Ultimate Nyssa Glass: The Complete Series

by H. L. Burke

  “They’re stolen, aren’t they?” Nyssa said.

  “That’d be a question.” The man sneered.

  Theo entered, carrying a tray of sandwiches. He slipped it onto the counter, his eyes tracking the large man’s movements.

  “Theo, go into the back,” Ellis ordered.

  Instead, Theo slunk to Nyssa’s side and took her hand. She squeezed his fingers.

  “Word on the street says you won’t turn your nose up and you daren’t go to the cops. I need to unload this merch before the cops come pokin’ ‘round my domicile. So, what can you give me for these?”

  “You’ve been misinformed. You should go.” Ellis steered his chair between Nyssa and the man.

  Nyssa gazed past the thief out the window. The blasted officer who had been present all morning was gone. Of course, nowhere near when we need him.

  “Don’t tell me I came all this way on a wild goose chase.” The man’s eyes darted to the register beside Nyssa. “Well, it won’t be for naught. What’s in the drawer?”

  “Nothing. We haven’t had a client yet today.” Nyssa hit a button, and the tray popped open with a ding. A few loose pennies made up the whole of the till.

  “There must be something.” The man’s fists clenched. He darted towards Nyssa. Ellis grabbed him by the arm, but the man clouted him.

  Nyssa gasped and clambered onto the counter. She jumped onto the man’s back as his fist again swung towards Ellis. Ellis blocked the blow. He jabbed upward with a punch of his own, but the attacker dodged and kicked out. Ellis’s chair toppled over.

  Nyssa sank her teeth into the man’s shoulder. He flailed at her, but she held fast, squeezing his neck. It was like hugging a tree trunk. His fingernails dug into her arms.

  “Theo! Get help!” she shouted.

  The boy ran from the shop, dodging the attacker’s grasp.

  The man caught her hair. Sharp pain drove into her scalp as he yanked her over his shoulder. Her back hit the floor. Breath escaped her lungs in a whoosh. Ellis moaned.

  Had he blacked out? Is he badly hurt?

  Nyssa reached over and grasped his arm. Ellis stirred. The man kicked him in the side. Ellis grunted, his face contorting in pain.

  “Stop!” Nyssa yelped, then covered her own face against a blow from the man. It never came. Instead he jumped over the counter and tore into the shelves. Tools and electrical components clattered to the floor.

  Ellis attempted to right his chair which had half collapsed on top of him. Blood dripped from a gash above his eye.

  “Stay down!” Nyssa whispered. “I have a plan.” It was a lie, but she didn’t want to see him hit again.

  He grimaced but froze.

  Waiting for a brilliant idea I don’t actually have. Think. How do I get us out of this?

  Nyssa wormed away from Ellis to behind his workbench. She pushed herself onto her hands and knees. The grunts and crashes from behind the counter became increasingly irate.

  I’ve got to do something before he starts searching the main house. He might hurt Mrs. H. Dear Lord, let Theo bring help soon.

  A wrench glistened at the edge of Ellis’s workbench.

  If I bounce that off the blighter’s skull, he won’t be knocking anyone down for a while.

  Trying to stay hidden behind the bench, she fumbled for the wrench. She stood. The man was face deep in her junk cabinet.

  With a long breath, she hurled the wrench. It bounced off the back of the man’s head. He cursed, put his hands up, then whirled around, still very much conscious. Nyssa’s stomach dropped to her toes.

  “That was your plan?” Ellis shouted.

  The man stepped towards her then cowered back. He turned and bolted through the rear door. The doorbell jangled as the police officer burst in, Theo at his tail. Nyssa sank against the wall. Cold relief washed over her. Theo glued himself to her side, his eyes wide. She squeezed the boy’s shoulder.

  The officer took after the thief. Mrs. H shrieked in the kitchen and something crashed. Shouts echoed through the workshop. Then another crash.

  Ellis pushed his chair back up and pulled himself into the seat. He clamped a handkerchief over his head wound.

  “Are you all right?” Nyssa whispered.

  He gave a brief nod.

  The officer returned, his coat rumpled and his face red.

  “Did you catch him?” Theo burst out.

  Nyssa swallowed. “Our housekeeper? Is she all right?”

  “The lady is well, but startled. I told her to go sit down. As for the attacker, he got away, but I knew his face. He’s a frequent ‘guest’ in the local jail, usually drunk and disorderly but occasionally some petty theft. What did he want with you?”

  “Whatever we had,” Ellis said, his hand still pressed to his forehead.

  “When he found out the cash drawer was mostly empty, he blew his boiler and started tearing at the shop.” Nyssa hoped the explanation would suffice. She didn’t want to tell the police the man had tried to fence stolen goods. The more distance between herself and any criminal element, the better. Especially with Uncle Al lurking in San Azula.

  “Well, we know to be on the lookout for him.” The officer’s eyes narrowed. “Robbing shops in broad daylight is awful bold, even for a repeat offender like Chester. Are you sure there isn’t anything else we need to know? Something that drew him here? A deal gone wrong, maybe?”

  Nyssa stiffened. Blast you, Uncle Al. Now the police and the criminals both think I’m still in the business. Why can’t you let me go?

  “Considering my colleague and I were just knocked near senseless by a known thief within our place of business, you’re interrogating the wrong individual,” Ellis said. “Excuse me. I need to bandage this wound.” He rolled out the back. The usually silent workings of his chair grated a bit, as if something had been bent out of alignment.

  “I really should see to him,” Nyssa said. “Theo, would you check on Mrs. H for me?”

  The boy nodded and ran off.

  “I’ll be right back,” Nyssa told the officer. “There’s a video phone behind the counter if you’d like to call this in to the station.”

  The officer nodded, still eyeing her suspiciously.

  Down the hall across from the kitchen was a small washroom. Nyssa heard the basin running. She knocked. No answer. “Ellis?” she called. Still no answer.

  Shock me, what if he passed out?

  Clearing her throat, she pushed the door open. Ellis struggled to get a bandage over one eye, using the mirror for a reference.

  “Here, let me.” She reached out to help him, but he jerked away.

  “I’ve got it.” The edge to his voice made her recoil. Ellis finished applying the bandage and bent over the full basin. He splashed water onto his neck and face.

  “It wasn’t a fair fight,” she whispered.

  “That’s the thing though, I’ll never be in a fair fight.” His lips quirked.

  She winced. “I’m sorry, that was stupid of me. What I meant is—”

  “I know what you meant.” He sighed. “Look Nyss … I’m not angry at you. I’m angry at … so many things that aren’t you.” Dropping his eyes, he rested his hands on his thighs. “It’s passing. I just needed a moment to breathe.”

  She pulled up a stool and sat beside him. “Ellis, by anyone’s standards, you’ve had a rough time. It’s all right to be upset. In fact, it’s a miracle to me how … pleasant you are with everything you’ve been through, between the accident and your father and … and this nonsense with my uncle. You’ve been a saint. It’s okay to be angry. You’re not a computer anymore.” She smiled, but his eyes stayed downcast.

  “I can’t, though. My dad crumbled when things went poorly for him. He let it take him down, and he ended in a very dark place. That’s not me. I can’t let that be me.” His expression hardened. “I will not end up like him.”

  “You aren’t going to go mad. Is that what you’re afraid of?” She leaned closer.

&nbs
p; “Not afraid exactly. I am choosing to focus on what is good in my life, is all, and there is a lot of good. There’s so much good.” He stroked her cheek.

  Her whole being warmed, and the world seemed to soften about the edges. He pulled her closer. Their lips touched, softly at first, then deeper. Her fingers worked their way into his hair, and a sigh escaped.

  Ellis withdrew, a smile on his lips. “We better go show Mrs. H that we’re all right before she bursts in to mother us.”

  “I’m sure Theo is keeping her busy, but you’re right. We need to put this household back together.”

  My uncle’s tricks aren’t going to break me.

  Chapter Six

  Mrs. H apparently believed all emotional and physical trauma could be soothed by tea. Over the course of the next hour, Nyssa never saw the bottom of her cup. Mrs. H hovered over her and Ellis, clutching a steaming tea pot and fanning herself with a napkin.

  “I can’t imagine. The brute scared the daylights out of me just running through the house. Are you certain we shouldn’t call the doctor, Master Ellis? You did take a knock to the noggin.” She tilted her pot over Ellis’s cup.

  “I’m really fine,” he assured her. “It’s just a scratch.”

  “I do wish they would’ve left an officer on guard,” she continued. “What if that monster comes back while we’re sleeping?”

  “We have an alarm system. I never bothered to activate it, but it will only take a few minutes.” Nyssa raised her cup and inhaled the earthy scent of the tea. “If Theo helps, it’ll be no time at all.”

  “Ah, our little hero.” Mrs. H ruffled the boy’s hair. Theo’s cheeks bulged from another batch of oatmeal cookies. “I hate to think what would’ve happened to us if you hadn’t fetched a policeman. What a blessing you are.”

  Theo’s face reddened. He lowered his eyes and mumbled something unintelligible. Crumbs dropped onto the tabletop.

  “Don’t talk with your mouth full.” Nyssa put down her cup. “We need to sort through the mess in the shop, see what we need to fix or replace in order to get back in business.”

  Back in the shop, sunlight filtered through the windows.

  I’m sure the other shops are all doing brisk commerce. Nyssa shook her head then walked over and flipped the sign to “closed.” There is no way I’m entertaining customers in this mess.

  Glancing over the counter, weariness grabbed her like Uncle Al’s rough hands. Her carefully organized tools were scattered. Boxes of electrical components lay upended on the floor, and the clock she and Theo had repaired was smashed. She picked up the broken timepiece, and her throat tightened.

  Criminals have no respect for hard work. What a fine lesson for Theo, fixing something only to have it torn apart.

  The grinding of Ellis’s chair made her look up. He wheeled to her side.

  “It sounds like a gear is slightly bent somewhere,” she commented, reaching down to touch one of the wheels.

  “Yeah. I have an idea what’s off. I’ll worry about it later. Let’s fix the shop first.”

  For the next half hour, Nyssa sat cross-legged on the floor, handing things to Ellis who would then shelve them. In spite of the damage, his chair was still able to convert to braces, so he could reach the upper shelves. After a bit, Theo joined them.

  “Mrs. H went to market. Said we needed a special supper after today.” Theo’s eyes sparkled, overcoming the mood of the room.

  Nyssa smiled.

  “I admit, a feast might perk me up right now.” Ellis stowed away the last vacuum tube and flipped the dial to return to his “chair” setting. “So what’s the damage, you think?” He pointed towards the pile of components too twisted or smashed to be salvaged.

  Nyssa let out a long breath. “Maybe about two hundred worth … two weeks’ salary at my old job.”

  Ellis shrugged. “Could be worse.”

  Nyssa chewed on her bottom lip. When they’d left New Taured, they’d taken as much as they could carry of Ellis’s fortune, mostly in cash and bearer bonds. At the time that satchel of money had seemed enough for a lifetime … and perhaps it would’ve been if they hadn’t bought the house and outfitted the shop and hired the housekeeper. Now, with no customers and expenses piling up, red ink flashed before Nyssa’s eyes.

  Ellis reached for her hand. “We’ll turn this around somehow. We’ve still got over half of what we brought with us.”

  She nodded. “We need to go over expenses tonight. See how long it will last. If this place fails—”

  “It won’t. Nyss, we thought this through. Your uncle isn’t going to sneak in and sabotage our lives. I won’t let him.”

  Her jaw clenched. How are we going to stop him? With the sheer power of naive optimism?

  But she didn’t speak. Ellis had been through enough today without her snapping at him just for being positive.

  “Theo, grab a dustpan and sweep up the broken glass … carefully. I’ll get the big things out to the curb. The scrap-man might want some of it.”

  The door to the shop slammed. Nyssa whirled around as Mrs. H huffed in, her face crimson and her arms full of parcels. Nyssa hurried to help her.

  Relieved of her bags, Mrs. H adjusted her hat and dabbed at her brow with her sleeve.

  “Are you all right?” Ellis asked.

  “I had the worst encounter with another cook at the grocery store. Miss Nyssa, you wouldn’t believe the awful things she said about you, and what’s worse,she heard it from Mr. Augustine’s butler. How can people spread such rumors?”

  Nyssa’s stomach tightened. “What are people saying?”

  “There is a rumor going around that you financed this shop with money stolen from a dead man, and that you killed the dead man … well, that you killed him and that’s why he is dead … whichever, it doesn’t matter, horrible slander. The cook told me I should quit for fear of my life. Oh, I gave her an earful, the nasty biddy.” She beckoned to Theo. “Be a gentleman, Theo, and take the groceries from Miss Nyssa. You can help me cook, though I think my temper is hot enough now that we won’t even need to light the stove.”

  Nyssa kicked at the trash on the floor as Theo and Mrs. H disappeared into the kitchen.

  Ellis scowled. “We need to do something. We can’t stand for this.”

  “It’s no good. Once the rumor’s out, you can’t stuff it back in the bottle. No one in San Azula will do business with us.”

  “Well, according to Chester, we might make a swift business in black market jewelry.” Ellis snorted. He then let out a long breath. “Maybe we should consider paying him off. It’s not like we don’t have ten thousand dollars.”

  “I’m not giving him a cent!” Nyssa snapped. “That man almost ruined my life. He’s not going to bully me again.”

  “All right.” He held up a hand. “I guess I agree. It wouldn’t guarantee him leaving, anyway. A man like that will never be satisfied with a single payment.” He brushed his hair back. “What about going to Renard and Amara? They have influence in San Azulan politics. Maybe they can have him deported, or at least put in a good word for us at the police station.”

  The tightness in Nyssa’s stomach eased. “They do owe us. I don’t like depending on others, but in this case, it might be our best option. Do you think we can just walk up to their mansion and ask for an audience, though? We’ve hardly seen them since the trip over, and Renard is royalty here. Do you know their videophone frequency?”

  “No, but I’m sure they’ll see us. I’ll send a telegram in the morning.”

  Nyssa rubbed her neck. Her back and shoulders felt sore. “Just to be sure, let’s go over those ledgers after dinner and see how much we have left. Even if we get rid of my uncle, it might be a while until the locals trust us with their business again.”

  ***

  Along with cash and bonds, the ledgers were kept in a basic, sturdy safe. About the size of a suitcase, the safe was bolted to the wall in Ellis’s study, one of two small adjoining rooms Ellis claimed for
himself. That evening, Nyssa dialed the combination. Three right, one left, four right.

  Her lips quirked upward. Ellis and his pi jokes.

  She took out the leather bound book and plopped into an arm chair. So many red entries. So few deposits. She shook her head.

  “It can’t be that bad.” Ellis rolled into the room and positioned himself across the small coffee table from her.

  Nyssa laid down the book and flipped it around so he could see.

  “We aren’t bringing in any income. How long do you think we can sustain this lifestyle? With a housekeeper and a shop that’s hemorrhaging money … and now a boy we’re caring for? He needs new clothes. He needs an education, maybe even a private tutor to get him to where he should be.” She rested her forehead in her hand.

  Ellis raised an eyebrow. “I didn’t think you wanted to keep Theo?”

  “Of course I … I mean … I didn’t, but now that we have him, we’re responsible for him.” She cleared her throat. “But what if we can’t provide for him?”

  Ellis tapped his fingers on the table. “I can ask around. See if there are any couples interested in adopting him, but honestly, I like the kid. I don’t want to send him away.”

  Something squeaked in the hallway. Nyssa froze. She put her finger to her lips, tiptoed to the door, and jerked it open. Theo jumped back from the keyhole with a yelp. He stared, saucer-eyed, at her for a heartbeat. Then he bolted for the stairs.

  “Wait, come back!” Nyssa called, but he disappeared into the second story. She glanced helplessly back at Ellis. “What do I do?”

  Ellis’s mouth tightened. “He just heard us say we are going to pawn him off on some other family. I think you’d better go after him.”

  Nyssa nodded and rushed upstairs. Oh God, I don’t know the first thing about reassuring a child. Please don’t let me mess this up.

  She slowed near the top of the flight. Sniffling rose from the sitting room beyond. She winced and crept up the last few steps. He sat on the couch in front of the potbelly stove. Red glowed through the grates onto his pale hair and shaking shoulders.

  “Theo?” Nyssa whispered.

  He didn’t look up.