Pinewood Corner Kitchen Chapter 11
There was a staff meeting the next morning. Gabriella had taken a moment to update Graham on her findings before they started the meeting, but there’d been no time to do anything beyond that. So she wasn’t quite sure how the day was going to go after this meeting ended.
“Should be a fairly normal day,” James said at the front of the room as everyone gathered.
There were dark circles under his eyes and he gripped a coffee mug in his gloved hands. “I’ll be mostly admin today, there’s a lot of…” He yawned, covering his mouth. “Sorry. There’s some meetings and end-of-month stuff to get sorted. Including at least one form that’s vanished right when I need it.”
Bradley raised an eyebrow and James ignored him. “If anyone needs me though, come on in. And if anyone wants to kill me, please do.”
The joke sounded a little too bleak right now, but Gabriella forced a laugh, even as she noticed the slight tremor as he moved his hand. “Jolene will be back today, but she said she’ll be in and out,” he continued. “She mentioned that they’re finalizing things with the new doctor. I didn’t realize it was such a process, but what do I know? What else?”
He looked at his notes while covering another yawn. “Gabs, you were up to your eyeballs in research yesterday. Anything you want to share?”
“Actually, yeah,” she said, pulling her notebook closer and flipping to the pages of tightly written notes. “I did as much reading as I could on psychic research yesterday. There’s a ton, I’ll never get to all of it. But it’s also such an untapped field. There’s so many things that are just theories right now. When it comes to the Chapmans, I do think it’s possible that they’re being attacked. But if they are, it has to be someone really powerful to be able to do it repeatedly and from a distance. That’s not Casey Romano. I saw him after he made a napkin holder float, he was wrecked.”
Bradley rolled his eyes. “You literally watched it too,” she pointed out.
“He could have faked it.”
“Whatever,” Gabriella muttered. “There’s also the possibility of it being a conjurer. I’m not sure how much I believe that, but it is strongly worth considering.”
“Uncle Tommy told me a while back that the only person still alive in his lists of local conjurers was Polly Grace,” James said. “So it would probably be her.”
“McGovern said he didn’t see anything about her lately when I emailed him,” Gabriella said. “But that’s not the only possibility.”
James looked at her from behind another covered yawn. “I’m not completely eliminating the idea that it’s another person, but I came across something,” Gabriella said. “There’s reports of people attempting to do it. To, like, attack someone else from a distance. And the energy bounces back at them. I’m not saying this is what happened,” she added quickly, though the more time she spent on this theory, the more it made sense. “We don’t have enough information and I don’t think the Chapmans have been attacking people with lightning or anything. But there’s a deeper potential psychic element here.”
“What do you mean?” James asked.
“Just like, I know it’s rare,” she said, carefully avoiding looking at Bradley. “And it’s weird that this case involves three people with the same rare ability.”
“But there’s no proof that Casey Romano is actually involved,” James said. “So it could also be a coincidence.”
“Definitely,” she said. “I don’t know. I’m kind of thinking that too. I want to talk to the Chapmans again and see if there’s anything else they haven’t told us. Some connection between them that’s more than a mean internet comment.”
“And you think they’ll just tell you?” Amelia asked.
“Not necessarily,” Gabriella said, her defenses rising as she tried to push them back down. “But I don’t know. The other alternative is that there’s something that kind of…drew them to this location. This is at least three fairly powerful psychics in one small area. That’s really rare, so maybe there’s something about this place that like…”
Fuck, she looked at Bradley. Thankfully he was glaring at his computer, back rigid and probably well aware that she’d accidentally looked at him. And was not the only one to do so.
“I talked to Casey Romano some, since he’s been open to discussing these theories. And I might talk to him a little more, though I’ll be careful,” she added as James looked at her. “Apparently there’s research that says it might be a physical thing, like a difference in the brain structure that allows for psychic phenomena to take place. I’m going to research that more before I ask about it, though.”
There was a silence that probably only lasted the length of a heartbeat, but felt much longer as Gabriella cringed internally. “But I think he has a lot of good insight into how this applies in the real world,” she said quickly, “rather than just strictly theoretically like some of these papers.”
“Great,” James said.
His eyes darted toward Bradley, then back to her, as she tried not to look at Bradley again too. “So how about…”
James stopped. “Actually, I’d really like to talk to this guy too,” he said. “I agree, Gabs, that it probably isn’t him. But I’d like to get an impression of him. And Graham, you need to as well. What do we think of a group field trip to Worcester?”
“Why?” Bradley snapped.
“She’s right about the real world application thing,” James said. “We can sit here reading about old cases forever and it gives us a good foundation, but…”
“I’m waiting on a phone call and Madelyn isn’t in for another four hours,” Amelia said. “So I’ll watch headquarters if you guys want to go.”
“What, everyone?” Graham asked.
“Sure, why not?” James replied.
“I have other shit to do,” Bradley said.
“Come on,” James said. “Please?”
Bradley sighed. “Fine.”
He’d relented shockingly quickly, but either he knew that James wasn’t going to take no for an answer, or he had also noticed the way James’s hands shook as he picked his folder up off the coffee table.
Then Gabriella accidentally caught his eye. Bradley glared at her, then got up. “We’ll need gas,” he said. “I’ll get the reimbursement form.”
***
Casey said he was at his food truck and had about two hours until the lunch rush usually started, so he had some time to talk to them if they wanted to. So about twenty minutes after the meeting ended, they headed out.
The air smelled like chicken again as they arrived, roasted in something deep and spicy. Gabriella had remembered to eat this time, but she knew for a fact that James hadn’t. Maybe if she bought something, she could convince him to split it with her?
Casey was working at the truck’s counter, handing off a sub to a man wearing a custodian’s uniform. He and the man were chatting easily and as he looked up and spotted them, he gave Gabriella a wave before finishing the conversation. The man left and Casey looked at her.
“You brought the whole group today, didn’t you?” he said. “What’s up?”
“That was me,” James said. “Gabriella’s kept me updated on what’s going on between you and the Chapmans.”
“There’s really nothing ‘going on’ there,” Casey said. “I mean, yeah, I got hotheaded once online and then they sent their minions after me forever. But it hasn’t been a back and forth.”
“I know.”
Casey stopped, like he’d expected more of a fight, or more suspicion from James. But there was nothing there. “Why?” Casey asked. “What reason have I possibly given you to trust me? We’ve never met.”
“No, but what was the reason you gave Gabriella why you couldn’t have damaged the Chapmans’ house telekinetically?”
“Beyond the fact that trying might kill me? I was coaching my kid’s soccer game.”
“Right.”
“Have you ever coached twelve four-year-olds at soccer?”
“No,” James said with a laugh. “But I have enough experience with kids to know that even if you had the ability, you couldn’t concentrate enough to send a gentle breeze their way, let alone pull down a chandelier. And there are plenty of witnesses that saw you at the game.”
Casey looked at him. His eyes flicked away, just for a moment, over James’s shoulder. “So you just believe me?”
“I’m not a cop,” James said. “My job is to solve this mystery, not interrogate someone because two rich psychics who cheated their way to the top told me to.”
Casey’s eyes widened. “I fucking knew they were psychic,” he said, snapping his fingers triumphantly. “Those sons of bitches…”
James looked mortified as he turned toward Gabriella, who suppressed a sigh. She deliberately hadn’t told Casey that she knew the Chapmans were psychic. And if James had been eating, or maybe getting enough sleep that didn’t occur at his desk, he would have thought of that too. But it didn’t actually impact the case at all now that she’d – at least in her own mind – crossed Casey off the list entirely, so she wasn’t pissed. She gave James an affectionate eye roll and head shake as he grimaced and she waved him off.
“Whining about psychic attacks on them,” Casey continued, shaking his head. “They’re probably doing it to their goddamn selves.”
Gabriella kept her face carefully neutral as Casey smiled at James. “They tell you I’m psychic too?”
James shrugged. “Yeah.”
Casey’s smile grew. “You believe it?”
“Sure, why not?”
Casey disappeared into the truck, opening a little side door and coming out onto the pavement.
“I’ve got time,” he said. “What do you need from me?”
“I don’t know yet,” James admitted. “I guess I’m just trying to get my own impression of you.”
“Alright,” Casey said.
He turned to Gabriella. “You found what you were looking for?” he asked. “In your research, I mean?”
“Somewhat,” she said. “All these cases had such different things happening in them that it was impossible to establish a pattern.”
“Yeah, that’s the thing about these abilities,” Casey said. “They manifest in so many different ways. They’re rare, but not as rare as you might think.”
He looked over at Graham and Bradley, neither of whom had spoken yet. “I can demonstrate a little for you, if you want.”
“None of us think you’re faking,” James said, with a quick glance over at Bradley. “You don’t need to hurt yourself on our account.”
Casey laughed. “Oh no, I won’t try to move anything,” he said. “But I can show you how my specific version of this ability works.”
“You don’t have to.”
“I know,” Casey said. “But sometimes it’s hard to understand unless you see it. It’s not like the movies.”
He wiped a hand on his sauce-stained apron, then held it out to James, who took it in his own gloved one after a second of hesitation. Casey looked like he was about to say something, but then closed his mouth, studying James again. He put his other hand gently over James’s too.
“Sometimes it’s the present. Whatever you were looking for, some kind of fanged creature carried it away?”
James’s expression was unreadable as Casey let go of his hand and turned to Gabriella. He grinned at her, then held out his hand, which she eagerly took.
“Sometimes it’s the future,” he said, and a slight thrill went through her. “I guess it’d be easier to call me out that way, but all I’m getting from you right now is the future.”
“You don’t seem to be concerned about it,” Gabriella said, and he laughed.
“I mean, I only get flashes, I guess. But it’ll be okay. Something’s coming, and it’s going to be big and it’s going to be scary. But it’ll ultimately be good. Any thoughts on what that might be? You don’t have to tell me.”
She honestly did not. Big and scary, but good? No idea.
He turned to Graham, taking his hand. “You’re right,” Casey said after a second. “You shouldn’t be so intertwined with…whatever it is. But there are ways to get out of that web you’re tangled in. I see some travel coming.”
“What are the ways?” Graham asked.
Casey winced. “I have no idea, sorry. I’m not even sure what the web is, but you’re both correct and not doomed.”
From Gabriella’s angle, it wasn’t hard to see what the web was. Yet another thing in Graham’s life had been taken over by the Foundation and he had been more visibly frustrated by that than she’d ever seen him. But Casey wouldn’t know that.
Now Casey reached Bradley, holding out his hand with a pleasant smile. Bradley glared at him, but Casey’s expression didn’t change. Then James shot Bradley a look and Bradley reluctantly took Casey’s hand.
Casey’s face fell as his grip on Bradley’s hand suddenly tightened. “I’m sorry,” he said.
James looked over in alarm and, for the first time, Gabriella wondered if maybe Casey was playing it up a little. Maybe he was fucking with Bradley because of his obvious skepticism. But Casey looked genuinely upset. “You already knew, didn’t you?” he asked.
“Knew what?”
James looked at both of them. Gabriella could see him wanting to intervene or demand answers. “Look, I don’t know what you saw, but I don’t see death,” Casey said.
“What is going on?” James finally apparently couldn’t contain it any longer.
Bradley wrenched his hand away from Casey. “I didn’t see anything,” he snapped. “Just back off.”
“Okay,” Casey said, holding up his hands. “That’s fine. How long have you been…”
“Been what?”
“Look, I’m sorry if I said something offensive. I didn’t mean to scare you, I just assumed that you’d already seen something coming and I was trying to help.”
“I didn’t see shit and you’re not helping. Just back off, please.”
“What’s going on?” James asked again.
“Nothing,” Bradley snarled.
“Did you see something bad?” James asked Casey.
“Maybe I was wrong,” Casey said. “Are you psychic?”
“No.”
Clearly Casey could see this wasn’t going anywhere. “I won’t push,” he said. “I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to scare you.”
“You didn’t fucking scare me,” Bradley muttered, his hand coming up to brush the bottom of his face as he glared at both Casey and James. “I’m just sick of everyone not minding their own goddamn business.”
Casey looked guilty. Ignore him, she saw James mouth to him as Bradley stalked off toward the van.
“Here, come sit for a few minutes,” Casey said.
Gabriella and Graham sat on one side of the picnic table while James sat on the other, closest to Casey. She could see him and Graham both subtly observing him as he sat down with them.
“I have to make a phone call,” Bradley said, then started across the parking lot, away from them.
“So Gabriella tells me the Chapmans think I’ve been attacking them with my abilities,” Casey said.
“Yeah, they seem pretty adamant,” Graham replied.
“It’s not me. I’m not inviting that in,” Casey said. “I’ve got two kids at home, why would I possibly risk that? Whether it was someone retaliating or just my own karma bouncing back on me? They’ve brought enough shit into my life that I don’t need to add to it myself.”
“I did see…” Gabriella started, then hesitated because she still didn’t feel a hundred percent about this line of questioning.
“See what?” Casey asked.
“It’s a strange coincidence that you and the Chapmans all have these abilities. Is it a coincidence?”
“Yes and no,” Casey said, leaning against the picnic table. “So, did I know they were psychic? Fuck no. I just knew they posted a shitty steak recipe. But did they know I was psychic? Yeah. Maybe not at first, but later. Yeah, they totally knew.”
“How do you know?” James asked.
Casey smiled bitterly. “Because a few of the early messages referenced it. And I had my kid help me track down where they came from. They were local. And the style was just close enough to the Chapmans’ writing style that it had to be them. So they obviously sensed it and they were fucking threatened. Because if someone else could do the same shit they can do, what’s keeping them at the top? It sure as hell isn’t their cooking.”
Graham raised his eyebrows. “They’re good,” Casey continued. “They’re excellent. But they aren’t world-rocking. If I wanted to do the same thing they’re doing, I could probably get there too, with a little work, cash, and psychic ability. I’d just rather stick my hand in the fryolator.”
So it was coincidence that it happened in the first place, but Casey’s abilities were why they pushed so hard against him? That made sense, they might feel threatened by him.
“It’s a small world,” James said. “With you guys just miles from each other.”
Casey shrugged, but smiled, clearly knowing where James was going with this. “I don’t really go for the theory that certain places draw psychics, but I’ll give you that it’s odd,” he said. “Maybe there is something to it after all.”
Gabriella felt her face getting warm and she silently prayed that he couldn’t read minds. And thankfully, Casey was looking at James, not her, his gaze going behind him again. “I grew up here,” he continued. “And it’s not something that runs in my family. As far as I know, the Chapmans aren’t from around here, so something drew them here. But maybe it was just the great restaurants.”
He gave another bitter laugh and looked at Graham. “We’ve got good restaurants,” Graham agreed.
Casey nodded, then lit up as he studied Graham. “You’re a Worcester boy too, aren’t you?”
“Yeah,” Graham said. “I grew up in Quinsigamond Village.”
“No shit?” Casey said with a grin. “What’s your last name?”
“Becker,” Graham replied.
“Is your father Amir Becker?”
“He is!” Graham said. “Wait, is that a psychic thing or-”
“No, it’s a Corner Market thing,” Casey said. “I worked there for years before I got my truck. The Professor came in a few times a week. Good guy.”
“No kidding,” Graham said, shaking his head.
“Your parents still live there? My family’s all in the Village, but unless you went to Catholic school, we probably didn’t go to school together. I tried to get my son to go to Worcester State, but apparently he’s dead set on Fitchburg State for business. Like it makes any difference.”
He squinted at Graham. “And you’re connected to Fitchburg. Went there?”
“I taught there.”
“Well, shit,” Casey said, shaking his head as James looked on with a smile. “A teacher, fantastic. Let me know when you go back to teaching, I’ll make sure he takes your class. Anyway, damn. Um, can I answer any other questions for you guys?”
Graham looked taken aback, but Gabriella didn’t show she’d noticed anything strange. “Is that something you can learn?” James asked. “Like, if you have psychic abilities already, can you learn how to do all of these kinds of things with practice?”
Gabriella wasn’t sure if he was asking for the case, or because he was afraid Bradley might gain the ability to shoot fireballs at all of them during staff meetings. Right now, Bradley was sitting on a bench halfway across the parking lot, supposedly on a call, though his phone was nowhere in sight as he watched the traffic go by the plaza.
“No,” Casey said, to Gabriella’s immense relief. “Like I said earlier, this shit manifests in different ways for everyone. I’ve got some physical abilities, but they aren’t strong and no amount of practice is going to make them stronger. I talk to ghosts all the time and have since I was a kid. There was no period where I was learning how to do any of it.”
“What about spontaneously?” James asked.
Casey looked at him, an amused smile crossing his face. “Are you asking for your case or for your buddy who’s deep in eight different kinds of denial?”
James laughed slightly. Clearly he’d been distracted. “I just mean hypothetically.”
“Right,” Casey said. “And how old is this hypothetical person?”
“They’ll be thirty-eight next week?”
“No. As far as all the research goes, if you don’t have it by thirteen, you’re not going to get it.”
So if Bradley wanted to kill them, he’d have to find another way to do so. That was a relief.
“Just be careful,” Casey said. “They’re saying I did this kind of damage to their place. I’m not going to tell you guys how to do your job, but if you believe me that it wasn’t me, then there are only a few options, none of them great.”
He was right. The Chapmans might have done it themselves to frame him, bringing a new angle to all of this. Or maybe it was total cluelessness as they used their abilities to build an online cooking empire.
Or maybe it was a conjurer the team had already dealt with twice.
“Thank you,” Gabriella said, her mind now turning over the different possibilities. “This has been really helpful.”
Bradley reluctantly joined them as they got up from the table a few minutes later. “I’m going to do more research when we get back,” Gabriella said. “I have a couple ideas, but I want to flesh them out before we make any plans.”
“Hey, James, right?” Casey called over from where he was now back in his truck, leaning over the counter.
“Yeah,” James said, walking back as Gabriella followed. “What’s up?”
“You want something to eat?”
“No, I’m good,” James said, looking puzzled.
“Listen,” Casey said, his voice lowered. “I didn’t see all of it, but whoever you’re scared of, she’s not here. You can eat.”
“I don’t-” James started, then shook his head. “She’s gone?”
Gabriella wasn’t supposed to see the mingled fear and hope on James’s face as Casey nodded. “As far as I can see. What do you want? I’ll make it for you.”
“No, thank you,” James said, meeting Gabriella’s eye before returning to Casey. “Thank you anyway.”
The polite precision of his voice was only broken by a slight shake. “You’re sure?” Casey asked.
“I am,” James insisted. “Thank you. Um, I appreciate it. I mean it.”
“If you ever do, just let me know,” Casey said. “It’s on the house.”
“Thanks.”
James forced a smile, then started back toward the van. “Did I mess up there?” Casey asked Gabriella.
“No,” she said. “It’s just been a hard few months over here. Thank you for looking out for him.”
***
The van was quiet as they left Worcester. Gabriella was in the middle seat and Graham was in the back seat, looking out the window thoughtfully. Up front, James was driving.
“Why’d you move here?” James asked Bradley, who was sitting in the passenger seat.
“Because I wasn’t commuting from Beverly to Leominster every day,” Bradley replied, looking down at his phone. “Why?”
“Just something Casey said.”
“Something Casey said about fucking what?”
“Nothing,” James said. “Nothing, it’s fine.”
“I moved here because Robin said I’d be a field agent and I was dumb enough to believe him. That’s it. I wouldn’t have ended up here otherwise.”
Gabriella had never heard that one before and she was curious if James had. She couldn’t see his face from here, so there was no way to tell if Bradley’s admission had surprised him. “It’s fine, sorry,” James said.
Bradley made an irritated noise, but didn’t say anything else as James pulled onto the highway.
“What was he talking about?” James asked a moment later, because apparently this enclosed space where Gabriella and Graham also were was the perfect place for this fight to continue.
“What?”
“When he said he didn’t see death,” James said. “What was that?”
“I don’t know.”
“Did you see something?”
“Yes, I see someone who won’t leave me the fuck alone. I don’t know what he was talking about. I didn’t see some magical future thing and I’m not fucking lying about that.”
“Fine, okay. We can talk about it later.”
“There’s nothing to talk about,” Bradley said. “Please just stop. You’re hounding me about powers I don’t have, while Herbert West back there wants to dissect me and I’m sick of dealing with it. Okay?”
“I don’t want to dissect you,” Gabriella snapped.
Bradley scoffed and turned to glare out the window. Gabriella twisted around in her seat to look at Graham.
“What did you think?”
“About Casey?” he asked. “I think you’re right. I watched the video of his ability that you took on comms the other day and he looked genuinely unwell. And even looking intentionally beyond the fact that he’s charming, everything he said doesn’t add up with what the Chapmans said about him. I still don’t know what I believe, but I just don’t buy that.”
