Fatal Circle (PA 3) by Robertson Linda

Author:Robertson, Linda [Robertson, Linda]
Language: eng
Format: mobi
Tags: Fantasy, Fairies, Contemporary, General, Werewolves, Witches, Fiction, Occult & Supernatural
ISBN: 9781439156803
Publisher: Pocket Books
Published: 2010-06-29T07:00:00+00:00

CHAPTER EIGHTEEN

The back room of Wolfsbane and Absinthe was dark and had aisles created between rows of industrial shelving filled with boxes and small crates. There were two dark doors to the right, both shut. My tongue seemed immediately coated with dust—before I even opened my mouth.

“Marco,” I said softly.

“Polo,” Beau shot back.

I caught sight of him then, like a shadow, moving down the left row, and followed.

“Help me.” He leaned his cane against the back wall and started lugging a crate from the bottom shelf into the pathway. “The lid.” Together we hefted the wooden lid up, but when my hand slipped and touched his, Beau recoiled and lost his grip. The lid crashed down on his foot. He didn’t so much as move his foot, he just wiggled his fingers and then made and unmade a fist as if I’d shocked him.

“Beau . . . are you okay?”

“Yes, hell, just don’t touch me.”

“I didn’t mean to.” The memory of his reaction to my handshake hadn’t left me.

“Is your foot okay?”

“Yes, why?”

“The lid hit your foot. Hard.”

“Did it?” He shook his hand in my direction as if waving me off. “Prosthetic. Don’t worry about it.”

He had a fake leg. No wonder he used a cane and walked stiffly.

He dug around in the crate. Packing peanuts cascaded over the edge. “Here it is.” More packing peanuts rained to the floor as he lifted out an antique jewelry box. He opened its glass door, pulled on a drawer within, and removed a key. He offered it to me. “Hold this.” He replaced the jewelry box as he’d found it then relieved me of the key. “Pick up those peanuts, will you?”

What was I supposed to say? He was old and had a prosthetic leg.

When I’d scooped up the peanuts and replaced them, I hefted the lid into place.

“Missed a few,” Beau said.

He was right. Several had hidden between the lid and the crate. So, when I was certain I’d gotten every last piece of the crackly foam stuffed inside where it belonged, I dropped the lid shut and proceeded to shove the crate back under the shelving by myself. It wasn’t easy and he didn’t offer to help.

Smacking my hands together jarred most of the dust from them and, hopefully, it indicated “job done,” too. “What’s the key to?”

“This way.”

We revisited the public portion of the store. Beau opened a case and flipped up the felt liner on the bottommost shelf, revealing a lock. He inserted the key, lifted the shelf up, and pulled out what could only be described as a wooden briefcase. Punching the register, he dropped the key into the drawer and shut the register again. “In the office.”

I hoped this rigmarole would be over soon.

He twisted the knob on the closer of the two doors, yanked the string hanging from the overhead lamp, and a murky forty watts did little more than illuminate the dust floating in the air.

Beau put the briefcase on the desk. I studied the item before us.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.