierce Force.”
He paused with his beer halfway to his mouth. “Satanic shit, huh? Hmm.” He took a long pull from the bottle. He seemed to be turning the idea over in his mind.
Sadie didn’t want to tell Zack about Scott’s threat to expose his past. If he knew, Zack could fly off the handle and confront the reporter and that would only make matters worse.
“You know what I think?” Zack began, looking at her intently. “I think Reed asked you for coffee ’cause the guy has a thing for you and used the satanic stuff as an excuse. I bet he even asked you out, didn’t he?”
“No. Not really.”
“Not really?” He scooped u
p Hairy from the floor and petted him for a minute, covering himself with rabbit fur.
“He said my meeting him for coffee was considered a date.” She could feel a blush creeping up her collar and laughed to cover it up.
“He’s crazy. If meeting for coffee is a date, then one half of Seattle is dating the other half.”
Zack put Hairy down and got to his feet. Sadie walked him to the door, thanking him along the way for coming to her rescue so quickly. Just before he left, he hesitated s if there was something pressing he had to say. Sadie looked up at him and waited. He leaned slightly forward and for a split second Sadie thought he was going to kiss her.
“Have a good night,” he said roughly, and then left hurriedly, closing the door harder than necessary behind him.
Sadie dumped their beer bottles in the recycling bin on the back deck and then fed Hairy some alfalfa pellets and half a carrot. She was putting the bag of rabbit food back in the cupboard when she noticed the light was blinking on her answering machine. The call must’ve come in when she was out for coffee with Scott. Sadie pressed play and her mother’s accusing voice filled the room.
“Since you don’t seem to return my calls these days, I’m forced to do this over the machine.” She was quiet a second in case Sadie would suddenly pick up, then sighed deeply and continued with her message. “Your aunt Lynn will be in town this weekend. I thought it would be nice to have Dawn’s baby shower while she’s staying with us, so I’ve decided to make the arrangements. It’s going to be here at my house two o’clock Saturday. Chloe said the time works for her and she already called and invited all Dawn’s friends. Since I’ve taken care of place and invitations, I expect you to take care of the food. And, Sadie, it had better be good food.” There was a pause before she added, “Your father tells me you were on the news, but I didn’t get to see it. Some kind of horrible business involving a goat and a baby?” She made tsking noises. “Let me know if you’ve decided to make a career change. I hear they’re hiring at Safeway.”
“Oh, double damn,” Sadie grumbled.
For her mother to leave a message this late at night, she must be getting desperate. Sadie picked up the phone and dialed Maeva. It was after midnight, but Maeva and Terry were usually still up. Still, she only got her friend’s voice mail.
“Look, my mom just told me the baby shower’s to be Saturday. This Saturday. If Terry can’t do the food on that short notice, I need to know right away because my mom will freak if I don’t bring good food.” Sadie paused. “Also, Scott Reed kissed me tonight and there were a dozen scary bikers in my driveway, but Zack took care of that. I guess that’s all that’s new in my life for this second.”
She hung up and found Hairy had hopped over and was looking up at her curiously.
“I had to tell somebody about the kiss or I’d explode,” she explained to the rabbit. She thought his look was judgmental, but he was probably just hoping for yogurt treats.
Sadie walked to her bedroom and stared hard at the boxes Dawn brought over, but didn’t touch them. She went back to her computer and typed in “Witigo Alliance.” Thousands of results came up. All the ones she found described basically the same thing. WA got their name from an Algonquian legend about windigo, also known as witigo, a creature so cannibalistic it had no lips because it ate them. When Sadie was done laughing, she checked around the net a bit more and discovered that some described the Witigo Alliance as a secret society, some called it a cult, and others referred to it as a club. Only a couple sites mentioned goat rituals and both of those contained links about paranormal workshops discussing those rituals.
Sadie gave up on the research and went back to her bedroom. She was just slipping out of her clothes and pulling an oversized T over her head when the phone rang.
“I feel like I’m the last to know! Since when are you dating that sexy reporter?” Maeva blurted in her ear.
“It wasn’t a date.”
“What was it? A drive-by kiss?”
“No, he convinced me to meet him for coffee and then afterward he ambushed me by my car and stuck his tongue down my throat.” The tongue part was technically a lie, but Sadie figured tongue was a definite possibility if the kiss had lasted a second longer.
“Hmm. And I’ll just add yum-m-m. Whenever I see him on the news with his hair blowing in the breeze, I almost wet myself.”
Sadie heard Maeva’s boyfriend, Terry, complain loudly in the background and Maeva added loudly as an aside, “Of course he’s not as hot as Terry.” Then she lowered her voice to Sadie. “Terry is hot, but Scott Reed is sizzling.”
“Reed also brought up Witigo Alliance,” Sadie said.
“Wow. Cute and informed. That makes him twice as sexy.”
“He wants me to bring him through a meth lab where he thinks they had a ritual or meeting or something. He wants more stuff for his story.”
“That might not be such a bad idea. Shining a spotlight on dark forces always makes them dissipate. Then again sometimes it just drives them further underground. If you don’t want to help Scott with his research, I’m volunteering. I practically have to run and have a cold shower after every newscast.”
“Speaking of showers . . .”
“Right. Dawn’s baby shower. Terry already said no problemo about this Saturday. He’s got a private party in the evening, so he’ll just make up some extra trays of appies and throw together cutesy sandwiches with pink and blue umbrellas. Oh, and I also convinced him to make a divine cake in the shape of a stork.”
“Terry is a saint. I owe him big-time.”
“Before I ask about the bikers, tell me when you plan on seeing Scott again.”
“Never,” Sadie replied emphatically. She thought about Scott’s desire to accompany her on a meth-lab walk-through and put in, “It had better be never.”
“Hunh,” Maeva grunted, sounding disappointed. “Now, what about this motorcycle gang? How did they find out where you live and why were they at your house? Did they threaten you?”
Sadie answered all her friend’s questions, hoping that afterward Maeva would tell her she was silly to be worried. Instead, Maeva begged Sadie to come over and stay with her and Terry, but in the end, she was pacified by Sadie setting her house alarm and promising to sleep with her gun close at hand. Sadie lied about the gun.
She had no sooner disconnected from Maeva than her office phone rang again. It was too late. She should let it go to voice mail, but she knew too well that death cleanup had no time restraints, so she put on her business tone and answered.
“Scene-2-Clean, how may I help you?”
“You clean blood, right?”
“Yes. Who’s calling?”
“Lou Montie. We’ve got a mess in our RV and the cops said you could help out.”
“An RV? You mean, like a trailer?”
“This unit is a motor home. It ain’t no trailer,” he said, offended.
“Okay, um, may I ask what kind of incident brings you to needing my services?”
“We keep it on some farm property when we’re not using it. Some homeless bums broke into the unit. They made themselves right at home but must’ve had some kind of a fight. They left a bloody mess. We called the cops and they came and did their thing, but it’s not like they’re breaking a sweat over it. They said it wasn’t enough blood that someone could’ve died, and probably the creeps moved on after they bled all over the bedroom. Anyway, my wife sure as hell doesn’t want to be cleaning the blood, what with all the diseases around, and I tried bringing it in to a local auto-detailing place, but they won’t touch it. The insurance company said we needed to call in someone who did trauma clean and that would be you, right?”
“Right.”
Sadie took down the approximate address and arranged to drive by the place in the morning.
“It’s a little hard to find, so let me give you directions. We keep the unit on a driveway off a farmer’s field when we’re storing it.”
Sadie jotted down
the details.
“Usually I come to a scene first to take pictures for the insurance company,” Sadie explained. “And then I return with supplies and my employees to—”
“But this is such a small job,” Lou interrupted. “It’s not like you’ll need anyone else to help you out. Hell, it’ll prolly only take you a half hour on your own to rip out the materials that got stained.”
Everyone’s an expert on trauma clean.
“Since it is such a small job, I’ll just bring my supplies and I’ll be able to start right away.”
After the call Sadie climbed into bed, once again trying not to look directly at the boxes in the corner of the room. Her mind was filled with thoughts of her dead brother’s belongings, Scott Reed’s kiss, and bloody RVs when she dozed off.
In the morning Sadie opened her bedroom drapes and let in the sharp glare of the early-morning sun. She closed them again. When she turned and walked away, she bumped her shin against one of the boxes.
Sadie didn’t have to go to look at the RV for a couple more hours. She frowned at the boxes and finally sighed, figuring she might as well look through them now. Well, maybe not right now. After a quick jog. That would give her more energy. Then she’d shower and have a coffee and bagel. Then Hairy’s litter box hadn’t been cleaned for a couple days.
Surprisingly, she managed to get all those tasks completed and still had time on her hands. She scowled at the cardboard containers and with a feeling of resignation sank to her knees and tore the packing tape from the top of the first one. After a couple of calming breaths and a quick prayer, she unfolded the lid and peered inside.
Paperwork. No heart-wrenching photos of Brian smiling into the camera as if he weren’t going to kill himself at twenty-eight. Just paperwork.
“All right, then,” Sadie murmured. “I can do this.”
Hairy hopped over and nibbled at one of the cardboard flaps. Sadie pushed him aside with the back of her hand and reached for a stack of loose paper. She felt more at ease now.
I’ll just toss most of this into the recycle bin, she thought.
The first few sheets were Brian’s household bills. She ran across a membership-renewal notice for an indoor rock-climbing gym. That one stung a little. If Sadie closed her eyes, she could see her brother decked out in rock-climbing gear, ready to climb Mount Hood.
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