by Matt Lincoln
I was going to need to mull this over and let the rest of my team know about it. As luck would have it, Xavier and I were supposed to meet at the office soon, and although I’d offered to bring Eve along, she’d insisted on staying there at the condo to work before going to spend some time with Verity. They needed to make plans to deal with the break-in now being a new twist in her case.
I was really interested in finding out what and who was behind the attack on George’s home, but I was going to have to use different channels than Eve was able to. My methods might get me into trouble, and I wasn’t about to implicate her in any of that.
I walked around the marina, trying to make sure that it had been maintained in the fashion that Lael would have. We still didn’t have any business transactions, but if Xavier really had found someone to work in the office, then opening this place up for real, once and for all, might be only days away. I hoped that was the case because so far, this was just an expensive hobby and hiding place for Wraith.
The piers and docks all looked good to me, and I’d contracted new security features to be added or replaced on the fuel sheds. Xavier had set up motion-activated cameras and had the feed running to any device I wanted it on. It was going to be a lot more functional and safer, which was great for any business owner to hear about.
I saw a call from Xavier coming in, which I took.
“Hey,” I greeted. “I’m just heading back. I wanted to take a look at everything out here before the possible new employee came in. If they’re any good and willing to sign on, we can give them the tour. Sound good?”
“Yes, very much so,” Xavier replied. “We’re waiting for you here in the office. But take your time.” I couldn’t tell if Xavier was genuine or sarcastic by saying that, but I chose to speed up and get there sooner rather than later.
I came around the corner, over by the stairs where Lael’s upstairs apartment was. The door to the office was propped open and sent out a welcoming impression. I knew that the AC would be coming on pretty soon, though, once the sun got a little higher.
I walked into the office to see Xavier and… Eve, who was sitting behind the desk. I stopped in my tracks and looked between the both of them a few times. I was trying to decipher just what I saw here. Xavier grinned very broadly, and Eve smiled as she appeared to be trying to judge just how confused I was at this point.
Xavier didn’t take any chances and spoke up first. “I found you a fully qualified candidate for this position. Her schedule is open, and she’s accommodating with short-notice extended hours and is perfectly happy with having to work the weekends.” He stopped to adjust and counter my reaction. I wasn’t sure what my face looked like, but I did know that I was already getting uneasy just seeing Eve sit there.
“If this is a joke, haha, you got me. Good one.” But I wasn’t laughing, and neither were they. “If you’re serious, then we really need to have a long, thoughtful talk, just the three of us. Which is it?” I crossed my arms and stared them down, each one of them in turn. I didn’t want to blow up, but this was just not what I’d expected from either one of them.
Eve remained seated at the desk, and she appeared to be calculating just what to say to me. “Jake, this is a completely serious interview and offer, me applying for this office position. I know that my previous employment record would not usually lend itself to managing a marina’s intake and day-to-day operations, but I am very familiar with corporate law, customer service, and managerial systems. I think I should be put on probationary status, if you’re willing, to prove my skills. I am determined to prove that I can be an asset to this business. If you’ll give me a chance to, that is.” Her smile faltered just a little as our eyes connected.
Once she was done, I let out a heavy sigh and turned to Xavier. I was not all that happy with his manner of surprise and aid in finding me an office administrator.
“Xavier, this time, I do think that you’ve gone too far.” I was trying not to lose my cool, but I felt like he’d gone behind my back in doing this. This didn’t feel like a shock. It felt more like an ambush.
He held his palms up defensively. “Before you fire me or take me out behind the barn and beat the crap out of me, can I just say that Eve is overqualified for this position but is willing to do it without negotiating the contract. Also, I can’t find anyone else even willing to take on everything, at least, not anyone that your team can trust.” He winked at me.
I got what he was hinting at. Eve had proven herself honest and dependable and was willing to work with the team in any crazy situation we found ourselves in.
“Damn it,” I said out loud, shaking my head. “You should have told me, Xavier. And you really should have told me, Eve.” I wasn’t going to let her off the hook, either. “This goes against everything I’ve built this team into, or tried to, at least.”
“Header, please,” Xavier started to plead, “she needs a job. You need an employee. And frankly…” He stopped talking, and I could tell that he was weighing the outcome of what he was about to say. “Screw it. Header, you’re a happier man when she’s around. There, now write me up, or reprimand me, or whatever. But I’m still a big believer in speaking truth to power.”
He halted his little speech and waited for me to respond. I nodded my head, thinking about how to address this calmly and maturely. But this had definitely crossed a line.
“Xavier, this was underhanded of you,” I began. “I don’t like being surprised in this way, and you know that. I can appreciate that you were trying to help, and that I did ask you to take over the job search of the marina for me, but this… this is a step back for us.”
“Eve,” I continued, turning my absolute attention to her, “if you’d been thinking about doing this and wanting to do it, you should have talked to me first. Not to Xavier, or Doc, or Rosa, or anyone else but me. I know that you’re struggling to find your way, and this might seem like a good fit to you, but the way you two went behind my back is a lot more telling than you could imagine.” I had to stop myself from saying anything more. This could get out of hand very quickly.
Eve nodded at me, and I could see the hurt that I’d inflicted in her eyes. She stood up from behind the big, white metal desk. “I guess I can accept that if that’s how you feel about it.” Her voice was steely as she moved around the furniture and came to face me. “Could I please have you or someone that you do actually trust, if there is anyone, escort me back to your home so that I can pick up my things?” We looked at one another, and something changed between us. I wasn’t prepared for that. I didn’t think she was either.
Xavier stepped up to defuse it. “Header, this was all me. Don’t take it out on Eve. I talked her into this, and I swear, we were just trying to help. That’s all. I thought that you’d be okay with this.” He was doing his best to smooth things over, but I just wasn’t in the mood. Not when my team tried to manipulate my personal life.
“If I’d wanted to hire my girlfriend or someone that I was sleeping with, Xavier, I would have. You know the kind of situation we have here. There’s more to it than---” I was interrupted by Eve giving up on the conversation and walking outside.
Once she was there, she called back to us in a wavering voice. “Please, I would like to go get my things from your place and find another hotel.” She just stood there, waiting for me or Xavier to act. I hadn’t bothered to give her a key to the condo yet, and now I was glad that I’d been stalling.
“At least let her go get her stuff, Header, please?” Xavier was close to begging, and so I turned, nodded, and gave him the go-ahead to go with her. All of my team had keys to my place as a precautionary measure. And right now, I just needed some time to figure things out alone. Maybe I wasn’t as ready as I thought to settle into this kind of relationship after all.
As I watched Eve and Xavier both drive away in their vehicles, I wondered if things would have gone differently had I just taken the time to check the parking lot before I entered that office. I wouldn�
�t have been so shocked, and it would have given me time to adjust to what was coming. I pulled out my phone and called up Rosa. She was a great sounding board for me.
She’d be replying to me via text, but I just had too much to say to type it all out. Once she answered, I started to spill my guts. “Hey, I just had a bad altercation with Xavier, and I know that it's going to put some friction against the team, so I just wanted you to know about it.”
Rosa’s reply was short. What did he do now?
“He went and hired Eve to run the office at my marina without even talking to me about it first. I got here this morning, and they were both here, waiting for me like it was the perfect solution to all of my problems.” I was attempting to explain it rationally to her because I knew that she’d understand the fundamental conflict.
That is a little shady, she replied. Did he give you a reason why he did it?
I sighed. “He used the excuse of trying to help us out, both Eve and me. But that’s not how it feels. It felt like a set-up with a little splash of betrayal thrown in for good measure.” Yeah, that was me overreacting, and I could tell that. “I was harsh, but I don’t like anyone interfering in my personal life. If the team doesn’t know that by now, then what’s the point?”
Her reply was quick. I understand. You still at the marina? Do you want me to come by and help you kick his little ass? There was a smiley face after her comment, but I was fairly sure she was willing to if I said yes.
“No, that’s alright,” I grumbled. “I’ll have a talk with him when he gets back. Eve had kind of moved in with me yesterday, but with this now, I think it’s best that she finds a hotel again for the time being.” No good would have come from us being under the same roof and having this argument hanging over us.
Wow, she replied. That’s got to be a record for you. Barely twenty-four hours before you sabotaged your relationship. Well, I’m all for it. Eve was annoying and always trying too hard to be a part of the team. I don’t think that I could have stood to see her every time that I went to the marina. I could always trust Rosa to be blunt and to never hide her true feelings. I loved that about her.
“Alright, well, I just wanted you to know about what went down. I’m expecting Lael to be along soon, so I better get off of here and get ready for that. I’ll talk to you later. Bye Rosa.” I hung up just in time to see a very frail older man heading for the door of the office.
I was a little shocked to see Claude Speirs at my marina, cane in hand and smiling brightly in an impeccably tailored brown suit.
“Good morning to you, Mr. Header,” he said when he spotted me. “I hope you don’t mind that I came over for a visit.” He walked and promptly sat down in one of the teal armchairs. “Oh, my, but this is comfy.”
“Thank you, but what brings you down here all this way, Mr. Speirs?” I sat on the edge of the desk, not sure how to take his sudden appearance here.
“Oh, well, I’ve been trying to get in contact with you, but none of my texts or emails have gone through. I then found out that my assistant had changed my services, and I’d misplaced the memo about it.” He smiled wryly. “Don’t you think that I feel foolish over that?”
“We all make honest mistakes from time to time. I can promise you that.” I chuckled a bit at the notion. “Since I have you here, there are some things that I need to inform you about regarding the case my team and I are working for you.” I wasn’t going to miss an opportunity to clear the air and let him know what was going on. I just had to be careful how I did it. This was a sensitive subject.
“Oh, well, your other man, Xavier, has been keeping me appraised in his visits. And that was the other thing I needed to do today. I have the key file for the inheritance strongbox. He mentioned that the hard copy got soaked and that he couldn’t verify if all the items were there or not.” Claude produced a thumb drive from his vest or blazer pocket and handed it to me. “Please see that young Mr. Xavier gets that, will you?”
I took the offered object and held it in my palm. “Xavier’s been going over to visit you then? I wasn’t aware of this.” I wished that he’d have let me know about this, too.
“Oh, my, yes,” the man confirmed. “He’s been exceedingly kind about letting me know where your mission stands and all of that. And I felt so foolish to have lost all of my correspondence with you personally, but perhaps, as bright as he is, he can retrieve it for me one of these days.” Claude smiled and sighed contentedly. He patted the armchair and admired it. “I do think I will need the name of your decorator, sir. I must claim one of these for myself, if only in a different color.”
I was going to have to sort all of this out later, but right now, I felt obliged to let Claude know what we’d found and in what condition the crew’s bodies and his brother were in. “Mr. Speirs, I want you to know that we were able to find and bring up all five of the bodies that were with the Hester when it went down.”
“Oh, that’s very good to know. Thank you.” His eyes looked a little moist as he pulled out a handkerchief from another pocket of his. “Are the bodies in as bad of shape as Mr. Xavier warned me about? He did say something about the marine life getting to them and causing a mess of things.”
I bowed my head and nodded to him gently. “Yes, sir, they were pretty badly damaged.” I wish I’d thought of that, but then again, I liked to be honest with my clients. I didn’t like having to lie to them if at all necessary. “My team did repair some damage, but there wasn’t much that we could do overall. I hope you understand.”
“Oh yes, of course, I do!” Claude exclaimed. “Why, Declan would undoubtedly find great humor in it. Being eaten by fish at the bottom of the sea. He was a sailor. Didn’t I tell you?” He seemed to call up a fond memory to remind himself. “A merchant marine, I think he called it. Loved the water.” His eyes teared up at the recollection. “He’d have been downright chuffed to have gone in that manner. Quite appropriate. Quite.”
I didn’t recall him mentioning that before, but it seemed to make sense to me now. “How soon would you like us to bring you the crew, for burial or to return them to their family, whichever you’re planning on doing?” It might be best to finish this business quickly, now that he knew about it.
“Ah, yes, well,” Claude looked out of the office window with some difficulty from his seat. “If it’s all the same to you, I’d like to bury Declan at sea, properly this time, if you please. Your place here, could I bother you to let me bring in a boat to take him out?”
“I’d be honored.” And I wasn’t just saying that, either. “You pick the time, and I’ll see it done.”
“Very decent of you, to be sure.” Claude stopped speaking for a time and smiled to himself quietly. “I, or rather, my assistant, contacted the families of the crew, and only one asked to have him returned, so there’s that. I promised to see to the others as I would my own family. It’s the least that I can do for them.” He looked down at his watch, a very expensive-looking piece of machinery. “Let’s say Thursday at eleven.”
Claude Speirs stood to pull and drag himself up out of the chair. I moved to help him, but he waved me off. “I’ll bring my own boat, but do you have a man about that can help with the loading of the men?”
I contemplated this, wondering if I could speak for my team in this matter. “Yeah, I’ll have someone here to help you. Not to worry, Mr. Speirs.” I hoped that wasn’t a lie on my part.
“Well, then, I think I’ll be off.” He looked gingerly around the office and smiled pleasantly. “This is a quaint set-up you have here, and I don’t mind saying it again to you. Very nice indeed.” Claude and his cane made it out of the door and then headed to the parking lot, where I could see a large, champagne-colored sedan waiting for him.
As luck would have it, Lael was being dropped off by a cab at the same time. I began to walk out to greet him when I saw Lael intercept the older man and open the door of the vehicle for him. They must have exchanged amusing words or something because Lael came away
smiling and with a private laugh at something.
I reached out to shake his hand once he got closer to me. The sedan drove away, and that was all of Claude Speirs I’d see for the day. “Lael, man, is it good to see you back in action here.” I thought about bro-hugging him, but I didn’t think we were there yet.
“At least a little.” He was still not a man of conversation, but that was a welcome trait after the incident this morning.
“How are you feeling?” I asked him as we walked back to the office area.
“I’m feeling well. Ready to get back to work.” He nodded, then looked back up at his apartment over the office. “Not to be rude, but I need a legitimate shower, not the kind I’ve been having at the care unit. Would you mind if I…?”
“Say no more. I’ve got some stuff to do around here, anyway. Take your time. I’ll either be in the barn or the office.” I clapped him on the shoulder and left him to do what he needed to. If nothing else, it sure was a heavy weight lifted off of me to have Lael back at the marina.
29
Jake
I spent about half an hour in the barn with Wraith before there was a knock on the side door.
“Be right there,” I called out. I opened it to find Lael at hand, all cleaned up and ready to go. I was careful about never opening this side door too widely in order to keep Wraith’s appearance and location hidden.
“I’m ready when you are,” Lael stated and stepped back to allow me room to come out. I closed the door behind me and heard that rewarding little click to let me know that it was locked.
“So,” I started off with, “where do we begin?”
“Wherever you want me to. You’re the boss of this outfit.” Lael tried to grin, but it did come off as a bit menacing, though I knew that wasn’t his intent.