The Witch's Brew

by Brenda Cothern

  Adam thought the comment odd, but didn’t ask why that was the case. He would think that since Mikael’s office was on the same level as the wraparound balcony that he would have his own zone assignment. Apparently that wasn’t the case.

  “Zone one is the balcony.” George waved to the U-shaped second floor that was surrounded by a railing. “Zone two is Barb’s bar, three is Travis’ bar, four is Jules and the dance floor is five.” George pointed out the bars that matched the employees who worked them. “If we have problems they usually start at one of the bars or on the dance floor. Whoever works zone one or our DJ, BT, usually spots potential trouble first and will notify whichever one of us is working that zone. Until you learn everyone’s names, just say the zone if you spot trouble before one of us do.”

  “Sounds easy enough.” Adam smiled because it was easy enough.

  “Good.” George nodded. “Tonight I’m going to put you up in zone one since your eyes were sharp enough to spot those fuckwits last night.”

  “Okay,” Adam agreed.

  “We have about fifteen minutes before we open, so let me introduce you to the rest of the security team.” George walked back to Travis’ bar where several people, wearing the same bright neon yellow T-shirts, were standing.

  “Chris and Rita you met informally last night. These two are Jake and Mark. Guys, this is Adam,” George introduced them all. He only waited until Adam finished shaking everyone’s hands before he assigned Adam’s coworkers to their zones.

  Adam headed up to the balcony and did a quick circuit to memorize the layout. There were low chairs around just as low tables and Adam did quick math. Forty people could occupy those tables and chairs and the space was large enough to hold another twenty or thirty around the balcony’s rail.

  On one end of the U was the door to the hallway that led to his new boss’ office. Just thinking of Mikael and his interview the night before made Adam realize this hall didn’t have a security keypad to enter. No, it had a card reader which he observed Randy utilize the night before to grant them access.

  Adam frowned at the difference in security compared to downstairs. He would’ve thought Mikael would warrant more security up here than the hallway down below. The music that started blaring through the club pulled Adam’s thoughts away from Mikael’s security and turned them back toward his job. He did another circuit around the balcony and made note of where the fire exit stairs were located before he took up a post at the center of the balcony.

  ~~~

  It was four days later and Adam was back at the post upstairs. He’d rotated through the bar zones, but after doing a circuit through the minimal crowd hanging out on the second floor, he took up a post where he could see the dance floor below.

  Chris was working that zone tonight. Adam watched the neon yellow security shirt weave along the outskirts of the dance floor. Everything seemed to be going smoothly, but something set off Adam’s internal alarm bells. It was a feeling in his gut and chest that he was intimately familiar with from his time with Delta. He searched the crowd below to find the source of his unease.

  He found it and everything seemed to happen at once and in slow motion. The guy was dancing like the rest of the crowd, but from the corner of Adam’s eye he saw the man’s arm snake behind his back. Adam was moving by the time he hit his ear piece.

  “Chris, gun, black dress shirt, blonde hair,” Adam called the specifics to his fellow security team coworker.

  He didn’t wait to see if Chris was moving, but flashes of neon yellow closing on the dance floor reassured him that everyone who worked security received his message. Adam took the stairs down from the balcony two at a time and deftly dodged patrons going up without taking his eyes off the threat.

  The guy raised the gun to the ceiling and fired off three shots before anyone reached him. Screams filled the club louder than the thumping beat BT was spinning. A mass of people scattered away from the shooter, most running for the club entrance.

  Adam had to give his fellow security team coworkers credit when all they did was hunch their shoulders while they continued to converge on the dance floor. They dodged patrons as best they could, but never stopped even as three more shots were randomly fired in the club. Adam lost sight of the gunman in the chaos that surrounded him. Even with his height, it was as if the asshole melded into the crowd.

  “Anyone have eyes on?” Adam inquired and received a chorus of negatives. “Son of a bitch!” Adam cursed to no one in particular.

  Once the pandemonium cleared and the club emptied it became clear how they lost sight of the guy. A black dress shirt was discarded at the edge of the dance floor. However, when they searched the club quickly for the gun, it was nowhere to be found.

  BT had cut the music only a few moments after the first shots were fired and now Adam could hear the approaching sirens of the police. Adam hated dealing with the police. Civilian or military, it didn’t matter. They were all assholes as far as Adam was concerned. Every cop he had ever dealt with gave him an attitude and treated him with suspicion. He knew it was his size that made them nervous and act like assholes, but knowing the reason behind their behavior didn’t change his opinion.

  “How are you holding up, Adam?”

  Mikael’s voice came from next to him and Adam never noticed the man approach. It was like he just appeared out of nowhere. Had Adam not had years of experience in the military, he may have startled.

  “I’m fine.” Adam only spared a glance at his boss before he returned his attention back to the police entering the club. “I am just dreading the incoming interrogation.”

  “Do you have something to hide that I should be aware of or just not a fan of Chicago’s finest?”

  Mikael’s tone was neutral and Adam had the impression that the man’s opinion of him wouldn’t change if he answered with the former instead of the latter. It was a good feeling even though his answer didn’t warrant it.

  Mikael met Adam’s gaze and waited for his employee to speak. When he stepped out of the shadows directly behind Adam, he had no problem detecting the tension in the norms body. So, he asked his question and his opinion of the man wouldn’t have changed regardless of the answer. It had nothing to do with how hot he found Adam, either. No matter how much he wanted the man after only five days in his employment, Adam was family. He was family that Mikael wouldn’t fuck and family who he’d protect from every and anything.

  “I’m not a fan of any law enforcement,” Adam informed with a glance at his boss. However, his gaze returned to the club entrance before he continued, “But not because I have anything to hide.”

  “It’s your size.”

  Adam turned to look at Mikael again and was impressed the man deduced the problem he had with police.

  “Chris can cover for you if you don’t want to deal with them. My employees get breaks and you could have been on yours in the back,” Mikael offered.

  Adam knew they didn’t take breaks like Mikael was suggesting. The only breaks, if any of the security team even took one, were to run to the bathroom. That wasn’t the type of break Mikael was talking about, though. He appreciated the out so he wouldn’t have to give a detailed accounting of spotting the shooter first to the police, but he didn’t need it.

  “Thanks, but I’ll tell them my version of what happened.”

  “Very well, but you won’t tell them alone.” Mikael didn’t wait for Adam to reply before he strode toward the entrance of his club.

  Adam watched his boss walk away. The police tried to stop him, question him, but it seemed like the moment Mikael uttered his name their whole demeanor changed. It changed once again when a short man in a suit joined them. From where Adam stood, he didn’t see a detective badge. Then again, the guy didn’t really look like a detective.

  “Adam, this is Lawrence Ken,” Mikael introduced when he returned with the man.

  Adam shook the man’s hand. He easily had over a foot of height on Lawrence and if Adam had to guess, o
ver one hundred and fifty pounds, but the guy didn’t even flinch at his size. Adam had only met a handful of men so much smaller than he that weren’t intimidated by his size.

  “Lawrence will be with you when you’re interviewed,” Mikael informed.

  “Okay, but why? This isn’t the first time I’ll be giving a statement.”

  “Lawrence is my attorney,” Mikael answered, but didn’t mention to his norm employee that his lawyer was also a mindbender.

  Adam couldn’t fathom why Mikael would want his attorney present when he gave his statement. He hadn’t done anything wrong, anything that would warrant legal representation when just giving his accounting of what he witnessed while doing his job.

  “Humor me.” Mikael smiled and chuckled at Adam’s skeptical raised brow. “If it makes you feel any better, Lawrence will be present when all of my family is interviewed.”

  “Okay.”

  Adam was still skeptical of why Mikael wanted or was requiring his lawyer to be present when the security team was interviewed. He was also curious and it didn’t escape his notice that Mikael referred to them again as family and not employees.

  Two detectives had commandeered the VIP room to collect employee statements. They started with George and seemed to call the security team to be interviewed based on their proximity to the dance floor. Chris, then the rest of the lower floor staff was called back. Adam was last which he found extremely curious since he was the one who spotted the shooter first. However, he soon found out that that didn’t seem to be what the others had told the detectives.

  “After Chris Rager spotted the gunman and notified you through the ear piece, can you walk us through what you did,” an overweight detective asked.

  Adam masked his surprise at the detective’s incorrect information and glanced at Lawrence. The attorney gave him a nod to indicate he should answer the question. However, Adam was about to correct the detective since he didn’t want his coworker to lie on his behalf.

  “Chris’ warning came through my earpiece and I left the balcony to attempt to assist the security team working downstairs.” The words came out of Adam’s mouth, but they were not the ones he thought to say. He had no idea why; just like he had no idea where his sudden headache was coming from.

  “Can you give us a description of the gunman?” The second detective asked casually after he looked up from his notepad.

  Of course Adam could give a description. Well, likely a better description than anyone working the floor since he had a better view. Adam opened his mouth, but once more the words that came out weren’t the description that he’d intended to give.

  “The dance floor was too crowded,” Adam paused with the frown. “Sorry, everything just happened so fast.”

  “Thank you Mr. Travail,” Detective number one said. “That’s all we need from you.”

  The two detectives stood and number two addressed Lawrence. “Mr. Ken, if we have any further questions, we will be in touch.”

  Adam watched them leave and tried to ignore his sudden headache that was now getting worse. He looked at Lawrence questioningly. Adam wanted to ask why his answers didn’t seem to be his own, but he was sure the man would think he was crazy.

  “You did good, Adam.” Lawrence smiled. “But you look tired.”

  Adam realized he was tired, exhausted actually even though only a few moments before he felt wide-awake. He gave his head a slight shake and rubbed his eyes with one hand.

  “Yeah, I guess I am,” Adam agreed before he followed Lawrence back out to the club.

  “It’s probably the stress of the night catching up with you,” Lawrence offered.

  Adam had been in more stressful situations while he was in the military, but had no other explanation why he was so beat. Maybe civilian stress is just hitting me different. That’s probably why my head is killing me, too.

  George and Mikael were the only two left in the club when Adam and the lawyer returned. Adam was too tired to recognize that the police should have still been crawling all over the place, but now seemed to be gone.

  “Get some rest, Adam,” George advised. “I’ll see you tonight when you come in.”

  “Okay,” Adam agreed. His only thought was on finding something to relieve his aching head. “Night.” He didn’t even wait for replies before he left the club to take his ass home.

  ***

  Chapter Four

  “What the fuck happened, George?” Mikael demanded the moment Adam left the club. “How did that asshole get by you?”

  “I have no idea.” George frowned. “I didn’t smell anything out of the ordinary from the norms.”

  Mikael ran his hands through his long blonde locks and sighed. They’d never had violence to this level in the club before and he didn’t know what to make of it. Bar fights happened occasionally, but even the mobsters knew better than to try to kill each other in his club.

  “Were there any serious injuries?” Mikael scanned his club. He could smell the faint scent of blood, but it wasn’t strong enough to have resulted from a gunshot wound. Plus, if any of his patrons had been shot, there was no way in hell they would have been able to hurry the police along so quickly.

  “Cuts and bruises for the most part. There might’ve been a sprained ankle, but that was the worst of it.” Mikael grunted. “It could’ve been a lot worse.”

  “No shit,” Mikael grumbled with another frown.

  “You going to have a problem with the new guy?” George inquired.

  “Adam? No, Lawrence took care of him. Why do you ask? He doesn’t seem like the kind of guy that would get rattled over something like this.”

  “I am sure he has dealt with worse,” George agreed.

  “But?” Mikael prompted.

  “His headache seemed pretty bad. Lawrence is usually more subtle and if he was this time…” George let his comment hang in the air between them.

  Mikael knew exactly what George was getting at. Some norms reacted adversely to mindbenders’ messing around in their head. It appeared Adam might be one of them. He would deal with their new security employee when he came to work that evening.

  “He will be fine,” Mikael replied with a surety he wasn’t sure he actually felt. “Lock up and go home, George. We will have plenty of time to deal with all of this tonight.”

  “Night, then,” George said by way of goodbye before he punched in the security code and disappeared down the employee hallway.

  Mikael let out a breath of exasperation once more and rolled up the sleeves to his dress shirt. Not having to sleep had its perks, but putting the Brew back to rights wasn’t how he intended to spend his night.

  ~~~

  Adam’s head was still pounding when he woke up. The intensity was that of a migraine. He knew it wasn’t, though. Adam had plenty of experience with the disabling fuckers to know. Light wasn’t stabbing into his brain like a rusty ice pick and he didn’t feel like his stomach wanted to crawl up his throat just to say hello. So no, this wasn’t a migraine.

  His head wasn’t feeling much better after a hot shower and breakfast. In fact, it seemed to get worse when he replayed everything that happened after the police arrived at the club to investigate the shooting. He had experienced more stressful situations while he was in the military, so his current headache wasn’t a latent stress reaction to the shit that went down the night before. In fact, his PTSD hadn’t even reared its ugly head and for that he was grateful.

  It didn’t sit right with Adam that he had lied to the police, either. Especially, since that wasn’t his intention. It was as if the words that flew out of his mouth weren’t his own and that was an unnerving feeling. Why he would say Chris spotted the shooter first when, in fact, he did, Adam had no explanation.

  “Fuck.” Adam gripped his head again when a particularly sharp pain shot through his brain.

  He walked to his desk and picked up his bottle of Vicodin. After shaking two into his palm, he popped them into his mouth and chewed. They
would hit his system faster than swallowing them even if chewing was beyond disgusting. Adam chased down the remnants of the pain medication with the last of his coffee. Hopefully, they would kick in by the time he arrived at the club.

  It wasn’t time to leave for work yet, but Adam was sure no one would complain if he showed up early to help with the cleanup. Less than an hour later, Adam keyed in his code to the club’s back door and was walking down the hallway. Muted voices came through the door before he opened it and stepped through.

  George, Travis, and Marci were hanging out at Travis’ bar, but they weren’t what drew Adam’s eye. No, he was scanning the club. The very cleaned up club. The place didn’t look a single bit like a stampede of people fled the area last night.

  “Hey Adam,” Marci greeted and looked happy to see him..

  “You are early,” George commented with a smile.

  “Yeah. I thought I’d come in early and help clean up the mess, but it seems it’s already been taken care of, though.”

  “Mikael took care of it,” Travis informed.

  Adam didn’t comment. His boss was a multimillionaire, so he likely could get anything at any time. Apparently, that included a cleaning crew in the middle of the night.

  “Okay.” Adam nodded for no other reason than to acknowledge Travis’ comment.

  Now that he was at work early with nothing to do, the thought struck him to ask his boss about why Chris needed to spot the gunmen first. Adam’s headache was practically nonexistent due to the Vicodin, so he didn’t even feel a twinge of pain when he thought about what happened last night.

  “Is Mikael here?” Adam inquired casually.

  “He should be upstairs.” George nodded toward the one-way glass above the entrance. “You need something?”

  “You’re not quitting, are you?” Marci asked with genuine concern in her voice.

  “No, I’m not quitting.” Adam smiled at the small brunette waitress. “A few shots from some punk isn’t enough to make me quit.” Adam turned his gaze to George. “I just wanted to talk to him.”