Blood Debts (The Temple Chronicles Book 2) (28 page)

I blinked at her. “That would only increase my problems. Then I would be a fugitive from the regular police as well as every wizard in the world. You don’t murder the police. That’s what these guys are. That’s why Gavin is keeping tabs on me, making sure I don’t make a deal with the devil. I have to somehow prove that I’m not a bad guy.”

“With your hands tied.” She spat.

I sighed in agreement, nodding. “It’s the only way now. I wish it were different too, but it’s the cards I’ve been dealt. There’s no use whining about it. It’s either sink or swim.
When you find yourself knee-deep in shit, don’t sit there complaining about it. Start walking
.”

She chuckled softly before bending over to kiss my temple, careful of my scar. “We’ll figure it out, Nate. Don’t worry. I’m not leaving you.” She looked torn, but perhaps that was simply because she still cared for me and I hadn’t reciprocated her romance. I kept my face stoic, hating the pain it was causing her. I couldn’t bring up Indie right now. Othello stood and walked away from the mattress, shutting the door quietly behind her.

“Good night,” I said softly, before closing my eyes.

Chapter 21

W
e entered the vast, office complex of Temple Industries; the heat blasting over us like a warm blanket as we walked through the front door. It felt pleasant after the weather outside. The snow hadn’t picked back up, but it hadn’t melted either, and the mass of humanity swarming St. Louis for
Mardi Gras
had put the snow plows in a bit of a pickle. We had slept the day away, utterly exhausted after fighting almost until dawn. It was afternoon, and I could almost feel the daylight slipping away.

I had wanted to make sure that our visit would be discreet in the event that the police or FBI was keeping tabs on the building. So, I had very sneakily dressed up like an accountant, wearing heavy framed glasses, khakis, and a short-sleeved dress shirt. With a pocket. The coat I wore was too small and only added to the ridiculous nerdy vibe I was putting off. I hated it, plucking at the threads as if they were a straightjacket.

“Stop fidgeting. You look nice.” Othello nudged my shoulder with a grin.

“Yeah. As if I had never seen a girl before.”

“Innocent. Just the way I like them.” She winked suggestively.

“Not how I recall it.” I answered instinctively, falling into our old flirtatious habits way too easily. I adjusted my dress shirt and then the glasses to cover up my knee-jerk reaction. Othello noticed with a content grin. I ignored her. It felt odd walking into the impressive castle that was Temple Industries, knowing that all my assets were frozen and that I was more cash poor than anyone that currently worked for me. It was…

Humbling.

I had only the small assortment of bills buried in the back of my wallet, the pile of plastic cards utterly useless to me now. Was this what life was like for everyone else?

We encountered a guard who briefly touched his service piece before I took off the glasses and he recognized me. He did a double take, eyes widening in confusion, and then a scowl. I tapped my finger to my lips for silence, hoping he understood my meaning to keep my presence a secret from any outside curiosity — like the police. But his confusion only seemed to increase, as did his scowl. He muttered into his earpiece, no doubt to give a heads up to the other guards in a hopefully discreet way. I couldn’t afford to have the guards on alert. Othello looked highly uncomfortable. The guard nodded curtly and continued on his rounds. That was weird. Had I pissed him off at some point in the past? After a few minutes, we reached Greta’s desk outside my office. She scowled at me with a no-nonsense look designed to deter outsiders.

“It’s me, Greta.” I spoke, watching her face morph into recognition. “We’ll just be a few minutes.”

Her eyes grew judgmental, no doubt assuming that I was cheating on Indie with the svelte woman beside me. “You were kidnapped.” She said bluntly. “It’s all over the news.”

“Yeah. About that…” I began.

“Is this your kidnapper? Are you under duress?”

“Not yet.” Othello quipped, to Greta’s shock.

I held up a hand. “Everything is fine, Greta. I’m just showing an old friend around the company. She’s an avid technology student. I was going to show her our drone program.” I belted off the first thing I could think of. Greta appraised me, her arthritic hand on the telephone as if to call for backup. “I promise.”

“The FBI froze the corporate accounts. Payroll was halted. You need to fix it. I was supposed to buy groceries tonight. What sinful acts have you committed to attract such attention?”

I blinked at her, ignoring the last question. The guard’s scowl suddenly made more sense. No one had been paid thanks to me. Then I arrive at with a smoking hot girl beside me as if nothing was wrong. And then I silently asked him to do me a favor. I hadn’t truly considered the long-term consequences of them freezing my accounts. After all, my home, Chateau Falco, was held in trust, and the earned interest on the investments in that trust paid for any and all maintenance expenses she incurred — like taxes, utilities, food, etc. You know, the things that make a house a home. I’d never thought about what it might mean to my employees. “Um. I don’t think the FBI is going to allow me to circumvent their freeze. Especially since I am being
ransomed
.”

“You don’t look like you are being ransomed. You look perfectly fine, although dressed more respectfully than normal. You look like a nice young boy for once. A nice young boy who shouldn’t be entertaining pretty women while you are considered missing, and while your girlfriend is out of town.” Othello stiffened. “Should I be concerned? Is the company going to be shut down? Even if you don’t need the money, we do. We consider this company a second home. It’s how we pay for our bills. You know, those pesky things that regular people have to concern themselves with. I wouldn’t expect you to understand.”

I stared at her. Really? Right now. “Greta. Everything is fine. Just a big misunderstanding. I’m trying to get it resolved as we speak. But I can’t remove the freeze on the accounts. I’m supposed to be
missing
.”

“Like I said, you look perfectly fine to me. Is your entertaining a pretty young woman more important than the welfare of your employees? Ashley wouldn’t allow it if she was here.”

I stammered. “I know. I’m trying to get it fixed. Some bad people are after me and are attacking the company to get to me.”

“Yet here you stand, completely healthy, with a pretty young girl, walking into your own company, dressed respectfully for once, to show her our…
drone program
.” Greta hissed, doubt obvious in her tone.

I groaned. “Greta…”

“I almost ripped our poor intern to shreds when I saw what he had done with our Savior’s Cross. Move it back into your office or I’ll call the police right now. Also, I think I’ll make today a half day since the owner refuses to take care of his employees. Double pay.”

I groaned. This was ridiculous. My own secretary was extorting me too? But I didn’t have time to argue. “Okay.” I trotted over to the cross and hoisted it over a shoulder. It was surprisingly light. I heard Othello speaking with her as I set the cross against the wall inside my office.

“I think that’s a great idea. How much do you need for groceries? I’m sure Nate will fix the issue as soon as possible, but in the meantime let me help you.”

Othello began to peel off a few hundreds out of her purse. Greta folded her arms in refusal. “I don’t need your help. I need my boss to take care of his company.”

Othello looked at me, siding with Greta. “She has a point.”

I blinked, realizing I was suddenly outnumbered. I had no significant money on me, having spent the majority of my cash at the bar,
Achilles Heel
. Then a thought struck me. “Greta. How much is payroll this week?” She blinked at me before opening a document on her computer, no doubt checking her email for the amount that was denied. Rather than getting involved, I decided to trust her with a bit of responsibility. “Never mind. If I gave you a pile of cash could you disburse it to everyone? Don’t worry about the specific amounts. Just pay everyone three thousand dollars. If it’s not enough, I’ll take care of it with the FBI once everything has passed. If it’s too much, they can consider it a bonus for the delay. Can you send out a mass email to make sure that I have record of it all?”

Greta blinked at me. “You have that kind of cash available? I thought they froze your accounts also?”

I nodded. “Ashley and I keep a rainy day fund in my office’s safe. No doubt she would have already resolved this, but since she’s not here, and I had no idea you guys were impacted, I’m asking you to help me fix it immediately.”

She folded her arms, leaning back in her chair, judging me. “You would trust me with all that cash? What if I just took it all? It would serve you right.”

“I doubt our friend upstairs would think very highly of that.” I pointed at the cross I had just moved to my office. Her frown grew steadier, not appreciating my comment. “Of course I would trust you with this. You are the trustworthiest person here. There is at least two hundred thousand dollars in our safe. Write receipts for any money given out, since we don’t want the IRS to audit us due to this confusion, but tell no one of the details. I don’t want any of our more
ambitious
employees to know how we did it. Deal?”

She finally nodded. I gave her the codes and she snorted as if dirtied by having to handle this duty. But she wrote the code down, and smiled at Othello. “At least he has one other respectable friend. Thanks for talking some sense into him. Honestly, he doesn’t listen to anyone. He needs someone to keep him in line.” Her matronly tone dropped. “Even if he already has a girlfriend.”

“Greta.” I warned. “Just take care of this for me. Please. I had no idea they froze the company accounts. I only just found out about my personal accounts being frozen. It’s a big misunderstanding, but I’ll get it fixed.” I had no idea how, but she was right. I needed to take care of my own.

Greta finally nodded. “It will be taken care of. Be quick. If you are supposed to be missing and the FBI comes here asking questions I will have to provide them with anything they ask me for, including video surveillance.”

“You wouldn’t.” I whispered in disbelief.

“I would. Jesus would demand it of me.” She smiled back satisfactorily.

Othello saved me. “You’re a saint, Greta. We will be quick. I promise.” Greta nodded once and headed into my office to gather the requisite funds. I would double check everything later. Make sure too much wasn’t missing.

“Thanks for having my back.” I muttered to Othello, leading her deeper into the building.

“It’s easier to comply than confront women like her. It’s a matronly thing.”

I continued walking, hating that she was right.

“So, girlfriend, huh?” She asked deadpan.

I nodded, spotting the hallway with the Armory entrance just ahead. “Yeah. Indie. She and I have been dating for a few months now. I don’t deserve someone as good as her, but she sticks around for some reason. She’s been with me through some pretty rough patches. Like the dragons a few months back.” I answered, hoping this wasn’t going to happen right now of all times.

“I see.” She answered crisply. “If you recall, I was also
there for you
with the dragons. And busting you out of prison. Kosage’s float. The Greater Demon. The werewolves.”

“I know that, Othello.” I answered gratefully. I took her silence as an end to the conversation. “We’re here.” I answered, waving at the apparent broom closet before us.

Othello looked at it suspiciously. “A closet? Did you take me here to have seven minutes in heaven? You have a
girlfriend
now, Nate.” She spat acidly.

“No. That’s not what I…” I shook my head as her eyes bore through me. “It’s the Armory. My parents’ secret project. It’s just magically sealed right now. But I should warn you, I don’t fully understand what’s behind that door. You might be surprised. I do know that we will only have seventeen minutes to explore. And please don’t ask why.” I elaborated before she could voice the obvious question. Her jaws clicked shut.

“Okay. How do we get in?” She asked curiously, touching the door after a nod from me. She grasped the handle and pulled. A mop struck her in the forehead and I felt a moment of satisfaction as I let out a very small, respectable laugh. She scowled back.

“I need to use the Key. Turn around, please.”

She looked hurt. “Really? After everything we’ve been through? You don’t trust me?”

Some other emotion also flittered across her eyes, but I didn’t have time to delve into it. I had already told her about Indie. I didn’t want to poke the bear.

“It has nothing to do with trust. Literally no one else knows about the Key, and I want to keep it that way. For your safety.”

“Not even Indie knows?” I shook my head. She finally nodded after a few tense moments, looking satisfied at the fact that I had kept this secret from my girlfriend. Then she turned around.