"No, you don't look bad. The color suits you." I said and sat down in the chair next to her bed. "I still figure you'd want some regular clothes."
"These will get me by until I can get back to my cabin."
"You have a cabin around here?"
"No, it's in Missouri south west of St. Louis. My bear wandered here when she took over for an extended period. Sometimes that happens. No bears live in this part of the country, but you're close enough that we occasionally meander through. I think I came here to cool off. It's been so hot where I live lately."
"How are you going to get back if all of your stuff is back at your cabin?"
"I hadn't thought of that." She said. "I mean, I guess I can go back out into the forest and let my bear out again. Hopefully, she'll take me home."
"And if she doesn't?"
"I hadn't really thought about it. I can't stay here, though, and I can't hitchhike back to my cabin. Even if I am a bear, that seems too risky." Calinda said.
"Is there anyone you can call? Do you have someone who will come get you?" I asked, but I already knew what I was going to do if she said no.
"My family has all gone rogue, and I tend to keep to myself. It's hard to make friends when you're a half bear." She said, and her shoulder slumped.
"Gone rogue?" I asked.
"Yeah, they let go of their human halves and allowed their bears to take complete control. I come from a wild bunch, and for the rest of my family being human wasn't appealing. So, they went full bear."
"But not you?"
"There are things about being human that I couldn't bear to give up," Calinda said and chuckled at her pun. "Reading, brownies, and shark movies are just a few of the things I can't see myself giving up. Even the freedom of being a bear couldn't replace the parts of being a person that I've grown to love."
"You could come stay with me for a while. My fiance is in the spare room, but we could put an inflatable bed in my office." I offered.
"Is your fiancé a witch?" She asked curiously.
"Nope, but I do have a ghost named Abby that drops in from time to time. She loves to bake. Oh, and my cat Jezebel talks, but you're a werebear, so I guess that part's not that weird." I said and studied her face for signs of horror. "But, my best friend Esme is a witch too. She lives across the street from me, and she's a nurse here at the hospital."
"My ears are burnin," Esme said as she walked into the room. "Are you ladies gossiping about me?" Esme made air quotes when she said the word ladies.
Esme sat down in the room's other chair, and I filled her in on Calinda's story. Calinda fidgeted nervously as if she were a bit worried about how Esme would react.
"Well, that's a heck of a story," Esme said with a chuckle. "But, in all seriousness, you need to stay with us. If there is some psycho killer out there and the cops didn't catch him, the best place to be is with a couple of witches. We've got your back."
"There's more," I said.
"Of course there is." Esme retorted.
"The doctor who helped us the other night, Dr. Corvin, he's a supernatural too. But, I don't know what."
"I always thought there was something up with him. He seems cool, though. Let's go talk to him."
Chapter Five
"I've got to wait for my discharge papers," Calinda said.
"Psssshh. It'll be hours before they get in here with those." Esme said as she grabbed Calinda's shoes from the room's cubby. "I saw the backlog they're dealing with at the nurse's station when I walked by. Lots of those patients from the ER last night ended up here. And lots of them are going home today. We've just got to get a key."
"I can handle that. I don't even need keys anymore." I said.
"I wondered how you guys slipped down there last night," Esme said. "Nice."
"The thing that's not nice is that whoever was following us can do it too. He was able to get down their using the stairs. Don't you need a code to access the basement using the stairwell?"
"Yep. That's weird. I wonder if he's a warlock."
"It seems like we would have known if he was a witch," I said, but I really wasn't sure that was true or not.
"Yeah, that's probably true." Esme mused. "Wow, we've been introduced to all kinds of new beings this week. Let's go down and find out what this Dr. Corvin is all about."
I only had to wave my hand in front of the panel in the elevator to get it to take us to the basement level. It was almost scary how good I'd gotten at lock picking, even for electronics. If I'd been a less scrupulous person, I could have used that power to make a lot of money and cause lots of chaos.
Since I could unlock the door, we almost walked right into the morgue but decided to knock at the last minute. A few moments later, Dr. Corvin answered the door with a roast beef sandwich in one hand and a can of Diet Coke in the other. He used his shoulder to push the door open and smiled at us.
"Well, to what do I owe the honor of this visit? It's not often that I get three beautiful and talented women such as yourselves knocking on my door."
“You are a smooth talker, Dr. Corvin,” Esme said. “Can we come in? We’d like to have a conversation with you.”
“Sure, come in,” Dr. Corvin said and waved us in as best he could with the hand holding the Diet Coke. “We’ll have to go to my office. It will be a bit snug. Unfortunately, the influx in the ER last night means that I have a couple of autopsies to perform later today. But please, come in and follow me.”
We entered the morgue behind him, and I did my best not to look around. Fortunately, the bodies were covered with clean, white sheets. Dr. Corvin didn’t have anyone uncovered or prepped for an autopsy. I could feel the souls of the departed lurking in the shadows, but they weren’t scary. All I could feel coming from them was sadness and confusion.
“Before we leave, do you mind if Esme and I help those people move on?” I said as Dr. Corvin closed his office door behind us.
“I think that would be lovely of you, actually.” He responded thoughtfully.
The office was cramped, and there weren't enough seats for all of us. But, Dr. Corvin did have plenty of Diet Coke in his mini fridge. He also had a stash of ham salad sandwiches, so we ate an early lunch together.
"Did you know we were coming?" I asked after I'd finished half of my sandwich. "I mean, how did you know to bring four sandwiches to work today?"
"How would I have known that you guys were going to visit me today?" Dr. Corvin questioned in return.
"Ah ha!" Esme exclaimed. "Answering a question with a question means you don't want to answer Lenny's question. You are so busted." She said mostly playfully. "Spill it, Dr. Corvin."
"Spill what?" Dr. Corvin said, but it was obvious he knew we'd figured him out. Well, we'd at least figured out part of it. He was still a mystery.
Esme cocked her head to the side and looked at him through narrowed eyes. "What are you? And, don't you dare say something like doctor or pathologist. We know there's more to you than that."
Dr. Corvin took a deep breath and looked at each of us for a moment before speaking. "I don't suppose it does much good to carry on the ruse."
We all leaned in to make sure we could hear him.
"I'm a reaper." Dr. Corvin said with a sigh. "Okay, I was a reaper. I got fired."
"What do you mean you were a reaper and you got fired?" I asked.
Dr. Corvin had cleared his throat before he began. "I was a grim reaper. Like, the kind that takes souls over to the other side. Well, I didn't exactly bring them to the other side. I took them to the door to the other side and made sure they went through. Anyway, to make a long story short, I disagreed with one of my assignments, and I got fired for helping a little boy back into his body instead of through the door."
"What happened to the little boy?" Esme asked. It was clear she was fascinated by the story.
"He got to live. The powers that be decided that it wasn't his fault that I'd neglected my duties, or completely ignored them as it were."
/> "Why'd you save him?" Calinda asked. Of all of us, she was the most enamored with Dr. Corvin.
"Because it wasn't his time to go, but his jerkwad father had made a deal with a demon he couldn't pay. I would not accept that the powers that be would let that sweet little boy take the fall for his worthless father. So, I saved the boy and showed the father to the door." Dr. Corvin said.
"And now you're stuck as a human?" Esme asked.
"Well, I'm not exactly human." Dr. Corvin said. "I'm not an authorized reaper anymore either. It sucks because some of the spirits get stuck down here with me, and I can't help them."
"But, you can sense other supernaturals?" Calinda asked.
"I can, but I can't always tell what they are. I used to be able to identify souls, but now it's fuzzy. Oh, and I know if someone near me is about to shuffle this mortal coil, but I can't see other reapers anymore." Dr. Corvin said with a heavy sigh.
"You lost all of your friends," Calinda said.
Dr. Corvin just nodded his head yes.
"Is that why you chose to work here?" Esme asked. "You're used to working with the dead."
"It's the one thing they granted me for taking away my job. They said I could be anything I wanted to be while I was on earth. This just seemed like the most obvious choice."
"You could have been a mortician or run a funeral home," I said thoughtfully.
"I'm not a big fan of the funeral industry." Dr. Corvin said gravely. "They prey on people who are vulnerable. Those vultures use the fact that people feel guilty or sad after a death, and they extort exorbitant amount of money from families. At least here I am a doctor. Sometimes I even get to help solve a crime." He said proudly.
I looked at the clock on the wall and realized that I needed to go. Charles had scheduled interviews for the afternoon, and I knew he was in a hurry to get someone hired. His mission was to retire as soon as he could.
"I have to go. Can we meet another time?" I stood up and extended my hand to Dr. Corvin. Esme immediately plopped down in my chair. I turned to her. "Can you get Calinda to my place?"
"Sure, and if you give me twenty bucks, I'll take her to lunch too," Esme said with a wink.
I started to get my wallet out of my purse, and Dr. Corvin stopped me. "I'll take these ladies to lunch." He said with a smile.
I swear Calinda's face lit up at the suggestion. There wasn't time to think about it, though. I had to get to work.
Chapter Six
I was pulling into the parking area at work when my phone rang. It was Nathan, so I answered it right away.
"Lenny, are you okay? Are you somewhere safe?" He blurted out when I picked up.
"I'm okay, babe. I just pulled in at work. Charles and I have the interviews this afternoon. What's going on?"
"I found a body on one of the trails." He said with a sigh. "A woman was murdered. She looked like she was mauled by a huge animal, but they're saying it was murder."
"Oh, my. I'll come to you. This is your first day back at work. It was supposed to be special." I started the Jeep again.
"No, Lenny. You've got the interviews. I'm okay. I'm going to stay at work. They need us here to keep hikers and campers away from the crime scene until the police are finished."
"Are you sure?" I asked, but all I wanted to do was go to him.
"Yes, Lenny. Go do your interviews. I'm fine. I promise, and I swear I'll call you if I need anything. Okay?" Nate said, and I could hear the confidence in his voice. It was a confidence I was afraid I wouldn't hear again. Nathan was always a strong man, but the attack had taken something from him. It was back.
"I love you. I'll call you later to check in if that's alright?" I asked.
"I love you too, babe. Yes, call me later. We can talk about your new roommate." He said.
"How did you know?"
"Brad is here. Esme told him about Calinda staying with you and possibly her too. I'm looking forward to meeting your new friend." He said.
After our conversation, I stayed in the Jeep for a few minutes to get my thoughts together. Somehow, I would have to focus on the interviews, but my mind was swimming with murder and the possibility of a homicidal supernatural creature stalking through the woods around Tree's Hollow.
Five minutes later, I was ready to go in. Charles was at his desk when I walked through the door, and I could see a man sitting on the sofa by the fireplace in the sitting area.
"Hello, Lenora. I'm glad you're here. We've got our first interview waiting for us. His name is David Pale. He'd be moving here from Washington State if we give him the job."
"That's a long way," I said absentmindedly.
"It is. He stated that he wanted to get away from the West Coast, and he paid to fly here himself. He's a very talented writer, and David is motivated." Charles said. I could tell that David was his favorite candidate just by the way he lauded him. "Lenny, are you okay?"
"Nathan found a dead body on the trails." I blurted out.
"Oh my, and it's his first day back too. Lenny, are you up for this?" Charles said with grave concern.
"I am. Nathan is handling it well, and these interviews are important. I can do this. Don't worry."
"Alright. Let's get started then. I think we'll just interview David in the great room. It'll be more relaxed than putting him in front of a desk."
"I agree."
We walked into the room, and Charles introduced me to David. He was younger than I expected. I'm not sure why I was anticipating someone older than me, but David couldn't have been older than his mid-twenties. He was clean cut, handsome, and flashed a confident smile as well as a firm handshake. David oozed charisma.
Charles and I had agreed beforehand that I would let him lead the questions, and my job would be to observe unless there was a specific issue I wanted to address.
I sat and watched the interview, but I couldn't focus on the conversation. The words sounded muffled and foreign to me, and I wondered if there was something wrong with me. I didn't know what to do, so instead of listening, I paid attention to David's body language and facial expression.
It was interesting to me how familiar he seemed. The sound of his voice was warm and soothing, and I felt myself start to relax as I tuned into the tone and intonation of the words that I couldn’t quite focus on.
"Do you have any questions for David?" Charles' voice snapped me out of my stupor.
"How do you feel about covering stories related to violent crime?" As soon as the words were out, I could see David flinch. "I only ask because we've been having our share of murder in Tree's Hollow as of late, and the coverage of those stories is what keeps the paper afloat financially."
Charles nodded his head in approval and winked at me. David cleared his throat and shifted in his seat.
"Well, I can't say that I enjoy violence, but I do love to write stories that have an emotional impact. If I could ever, in any way, help solve a murder, that would be an added bonus."
I'd like to say that it took more than that to win me over, but David had made a strong first impression. If I was going to be working closely with someone, I wanted it to be a person I felt at ease with as I did with David.
The other two interviews didn't go nearly as well. The second candidate was a recent college graduate named Annabelle Kit. She came off as arrogant and demanding. It was evident that Annabelle believed her expensive education made her the best candidate even though she had little experience beyond writing for her high school and college paper. Her interview was short, and even then I couldn't wait for her to leave. Something about Annabelle's attitude rubbed me the wrong way, and that was highly unusual.
Bart Winterbow was candidate three. While he was a much more qualified applicant, and agreeable person, than Annabelle, Bart didn't seem like as good of a fit as David. He didn't click the way David did, so it just wouldn't work.
When all three of them were gone, Charles and I sat down to talk about the interviews. We both agreed that it would be best to bring
David in for a second interview before we hired him.
"Don't want him thinking we're desperate or anything," Charles said with a chuckle. "You can't afford to pay him as much as a big city paper could, so we should play a little hard to get."
"Should we ask him to come back tomorrow?" I asked.
"That's probably best. I don't want to wait too long since he's so far from home, but I don't want to invite him back today. I'll call and arrange the meeting tomorrow. Will you be able to make it?"
"Yes. I'm definitely going to investigate this murder. I cut myself and had to go to the ER yesterday evening. I met a woman there who'd been attacked in the woods."
"Be careful, Lenora," Charles said. "I know you can take care of yourself, but I want you to promise me that you won't take any unnecessary risks. I couldn't possibly retire if I knew you were putting yourself in danger for a story."
"The best stories always come with a little risk but don't worry. I can handle myself." I said confidently.
Supernatural killer attacking women in the woods... No big deal, right?
Chapter Seven
When I went home late in the afternoon, Esme, Calinda, and Jezebel were sitting in the living room. Jezebel eyed Calinda warily, but she stayed close to her. Calinda and Esme were eating pizza while Esme's new familiar ran up and down the hallway.
"There's a bear in our living room," Jezebel said completely deadpan when I walked in. "There's also a goat named Lyric running up and down the hall."
"I can introduce myself, cat." The goat stopped in the doorway and snarked at Jezebel. "Nice to meet you." She said and then went back to running up and down the hallway.
"How did you know that Calinda is a bear?" I asked. "Did you guys tell her?"
"Lady, I can smell her." Jezebel flicked her tail a couple of times, jumped down, and joined Lyric in her hallway laps.
"Good to see they're getting along," I said and sat down in the empty arm chair. "What happened to the chicken? You never told me."
Brewing Fun (Tree's Hollow Witches Book 4) Page 3
