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A mad dash through the rain and we were in the street-front coffee shop, called the Café o’ Lait. It was small, but laid out in a precise manner that allowed for a surprisingly large number of customers to sit. I glanced around and led the way to a table near the back. I could see a hallway leading out into the rest of the building from there, and we had an unobstructed view of the rest of the coffee shop.
I motioned for Camille and Shade to have a seat. “What do you want? While I order our drinks, you can get a feel for the people in here. You’re better at that than I am.”
Camille nodded. “Order me a quad venti iced chocolate caramel latte, would you?”
Shade laughed. “Caffeine hound. I’ll have black tea. Milk, two sugars.” He pulled his wallet out of his pocket and handed me a ten and a twenty. “Better get us each a brownie, too.”
Camille shook her head. “I’d rather have a roast beef sandwich, thanks.”
I took the cash and headed up to the counter where I placed their orders, along with one for a tall hot chocolate and two peanut butter cookies for myself. As I stood there, waiting for the cashier to give me my change, I tried to start up casual conversation. “So, we just happened by and saw this place. How long have you been open?”
The cashier glanced at me. She didn’t seem all that friendly, but she smiled briefly and gave me my change. “Several years. I just work here, though. I have no idea when they opened the coffee shop.” She set a tray on the counter and slammed down a prewrapped sandwich on it, a small paper plate with the brownie and two cookies on another. “Here’s your food. I’ll bring your drinks over to your table when they’re done.”
And with that, she turned away and I realized the conversation was over. Ignoring the tip jar—which I seldom did—I carried the food back to the table.
“Apparently the cashier has either had a very bad day or she’s not interested in casual conversation.” I handed Shade his brownie as Camille unwrapped her sandwich.
As she bit into it, she winced. “Um, they aren’t that interested in making food taste all that good either. This is okay but it’s not going to win any awards for sandwich of the week. Either that or I’m spoiled by Hanna and Iris’s cooking.”
I tasted the cookies. They were nothing to write home about. “I guess they have a captive audience with the workers in the building.” Glancing around, I tried to assess the clientele. “They all seem to be suit-and-tie, even the women have that dressed-for-success look. Think they all work here?”
Pausing as the waitress brought us our drinks, Camille waited till the girl went back to the counter before speaking. “I think so. And I don’t sense any Demonkin, or even daemons—though I’m not as good at sussing them out as I am Shadow Wing and his kind. These people all seem entirely human to me.” She looked perplexed.
“Then what? We just go wandering around the halls trying to figure out what’s going on?” It wasn’t like the building was a top security fortress, as far as we could see. “We can always say we thought our lawyer was in this building if somebody tries to stop us.”
“Sounds good to me.” She dropped the remaining half of her sandwich on the tray. “This isn’t even good enough to finish.” Picking up her drink in one hand, with the other she carried the tray over to the trash bin and we headed out into the hallway.
“Oh no, we’re not conspicuous at all,” Shade said, with a smirk on his face.
I smacked his arm. “Oh, shut up, you goober.”
He grabbed my hand, entwining his fingers through mine. “A kiss in payment and I’ll stop teasing you.” His eyes were playful, and I leaned over and planted a soft kiss on his lips, once again grateful we’d met.
Camille laughed. “You two are cute. Now come on, let’s get a move on before somebody tries to stop us.”
The hallway led to a bank of elevators, and beyond that, several offices with windowed doors. The hallway was carpeted in a rich navy blue plaid, with green and red stripes running through it. A few potted plants were snug in the corners, and near the elevators sat a wrought iron bench covered with a blue upholstered cushion. Camille saw it at the same time I did and we both shuddered. Cast iron gave us nasty burns, though steel didn’t affect us much. But touch iron too long with our bare skin? Led to a world of hurt.
We passed the elevators and I motioned for Shade and Camille to stay near them as I slipped down the hall to sneak a peek. There were five doors, as well as an entry to the stairwell. The first two offices simply had names on the doors without any indication of title or status or vocation. I jotted down the names quickly and moved on.
The third door, however, had two names: WILSON PRESCOTT III, P.C., AND REGINALD D. FAIRFAX, P.C., ATTORNEYS AT LAW. The fourth door had no nameplate, but there was mail stuck under the door. I wanted to pick it up and glance at the name but the chance of someone coming along and seeing me was too great. The fifth door had a sign on it that read JANITOR.
So two lawyers, a coffee shop, a couple unknowns, and a maintenance room. There was no sign that anybody saw me, but as I headed back to the elevator, two women who had been in the coffee shop were making their way into one of the elevators. They were giving Camille and Shade a long look, but then went back to whispering and laughing. As the doors shut, I quickly rejoined the others.
“Gerald Hanson’s office must be on one of the upper floors.” Camille frowned, looking around.
“Anything at all?” I looked at Camille. “If you can’t sense anything, nobody can.”
She sighed, then closed her eyes again and leaned back against the wall. A moment later, she shook her head. “Sorry.”
“Shade?” I turned toward my fiancé. “What about you?”
He shrugged. A moment later, he softly said, “There are ghosts here, but they feel lost rather than angry or dangerous. I can’t pinpoint them, nor can I sense anything else. But I can tell you this: I believe there’s something blocking energy. Or rather, blocking the identification of energy. I sense a force field of some sort.”
“Force field? Usually people put up a force field when they want to keep prying eyes out of their business. Can you sense the nature of it at all?” I frowned. Too bad Iris was out of commission. She was really good with things like force fields and illusion spells. Morio had some talent at it, but Iris was the one who was our expert. But right now, not such a good time to call her up.
Shade pursed his lips, then closed his eyes. After a moment, a breeze ran through the hallway but I was able to recognize that it was off the astral. Thinking Shade was responsible, I turned to him but he looked deep in trance and I didn’t want to disturb whatever he was doing. I looked at Camille, touching her arm, and she nodded.
With a shiver, Shade’s eyes flew open and he looked around nervously. “I think we’d better get out of here. I can’t tell you why just yet, but this is not a safe place to be until we’ve done more research. Seriously, you and Camille? You need to leave this place. Now.” And with that, before we could speak, he slipped his arms around both our shoulders and pushed us back down the hallway toward the coffee shop.
