Storm Chaser: Chapter 32

Chapter 32

Elena stepped onto the sidewalk and proceeded briskly to the garage where her car was parked. She clutched the stack of transfer papers with tight fingers.

“A valentine’s gift,” she muttered. “He sent me a valentine’s gift.” She thought for a moment. “And I opened it in front of Andre. Andre, his cousin. Who I have a date with. Tonight.” She reached the garage, got into her car, placed the papers and her purse in the passenger’s seat, turned the key in the ignition and backed out into the street.

“Okay,” she said to herself. She used the same calming voice she had used on Jasmine and many of the other pilots throughout the day. Somehow it didn’t help. “I can send them back with a note that couldn’t accept such a personal gift from a business partner.” She took a deep breath. That was it she could send it back. Elena drove to the hotel.

“I wonder why he sent old lady pajamas,” she mused. “Not that lingerie would be any more appropriate but I don’t think that I look like the old lady pajamas type. He could have sent perfume…” She shook the thought away. “He shouldn’t have sent anything.” She said firmly. She turned into the hotel parking garage and found a spot by the elevators. She parked and got out of the car with the transfer papers. “That is the end of it. There are more important things to take care of.”

The first item on her list was to find her grandfather. Alexandro would know who was serving as the council’s secretary for this gathering. She had no doubt that the council would consider business under the guise of attending the opening of Nibbles. And since many of the heads of house from different families were here much internal business could be completes. She walked through the carpeted halls. No doubt there were several power plays taking place behind these closed doors. She shook that thought away as it was nearly as distasteful to contemplate as Peter’s gift. She just wanted to deal with the transfers and return home to prep for a night of bowling with Andre. She smiled at the thought, hoping the earlier delivery would not put a pall on the evening. Elena knocked on the door. The door swung open almost immediately. Marcus grinned at her.

“We had a bet going as to when you would get here,” He said.

“Really,” Elena answered. Marcus stepped aside and Elena entered the suite. Alexandro was sitting at a small table. He was sipping from a small glass of fizzy water. The opened water bottle was placed on the table along with several open file folders. His eyes danced with amusement. “So who won the bet?”

“It would be crass to tell,” Alexandro said placing the glass back on the table. He rose and gave her a hug. She smiled and inhaled deeply. He always smelled of the sea after a storm. “So what do you have for me?”

“”I’m not sure it is for you?” Elena said. Alexandro lead her back to the table and they both took a seat. Marcus placed a bottle of sparkling water and a glass in front of Elena. “Thanks,” She told him. She twisted the cap and poured water into the glass. Alexandro raised an eyebrow.

“Not really for me?”

“Well the list of names of the pilots I agreed to have transferred here would be for you.” She handed him the top sheet. It contained the names of the pilots and where they were transferring from. “These,” she said waving the rest of the papers. “Need to go to each of their former heads of house to complete the transfer.”

“I see,” Alexandro said with a smile. “So they are not really for me.” He scanned down the list of names. “You have been busy.” He reached into his jacket pocket and retrieved his cell phone. He flipped it open and dialed a number from memory.

“Yes,” he said into the phone when it was answered. “This is Alexandro Calabrese in room…” He paused.

“34-309,” Marcus supplied.

“34-309,” Alexandro continued. “I require the services of Jeremy.” He flipped the phone closed and placed it on the table. “Now,” he said turning his attention to Elena. “Tell me about Nibbles.” Elena began to cover the details of the first full day of sales. In less time than she would have thought possible a knock sounded at the door. She paused her report as Marcus opened the door and ushered in a man in his early twenties. The man had close cropped brown hair, neatly combed, a clean shaven face and a differential air. He wore a blain black suit with a white dress shirt and a gray necktie. His black wingtips had been polished to a high gloss. Elena assumed this was Jeremy.

“These need to be delivered to the individual heads of house listed on each page. We will expect confirmation of delivery.” Alexandro waved to Elena who lifted the stack of papers. Jeremy took them, nodded once, turned and left the room. Marcus closed the door behind him.

“Somehow I never pictured the cookware as actually selling,” Alexandro said resuming their conversation as if it had not been interrupted. “I thought it would merely serve as a creative backdrop. Makes me wonder what they are actually using it for.” As Elena had wondered the same thing earlier she only smiled at the comment and continued with her report. Although her grandfather didn’t take notes she knew he was listening to every word and spinning out theories of his own as to what else might serve as a viable commodity.

He asked questions, of course, rather than making her simply recite the doings of the store. She would submit a paper copy to both him and Peter. Elena had the feeling Peter would also want a one on one interview like this and was not looking forward to the experience. She pushed thoughts of Peter far away as she talked. She was not sure what her grandfather’s reaction would be to the gift. She had the feeling Peter did not send pajama’s to every business partner. After what seemed like an eternity Jeremy returned with a stack of receipts. He handed the stack to Alexandro, who passed them to Elena without so much as a glance. Elena shuffled through them, mentally ticking off names. All of the transfer papers had been delivered. She had the confirmation in her hands.

“Thanks you,” she told Jeremy. He nodded to her once and turned his attention to Alexandro.

“That will be all,” he said. Jeremy nodded again turned and left. Elena wondered if he was trained to be quiet or if he actually had no voice at all. She wouldn’t put it past the council to make certain that they hired mutes for their messengers. Silently she wondered what the equal opportunity employment folks would think of the job posting. Would posting a notice requiring a disability be considered discrimination against healthy people? With the confirmation receipts in hand Elena quickly took her leave, declining Alexandro’s dinner invitation. He looked thoughtful as he said his goodbyes.

‘Probably wondering what else I am doing on a Monday night,’ she thought as she rode the elevator from the 34th floor to the garage level. Personally she saw no reason to enlighten him. While she had been in the hotel the shadows had lengthened. She glanced at the clock. 5:28. Andre was picking her up around seven.

“Plenty of time,” she told herself. She could grab a quick bite to eat and get ready with time to spare. “As long as no one stops by.” She tapped the steering wheel. This would not be a good time for a military drop by. Elena parked and took the back stairs up to her apartment. Luckily the landing was clear. She let herself into her apartment with a feeling of relief.

A little while later she was up to her neck in rose scented bubbles. She sighed contentedly as her muscles relaxed. The shower may act up in the old apartment but the deep bath more than made up for it when she wanted a bubble bath. While she lounged she mentally ran through her wardrobe, trying to pick the perfect outfit. When her fingers started to turn pruny she extricated herself from the dying bubbles and began her pre date ritual. By the time 7 pm rolled around she was ready to go and felt pretty inside and out. Peter was no more than a distant memory. Andre was right on time and they drove to the bowling alley.

“So do I get to see Bob when he is complete?” She asked as talk turned to his werewolf mask.

“Of course,” Andre said with a grin. “Might take a few more weeks though.”

“So maybe by the time I get back from my next run?”

“Probably,” Andre said. “Mateo said you were looking at shipping out this Friday.”

“Yup,” Elena said with a nod. “Mateo’s new equipment should be installed and ready to use. We are planning on testing the potential channel in safe space and then going to the docking facility. We’ll be taking the Sea Rascal’s cargo there instead of going on a run.”

“So no Matrovean?”

“Nope, no Matrovean.”

“You sound disappointed,” Andre said with a laugh.

“A little,” Elena confessed. “I know it is safer but …”

“Running from raiders is an adrenaline high?” Andre suggested.

“Something like that. Mateo is glad for the lack of raiders.”

“And the fact that he gets to test his new toys?”

“And that he gets to test his new toys,” Elena confirmed. “He is quite excited about that.”

“You are going to be mostly sky side for a while then?”

“I think we’ll be more in transit actually. We want to get as much information as we can and get the info processed before we try taking the ship through into new space. Plus we need to stock up on additional supplies for Nibbles during the season so we don’t run into short supply in the off season months. I think we’ll probably end up with only enough time for transfer at the docking facility and maybe a night or two earthside to check on the status.”

“A pilot’s life,” Andre commented.

“At least during the season.” They pulled into the parking lot of the bowling alley. The sign out front was a hold over from the 1950s with neon lit bowling pins and a bowling ball. The lights were sequenced so the ball rolled towards the pins and knocked them down in a strike before starting again. They went inside, got their shoes, ball and lane and Andre set up the score card.

“I should warn you,” he said. “I am competitive.”

“Really? Does that mean that if it looks like I’m winning I should throw the game?” She teased.

“God no,” he said. “If I can’t win fair I don’t want to win. If I think you threw the game I’d pout. And that isn’t pretty for anyone.”

“Well if it helps. I remember being really bad at this.”

“Actually I’m not that great either,” he confessed. “So it might end up being a competition to see which of us is the worst.” He grinned and waved a hand to the standing pins. “Ladies first.”

Elena took her ball up to the line. “Do they give awards for the world’s worst bowler?” She asked. “Cause I think I’d want a trophy for that.” The game progressed and Elena was happy to see none of the tension she had feared. Apparently Andre had decided to forget about Peter as well. About midway through their set a siren sounded and the lights went out. Both of them looked around in the semi darkness.

Lights began to strobe and smoke was pumped from vents near the ceiling. A man’s voice sounded over the intercom announcing that laser light bowling had begun. Loud techno music began to play, cutting off most of the casual conversation. Comments were made in passing but they had to yell them in each other’s ears to be heard. When she leaned in to comment she could smell the light crisp scent of Andre’s skin. They found themselves laughing harder as the strobe lights affected their bowling abilities. At one point Andre’s release of his bowling ball coordinated badly with the lights and his ball ended up on their neighbor’s lane. The pins fell down in a perfect strike. The teenager on the next lane gave Andre a thumbs up when he tried to apologize.

“I still think that should have counted,” Andre said as they were leaving the bowling alley.

“It was a strike on someone else’s lane,” Elena reminded him. “The computers tallying the score can’t see who bowled the frame.” Elena rubbed her ears.

“Still ringing?” Andre asked.

“Just a bit from that last song. It was that series of high pitched notes that got me. Something about the sound hit my ears in just the right way.”

“You know what would help?” Andre asked.

“What?”

“Cheese fries.”

“Cheese fries will help my ears.”

“That is my theory,” Andre said. “There is a place down the road that makes great cheese fries. We could test the theory.”

“We could. I’ve always been a proponent of alternative medicines. Especially ones that don’t taste like wheat grass.” They drove to a small bar set into the corner of a shopping center.

“The location leaves a bit to be desired, but the food is great,” Andre told her. On a Monday night the bar was mostly empty and they were shown to a booth right away. A few inveterate drinkers were lined up on their stools at the bar but they didn’t seem inclined to pay any attention to the newcomers. Andre ordered the cheese fries and they each got a Newcastle to sip while they waited.

“I hear beer is good to the ear ringing as well,” Andre told her. “Something about the hops.”

“Is that general knowledge as well?” she asked. Andre mock frowned at her.

“Can I help it if you miss some of the common knowledge news bulletins that the rest of us get?”

“I still want to see a foot note on Genghis Kahn,” she told him as she took a sip of her drink. Talk flowed easily between them and ad quite a broad range. Elena found herself smiling more than she had in a while. By unspoken consent they stayed away from the more serious topics. They were midway through the cheese fries when Andre’s gaze wandered to the door. He frowned at what he saw.

“Do I want to ask?” Elena said.

“Jonathan,” Andre responded. Elena nodded but didn’t bother looking around. “He is taking a seat.”

“Maybe he didn’t see us.” Elena said. She picked up a fry loaded with cheese and bacon bits.

“Maybe,” Andre said. “He doesn’t seem to be looking over here and we are kind of in shadow.” They both sat quietly wondering how long they could go unnoticed. Andre gave a start and blinked hard.

“What?” Elena asked.

“Peter.”

“What, are they both following us?”

“I don’t think so,” Andre said slowly. He slid a little more into the booth’s shadow and Elena guessed Peter was looking around. “He is taking a seat with Jonathan.”

“Should we be looking for Smith next?” Elena said. She took a sip of her beer.

“I wouldn’t count on it,” Andre told her. “Jonathan seems pretty intent to talk to Peter.” Different scenarios skittered through Elena’s mind.

“You don’t think Jonathan is spying on the military for the council do you?” She asked.

“I don’t know. If he is, I bet it is a recent development. I doubt he is guild raised.”

“Why is that?”

“Well between you, me and Mateo we know a hefty slice of those in our basic age range who were guild raised. But he doesn’t really have the look.”

“Maybe he left the guild for the military. Or has family that is guild raised,” Elena suggested.

“The waitress dropped off their drinks and Jonathan just handed Peter something.”

“What?” Elena asked, intrigued. After months of being the one other people were spying on she felt giddy at being the one doing the spying. ‘Well actually Andre is doing the spying,’ she admitted. ‘I’m just getting a report.’

“Looks like papers. Can’t tell much from here.”

“Damn,” Elena said. “I wish we knew. Jonathan has been up to some strange stuff lately.” She told Andre about Kiera’s apartment.

“Do you think he did that on Smith’s orders or on his own?”

“I don’t know.”

“Peter is leaving,” Andre said.

“Did Peter give him something in trade for the papers?”

“I don’t think so.”

“Huh,” Elena said leaning back in her booth. “I wonder if that is because he took the initiative and contacted Peter about something rather than Pater paying him for information.”

“He could have paid him with a wire transfer,” Andre countered.

“True.” Elena sighed “Why does it seem like everyone around me has devious plans?”

“Maybe you just attract those sorts of people,” Andre said with a smile.

“Must be the new soap I’m using,” she returned.

“He finished his drink and is getting up to go,” Andre said. “He looks thoughtful as if he didn’t really expect whatever response Peter gave him but isn’t all that upset about it.”

“Like he is trying to figure out a way to use it?” Elena asked.

“Yeah.”

“I know that look well. It is one of grandfather’s favorites.”

“I can imagine.” Andre leaned back in his seat. “He is gone now. I wonder what is going to come of that.”