Circle of Shadows

by Curry, Edna

  “Thank goodness. But what the hell were you doing there alone so late at night?”

  Her breath caught, and surprised pain at his attack sent tremors along her already tangled nerves. She tried to keep her voice even, as she explained, “I often check the store at night when I’ve been out of town for hours. It’s no big deal.”

  “No big deal!” he shouted. “You could have been killed!”

  Jerking the phone back from her ear, she counted to ten. Quietly she said, “Well, I wasn’t, and you’re shouting.”

  She could hear him draw a long breath. She braced herself to be told not to talk to her boss that way.

  Instead, in a calmer voice, he asked, “Why didn’t you call me last night?”

  “Call you?” she repeated. “In the middle of the night? Why? Tami and the police were there with me, and other than locking back up, there was nothing to be done.”

  “Where are you?”

  “I’m at home. Anna opened the store for me this morning.”

  “I’ll be right over.”

  Before she could reply, he had hung up. She dropped the phone back into its cradle with a bang. “Men. You just can’t please the damned creatures.”

  She pressed the ice-pack to her forehead and leaned back into the corner of her soft sofa, closing her eyes against the pain. She was in for it, now. He was going to take this molehill-sized problem and turn it into a mountain of trouble.

  It probably would have been simpler to have called him last night and let him soothe his male ego by taking over. Why hadn’t she realized he would react this way? Because her head had been hurting too much to think, that’s why.

  Ooh, men. Just when she’d been starting to enjoy the man, too. Her mind floated back to those kisses in his flower-scented garden Saturday night, and the wonderful sensations he had aroused in her.

  In only a few minutes the doorbell rang. Sighing, she got up to let him in, still carrying the icepack.

  He looked her over intently as she closed the door. “Are you sure you’re okay? You look pale.”

  His capable long fingers gently touched her forehead, smoothing back her hair to examine the extent of the injury, and sending warm remembrances of his kisses through her. She struggled to keep things on a businesslike basis. “Yes.”

  “Did your doctor check for concussion? Were you hurt in any other way?”

  His voice still had an angry edge. He was right, she thought. She should have called him. It would have been much simpler. He was never going to accept her as a grown-up, capable of handling problems on her own.

  “No. Only a bump on my head,” she protested. She led the way past the kitchen to the living room, then stopped as the delicious aroma of coffee reminded her that she’d made a fresh pot. “I just need a little rest to get rid of this headache. Would you like some coffee?”

  “I’ll get it. Do you feel up to talking?”

  “Sure. I told you, I’m okay.” She watched him take two mugs from the tree on the counter and fill them. Then she led the way to the living room and waved him to a soft blue chair. She sank back onto the matching blue sofa and picked up the steaming cup he’d placed on the coffee table in front of her.

  “Now, start at the beginning and tell me what happened,” he ordered, taking a sip of his own coffee.

  “My friend, Tami and I went shopping in Minneapolis yesterday. We had dinner after the mall closed at nine, and got back about midnight. I asked her to stop at the store so I could check it. I’m sure you know the routine.” She glanced at him.

  His face was stony as he sipped his hot coffee. “Yes, of course,” he said waiting for her to continue.

  “Anyway, I walked through and everything was okay on the main floor. Then I walked to the storage room to see if Ralph had remembered to lock the back door. When I stepped inside the storage room, something hit me. I went out like a light, as the saying goes.”

  “Wait a minute. Hadn’t you turned on the overhead lights in the main part of the store? I would think whoever it was could have seen them and left or hidden.”

  Lili shifted uncomfortably. “No. I could see well enough with the night lights. The main lights draw a lot of attention on the street. I don’t like to advertise the fact that I do this in the middle of the night.”

  Frowning, Ken said, “I see. Then what happened?”

  “When I woke up, Tami was bathing my face with a cold, wet paper towel. She had gotten tired of waiting for me in the car.”

  “You didn’t see anyone?”

  “No. The back door was wide open, so obviously whoever it was, had left that way. Since Tami was outside the front door, she didn’t see anyone either.”

  “The police searched the rest of the store, the office, basement, and bathrooms, in case he was still inside?”

  “Yes. As far as I could tell last night, nothing was missing. Anna will check further today; she knows the stockroom better than the rest of us.”

  He nodded, then leaned forward and asked, “What did he hit you with?”

  “Probably a soup can. At least, there was one lying loose on the floor. The officers took it to check for finger-prints, but they said he would probably have been wearing gloves.”

  “Do you think it was thrown at you? Or was someone holding it when they hit you with it? Can you remember even seeing an arm, or clothing, anything that would help identify them?”

  Lili shook her head. “It was dark, and I just saw shadows ahead of me as I stepped into that room. Then I felt this crack of pain as something hard connected with my head. I’m sorry I can’t be more help.”

  Ken put his cup down on the coffee table in front of them and leaned back. “I should be the one apologizing. I’m sorry I yelled at you. But let’s get some things straight right now.”

  Lili set the ice pack down, and sighed. She might have known he’d go all Neanderthal on her and start limiting her freedoms.

  “I don’t want you to ever walk into the closed store alone again, whether to check it or open it. Wait for another employee. Second, always turn on plenty of lights.”

  “But I…”

  “No buts. The more people that know you’re in there the better. What if Tami hadn’t been there, and you’d been seriously hurt, maybe shot or knifed instead of merely knocked out? You could have bled to death before the crew arrived in the morning and found you.”

  “Ken,” she exploded, “you’re sounding just like my father. You want to wrap me in a warm cocoon, and smother me with this protective male baloney. I didn’t like it when my father did it, and I will not put up with it from anyone else, either. Sharing a few kisses with you does not give you the right to run my life.”

  He flushed a deep red, and his eyes snapped angrily. “I’m not trying to run your life. It’s just common sense, Lili…”

  “It’s nonsense! This is a small town where I know everyone, not a big city’s slum area. I am not going to look over my shoulder every minute. I won’t be afraid to walk into my own store, any more than I would be to walk into my house alone when I come home at night.”

  Why wouldn’t she listen to him when he only wanted to keep her safe? Ken sighed and tried again in a softer voice.

  “Burglaries and even armed robberies happen everywhere. Didn’t what happened last night teach you anything?”

  “Perhaps next time I’ll turn on the lights,” she admitted. “But I can’t stop living because of one little incident, Ken. Don’t you see that?” Her eyes searched his, begging for understanding.

  His voice still doubtful, he said, “I suppose. But I care about you, Lili. I just want you to be safe.”

  She smiled at him tentatively. “I appreciate that. And I will be more cautious,” she promised.

  “You’d better change all the locks immediately,” he added, his voice businesslike once more. “So that if he did enter with a key, he won’t be able to do that again.”

  “I’ve already called the locksmith. He’ll have it done before cl
osing time tonight.”

  “Good.”

  ***

  As Ken drove to his appointments, spending several hours on the road that day, he found his thoughts kept going back to Lili.

  Why had she reacted so angrily to his safety suggestions? Worse, would she place herself in danger again because she refused to believe precautions were needed? She was sure it had been only a simple robbery attempt, but what if she was wrong?

  He thought over the rest of their conversation. He’d gone over the possibilities of someone remaining in the store after closing, the possibility of a disgruntled former employee, or of a simple break-in. She’d been quite calm about going over details of procedures for till safety, of changing locks, about telling him who had keys, and the possibility of what might be missing.

  No, it was only when he had started telling her what she herself should do that she’d exploded. Had he gone overboard on running her life? She’d said ‘sharing a few kisses’ didn’t give him the right to ‘run her life.’ She had certainly sounded as though she didn’t want to share much at all with him.

  Well, he’d known she resented him for buying the store. So why did it hurt so much to have her tell him to butt out?

  Chapter 8

  By Thursday Ken knew he was running out of time. The date he had set up with Tom Harris to change Adams’ Foods over to buy from the Allied warehouse was fast approaching and he still hadn’t told Lili about it. It was now several weeks since Robert’s death, and he could only hope he had given her enough time to adjust to all the changes.

  His thoughts seemed to be on Lili whenever he had a free moment. All day it had been like that, a whiff of perfume had reminded him of hers. The sweet scent of crabapple blossoms had reminded him of their kiss in the moonlight.

  Now as he headed his silver Mercedes homeward, he knew he would never walk the shoreline of his lake in the springtime again without remembering her softness in his arms. He just had to see her again, and soon.

  He glanced at his watch. If he hurried, he could reach Landers when she went for dinner. He stepped on the gas.

  He found her in the dining room of The Lander’s House as he’d hoped. He walked toward her, breathing a sigh of relief that she was alone. She welcomed him with a smile.

  He returned it with trepidation. Would she still smile when he played the heavyweight boss, as he must?

  They reminisced over the party as they ate, then he asked, “Anything new on the break-in?”

  She shook her head. “I think it probably was filed and forgotten by now. Unfortunately, it’s not an unusual occurrence.”

  “And since we couldn’t verify what, if anything, was stolen, and no one was seriously hurt, it’s given low priority?”

  “You got it.”

  “You had the locks changed? And talked to your staff about more stringent lock-up procedures?”

  She nodded. “I’m sure they’ll be very careful. This has most of them pretty nervous. They’re still talking about it.”

  “Good.” He hesitated, then decided that he could put off dropping his bombshell no longer. “There’s something else we should discuss.”

  Lili tensed, and glanced up expectantly. His serious face told her he wasn’t sure how she would react, which meant he wasn’t discussing a minor detail. What was he up to now?

  “The wholesaler you’re buying from is fairly small.”

  The unexpected topic mystified her. “Yes, I know, but Dad was with them for years and was always satisfied.”

  “But it has no fresh meat program, so that you’re buying fresh meats from several companies, aren’t you?”

  “Yes. Arthur doesn’t seem to mind, although it does take more time because he has to deal with different sales people and check in the various deliveries. And of course, I have to keep track of invoices and payments to each of those companies.”

  Ken nodded. “Your wholesaler’s pricing is a bit on the high side, and also you’re still doing your orders from the order book and sending them through the mail. Telephone ordering by computer is much faster.”

  “I know. I discussed it with Dad several times. But the warehouse charges a hefty weekly fee for using their computer system, for keeping the shelf numbers up to date, and so on. Dad thought the fees were an unnecessary expense.”

  “I don’t agree. I’m sure you know that the whims of the public are impossible to predict. Your lost sales from outages are costing you far more than those weekly fees.”

  “So you want us to change to computer ordering?”

  “Yes. But not with your warehouse. With Allied.”

  Lili gasped, staring at him in dismay. “You want me to change wholesalers?”

  Ken nodded. He didn’t want to tell her that one of his reasons was the possibility that the loss problem could be at the warehouse level. Better to skip that. He couldn’t, after all, be sure Lili herself wasn’t involved. That idea sent a shaft of pain through him, and he pushed it away. It just couldn’t be true. “All my stores are with Allied. Having them all use the same warehouse simplifies my contacts with salesmen and also gets us good deals for quantity buying.”

  “I’m sure,” she said, biting back the urge to argue. She hesitated, then met his eyes and took the plunge. “Have you thought over my offer to buy back your shares of Adams’ Foods?”

  “Yes.”

  “Well?”

  “Well, what?”

  “Will you sell them back to me? I can’t imagine why you want the store when it’s losing money, anyway.”

  Ken frowned. Could she be involved and this was all a scheme to get him to sell it back to her? No, that didn’t add up, Robert had told him about the problem before she knew about the sale. None of this made sense.

  Looking up, Ken saw that she was impatiently waiting for his answer. “No, Lili, I won’t.”

  His voice was gentle, but firm. It was the answer she’d expected, but it still hurt. She had already learned that when Ken made up his mind, it was useless to try to change it. Her throat was suddenly very dry. Lili looked away and swallowed some coffee.

  Changing warehouses. She had known there would be changes, of course. She just hadn’t expected such a major one as this. She knew so many people at her warehouse: the reps who came to visit the stores, the phone contacts for ordering, the truck drivers, the people in accounting. Now she would have to start fresh with a new warehouse and all new people.

  Once again, the feeling of lack of control of her situation sent swirls of panic through her. She bit her lip, and forced her voice to remain calm and even, as she asked, “When do you want to change over?”

  “In about two weeks. I’ve already notified both warehouses. You met our Allied rep, Tom Harris at the party?”

  At her nod, he went on, “He will be out to help us begin the change a week from Monday. In the meantime, probably one day this week, he will come out to look over the store, go over the company policies with you, and also teach you the use of the ordering machine. It’s a small, hand-held box that you punch in the item numbers from the shelves…”

  Lili frowned. “Ken, I used one when I worked in St. Louis.”

  “Good. That will simplify things.”

  She sipped her coffee and glanced at him. He sounded surprised. Did he think other chains were backward? Or just that she was untrained in anything modern? The closeness she had experienced with him at his housewarming party seemed like an impossible dream. Perhaps she had only imagined it.

  The pager on her portable phone buzzed. She put down her cup and said with relief, “I must get back to work. Goodnight.”

  “Goodnight, Lili.” He watched her small, slim figure depart, her long hair swinging behind her. He longed to take her somewhere private where he could enjoy sliding his fingers through those strawberry blond tresses, kiss her senseless and much more. Instead, he could only watch her walk away. There was still a chance that she knew what was going on.

  ***

  Monday Tom Ha
rris, the new wholesaler’s representative, arrived. He was a tall, confident man who chain-smoked cigarettes, and never seemed to be far away from a Styrofoam cup of coffee. But he had a friendly smile and seemed to know his job.

  He walked the store with Lili, his sharp blue eyes missing little. “Well, at least the shelving’s fairly new and of good quality, so we won’t have to replace that. The freezer space is adequate for now.”

  Lili nodded. “My father replaced the shelving about six years ago. The freezers are so new, we’re still making payments on the last five doors.”

  Tom smiled. “Those are good basics. Makes our job a lot easier, Lili. I think the arrangement of quite a bit of the merchandise could be improved, though. Some changes would improve the traffic patterns, too. Best thing would be to reset it.”

  “Reset?” Lili swallowed. The very word conjured up images of the huge reorganizing job she had helped with once in St. Louis. She remembered what a time-consuming and messy job it had been to move all the groceries around to different positions on the shelves. She shuddered at the thought. “You mean the whole store?”

  Tom nodded. “It’s not so difficult. I’ve done lots of them. We bring in extra help and do it in just a few days. I’ll draw up a plan to fit your store from our basic one; we shouldn’t have to vary it too much. Let’s schedule it—” he pulled a brown leather notebook from his pocket, and flipped the pages, frowning at it. “I could do it next Monday and Tuesday.”

  Lili asked in dismay, “A week from today? So soon? I mean, couldn’t it wait a few weeks?”

  “No. It badly needs reorganizing. Since we’re changing warehouses, we have to put up all the new item numbers now. It would just be double the work to redo them all after we reset.” His tone and explanations took on a patronizing tone, as though he were explaining it all to a child.

  Lili bristled at his attitude. The past weeks had been emotionally draining for her, but pride kept her from explaining. He would think she was just making excuses, he wouldn’t understand that her objections had more to do with fatigue than distrust of his abilities.