“Click on the name.”
“Nah. That’s all they’ve got — just the introduction screen.”
“Kinda sucks.”
Another clump of croissant fell, this time right down the back of my shirt. It felt like a moist lump of butter had dropped smack between my shoulder blades.
“Would you bug off!”
“Jeez. Lighten up.”
“Just eat the goddamned thing. Don’t spray it on me, don’t drop it on the keyboard, don’t leave crumbs all over the floor. Got it?”
He mumbled. “Sorry for living.”
I hit the back button, then tried the first item on the list. This one was a chat thread. A local forum, chatcentral.ca. The thread was Occult — Shopping.
“What’s this?” Ted leaned in to give it a read.
Anyone know of a reliable delivery service in town? I just sold a double-headed axe to a guy in Oshawa, but he wants it tomorrow and I don’t have a car.
Mitch (Fantasy Blades)
Hey Mitch. You might try Arcane Transport. They’re in the phone book. Very dependable. Is it an enchanted blade, or for simple rituals?
Azure Helen
I modeled it after one of the axes used by the dwarf in Lord of the Rings. It’s got a great leather grip.
Mitch
Might want to try FedEx.
AH.
“What’s that all about?”
Ted must have been finished with the croissant, since his question wasn’t accompanied by a rain of pastry crumbs.
“Haven’t figured it out yet?”
I checked three other websites, all of them standard phone-book type listings. The next site was for a bookstore, Northern Sanctuary. Clay and I had picked up a package from them on Monday. The shipping link said “All deliveries through Arcane Transport — Premium Courier for Unusual Goods.”
Then I flipped to their home page. Northern Sanctuary, your source for books on the occult. There were links for black magick, Celtic magick, druidic magick, sex magick, and so on. I had no idea why they spelled magic with a k, though I was already a supporter of their store, since I am a firm believer in the magical properties of sex.
“Okaaaaay. Donnie’s working for the Hogwarts FedEx. With a bunch of loonies.”
I nodded my head, saying nothing. God knows, Ted could well be right. Either way, I resolved to do some reading about the occult, if for no other reason than to be able to understand Arcane’s customers. In the meanwhile, I was going to do some thinking about Niki the Bull, and his friend Maxim Legenko. Something told me our paths would cross again very soon.
CHAPTER 6
I didn’t have much of a chance to consider the relationship between Maxim Legenko and Niki the Bull during my next two days on the job. Wednesday was “drive like hell” day. And on Thursday, I didn’t even make it out of the office before trouble showed up.
Kara paged me as I was stocking the van with the morning deliveries.
“Donnie, there are some visitors at Reception for you.”
The tone in her voice told me that something was up, so I grabbed the phone off the wall and buzzed her.
“Hey, it’s me. What’s up?”
“The guys from BOA are here.”
“Who?”
“Sure. I’ll ask them to take a seat in the conference room.”
The line went dead, and I stared at it. Something was going on. BOA? Where had I heard that before?
A moment later, Kara stood in front of me.
“Who are these guys?”
“BOA. Bureau for Occult Activities. Kind of a cross between Neighborhood Watch and the Guardian Angels. Volunteer police force for the paranormal community.”
“OK, and they’re here because…?”
“No idea. But they can be a pushy bunch, so I thought you should be warned.”
“Thanks. How did Clay get along with them?”
“Well, he didn’t like them and I think they knew it, but he cooperated with them. Clay felt they could be of some use from time to time.”
“Well, let’s go see what’s on their minds. Uh, one thing-.”
She smiled, bringing out the matching dimples in her cheeks. I felt a ridiculous grin cross my own face, like some love-sick teen.
“I’ll give them ten minutes, max, then I’ll interrupt and say you have to deal with an emergency.”
“Thanks.”
I grabbed a few of my business cards, then followed Kara out to the front. I tried not to focus on the sway of her backside.
She introduced me to two members of BOA, a wiry fellow by the name of Switzer, and a stern looking woman named Candice.
The three of us took seats in the conference room, Kara placing several bottles of chilled water on the table. I nodded at her, exchanging a glance, and she closed the door as she left the room.
“So, how can I help you folks?”
“Mr.-,” Spitzer glanced at my newly minted card. “Elder. Thanks for meeting with us.”
I nodded, waiting to hear what was on their minds.
“OK. Has anyone told you about our group, or our activities?”
“Not really, no.”
Switzer launched into a rehearsed script. “BOA was formed in 1927 by a bookstore owner in San Francisco. At the time, it was like Neighborhood Watch. Community members working together. Over time it evolved into what it is now — a volunteer organization that patrols communities to ensure that any activities involving the use of magic are monitored. Where we consider someone’s activities to be a threat to the Paranormal community as a whole, we step in.”
“How do you do that?”
“Think of it like a citizen’s arrest.”
“So you’ve expanded from San Francisco to Toronto?”
“And New York, Chicago, London, Paris, Tokyo, Shanghai. We also have new offices in Las Vegas and Orlando, Florida.”
The last one made sense. Need to ensure that Mickey and Goofy aren’t calling on the forces of evil.
“All of you wear the same uniform?” I nodded at their outfits — grey and white camo anoraks, black military-style pants (the ones with countless pockets in weird places), and black combat boots.
“Yup. With the BOA crest on the armband or chest pocket.”
OK. I had a feeling Mr. Spitzer here had earned his Master Geek Merit Badge to go with that BOA crest.
“So.” One more time, I thought. “How can I help you folks?”
“Well,” Spitzer’s colleague flipped through her note pad. “We had a report that on Monday evening a package containing a Class 2 Restricted device was taken from your possession at 150 King Street West in Toronto. Is that correct?”
“Not sure what you mean by a Class 2 device, but yes, Clay Jarvis and I were mugged on Monday night. How did you know that?”
She ignored me, continuing to look down at her notes.
“We understand no report was filed with the Mundane authorities.”
“Presuming that means the cops, that is correct.”
“Your colleague Mr. Jarvis was injured in the attack?”
“He had a heart attack.” I paused, but there was no reaction. “He’s resting and it looks like he’ll be OK.”
That got her to lift her head for a moment. Then she went right back to the notebook.
“This device was collected from the offices of Sun Consulting just a few moments earlier?”
I mulled that over for a moment.
“I can’t comment on that. The identity of our customers and any information relating to them is confidential.”
That seemed to catch Spitzer’s attention, and he turned from the window to face me.
“This was a violent crime, Mr. Elder. The sort of thing that might result in someone being killed next time around. Are you saying that you’re unwilling to help us investigate this matter?”
I took a deep breath, leaning back in my chair. This had turned confrontational awfully quickly.