by Nash, Bobby
“What have we here?”
“Open it,” she told him.
Not one to say no to his daughter, Hans Holzer obliged and peered into the open duffel. “What have you brought me, Shura?” he asked as he pulled a frosted jar from the bag and held it in his lap. Ever the professor, he turned it around, carefully tracing the lines of blended colors. “It’s smooth,” he said. “Tempered glass?”
Alexandra shrugged.
“It’s beautiful, my dear, but art curios are more your mother’s forte than mine, as you know. Perhaps you should show it to her?”
“No. This one is all yours,” Alexandra said. “I’m guessing you’ve never seen one of these before, huh?”
“A decorative glass jar?” he huffed. “Alexandra, I may be, as you called me, an absent-minded professor, from time to time, but I have visited a museum or two. This is not the first piece of glassware I’ve seen. It’s not even one of the most interesting.”
“Oh, I wouldn’t be too sure about that one.”
He moved in for a closer look. “You’re obviously dying to tell me so out with it, girl. What is so special about this jar?”
“It traps ghosts.”
“I beg your pardon.”
Alexandra tried not to laugh at her father’s bemused expression.
She failed.
He held up the jar by the neck. “Are you telling me that this is an actual containment vessel?”
With a nod and an excited grin, she confirmed it.
“Fascinating.”
“I had much the same thought,” she said.
“I’ve heard stories, of course, that things like this existed, but I never expected to see one, much less hold one in my hands. This is incredible.”
“Joshua and I found forty of them today.” She said it without fanfare, but her father nearly dropped the one he was studying when she said it. The look on his face was priceless.
“Forty?” he echoed. “Where? Where were they hidden?”
“In an abandoned church in the city. One of the… uh, occupants… yeah, let’s call them occupants, escaped from his jar and caused a bit of a ruckus. It wasn’t easy, but Joshua and I managed to get him back in his jar and corked it up.”
Now she had his full attention.
“You took a job?”
“I did.”
“Why didn’t you call me? I could have helped.” He sounded sad that he missed out on the adventure.
“Joshua and I handled it.”
“And you actually used the vessel?”
“We did.”
“How does it work?”
She shook her head and shrugged. “No idea. It just sort of… happened.”
“What does that mean?”
“Once the water spirit we were chasing got close to it, the jar just sucked it back inside like a vacuum cleaner or something.”
“Fascinating.”
Alexandra’s grin returned. “You already said that.”
“I may say it a few more times,” he deadpanned.
“I don’t blame you, Poppa.”
“Is it still in here?” Hans asked, setting the vessel carefully on his desk.
“No. This one is empty,” she confirmed. “We delivered them to Samuel for disposition.”
“Good,” he said. “The last thing I need is to let something pesky loose in the house. Your mother would never let either one of us hear the end of it.”
“No, I imagine not. Samuel let me borrow this one so we could study it,” she said.
Hans leaned back in his chair, which creaked with every movement. “I’m surprised. This sounds like the type of item Samuel and his people would want to keep hidden. They do so love their secrets, do they not?”
“They do indeed,” she agreed. “Samuel let us take this one once it was empty. If we can figure out who constructed these and what materials they use, it might come in handy on some of our more difficult cases.”
“He just let you take it?” Hans asked, scratching the stubble on his chin. “That doesn’t sound like something the OAGI would do.”
“Well…”
“Never mind, I don’t want to know,” Hans said, his mind already working the conundrum his daughter had placed before him. “Being able to trap a wayward spirit would certainly make things easier, especially when it comes to transporting one of these wayward souls to the OAGI and OESI.”
“That was my thinking as well,” she said. “Do you think you can figure out how they did it?”
“I don’t know, but I am excited by the prospect of trying,” Hans said, plucking the vessel from the desk and once again inspecting it. “This is an incredible find, Shura. Well done. Well done, indeed.”
He lapsed into silence and Alexandra knew that their conversation was pretty well finished. Ever the professor, the learner, he was entranced by the new puzzle she had placed before him. He would lose himself in studying the jar. If a solution to replicating the containment vessel in the modern world could be found, Hans Holzer was the one who would discover it.
“I’ll leave you to it Poppa,” she said, knowing that he barely registered her words. He waved at her and mumbled something unintelligible as she slid the chair back to where she had found it. She didn’t take offense. Alexandra understood how easy it could be to get lost in solving a mystery. Like her father, she too found herself tuning out the world whenever some mystery grabbed her attention. That laser-like focus had served her well, but also like her famous father, it had gotten her in a spot of trouble on occasion.
She may have gotten her smile and looks from her mother, but her curiosity, her desire to seek out the unknown, those were traits she picked up from her father. Her tenacity, well that was something she got from both of them. Neither Hans nor Catherine were known to sit idly by when they could be leading the charge. That stubborn streak of hers ran through both the Holzer and Buxhoeveden family trees.
As she walked back to visit more with her mother, Alexandra realized that she too was already working on the same problem. Finding a way to trap wayward ghosts for transport would be a big boon to their business. If they could find a way to replicate the process, it would be a big game changer.
By the time she left hours later for the train that would take her back to the city, Alexandra was still searching for the answer. She was so involved with solving this riddle that she did not notice the stranger who followed her from her parent’s home all the way back to her apartment.
She also didn’t notice that when she turned out the lights in her apartment later that night that the same man stood across the street, leaning against the corner of a building, watching her place.
When she left her apartment the next morning, he was still there.
The mystery man fell into step behind her as she walked down the sidewalk.
It didn’t take Alexandra Holzer long to realize she was being followed.
Even though the man in question was trying hard to keep his distance, he wasn’t very good at blending in to his surroundings. Quite the opposite, in fact, he stood out like a sore thumb compared to the other men and women on the street who were dressed for the workday in business suits and dresses. He wore jeans and a white tee shirt with a leather jacket over it. His hair was wild and looked as if it had not come in contact with a hairbrush in months, if ever. A lit cigarette dangled from his lips surrounded by at least a week’s worth of stubble. Without gloves, a hat, or even a good winter coat, the young man had to be freezing, but if the frigid winter temperature affected him, he didn’t let it show. With snow on the ground, the temperature hovered around the freezing point. Whoever he was, the man wasn’t a professional. That much was abundantly obvious. A professional would have planned a defense against hypothermia.
Just to take a quick trip out to visit with Joshua and Samuel to follow up on their discovery at the tower, Alexandra had pulled on wool-lined boots, thick pants, a sweater, a heavy winter coat, mittens, stocking cap, earmuffs, and scarf. Despi
te all of that, she still shivered against the cold. Her newfound friend had to be freezing.
She kept walking and used the storefront windows to keep an eye on her new secret admirer, a trick she had learned in an action movie she and Joshua had seen back when the weather was a bit warmer. She wasn’t afraid of her mysterious shadow, provided he kept his distance, which seemed to be his plan. No, it wasn’t fear, more like concerned at whatever he was up to that drove her to pick up the pace. She had a hunch that, whatever it was he had in mind, it probably was not good. She rejected the notion of confronting him as soon as the thought hit her. There was a difference between not being afraid and being foolish. Confronting him openly all by herself was probably not her best option.
What she needed was back up.
Luckily, she knew just where to find it.
The smart play would be to head straight to the OAGI, but the Office of Angel Guides was several blocks away and even if she broke out into a full run, she understood that the odds of getting there without him catching her were slim. There was little doubt he would be able to outrun her. If the man tailing her decided to confront her then she needed to find some place closer that would offer her safe haven. She checked the street signs and knew where to go. There was one place nearby where she could go that her new admirer would be foolish to follow.
She took a left at the next intersection and picked up the pace as soon as she made the corner and was out of his line of sight. She was careful to keep her balance on the sidewalk, which was still slick in some places thanks to the early morning snowfall. The side street wasn’t as heavily traveled, but the sidewalk had been salted and the street scraped.
Another right at the next intersection put her on target for her destination. She caught sight of her shadow as he jogged to catch up to her. He was no longer bothering to hide the fact that he was following her.
He knows I’m on to him.
She tried not to panic.
It wasn’t working.
Two blocks ahead, Alexandra spied her destination. She had visited this particular building several times over the past couple of years, but always with either her father or Joshua at her side. This was the first time she had ventured there on her own and she was surprised how nervous the prospect of going in alone made her. A small sign hung out above the office’s front door, a simple design adorned not with the business’ name, but with a glyph she recognized. Those not in the know would scarcely notice the sign, but to those, like Alexandra, who knew what the symbol represented, the building was a welcome sight.
“Please be open,” she muttered as she walked up to the front of the office building. The mirrored windows reflected back at her and she caught sight of the same man still keeping his distance. He remained on the opposite side of the street, but kept pace with her.
Alexandra pulled on the handle and breathed a sigh of relief when the door pulled open in her grip. With one last glance at the man who was following her, she stepped inside, the door closing quietly behind her.
The lobby was cold and antiseptic with gleaming white walls that seemed to glow as the morning sun shone through the one-way windows filling the room with a stark brightness. The gray marble floors clacked under the heels of the half a dozen people who moved about their business.
“Can I help you, ma’am?” the receptionist asked politely, if dispassionately. She wore her hair pulled tightly into a bun. It gave her an unearthly look that did not match the woman’s silky smooth voice.
“I’m here to see Jacob Black.”
“Do you have an appointment?”
“No.” Alexandra didn’t recognize the receptionist, but that wasn’t much of a surprise. There seemed to be someone different sitting behind that desk every time Alexandra came into the office.
“Is he expecting you?”
“Probably.”
The receptionist was clearly not impressed by her attempt at wit. “And you are?” she asked, clearly growing annoyed at the prospect of having to do her job.
“I’m Alexandra Holzer.” She waited for the woman to recognize the name, but from the blank stare she received, it was clear she was going to require more. She sighed before adding, “Mr. Black knows me. He will see me. Just tell him that Alexandra Holzer is here and that I could use his help?”
“One moment please.”
As the prickly receptionist went about calling upstairs to let her boss know that he had a visitor, Alexandra walked over to the window to see if her mystery man was still there. He was. It took her a moment to find him, but he stood across the street, leaning against a newsstand and smoking a cigarette.
“If you’ll have a seat, Miss Holzer,” the receptionist said with a pasted on smile. “Mr. Black will be with you shortly.”
“Thank you,” Alexandra said, repaying the woman’s fake sweetness with her own. “You’re too kind.”
Jacob Black only kept her waiting ten minutes, which was moving quickly for him. Normally, he would have kept her pacing around the lobby for at least half an hour or longer before gracing her with his presence. The only times the man had moved faster to attend her was when she accompanied her father. Jacob had no trouble playing power games with Alexandra, but even he knew better than to keep Hans Holzer waiting. The home office would not approve.
Jacob Black was her point of contact with the Office of the Evil Sloth Intermediaries, or the OESI for short. She preferred the abbreviated title better. Evil Sloth Intermediaries sounded just a little too… well, evil for her taste. Whereas Samuel Esau ran the Office of Angel Guides, the OAGI, an office dedicated to helping lost or trapped souls make their way Heavenward, Jacob’s firm handled those souls who found themselves headed in the opposite direction. He was her connection to The Darkness.
Alexandra hated to use the phrase two sides of the same coin, but it was an apt description of Samuel and Jacob––one light, one dark––not that either of them would ever admit it. Despite the fact that their jobs were very similar, each man took a unique approach to getting the job done. They were both good at what they did and she had worked with each of their offices when the need arose. Like it or not, offices like the OESI, the OAGI, and others were part of the life she chose.
Samuel Esau was laid back almost to the point of catatonia at times, at least on the outside. Alexandra knew him to be a caring soul who wore his heart on his sleeve too often. He hid very little from those he was close to, of which she counted herself fortunate to be a part.
Jacob Black, on the other hand, was a closed book. All she knew about him was that which he projected, and that wasn’t very much. He was nothing but secrets. Jacob was assertive, stern, rigid, tightly wound, a coiled serpent waiting to strike at the first sign of danger or deception. She knew very little about him.
Personality clashes between the two of them were legendary so Samuel and Jacob opted to stay out of one another’s orbit as much as possible. While the OAGI and the OESI had multiple clients, Hans Holzer, and by association, Alexandra Holzer, were among a very small, very select group who dealt with both offices on a regular basis and did so in good standing.
Father had told her early on how tenuous a tightrope it was to work with both sides. They had to be very careful to remain neutral, to not choose one side over the other lest there be consequences they might not enjoy. It was a fine line she treaded lightly.
“Ah, Miss Holzer,” Jacob Black said as he walked across the lobby. As always, he was dressed in a perfectly tailored suit that hung off him as though it had grown there without so much as a wrinkle or crease out of place. His teeth sparkled when he smiled, complimenting his well-toned tan. The clack, clack, clack of his neatly polished, expensive dress shoes easily drowned out all other sounds. Jacob had a powerful presence. The man didn’t so much enter a room as much as he conquered it.
“Hello, Jacob,” Alexandra said with a smile. She had tried calling him ‘Mr. Black’ when she was younger, but he had shooed away that formality and asked her to
call him ‘Jacob’ and so she had. Despite that, he continued to refer to her as ‘Miss Holzer’ until they were alone despite her repeated requests that he call her ‘Alexandra’ in public.
She crossed the lobby to meet him halfway and offered her hand, which he firmly grasped then shook.
“Thank you for agreeing to see me on such short notice,” Alexandra said.
“Nonsense, Miss Holzer,” he said. Jacob was all business in public and spoke with elegance and a charming smile that revealed a row of perfect teeth. He wouldn’t dare call her by her first name in public. That would be considered bad form. “I am always at your service. Come, we’ll talk in my office.”
He motioned toward the elevator where two men in business suits waited for the car to arrive. Once it did, they stepped aside so that Jacob and Alexandra could take their place. They had been standing there when her host got off the elevator just moments before. She wondered why they hadn’t taken the last car, but just as quickly put the thought out of her mind. She had more pressing concerns to keep her thoughts occupied than the elevator habits of random office workers.
“I’m told you… oh, how do you say it… hung out your own shingle?” Jacob said.
“I did,” she said proudly.
“Have you and your father severed ties?”
“What? No!” She turned to give him a look. “Why would you ask that?”
“I meant no disrespect,” Jacob said. “I just assumed that since you were striking out on your own that you were leaving your father’s employ.”
“I was never in his employ,” she said, only a little annoyed. “We were partners. We still are. I just wanted to stretch myself and see if I could handle things on my own.”
“And can you, handle things on your own, that is?”
“So far so good,” she said as the elevator pinged and the door opened.
“Good. So, what can I do for the illustrious ghost hunter, Alexandra Holzer today?” Jacob asked after they stepped off the elevator on the uppermost floor of the building that held his office. The elevator opened directly into his massive office, which, as far as she could tell, took up the entire floor. The room was Spartan, for the most part. A few bookcases dotted the walls at odd intervals. A desk sat near the window that looked out at the street in front of the building, the same way that she had come in. A couch and two plush chairs that she knew to be rather comfortable were the only signs that business was conducted in the space. The rest of the floor was wide open and the sound of footsteps on the marble floor that matched what was in the lobby echoed off the walls.