by Simon Archer
“They inherited it?” Lottie asked for clarification. “How?”
“The book was either found on a relative, as it had found its way to Dave, or the man actually sent it to a relative before attempting to perform the final spell,” I explained. “Every time, the previous owner passed it along in some way.”
“Okay, was that all you saw?” Vila wanted to know.
“No,” I answered. “I saw how the book renews itself.”
“What do you mean ‘renews itself’?” Andi sounded confused again.
“My memory took me all the way back to the book being buried in a field. I could not see by whom. As the book decomposed, underground in a field, a gross, evil-looking tree grew in the center, and poisonous plants of all kinds grew around the tree. People tried to get to the tree but kept dying from the poisonous plants until finally, a man did make it through. He walked up to the tree as though he was trampling through plain old grass, cut a branch off, and made a new book. The spells in the book automatically wrote themselves on the pages.” I looked from Andi, to Vila, to Lottie. Each looked deep in thought, trying to see the story I’d just told them in their own minds. Then Lottie blinked up at me.
“How did the specific man make it through the meadow?” she asked.
“He was evil,” I answered. “I felt it. I felt it with everything in me. Dreadful evil.”
“You felt it?” Vila followed up.
“Yes. I’ve never felt anything with a history reading before, but everything about this one was horrid,” I answered.
“I want that book out of here,” Lottie said suddenly. “If its evil is that strong, it doesn’t need to be here.”
“I agree with her,” Andi chimed in.
“Third,” Vila said, raising her hand.
“But where should we move it to?” I asked them. None of them had any suggestions. I wasn’t so sure it was a good idea to let the book be too far from us for fear of someone finding it.
“How about this,” I finally said. “I will get a steel safe and put it inside. I have the book hidden pretty well as it is, but that way, even if someone does find it, they won’t be able to access it,” I suggested. The girls mulled my option over.
“I can live with that for now. At least until we can get it safely out of here,” Lottie replied eventually. Andi and Vila each nodded in agreement.
“Good, I will run to town now. I’ve already showered so you ladies can get ready to go to the office while I go buy a safe,” I strategized.
“Actually,” Vila started. “I was hoping to stay here. I want to go see Gisele.”
“Absolutely,” Lottie told her. “We are just going to be directing a bunch of movers with office equipment, anyway. You have a great time with her.” Lottie smiled at Vila and then turned her attention to Andi. “Would you like to stay as well?”
“No, I’m good. I want to see the new Harris Tax Services office!” she replied happily. The four of us stood up. I kissed Lottie on the cheek and headed to the front door while Andi, and Vila, made their way upstairs to get ready. Vila stayed at the kitchen island, waiting for everyone to clear out.
10
An hour later, Lottie, Andi, and I pulled up to the building where Lottie would be setting up her new tax office. The suite was directly in the middle of a small strip mall in the center of town. Since she had only planned on interviewing and hiring two or three additional people to help out in the office, the place was rather small. The realtor was waiting for us at the front of the door when Glen parked the car, and the three of us got out. Lottie needed to sign some last-minute paperwork so that she could get in and inspect the unit one last time before the movers arrived.
“Mr. Leighy, good afternoon. Do you have the documents with you?” she asked politely.
“Hello, Ms. Harris,” he greeted her. “I do have the documents, but there’s a small hitch regarding the lease on the unit.” Mr. Leighy shifted from his left foot to his right and looked nervous.
“Well, I’m sure it’s nothing we can’t get cleared up,” Lottie said confidently. I loved watching her in business-mode. She was always in control. “Shall we move inside out of the heat and get it taken care of?”
Mr. Leighy reluctantly pulled keys from his pocket and unlocked the unit door. The four of us went inside and took a moment to let our eyes adjust to the indoor lighting. Mr. Leighy stood with his back to the door as though he was making sure he had a way to bolt out of there at a moment’s notice.
“Now, what seems to be the issue?” Lottie asked, standing unusually close to the man. Since she was such a small woman, she’d told me once that ‘getting inside people’s bubbles’ gave her a more commanding presence. Today, she was certainly using the technique to her advantage.
“I tried to talk to the owners, but they were very hesitant to listen. They just kept going on about it. They weren’t present at the party you threw the other night, so they really had no way of knowing.” He started prattling on, but Lottie inched closer to him to cut him off.
“Mr. Leighy, what is the issue?” she demanded.
“The owners aren’t comfortable leasing to you on account of the possible negative effects of your fiancé’s technological dealings,” he spat out and then shrunk back away from her like she was a threat.
Lottie nodded her head slowly. “I see,” she said softly. “I imagine they are basing their opinions on that report from Tobin Keene?”
“It seemed that way to me, although they didn’t say exactly,” Mr. Leighy admitted.
“What is their connection to Keene?” Lottie asked sternly.
“He rents a sizable property from them currently.” His words were shaky as he answered. “Other than that, I don’t know.”
“You see, there’s only one issue here that needs to concern you,” Lottie started. “If they don’t go through with their agreement to rent this unit to me on the basis of the two-year contract we negotiated, they won’t have a single property left to rent to anybody.” Mr. Leighy looked confused.
“How do you mean, Ms. Harris?” he asked timidly.
“First, we have a verbal agreement, as is evident by you being here,” Lottie explained. “Then, there is the matter of the legality of the tax documents they’ve filed over the last several years.”
“What’s wrong with their taxes?” Leighy was back to shifting from one foot to the other.
“They asked me if I would check their previous returns to make sure they were getting the highest possible refund.” Lottie spoke so quietly that Mr. Leighy had to lean in to hear her. “I bet they weren’t counting on the chatty townsfolk, including yourself, letting me in on a few of their properties that they never claim on their taxes.” She took a step back and crossed her arms in front of her. “You work for the only property management company in the city, don’t you?”
“Yes,” he replied quietly, looking scared.
“I’m curious, Mr. Leighy, if your employer perhaps has a special arrangement with the owners to keep those properties a secret. You see, if your company did keep accurate records of all the properties they managed, then they should have properties, like Tobin’s, listed in their books. I wonder if those would be there if an audit happened?” She stared at Mr. Leighy as a bead of sweat rolled down his forehead.
“I… I don’t know anything about that,” the man stuttered.
“I believe you don’t,” Lottie said, sounding condescendingly sweet. “That wouldn’t keep you from losing your job if the property management company had to close down for tax fraud, though, would it?”
Mr. Leighy tried to take a step back, but the door stopped him. He looked like she’d just punched him in the gut.
“I am certain there is some way to keep all that from happening,” Mr. Leighy choked out. “There’s really no need to call in an audit. Certainly, nobody would want to go to all that trouble.”
“I am inclined to agree with you.” Lottie stepped closer once more. “There is a very simple
way to keep any of that from having to transpire. All you have to do is pull that little piece of paper out of your briefcase, set it here on the counter, let me sign it, and be on your way. As soon as you are out the door, I’m sure my memory of properties unaccounted for will suddenly vanish.”
Mr. Leighy didn’t hesitate even a second. He stepped around Lottie and put his briefcase up on the counter behind her. As he pulled out the leasing paperwork, he flattened it out, set a pen on top of it, and stepped aside.
“Here you are, Ms. Harris,” he said with a flourish of his hand toward the lease.
“I appreciate you letting me use your pen,” Lottie told him politely, though there was a sting to her tone.
“Of course,” he whispered back.
Lottie walked to the counter, signed the lease, and handed the paper and pen back to Mr. Leighy.
“There we are,” she chimed happily. “Thank you so much for helping me get all that straightened out. I’ll be certain to call your employer and let them know what an excellent experience I’ve had dealing with you. You’ll be up for a promotion in no time.”
Mr. Leighy hastily returned the lease and pen to his briefcase and practically ran out the door without so much as another word. I walked to Lottie and put my arms around her.
“You are a freaking shark, woman!” I told her, chuckling. “You threatened that poor man’s job.”
“There’s not a chance in hell I would’ve actually jeopardized his job,” Lottie replied, smiling. “It’s not his fault the owners are news-subscribing zombies. However, he didn’t know that. Also, I do fully intend on giving him a shining review with his boss.”
I let out a little laugh and squeezed her tight before letting go.
“So, when will the movers get here?” I asked. “I thought we scheduled them to be here already.”
“We are here!” a deep voice said from behind us. The two of us turned around to see two young gentlemen standing in the doorway. “Our apologies for being a few minutes late. We had to ask your driver to move his car so we could back in.”
“Hopefully, Glen didn’t give you any grief,” I chuckled. It wouldn’t have surprised me if Glen hadn’t taken a few moments to jest with the movers.
“Nah, he was really cool,” the mover replied. They were not the same men that had moved us into the house, but they worked for the same company.
“Hey, what happened to the other two guys that work for your company?” I asked, curiosity getting the best of me.
“Oh, they finally retired,” one of the guys told us. “They decided to go for some cushy security job or something.”
I smiled to myself at the thought of the older movers getting into a less laborious line of work. “Good enough. We’ll get out of your way.” I turned to Andi, who had posted up against the wall and fiddled with her hair. I leaned on the wall beside her, and Lottie joined us as the movers returned to their truck to start unloading.
“You’re awful quiet today,” I commented to Andi.
She smiled up at me, looking thoroughly amused. “I’m just enjoying the show.” Her gaze shifted to Lottie. “Way to knock that little ‘problem’ out of the park, Lottie!”
“Thank you, it wasn’t all that difficult,” Lottie giggled at the compliment.
“I would’ve paid to see the guy try to be more difficult,” Andi added.
Lottie shrugged shyly, and the three of us watched as the movers started methodically bringing furniture and boxes into the office. It didn’t take them long to unload, and after handing them a generous tip, they drove off with smiles on their faces. I turned to go help Lottie start unpacking when another gentleman, this one in a delivery uniform, walked through the door. The three of us stopped and stared at him.
“Is there a Lottie Harris here?” the guy asked loudly.
“I’m Lottie,” she answered, turning around from heading to the back of the office.
“I have a package for you.” He held out a small box he’d had tucked under his arm.
“Already?” Lottie sounded surprised.
“Appears so,” the guy responded flatly. I wasn’t sure if he simply had no personality, or if he just had the inability to use tone in his voice. Lottie took the handheld machine he gave her and signed for the box.
“Thank you,” Lottie told him as he turned to leave.
“Sure thing,” he mumbled, then left. Lottie carried the package to the counter and looked the box over. There wasn’t a return address. She pulled on the flaps to break the tape and opened the box. She reached inside and pulled out a small glass ball that sat on a square base.
“What is that?” Andi asked, moving closer to see it.
“There’s some engraving on it.” Lottie squinted to read it. “Thank you, Ms. Harris, for your tax magic,” she read aloud.
“Who is it from?” I asked. She hadn’t actually done anyone’s taxes in Barbados yet, so the gift was definitely a curiosity. She fished around in the box and pulled out a card. She opened and smiled as she read.
“It’s from the kid that works for you at 14tech back in the States,” she answered. “He needed some help to set up his finances once he started making so much more money than he had at the news station, and I helped him out.”
“Awe, that’s sweet!” Andi chimed in.
“Or pathetic!” a man’s voice sounded from the doorway.
The three of us whipped around, and standing in the doorway was Tobin Keene.
“We have got to get a bell on that door,” I said, looking to Lottie.
“Tell Glen to go get one now,” she answered with a straight face, never taking her eyes off Tobin.
“What do you want?” Andi stepped in. Her eyes had so much contempt in them that I was half expecting daggers to fly out of them. Maybe literally, what with her genie magic and all.
“I just wanted to see how much crap you all were moving in here that you would be moving out before you have a chance to unpack,” Tobin replied snidely.
“There isn’t a single person who wants you here,” Lottie told him, her voice dripping with disdain. “Don’t you have someone else to go create lies about?”
“Oh!” Tobin laughed. “You think I make up lies?” He put a foot inside the door, and all three of us stepped forward to keep him from entering any further.
“I just added leaving to your agenda for the afternoon, Tobin,” I told him sharply. “There is no reason for you to be here.”
“That is where you are wrong, Bennett,” Tobin sneered. “There is no reason for the lot of you to be here. Why don’t you ship back off to the States and take your poisonous technology with you?” There was something about the way he said ‘poisonous’ that sent chills up my spine. It sounded like he enjoyed saying the word specifically. I instantly thought of the poisonous meadow I had seen in the spell book’s history earlier.
“Why must you waste our time?” Andi asked. She sounded like he bored her painfully, which made his eyes flare with anger.
“You mean like you wasted that news kid’s time with all your tech training?” Tobin spat out to me, ignoring Andi. “He’s going to be unemployed when 14Tech gets closed down and probably included in the lawsuit that will be filed once everyone else realizes how fraudulent and dangerous your new program is.”
“You aren’t on the air anymore, Tobin. You’re wasting your slanderous speeches on this audience,” I retorted.
He was getting angrier with every insult he spewed that didn’t get the response he was hoping for. Obviously, the man was used to people cowering to him and his supposed authority.
“And besides, how do you know ‘that news kid’?” Lottie asked defensively.
“I don’t need to be on the air to get the people in my town to listen to me,” Tobin bragged as he turned his attention to Lottie. “The news world is a small one, Ms. Harris.” I was beginning to think I was going to have to remove him forcibly from the office when he suddenly spun on his heel and headed for the door.
“What did he just say?” Andi asked sharply. “Did he just say he’d throw the book at us?”
“He most certainly did,” I told her. There was zero doubt in my mind at that point that Tobin Keene knew about the spellbook. After the way he’d said ‘poisonous’ and then mentioned a book, none of it made sense unless he was aware of the book’s existence. “He knows.”
“How could he know?” Andi asked, sounding slightly panicked.
I turned and lowered my voice. “Not about you and Vila, about the book, I mean,” I assured her.
“The same question stands,” Lottie chimed in. “How could he know? That’s an awfully big coincidence, isn’t it?”
I turned and looked at the door he’d just exited. A disturbing thought had just floated through my mind.
“The book is here, and the book is evil. What if evil magic attracts other evil magic like good magic does?” I whispered.
The girls were silent for the next several moments, as was I after that. None of us had the answer. Glen interrupted our worry by walking in the door.
“Y’all need some more help in here? There are too many cars whizzing about out there to get any sleep,” he boomed happily. His jolliness made the three of us smile, and the mood lightened instantly.
“You bet,” Lottie answered him. “You can start unpacking the boxes. I even have a nice, comfy chair back there for you to sit in while you do so.”
Glen laughed and clapped his hands together. As he turned to me, he gestured a thumb toward Lottie. “Your girl knows how to treat her friends, doesn’t she? You should take some notes, Bennett,” he joked with me.
“I’ll note that you are a pompous ass!” I shot back, laughing. Glen turned to Lottie and made a dramatic show of ignoring me.
“Show me the way, beautiful lady!” he said. Andi and I were left in the lobby of the small suite, shaking our heads at how fun Glen was to have around.
