Ember Learns (The Seeker) (5 page)

“Not really, but we’re here.”

“Come in.” The bark of Clay’s voice spoke volumes about his mood.

The first thing Ember noticed upon entering the office was the detective’s appearance. His hair stood out in places as if he’d run a hand through it one too many times, and he sported a five-o’clock shadow on his usually clean-shaven face.

He gestured toward two chairs positioned in front of his desk. “Have a seat, ladies. I’ll be right with you.”

Chapter Seven

Wait, why did I agree to this again?

The heat was sweltering as Ember unlocked her car and got behind the wheel. She turned on the ignition and cranked up the air-conditioning. She wasn’t thrilled about the deputy waiting for her to back out, but Clay had insisted she have a tail.

The meeting with the detective hadn’t gone as smoothly as she would’ve liked. Clay wasn’t happy she’d kept the note from him, and had voiced his feelings on the matter more than once. Both women received the third degree with orders to be careful and call immediately if anything else surfaced. Clay had also issued police protection for the two of them. She waved to the deputy sent to follow her, and left the parking lot. He stayed close behind as she drove to work in a jumble of mixed emotions. In the last three days, she’d received the pictures, met the sexy Angel, had someone break into her office, discovered the folder in Angel’s kitchen, had the best sex of her life, and found out Vampires really existed. And to top it all off, she carried Vampire blood herself. Yeah, she was teetering on the brink of insanity.

Ember took a deep breath as she pulled in to her usual spot, gathered her things, and exited the vehicle.

The deputy parked next to her and climbed out of his car. “After you, ma’am.”

“You’re coming in with me?”

“Detective Harper ordered me to check your office before you go in.”

“Great. I really don’t want anyone at work knowing about this.”

“I’m sorry, ma’am.”

Ember nodded and strolled to the back entrance with the deputy in tow.

“Wait.” He stepped around her, eased the door open, and poked his head inside. Obviously satisfied there wasn’t a threat, he stepped over the threshold.

“Excuse me.” She glanced at his name tag. “Ted? This really isn’t necessary. It’s broad daylight, and I highly doubt anyone’s going to slaughter me in the elevator. I can take it from here.”

His chin jutted out. “But Detective Harper—”

“I know what the detective said, but I have the right to refuse. If you’ll give me your number, I will call you as soon as I go inside and get settled.” She didn’t want to have to explain his presence to her boss—or anyone else for that matter. She was already going to be on Angel’s shit list; she might as well kill two birds with one stone and jump on Clay’s also. Besides, she had some snooping to do and didn’t need any added attention.

Ted rattled off his number, which she promptly programmed into her phone.

“Thank you, Ted.” She breezed by him and boarded the elevator.

It lifted with a lurch, stopping on the second floor with a
ding
. Ember stepped forward as the doors slid open, and came face-to-face with the janitor, Frank. Her heart stuttered. He stared back at her without expression or movement, making her feel like a trapped animal.

“Excuse me.” She was sure he could hear the fear in her voice.

She pushed past him and practically ran the rest of the way to her office, glancing back periodically to see if he followed. Once inside, she shut the door and leaned against it. The thought that Frank might have been waiting at that elevator for her made her skin crawl.
I’m overreacting.

Ember straightened and strolled over to her desk. She dropped her things on top before taking a seat to call the deputy.

He picked up before a full ring sounded. “Ted.”

“Everything is fine.” While she had him on the phone, she got up to check the bathroom. “No sign of an intruder. I’ll call you if I have any problems.”

“I’ll be right outside until my shift change.”

She felt a little relieved to know he would be close. “Okay. Thank you.”

“Miss Wells?”

“Yes?”

“Be careful.”

“I will.” She ended the call and went back to her desk to open her laptop. She needed answers. Fast.

A few minutes later, Laura barreled in without knocking. “That was a cluster fuck.”

“What was?”

“Everything. The trip to the station. The deputy who tried to ride my back all the way here. Shall I go on?”

“Not necessary. We are in the same canoe, you and me. Grab an oar.”

“Why didn’t you tell the detective about the pictures?”

Ember couldn’t tell her about the Seeker or Angel’s involvement. It would only raise more questions she wasn’t ready to answer. “Because I would be willing to bet the farm it’s a coworker trying to scare me. That same person obviously left the notes also. I hate that Clay is involved.”

“Because of your promotion? Yeah, I’d thought of that. I still keep thinking Alan, since you snubbed his advances. And he wanted the job you ended up with.”

“You may be right. He has been acting strange lately.”

“Since you became lead photojournalist.”

She ran a hand down her face. “Yeah, I guess so. I need some water.” She was suddenly thirsty enough to suck a lake dry through a straw.

“You look like shit. I’ll get you a drink.” Laura grabbed a bottled water from the minifridge Ember kept next to the bathroom, and tossed it to her.

“Thanks.” Ember twisted off the cap and took great gulps of the cool liquid, draining it in seconds. “Can you grab me another?”

“Wow. Are you okay?” Laura retrieved a second bottle for her.

“I’m not feeling so well.” She finished the second one off as quickly as the first.

“Do you need to go home? I can make an excuse for you.”

“Thanks, but I have too much to do.”

“I have a meeting in twenty minutes. Text me if you need me.”

“I will. And watch out for that janitor. There’s just something about him. Something evil.”

“Besides his hard-on for you?” Laura winked and strode out of the room, closing the door behind her.

Left alone with her thoughts and still-parched throat, Ember took deep breaths and laid her head on the desk.
I’ll just rest for a minute.

She woke with a feeling of trepidation. She quickly sat up and scanned the room. Her gaze landed on a small white envelope resting just inside the door, as if someone had slid it underneath. She snatched up her cell to dial the deputy, and then a thought occurred to her.
What if it has something to do with Angel?

Ember set the phone down and stood. The walls seemed to close in on her. Her face felt hot, and her eyes burned in their sockets.
What’s happening to me?

On shaky legs, she inched toward the door, keeping the envelope in her sights. Her vision blurred momentarily before sharpening to a clarity so rich and bright it stunned her. Everything looked brilliant in color, in texture. The memory of her biting into Angel the night before floated through her mind.
I’m changing
. That scared her more than threats of the Seeker.

The first thing she noticed as she picked up the envelope was her name scrawled across the front in bold letters. She snatched the door open and poked her head out. A coworker Ember knew as Bonnie was just coming from the copy room.

“Excuse me?”

The woman stopped, giving her a warm smile. “Hi, Miss Wells.”

“Hi there. Did you happen to notice anyone in the hall recently?”

“No one but Stanley, delivering mail. Is everything okay?”

“Yes. How long ago was he out here?”

“I’d say about five minutes ago. Can I help you with something?”

“Thank you. I had a few things I needed him to pick up. No biggie. Have a nice day, Bonnie.”

“You too, ma’am.”

Ember shut the door and rushed back to her desk. She snatched up the letter opener her father had given her. The envelope separated with the barest pressure from the silver blade. With unsteady hands, she slowly squeezed the sides and peered inside.

“What the hell?” Ember extracted a photo of a young female who looked to be about twenty years of age. A piece of paper lay folded inside. With no small amount of dread, she pulled it free and carefully opened it. Her breath caught as she read the inscription.
Be at the Miller farm off Highway 17 at midnight tomorrow night. Come alone or Donna dies
.

Chapter Eight

Ember’s legs threatened to fold underneath her. She eased around behind her desk and sat. Nausea rolled through her with so much force she slapped a hand over her mouth in an attempt to hold it back. The photo of the pretty brunette’s smiling face swam in her vision. Even though Ember didn’t know the girl, she felt sorrow and guilt over what might happen to her.

Tears welled up and spilled over, tracking down her cheeks to spill onto the desktop.
I’m so sorry.

She studied Donna’s image for long moments before reading the note once more. Rage pushed aside the pity, tracing through her body like a snake. She welcomed it, soaked it up, feasted on it, and let it consume her. Anything to replace the pain she felt for the innocent face staring back at her.

Stanley
. Ember carefully placed the items inside her skirt pocket and hurried to the hallway in search of the mail guy. Maybe he knew the secret to the envelope’s origin. She found him just as he was about to enter the elevator. “Wait.”

He paused but didn’t look at her. Nervousness was evident in his every move. “Miss Wells.” He busied himself with the mail cart, straightening things along the top.

Ember stopped next to him, pulling the envelope from her pocket as she did so. “Do you know where this came from?”

He glanced at it and then went back to his previous task of tidying things up. “I don’t know.”

“How could you not know? It doesn’t have an address, which means it wasn’t brought in by the postman.”

He began shifting his feet back and forth, and Ember wanted to scream.

“Stanley?” She laid her hand over one of his.

He stilled and squinted back at her. The rapid blinking of his eyes was a testimony to his anxiety.

Ember softened her tone. “This is very important. Would you please look at it?” She held the envelope in his line of vision.

“I haven’t seen it before.”

“You didn’t slide this under my door?”

“Oh no. I always hand deliver your mail.” A blush stained his cheeks.

“Did you see anyone in the hall when you came through here?”

“I saw someone go in the copy room. I think it was Bonnie Mayfield.”

He appeared so uncomfortable that Ember took pity on him. “Okay. Thank you, Stanley.”

With a quick nod, he touched the button to the elevator once again and pushed his cart inside as soon as the doors opened.

Ember stood there until he disappeared from view. She turned and strode back toward her office with more questions than answers. Someone had placed an envelope underneath her door without being seen.
It has to be an employee. But who?

Ember skipped lunch and logged in to her work account. She hadn’t become lead photojournalist by sitting on her hands and whistling. No, she snooped, and she was damn good at it too. The first employee name she typed in was Alan Boyd.
Let’s see what you have been up to
. Out of all of her coworkers, he had the most to gain by terrorizing her.

Twenty minutes later Ember exited her coworker’s file. No prior convictions or unlawful activity had been present. He had apparently moved around a lot before hiring on with
The Hedger
.
Eight jobs in four years. No wonder you didn’t get the promotion.

The next name on her list was the janitor, Frank Sorenson. He had recently relocated from Texas to Lakeland. She was reading through all the boring details of his work history when something caught her eye.
Prior arrest
. Ember sat up straight and scrolled to the bottom of the page, but found no information as to what he’d been picked up for.

Red flags went off inside her head. Laura often referred to them as Ember’s Spidey senses. She opened a new browser window to the Texas clerk of courts website and typed in the janitor’s full name. Her breath caught as she read the caption aloud. “Domestic Battery.” According to the report, Frank’s girlfriend had accused him of choking her in a fit of rage, but later recanted the story. The case against him was dropped.

Ember closed her laptop and rubbed her eyes. Could Frank be the one sending the notes? And if so, why? It made no sense, but she couldn’t ignore her gut feeling. A vision of him staring at her with his dead expression entered her mind. The way he watched her gave her the creeps. The pictures and threats surfacing around the same time he’d hired on with the newspaper had to be more than coincidence.

She rose from her chair and made her way to the minifridge for another bottled water. Ember twisted the cap off with ease as she paced the room, forcing herself to take small sips.
What to do?

The office phone rang, and she nearly jumped out of her skin. She darted over to the desk and snatched it up. “Ember Wells.”

Silence.

“Hello?”

When no answer came, she tried a different tactic. “Okay. Don’t talk, just listen. There are two things that would make a person feel weak enough to torment another—low self-esteem or a small penis. And I think we both know which problem you have, don’t we, Tiny?”

She didn’t wait for a response, just slammed down the receiver and marched to the bathroom. One look in the mirror above the sink nearly buckled her knees. Her pupils were dilated to the point where they covered her corneas. She gripped the rim of the basin and stared at her reflection.
They’re just like Angel’s eyes.

Ember turned on the water and splashed her face more than once with the cool liquid. She couldn’t let Laura see her like this. Her friend would know something was different with just a glance.

She shut off the water and sat on the toilet seat, dropping her head in her hands. Life as she knew it would never be the same. How had everything changed so fast? According to Angel, she could live a halfway normal existence if she didn’t consume blood. It was a bit late for that. She’d taken it twice, and if she had her way, she would be stuck to his neck like a leech right now.