by Bianca D’Arc
Apparently, the company had been having problems with inspectors, and the previous person who had done this job had been summarily fired. The company might be large, but it was still run by just a small group of people.
This mill had once belonged to the reclusive lumber baron, J.W. Smathers. He’d inherited large tracts of forested land all over North America and several operations, like this one, where the trees were used in various ways. Smathers had cashed in and sold everything several years ago to an even bigger conglomerate called SeaLife Enterprises that was headquartered on the West Coast.
The mill where Kiki worked made all sorts of paper goods, from toilet paper to cardboard boxes, to specialty papers that went for medical uses. There were other former Smathers plants that made building materials—lumber, plywood, and particle board, among other things. A separate specialty mill made veneers out of the more exotic species of wood. That one also turned out specialty lumber for the furniture and musical instrument trades.
So far, she hadn’t seen any of the SeaLife people, though there had been some communications she’d found in her predecessor’s files. One particularly interesting memo notified all branches about a change in CEO for SeaLife, and a new headquarters location farther north on the West Coast, in a town called Grizzly Cove, Washington.
That was certainly a long way from the Blue Ridge Mountains of West Virginia. Kiki had grown up in southeastern Pennsylvania and had gone to Penn State, but she’d known she’d probably have to move around a bit for her career, which she had looked on as an adventure. The only problem was this latest position was adding up to be a bit more adventure than she’d ever really wanted.
She hadn’t really understood—and still didn’t fully understand—what was going on in the warehouse at night, but there was definitely something hinky happening there. Something she didn’t want any part of. No, siree.
But she’d had to work late last week, to get the reports in order for the government, and she’d accidentally stumbled on something truly odd happening in what should have been an empty and shut warehouse. She’d sensed it before she’d seen it. A growing blackness. A lingering scent of decay. It made her feel on edge. Wary.
Thankfully, she’d heeded her instincts and hadn’t betrayed her presence. She’d come searching for a log file that had to be on the last batch of product, but what she’d found had sent chills down her spine. In a cleared space in the center of one of the holding areas, an altar had been set up, draped in black satin, with black candles arrayed on top and people in dark robes standing all around.
She couldn’t see their faces, due to both distance and the fact that they’d had the hoods of their robes up, over their heads, but she’d recognized some of the voices as they spoke. They’d been invoking…well…nothing good. The strange words they had used had made her skin crawl.
Kiki had been very careful to back away slowly, so that nobody would notice her presence, and she’d skedaddled home immediately. She’d taken a long, scalding shower immediately on arrival home, but she still didn’t feel entirely clean, over a week later.
She’d held her breath the following morning, wondering if anybody had detected her presence. She’d been so afraid they would say something and she’d be in trouble—or worse, in danger. She hadn’t really understood all that she’d seen, but it had scared her enough that she had debated whether to quit her job on the spot and not go in to work ever again.
Two things had decided her on going back to the plant. First, she had almost no money in the bank and bills to pay. Being practical, she had to keep working somewhere. She already had this job, and it paid well. It was also in her preferred field, and if she managed to leave on good terms and get a good reference, it would help her get an even better job down the road. Second, she needed to be sure they weren’t suspicious of her. Going in to work and keeping her schedule as normal as possible seemed the best way to gloss over what she had seen.
If they knew she had witnessed whatever that was in the warehouse, then maybe, if she just kept her head down, they’d think she hadn’t understood at all and it didn’t bother her. Also, if they had seen her, someone might confront her about it, and that would at least get it out in the open, and she could assure them she’d say nothing of the matter and try to convince them that she hadn’t thought it all that strange and didn’t think it sinister at all. Which was the farthest thing from the truth, but they didn’t have to know that.
If they hadn’t seen her and she’d gotten away with her accidental eavesdropping, then all the better. She didn’t want to rouse any suspicion by staying home or quitting the day after their little get-together. She would just stay as long as she could, build up a little money in the bank, then invent a reasonable excuse for leaving while also securing letters of recommendation, if she could possibly do so.
That plan firmly in mind, she’d brazened out the next week, but nobody had said anything, and no one had looked at her oddly. She’d done all in her power to just go about her business in her normal way, and she thought, just maybe, she’d gotten away with it.
It wasn’t until she was leaving work on the following Friday after the incident, as she was calling it in her mind, that she realized she’d been living a delusion. Her boss, Bob Boehm, flagged her down in the parking lot and invited her to a barbeque at his home the following day. He told her he’d decided to hold a little party at the last minute because the weather was forecast to be so nice. It was mid-April, and the weather was starting to warm up nicely, spring finding its groove all over North America.
Kiki had accepted the invitation. She hadn’t seen any polite way to decline. She’d gone to the barbeque but had felt the same oppressive blackness gathering around the barbeque pit the moment she’d emerged from the house into the backyard. She’d faked a mis-step, twisting her left ankle just the slightest bit, so she would have an immediate reason to get the hell out of there.
Everything inside her said to run. Run fast. Run far. Get out of there!
She made her excuses to her host and limped back to her car, insisting that she’d be okay as long as she could get home to rest her foot. She was shaking when she pulled up at her own little rented cottage. She had decided to hide out there, just in case anybody had followed her from Bob’s. Sure enough, as she continued the pretense, limping from the driveway at the side of the house, up the steps and onto the porch, she saw a car driving slowly past, the person behind the wheel immediately recognizable as one of her co-workers. She only gave them the barest glance, hidden by her dark sunglasses.
Her alert level rose another notch, and she immediately set about warding her small home in the only way she knew how. She wasn’t much of a witch, but she had picked up a few things over the years. Herbal things, gleaned from her mother in the Dutch country of Pennsylvania. Things that had come from the old country, generations ago.
When people—mostly rich people—had been burned at the stake in the mid-1500s as witches, and their possessions confiscated, some of the real witches in Germany had joined the Anabaptist movement to hide in plain sight. And when, in the mid-1700s, those people had immigrated to America, Kiki’s ancestors had gone along. Kiki’s family had connections with the Amish community even now, but once they realized the Land of the Free really was exactly that, they’d broken away from the Amish teachings and had lived quietly as neighbors. Kiki’s oma and opa—grandmother and grandfather—still didn’t draw much attention to themselves. They had always lived simple lives on their farm in southeastern Pennsylvania, and their children had done the same.
But she’d learned the magic traditions from her grandmother and mother and knew what to do to ward her home against evil. Kiki broke out the salt and herbs and first, cleansed her home and then sealed all doors, windows, and other openings, with a salt line and prayers. Kiki wasn’t as strong in some things as other members of her extended family, but she could at least ensure no evil came into her home without her knowing about it.
&n
bsp; She hid inside the rest of the weekend, praying and even calling home for advice, but she dared not speak too specifically about what she’d witnessed. For all she knew, one of the people at work might be a tech genius and they could listen in on her calls. Instead, she’d just asked sort of general questions that gave her family a small heads-up. They would know something was wrong, but they’d probably wait to act until they heard back from her. At least she’d established contact and had let them know all was not as it should be. She’d have to figure out a better way to get her message out, but it would take time.
When Monday rolled around, she wore an elastic bandage on her foot and sneakers to work. She apologized to the boss for her clumsiness and told him how bad she’d felt about missing his party. He seemed to believe her, but she couldn’t be sure of anything, anymore. The people working around her were all suspect, to her mind.
She was just settling into her office when a commotion in the reception area, which was adjacent to her small room, caught her attention. The young receptionist sounded both frazzled and frightened. Concerned, Kiki went out to see what was going on.
Chapter Two
Kiki saw the man first. A giant bear of a man wearing faded jeans and black leather boots that gave the impression he’d just come off the huge motorcycle she could just see out the glass doors behind him. He had a black leather jacket covering a slightly western-looking button-down shirt. She would have expected a T-shirt under that leather, but this man was more than a bit out of the ordinary.
To her very minute magical senses, he fairly glowed with strength of purpose. He had innate magic of his own, of that she was sure, but whether he used it for good or evil was still an open question.
“Can I help?” Kiki asked, moving closer to the front desk. The man looked up, and his gaze caught hers.
Light brown with golden flecks danced in his gaze, proclaiming him something special to her inner vision. He had brown hair, also with strands of gold mixed in. It was on the longish side but still managed to look businesslike and somewhat conservative, even after being squashed inside a motorcycle helmet.
“As I was just telling Cindy, here,” the man smiled, oozing charm, “I’ve been sent by the home office of SeaLife Enterprises to have a look around the operation. My name is Jack Bishop.”
He stretched out his hand for a shake, and she found herself moving closer to take it. When their hands touched, sparks flew. It was hard to keep her reaction to herself, but she had to do so with Cindy watching. Kiki was ninety-nine percent sure Cindy had been one of those wearing the creepy Halloween costumes the previous week in the warehouse. Kiki didn’t trust anybody in the office anymore. Not a single one of them.
But this man was a stranger. A newcomer. He’d been sent by the parent company. It remained to be seen whether or not he could be trusted.
Still, if his handshake was anything to go by, he was intensely magical. And the gleam in his eye said he recognized a bit of the magic in her, as well.
“I’m Kiki Richards,” she introduced herself, trying to keep things businesslike and professional. “I’m somewhat new to the company. I came on board to work on government compliance. Maybe I can check with my boss for you?”
“Who would that be?” Jack asked, seemingly reluctant to release her hand, but he did, finally.
“Bob Boehm, head of operations. Is he who you wanted to see?” she asked, trying to be helpful and discreet.
The man tilted his head to the side. “Sure. I wanted to start with whoever’s in charge, then work my way down the chain of command.”
Jack smiled, putting her at ease. At that point, Cindy seemed to come to her senses and started doing her job.
“I’ll call Mr. Boehm,” Cindy announced.
Jack was floored by the woman who’d come out from one of the offices behind the reception area. She was gorgeous. And her eyes sparked with intelligence. Her hair was golden, as if sunlight danced among the strands, and her eyes were clear blue. Innocent, yet knowing.
When he touched her hand, his magical senses exploded with awareness, and when he caught her scent, his bear stood up and took notice. Damn. He’d had to scramble to hide his powerful reaction to the woman. He’d never before felt this kind of punch to the gut on first meeting a lady. What could it mean?
For one thing, he got the distinct impression that she would be important to his mission here. He hoped, for both their sakes, that she was on the right side of things. Even after such a brief meeting, he knew it would hurt him deeply if she turned out to be a traitor to the Light.
While he was contemplating the luscious Miss Richards, a pale man with thinning red hair came out from the office area. He bustled over to them and started talking right away.
“I’m Bob Boehm. What’s this all about?”
Jack noticed the other man didn’t hold out his hand for a handshake. In fact, he seemed more belligerent than friendly. Well, if that’s the way he wanted to play it, Jack would give it back to him, in spades.
“Jack Bishop, troubleshooter for SeaLife Enterprises. The home office sent me here to check the books and review your operations. You are the operations manager, are you not?”
Old Bob started sweating. Jack hid his smile.
“I wasn’t given any notice of anyone coming down from corporate,” Bob protested. “I’ll need some proof of who you are. Bishop, did you say?”
Jack reached into his top pocket and flicked out a business card they’d had printed up especially for this trip. He handed it to Boehm.
“Call Ezra Tate. He’ll confirm that he sent me. I’ll wait.” Jack looked around as if he had all the time in the world and took one of the cushy chairs over by the window.
Boehm bustled off without another word, leaving the delectable Miss Richards staring after him. The receptionist, Cindy, sounded angry, which seemed odd. Jack took a mental note to keep an eye on her.
Kiki just looked confused and concerned as she watched her boss but seemed to shake it off and moved closer to Jack.
“Can I offer you a cup of coffee?” she asked, a pleasant smile on her face.
“That’s kind, but I’m all set,” he replied. “Perhaps you can tell me more about what you do here while I’m waiting.” He wanted to keep her around. He wanted to know all about her. Not for the mission, just to get to know her.
His inner bear sat up and watched the woman with avid concentration. Jack was fascinated by her on every level.
“I suppose…” She looked in the direction of the office area, where her boss had disappeared. “I mean…”
“You’re very conscientious to want to wait for confirmation of my identity,” Jack told her, figuring that’s why she was hesitating. “Why don’t you just give me the public explanation? The things you could tell anyone you happened to meet at a party, about what you do for a living. We can start there, and once everything’s settled, we can get into the finer points.”
She looked relieved, and he gestured to the seat next to him. She sat down, perching on the edge of the chair, looking ready to bolt the moment her boss returned. Jack took that to mean that she wasn’t very comfortable with Boehm. Good to know. Jack hadn’t liked the look of the man, or the faint scent he’d been able to get from across the receptionist’s desk.
So far, he was disposed to not trust or like Boehm, while the luscious Kiki confounded his senses. Her scent was alluring. Seductive. It could be a trap—if she was on the wrong side of things—or it could just be that she was that attractive. Right now, he felt like his bear had sighted a honeycomb, just out of reach. That’s how tantalizing she was to his senses. He would have to be cautious until he figured out exactly what was going on here.
“Well, as you probably know, some of the specialized papers we produce here go into the healthcare industry, which is heavily regulated. We run all sorts of quality control tests on the batches. They have to test within certain tolerances, and I organize all that paperwork for reporting to the government.
I’m essentially a paper pusher.”
“In a paper mill,” he teased. “Who woulda thunk it?”
She laughed, and the sound sent tingles that raced straight to his heart, doing something to that untouched part of him. It felt like rusty hinges were slowly creaking open inside him. A disused part of his soul was coming to life. Revealing itself. Making him aware of it for the first time, ever.
He was smiling as she chuckled. That’s how Boehm found them when he came back out to the reception area. Kiki noticed him and stood immediately, the smile leaving her face as if it had never been.
“You check out. Sorry about the lack of welcome. If I’d known you were coming—”
Jack stood, cutting off the other man’s words. “No point in informing someone of a surprise inspection.” Jack played the dumb hick cowboy part to the hilt, watching the entire situation very, very carefully from behind a façade of bonhomie. “No matter. I’m here now, and you know that I’m on the level. Shall we get started?”
Caught off guard, Boehm scrambled to regain control. “What is it you came here to see, Mr. Bishop?”
That had almost sounded a tad confrontational. Jack was surprised. He hadn’t thought Boehm the type to stand up to him even that much. Interesting.
“In short, everything. I want the grand tour of the operation, and then, I’ll need an office to work in where I can go over your books.” Jack enjoyed seeing the color come and go from Boehm’s face. He was alternately shocked, scared, then angered by Jack’s presumption. Good. Now, they were getting somewhere.
“I have a conference call in five minutes that can’t be put off,” Boehm said, surprising Jack, yet again. “Perhaps Miss Richards could start your tour, and I’ll join you when I’ve finished the call.” It wasn’t a question. More like an insult, but in this instance, Jack didn’t mind at all. More time with the lovely Kiki was high on his new list of priorities.