Corruption (Grumpy Old Wizards Book 2) (5 page)

Chapter 5

Josephine, Alex and Jake were completing paperwork at their desks early in the morning at the police station. Josephine wanted to talk with Jake privately so she waited until Alex left for donuts and coffee in the break room.

“Jake, I need you to do a favor for me,” Josephine requested.

“What is it?”

“Mark’s your friend, isn’t he?”

“I guess so. Why?”

“I need you to find out what kind of underwear he uses.”

“I can’t do that.”

“I don’t see why not,” Josephine pressed.

“If I ask him that, he’ll think I’m into him.”

“There’s nothing wrong with that. In fact, you two have a lot in common and you’ve been single for a long time. I think he would make you an excellent boyfriend and I know for a fact that he’s a good kisser.”

Jake chuckled with amusement. “I’m sorry but I’m not gay.”

“You can’t know that for sure. Have you ever tried it?”

“I don’t need to.”

“I think the two of you could have a wonderful romantic relationship. You’re already friends with a lot of shared interests.”

“Why are you trying to match me up with him?” Jake leveled an assessing gaze at his grandmother. After several seconds, his face lit up with sudden comprehension. “You’re feeling guilty because you think he’s too young! You’re hoping he wears whitey tighties because that would give you an excuse to dump him.”

“You have to admit there’s a huge disparity in age,” Josephine said.

“I love you and I think you’re the best grandmother in the world but don’t you think it’s just a tad childish to break up with someone because of their underwear?”

“You slept with Mark?” Alex had returned without anyone noticing. He had a mug of coffee in one hand and a maple long john in the other while his attention was glued to Josephine with a mixture of surprise, fascination and disgust.

“Of course not!” Josephine’s face reddened with embarrassment. “I would never do that on a first date.”

“How many dates would it take?”

“None of your business.” Josephine shot him a frosty look.

“Did you two have a good time last night?” Alex asked.

Josephine ignored the question and turned back to her computer. They were soon assigned a new case and the rest of the morning flew by. Josephine’s anxiety rose throughout the day until it was time for Mark’s arrival. She kept taking furtive glances at his desk and the clock which indicated he was running late. Finally, after half an hour, she couldn’t take the suspense any longer.

“Where’s Mark?” Josephine asked.

“Your boyfriend doesn’t work today.” Alex threw her a smug grin of satisfaction.

“And why is that?”

“He only works Wednesday and Friday.”

Josephine frowned at Alex. “He’s not my boyfriend.”

“Sure he is.”

Jake’s eyes twinkled with mirth as he watched Josephine and Alex bicker. Josephine hated to admit it but she missed Mark. She found her thoughts drifting back to their enjoyable evening. And that kiss had knocked her socks off! By the end of the day, Josephine had changed her mind yet again. She deserved to be happy and if her friends didn’t approve of Mark, that was just too bad. Jake certainly harbored no qualms about their relationship. As Josephine stood up from her desk to prepare to leave, she smiled at her grandson with affection.

“Thank you, Jake.”

“For what?”

“For being you.” Josephine cast an appreciative look at him. “Good night, Jake.”

“Good night, Grandma.”

When Josephine returned to her condo, both her friends were waiting for her in the living room. A chill of foreboding danced across Josephine’s skin but a strange fogginess made it difficult to think.

“Are you all right?” Alice asked.

“My work must be more taxing than I thought,” Josephine said.

She took a seat on the couch facing her two friends and filled them in on the day’s events. Something in the back of her mind kept nagging at her until she finally figured it out.

“How did you get in here?” Josephine asked.

Helen and Alice returned her look with puzzled frowns.

“We just came in, of course,” Alice said.

“But I’m the only one who can remove the wards,” Josephine said. “They’re programmed to respond to me specifically.”

“You must have forgotten to set it up.”

“And there’s some kind of spell in here.” Josephine took stock of her surroundings and opened her second sight.

It took her several long moments to identify the hidden spell. It was complex and weaved into the natural energies already present in the room to make it virtually undetectable. Josephine had never seen anything like it. She explained what she’d found to her friends.

“It must be the stalker,” Helen said. “But I didn’t think that kind of thing was possible.”

“It’s not.” Josephine examined the enchantment more closely and it crumpled away into nothingness. “It’s booby trapped to self-destruct when it’s noticed. It’s gone.”

“Are you going to report this to the police?” Helen inquired.

“No, I’m not yet willing to risk my freedom.”

“But he may kill you,” Alice said.

“My wards are still in place. He didn’t destroy them. I’ll just activate the extra wards in my room to give me more time to react if he manages to break in while I’m sleeping. I have a slew of protection and telekinetic enchantments in my room,” Josephine said.

“You’re taking a terrible risk with your life.” Helen pinned her friend with a dour look.

“Where’s Gary?” Josephine asked.

“I assumed he wasn’t coming over for some reason.” Alice’s expression turned grave. “He may be in terrible danger.”

Josephine tried dialing Gary but the call went straight to voice mail. She tried again with the same result.

“I’m going over there.”

“We’re coming with you,” Alice said.

A handsome, dark-haired man appeared on the couch a couple of feet beside Helen. He was incredibly tall with mesmerizing, hazel eyes and emanated an aura of power and authority. He wore black jeans and a black polo shirt with black running shoes.

“I’m going to need you all to stick around for a bit,” he said.

Helen gasped in alarm and leaned away from him while Josephine shot to her feet and activated her shield. Alice was quick to bring up her own protection but slower to rise from the couch.

“Please sit down, ladies.” The stranger’s tone implied this wasn’t a request.

“You broke into my condo! Who in the hell are you?” Josephine demanded.

Helen’s expression was wary but she remained seated. An unseen force pushed Josephine and Alice back into their seats. Josephine’s eyes widened with horror as her shield remained active and untouched.

“How did you do that?” Josephine regarded the stranger with a sense of dread.

“I used subtle magic. It’s something I can teach you to do as well if you’ll join us.”

Josephine took a deep, cleansing breath. “I’m listening.”

“My name is Brad Lyons and I’m one of the leaders of the Phoenix Community. We’re all sixes and we’re devoted to living a safe life where we don’t have to worry about being persecuted by lesser wizards.”

“Apparently the law doesn’t apply to you since you feel it’s okay to break into people’s homes,” Josephine said in a steely tone.

“I didn’t want to take the risk of talking to you out in the hall where people may eavesdrop on our conversation. I’m here to give you a choice. You can join our community and never have to worry about the restrictions that mainstream society imposes on you such as the aequitas enchantment and the ban from tapping into vortexes.”

“But if your community is isolated, how can it access any vortexes?”

“There are more than just the three major ones that most people know about. Many minor vortexes also exist and can only be detected by category six wizards such as ourselves. We have protected cities spread across the country here and in other developed countries. We’re a democratic society with a government made up of representatives who are elected by our citizens. We’ve existed for over five centuries,” Brad explained.

“What about your law enforcement? How do you enforce rules?” Josephine asked.

Brad outlined the system set in place and Josephine had to admit she was just a bit tempted.

“How can we trust you?” Alice interjected. “We don’t know anything about you. No one can vouch for you.”

“Only sixes can join us.” Brad stood up and set a piece of paper on the coffee table. “Place this ad in the newspaper if you want to meet with me again.”

Alice reached out and examined the paper.

“This is a want ad for an antique grandfather clock made of mahogany in mint condition for $50 or less. No one is going to sell something like that for such a cheap price,” Alice remarked.

“It’s worded to prevent you from being inundated with calls,” Brad explained. “Alice, you are a latent six. If you want to join our community, we have a safe and pain-free enchantment to awaken your gift.”

“What about Helen?” Josephine asked.

“I’m afraid she’s just an ordinary wizard.”

“I’m not leaving without her.”

“I suspected as much.” Brad offered a quick, disappointed smile. “Gary is already a member. Vickie is considering the offer and needs some time to think things over. Part of the reason I came here is to inform you that once you become a member, we fake your death so people won’t look for you.”

Josephine’s eyes lit with understanding. “You faked Gary’s death.”

“Yes, we set up a gas explosion in his apartment and took a corpse from a morgue out of state and used subtle magic to manipulate the body so that it would be deemed a match. Of course, it won’t stand up to close examination. There would be small signs of tampering and genetic anomalies. However, we left false psychic impressions at the scene which will make it a cut and dried accident for the police.”

“It’s really scary that you can do that,” Alice said.

“We protect our own.” Brad leveled a beseeching look at Josephine. “Please consider my offer. There are hidden dangers for sixes such as a powerful and ancient organization that has infiltrated every world government. They’re called the Valituras and they’re obsessed with amassing power and learning the secret to becoming a six.”

“I hope they succeed and make EVERYONE a category six. That would even the playing field,” Josephine said.

“They have no intention of sharing their power. They want to control the world. They manipulate events behind the scenes and have been around just as long as the Phoenix Community. They probably have someone working for the police or the local government in Sarasota county. They’ll eventually decide to enlist your help in their cause,” Brad said. “And they won’t take no for an answer. They’ll threaten you, your friends and your family.”

“I’ll just have to destroy them then.”

Brad laughed with surprise. “You’re a feisty one, that’s for sure. If you do get into trouble, you can always place the ad in the newspaper.”

“I think I’ve heard enough.” Josephine rose to her feet and leveled a pointed look at her uninvited guest.

“All right. Let me know if you have any questions.” Brad held out a clear quartz crystal and set it down on the table before standing up and towering above them. “It’s a messaging crystal and if you activate it, any of our members who happen to be in the county will hear it.”

“Interesting device,” Alice remarked.

“If we could give them a longer range, we wouldn’t need the ad.” Brad threw them a polite smile. “It was a pleasure meeting you, ladies.”

Brad reached the door and opened it. Just before he left, Josephine came up with one more question.

“What about Jake?”

“He’s a latent six. He can join us as well.”

“Do you ever recruit latent sixes?” Josephine asked.

Brad turned to face her. “Most of our new recruits are latent sixes. We rarely approach those like you until they have reached a certain age and get tired of persecution from those like Dale.”

Josephine stiffened at the mention of her arch nemesis.

“How do you keep your organization a secret from latent sixes who don’t want to join?”

“We use a memory suppression enchantment on them.”

“I see.” Josephine mulled this over. “Are you going to approach Jake?”

“Out of respect for you, we won’t look to any of your friends or relatives unless you join us first.”

“I appreciate that.”

“Once you get to be my age and you’ve gained over five centuries of life experience, you see things with a different perspective. You’re still quite young so I didn’t expect you’d be ready just yet,” Brad said just before he slipped out the door.

“What a condescending man,” Josephine sputtered with outrage.

“Gary is young. Why would he agree to membership?” Alice wondered.