I took the notepad from my pocket, retrieved a pencil from a drawer, then rubbed lightly across the whole page. A scribble gradually appeared that read: Three o’clock, Jeffries Parking Lot, 3rd level, Red 45.
I presumed that Alex and Jo were meeting someone there and that Jo was worried that it might be dangerous. What could it be about? The two of them should be in school at that time.
“What do we pay you for?”
I jerked, startled, then swiveled my chair around.
Findley leaned against the outside wall of my cubicle. He looked like a red-haired Danny Devito in a suit—which is as scary as it sounds.
“You pay me to show up and look pretty?” I asked.
“You aren’t a model. I sent you an email this morning, and you haven’t responded yet.” He glanced down at the notepad in front of me. “Have you even logged in? Are you drawing something?”
“It’s still not nine.” I tore the top sheet off the pad, scrunched it up and threw it in the bin. “What was the email about?”
“We need you to set up an important cross-site meeting tomorrow. Set up the correct video conferencing. It’s for Harriet Ashley.”
His voice hushed as he said the name, like I should know who it was. “Harriet Who?”
“The new boss of Transkey. Didn’t you read the company memo email from last month?”
Dealing with Findley was exhausting enough without worrying about bosses further up the line. “It must have gotten stuck in my spam folder. I have a special filter for the words company and memo. Keeps my email streamlined to the important ones such as ‘Which Harry Potter Character Are You?’ Neville Longbottom, if you are interested.”
“This isn’t a time for joking. Harriet Ashley hasn’t spent much time in here since she took over, and we want to impress her with our capabilities. Nothing must go wrong.”
“Then why are you putting me on it?”
“Because that is what we pay you for. To take care of all our I.T.”
Anything with a modicum of technology involved, and Findley expected me to take care of it.
I sometimes fantasied about how happy I would be if Findley actually followed through on his subtle hints to fire me. But monthly paychecks were useful things with hungry orphans to feed. Essential even. And since all my qualifications were faked, no company which did proper due diligence would hire me.
“I’ll look into it.”
“I expect your full attention.”
“Of course you do.” He’d also expect my full attention to be on all my usual duties as well.
Findley moved away. I logged in, but I didn’t go straight to check my email. Instead I called up a browser and did a search on Twitter.
@RedWhiteandTrue55
Follows: 10, Followers: 24,378, Tweets 37
That was a lot of followers for thirty seven tweets. The back picture for the account was a picture of Christopher Reeve flying above Metropolis as Superman, the dodgy special effects evident even in the still picture. The profile picture was a stylized representation of the curl of hair that fell across Superman’s forehead. Whoever controlled the account had a serious Superman complex.
The account had sent its first tweet four months earlier.
The Reds are now run by a shade. Hugo Yarley take a bow. #shades #taking #over
That name didn’t mean anything to me. The Reds were traditionally run by the Machet family, so it was surprising to see another family in charge.
I looked down through further tweets. The handle was all business, no noise; every tweet revealed names of gang members and companies owned by both the Whites and Reds. I didn’t recognize any names until I came to the twentieth tweet. Policeman Connor Duffy is an errand boy for the Reds. #police #corruption
That Duffy was working with the gangs wasn’t news. I was surprised to see him called an errand boy, though, since I’d figured him to be a major player in the crime world.
I continued through the tweets, scrolling past all the names I didn’t recognize. Then a tweet jumped out at me, and my mouse jerked, causing the screen to jump back to the early tweets. I slowly returned back to my original place, hoping I’d read it wrong.
I hadn’t.
Now the Whites too are under new control. Is Harriet Ashley one of them? #shades #hidden #plainsight
I opened my email to make sure I had the name right. With Findley’s propensity for all-caps, the message header jumped out.
URGENT: Cross-site meeting requirement for Harriet Ashley, Transkey CEO. GIVE IT YOUR FULL ATTENTION
So according to this RedWhiteandTrue, the new CEO of Transkey was the leader of a crime gang and possibly a supernatural.
I flicked through the remaining tweets, coming at last to one which had been posted yesterday. The one which set Alex off.
Sammy Williams, arrested for burning down the Collier Mansion, is one of them. #shade No record of him in the justice system. #conspiracy
I was leaning back in my chair, still considering what I’d just learned when Geraldine from accounts appeared. “I moved my computer and now it won’t work,” she told me.
“Is it plugged in?”
“I think it must be. There’s a blue light on the monitor.”
“That means the monitor is plugged in. The computer also needs a plug.”
“Two plugs.” She looked at me like I had two heads.
I sighed. “Show me.” Giving my full attention to the Harriet Ashley meeting would have to wait.
Being the company I.T. guy was a cross between foiling hackers who’d been reading Pentagon missives before they hit puberty and teaching four year olds how to use crayons without turning the walls into modern art exhibits.
* * *
To continue reading, pick up a copy of Fire Sorcerer on Amazon. Book 2, Fire Summoning, has also been released, with books 3 and 4 due in the near future. To learn more about the series, click here.
Author’s Note
Thanks for reading, and I hope you enjoyed this story. I always love to hear from readers so send an email ([email protected]) or message me on FACEBOOK if you want to get in contact.
To discover more about me and my books, check out my WEBSITE
*
Also by David J. Normoyle:
*
THE SENTINELS (urban fantasy)
Fire Sorcerer
Fire Summoning
Fire Soldiers (due 2017)
Fire Serpent (due 2017)
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WEAPONS OF POWER (epic fantasy)
The Silver Portal
The Black Bearer (due 2017)
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THE NARROWING PATH (dystopian fantasy)
The Narrowing Path
The Treacherous Path
The Collapsing Path
*
THE DRAGONGODS SAGA (urban fantasy)
The Mage Team (due 2017)
COPYRIGHT
FIRE STARTER
Copyright © 2016 by David J. Normoyle
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing from the publisher.
This book is a work of fiction. Characters, names, places and incidents either are the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously, and any resemblance to any actual persons, living or dead, events, or locales is entirely coincidental.
Cover Art © 2016 by Rebecca Frank http://bookcovers.rebeccafrank.design/
Published by David J. Normoyle
www.davidjnormoyle.com
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Fire Starter (The Sentinels) Page 7