72 St. Margaret’s Way Chapter 6
James couldn’t go to the fair the next morning before work. His shift began before it opened and leaving to go would have been suspicious. Adele didn’t want him to be suspicious, so he had to keep everything normal. Even if it was eating him inside, he needed to act like nothing had happened and everything in his boring little life was the same as it always had been.
He wasn’t sure why that was, but it didn’t matter. If Adele said to do it, then it was the right thing to do. So he reluctantly trudged into work at six in the morning to see Gabriella sitting on the couch in the living room, watching a movie with Fang purring beside her.
“Hey,” she said with a smile as he came up the stairs.
“Morning.”
James sat down on the couch too, rubbing his eyes. Fang hissed as he sat beside her, tearing off the couch and down the hall. “Jesus, what the fuck?” James murmured.
“Did you catch her tail?”
He didn’t think so, but maybe. “Who knows?” he said, looking after Fang with concern.
She was gone, but she had seemed fine before he came in, so that must have been what had happened.
“Are you okay?” Gabriella asked.
“Yeah, I’m fine,” James said. “Just couldn’t sleep.”
She looked at him and he remembered having this same conversation after he’d spent a night at Meredith’s, the idea of which turned his stomach now. How could he have ever thought he could be with anyone other than Adele? He should have waited for her.
“There’s coffee in there,” Gabriella said. “I made some French toast too, if you want any. And things are dead right now. Want to go lay down until it picks up?”
He did, but maybe if he got all his work done, he could leave early and go see Adele at the wellness fair after all. He didn’t know where she lived and she never said he was allowed to find her outside of there. But the fair would be enough for him. She said to come back and see her, so she wanted him there. The thought lifted his heart and he took a shuddering breath at the sudden lightness he felt.
“I’m fine,” James said. “Don’t worry about me. But I will get a coffee.”
Gabriella smiled at him. She’d love Adele, wouldn’t she? God, he couldn’t wait until he could tell everybody about this.
“So how was the night?” he asked around a yawn after he’d gotten a mug of coffee and sat back down.
The French toast smelled good and he’d skipped breakfast, but he couldn’t bring himself to eat anything right now. Maybe he was coming down with something. James hadn’t thought of that, but it was a problem, because then he couldn’t see Adele until he was healthy or he’d risk her health. Something he wouldn’t dare to do.
“It was quiet,” Gabriella said. “Amelia was with me until one and there was a quick trip over to Mama’s when some issues broke out there. But it was fine. In fact…”
The fair ended at seven tonight, so maybe James could get out of here early and go over. He could help Adele with anything she needed. He’d do it, it wasn’t like he’d need to be paid. Just being with her was enough. He’d even quit here and do everything she needed him to do for her business, if that was what she wanted.
Maybe he should offer that up tonight. It was bold, yeah, but it was something that she would benefit from. And him, of course. The idea of being behind the counter with her lit him up in a way this job never had.
Why the hell did he work here? He should quit. Even if Adele didn’t want him there (that was her prerogative, even if it hurt. He wasn’t going to do anything she didn’t want him to, no matter how much it hurt), quitting would give him more time to think about her.
James needed Gabriella to stop fucking talking so he could go into his office and think about Adele.
“Yeah, alright,” he said without hearing what she’d said, just that she’d stopped. “Yeah, that sounds good.”
Gabriella looked at him strangely. “What?” he snapped, his irritation seeping out.
“I asked if you want me to start a new historical case or the UFO files,” she said quietly.
“Yeah, either sounds good. Excuse me.”
He got up and went into his office, leaving his coffee behind. He didn’t close the door completely, but apparently he made it clear enough that he wanted to be alone, because she didn’t follow.
James opened the scheduling software, swearing softly as it loaded. There was Mama’s right there. Fine, they should work on that today. But the other one, that had to wait. It was important to figure out what was causing the strange behaviors, of course, but they needed to find a new path to consider there. The wellness fair was no longer part of the equation, so they’d have to start from scratch on that case. He owed Adele an apology for even considering that it might be anything at the wellness fair.
She was helping people. She was helping them find love and excitement and success and that was so much more meaningful than anything he did at the Foundation. So he needed to help her in the only way he currently could.
He clicked on the case and it opened in the full window. WELLNESS FAIR, LEOMINSTER ORSON CENTER with a big red box around it. They might get pissed at him for this if anyone at the Foundation even noticed these things anymore. But they didn’t, so he was fine. Plus, this was important. What if they tried to frame her for hurting those people? What if the investigation put Adele in danger?
Then he’d kill them all. Simple enough.
But it didn’t have to be that way. So James just archived the case. Just for now, they’d go back and figure out who was actually hurting those people soon. But he had to figure out how to do it without the Foundation going after Adele or the fair in general. Not that he cared about the other people there, but that was Adele’s lifeblood, right? What if she couldn’t pay her bills?
Easy, he’d pay them for her. In fact, he should start doing that now. James only had about forty dollars in his wallet right now, but he could empty his savings today and bring them to her. Maybe she’d love him then.
The cooler of food samples sitting beside his desk had to go too. Throwing them out now would be suspicious, but if he just tossed an old blanket over the cooler, no one would question anything until he could find a time to toss them.
Amelia knocked on the office door a little while later. “Morning,” she said.
Did she sound a little cautious? “Hey, what’s up?” James asked, beckoning her to come in.
“Just checking in, I’m on my weird shift.”
“Right, yeah, sorry,” James said, remembering suddenly how he’d squeezed her onto the schedule. “I know that’s an awkward schedule and you were here late last night.”
“It’s fine,” she said. “I don’t have anything else planned.”
“We’ve got some cases on the schedule for the day, but nothing too bad,” James said, rubbing his eyes against a distant headache. “Um, Mama’s. I know you guys were there last night. Graham’s going to take a look at what might be an injured creature with one of Ruby’s boys later. Oh, and I want to send Bradley to Townsend to look into a haunted house there.”
“Only to Townsend?”
James laughed. “Is that it?” Amelia asked.
“For now,” James replied. “There’s a couple cases I’m putting on the backburner for a few days. I got a message saying to delay the one with the ghosts and the strange behaviors.”
He wasn’t going to make himself say the wellness fair in connection with that one. And James realized this might be the only time in his life he’d ever lied to Amelia, but if he canceled the case with no warning or explanation, she might not understand.
“Yeah, sounds good,” Amelia said. “Oh, apparently Riley’s friends want me to go out with them again. So I wasn’t as horrible as I thought.”
“See, there you go.”
“I still think you should come with us.”
He shrugged. “Maybe.”
“No, for real. Me and Madelyn were talking about it last night and you should go and just…”
Something must have shown on his face because she trailed off and studied him intently. “What?” James asked.
“You’re seeing someone, aren’t you?”
Despite his best efforts, he was smiling now and his face was hot. “Come on,” Amelia teased with a grin. “Who is it?”
“I can’t tell you.”
“Wait, is it-”
“I can’t tell you,” James repeated. “I will, I promise. Just not yet.”
Maybe she’d be happy for him already, but he didn’t know for sure. She might also worry because he met the love of his life on a very badly planned mission. But regardless, Adele didn’t want him saying anything yet, so he wasn’t going to.
“Okay,” Amelia said, still grinning. “I get it. That’s a leap. I mean, I- wow. I’m not all that surprised, I guess? I’m happy for you, getting back out there after Meredith.”
“Oh God, she’s nothing like Meredith.”
The words were out before he could stop them. Amelia blinked at him. “She?” she repeated. “Who is she?”
“I just told you, I can’t,” James said. “But she’s great, I promise. So much better.”
“Okay,” Amelia said.
Did she look less excited for him now? “Can you actually go finish Mama’s now?” he asked in a sudden rush of desperation. She was going to start asking questions and he couldn’t let her know. Not yet. If Adele found out, she might drop him. And James couldn’t bear that.
He kept Amelia busy all morning. It wasn’t hard, he could find enough cases that needed to get done and she had a shorter shift today. And she loved being in the field, so it wasn’t like he was being mean to her because she’d come too close to finding out about Adele. He just kept assigning her that way. And since everyone else was equally busy, there was nothing strange about it.
“I’m off in ten minutes,” she said to James just before two, tugging a leaf from her final case out of her bright red hair. “Is there anything you want from me before I go?”
“No, you can go now, actually.”
He didn’t quite expect her to run out the door, but he didn’t expect the sadness that crossed her face. “Did I do something?” Amelia asked.
“What?” James asked. “No, of course not. Why?”
“You’ve barely spoken to me since this morning. Are you avoiding me?”
“No, we’re just busy, right?”
“Yeah.”
“Yeah, no, we’re good.”
He smiled at her and, after a beat, she smiled back. It was small, but he’d take it. He didn’t want her to feel bad. She hadn’t actually done anything, it was just bad circumstances.
“Alright, I’ll see you tomorrow then,” she said.
Amelia walked out and James glanced under his desk. There were more supplies there now, rusty garden clippers, a small container of bleach, and what he was pretty sure was one of Madelyn’s grill lighters. He didn’t remember putting them there, but that was fine. He didn’t have to. As long as Adele was safe, they wouldn’t be necessary anyway.
By this point, Amelia and Gabriella were leaving and Graham and Bradley were taking over for the evening shift. As James went out to refill his coffee shortly after Amelia left, Bradley was in the kitchen. “There’s a fresh pot,” he said, holding his own cup.
“Great, thanks.”
James filled his mug as Bradley stood in the doorway, watching him. “What?” James asked.
“What’s going on with the wellness fair? It got taken off the schedule.”
He resisted the urge to take a swing, only barely. “Postponed,” he said shortly.
“Why?”
“Because we were told to.”
“I didn’t receive any information on that.”
“You didn’t need to.”
Maybe if he pissed Bradley off enough, he’d leave him alone. It wouldn’t be the first time. But no, James just needed to focus on finishing work so he could get out of here on time and go do something that actually mattered.
“Right,” Bradley said. “Fine. Did they message about the paperwork?”
“There’s nothing there for us. It’s fine.”
“Fine.”
Bradley bit off the final word, then walked away. James felt a little guilty, but he couldn’t risk it. He’d do whatever it took to defend her, he knew that, but if he could avoid that as much as possible, he would.
Or he could kill Bradley right now and eliminate the possibility of anyone finding out what he’d done. Or worse, going after Adele. He didn’t want to, but the alternative was too much to bear. So maybe James should just do it now, before Bradley became a problem.
How could he make it painless? There were no guns anywhere in their headquarters, they needed to log those out from Firearms Maintenance over in Ayer and that would be suspicious. And nothing he had put aside would help there. But maybe-
No, he was getting ahead of himself. Bradley hadn’t actually said anything about Adele. James had archived the case and they’d come back to it when the heat was off of the wellness fair. The problems were real and they were coming from somewhere else, they just needed to solve it.
He went back into his office, answering a message from McGovern as he went. Meeting set for Friday, ten AM to discuss all recent cases, as well as the status of current events. Fine, he could do that no problem. The wellness fair was off the schedule now. And if McGovern asked about it, James could just lie like he’d lied to the others.
***
It seemed like no time had passed, but the angle of the sun coming in the window was different now. James was alone, but there was rope tucked under the box he’d used to replace the sweatshirt. Knives, rope, and everything else he might need were safely tucked away.
He got up and walked out of the office to see Bradley sitting at one of the computers in the living room. Bradley looked up at him and immediately scowled.
“What the fuck is your problem?” he demanded.
What was James’s problem? What was Bradley’s? James hadn’t done anything. But before James could ask, Bradley was already back to his work, obviously ignoring James. Fine. If Bradley was pissed at him, at least he wasn’t asking more questions about the wellness fair or Adele.
“There’s three new cases on the docket,” Bradley called over as James went back into his office. “If you can be fucking bothered.”
James ignored him and closed his office door. When he checked his email a minute later, there was a message from Firearms Management.
Captain McManus,
Your request for a firearm has been approved. You can pick it up in our Ayer office today before three or tomorrow between noon and four.
