Repossessed (5 page)

It had been five years since he’d addressed someone as father. His dad had passed away not long after he’d joined the military. Just saying the word ‘dad’ in Korean brought good memories instead of the bad ones.

His stepmom and dad never had the best relationship and divorced when Rob was only ten. She took such good care of him, even though she spent money faster than his dad earned it, leaving his father bitter when it came to finances. After his stepmom moved out, his father’s busy work schedule never kept his old man from spending time with him on the weekends. Even with a part-time weekend job.

That was the kind of man he wanted to be.

“Stay away from women who have problems when it comes to money,”
he remembered his dad saying.
“I loved your stepmom more than I loved myself—I think that’s why she hurt me so badly when she chose money over me.”

At times like this he missed his
abuji
.

Rob turned to see a man walking down the street. The guy, who looked innocent enough in business casual clothes, checked each of the numbers next to the homes. From the way he crept about, the man was up to no good.

Naturally once he reached Rob’s place, he waved to him. “I’m looking for number 712. The Hurst family?”

Harabeuji grumbled. “He stinks like a trickster,
Doryeonim
. Should I fetch a whipping stick for a sound beating?” Thank goodness the human couldn’t hear the bag spirit.

“They’re my relatives. Can I help you?” Apparently, Rob wasn’t the only one who was wide-awake right now.

“Just personal business with Mr. Hurst. My name’s Bill. My company bought some debts they owe.”

Rob stood slowly. Just another bottom feeder looking to get paid. His satchel stirred at his feet. “I’m their nephew. Any business you got with them can go through me.”

The man stepped back and tried to offer a friendly smile.

Rob wasn’t as amused. “Just get to the point. Show me the documents. How much?”

“The Hursts owe us $1,435 dollars. They’ve been overdue for the past eight months.” Bill fished through his bag and produced a bunch of papers.

Rob scanned them, but he didn’t need to read them all. He’d been through all the paperwork his aunt had crammed in the desk downstairs. After pouring over the documents for a few hours, he’d made note of all the names and calculated every dime owed. This company was one of them.

From one of the deepest pockets in his satchel, Rob pulled out a wad of cash. After counting out what was due, he shoved the bills into the collector’s outstretched hand.

“Dirty humans,” Harabeuji snorted. “I wouldn’t give them enough cloth to wipe the slime off their asses.”

“Thank you for your payment in full, Mister?”

“Shin.
Mr.
Shin.” Rob frowned. “How about you head back to the office now?”

“I’m just doing my job, Mr. Shin.”

“I’m not saying you shouldn’t do your job. Next time, just don’t show up at the crack of dawn, Bill. There are hardworking, elderly people in this neighborhood, and I don’t appreciate you coming down here like this.”

Bill nodded and retreated again.

“I’ve seen your letters.” Rob didn’t want to intimidate the guy, but he couldn’t help it. “They border on harassment. So take your money and scoot on down the road.”

The man was practically in the street now. “I’ll take that under advisement, Mr. Shin.”

CHAPTER SIX

Dating Tip #12: If you’re too embarrassed to introduce your girlfriend to your parents, family, or friends then you need to assess what others want for you. But if she’s a soul-sucking succubus, the naysayers may have a point.

By eleven o’clock that evening, Tessa arrived in Brooklyn to meet Rob. This time he waited for her outside his office door. He leaned against the gray brick wall staring at the convenience store across the street. His facial expression never wavered as she approached.

“You’re late,” he snapped.

“I have a business to run during the day.”

He snorted and turned to leave. As she trailed behind she said, “You could’ve left.”

“I have bills to pay and, apparently, Clive’s a lonely old man.”

They stopped in front of the intersection to wait for the lights to change green.

Tessa softly laughed. “Well, you could introduce him to people. I’m sure since you’re such a people person you’ll have plenty of friends for him to meet.”

The light changed and he marched across the street, forcing her to jog to keep up.

“Where are we going this time?” she asked.

“A job.”

“A job where? I don’t want to use that bathroom jump point again.” She shivered thinking about that horrible place.

An elderly lady using her black cane to walk her miniature schnauzer tripped and lost a hold of the leash a few feet ahead of them. Tessa expected Rob to keep walking, but in a flash he was at the woman’s side helping her up.

Tessa tried to offer a hand, but he directed her away to fetch the salt-and-pepper-colored dog. “I got her. Go get the dog.”

She turned around to see the schnauzer sniffing among the cars parked along the street. The royal blue leash was easy to spot as it plopped along the ground. The small dog darted from one interesting smell to another.

“Here, boy. C’mere, sweetie.” The dog edged closer to the street.

“Stop!” As Tessa clamored toward the dog, it took two steps closer to the curb. She froze, watching as cars zoomed by, hoping and praying the little dog stayed put. She inched closer. Without many options, a compulsion spell seemed like the best option. The magic gathered in her mouth first, forming into an airy bite of cinnamon on her tongue as she spoke. “Calm down. No one will hurt you. How about you come here?” The dog’s ears perked up. About time her last-minute spell casting showed some promise.

Something bumped her back. Her head whipped around to see two humans closing in like a zombie horde. Smoke and booze lingered on their breath. The range of her spell went a bit too far. A couple dressed for a night of clubbing stared at her with glazed eyes. They stood shoulder-to-shoulder with their faces about a foot from hers.

Now that didn’t go as planned.

“Everything’s fine. Head on home,” she managed.

From behind them on the sidewalk, the smiling elderly lady called her dog. Ignoring Tessa, and her kind efforts, he went obediently to his owner. Rob frowned. As the human couple marched to the west, he glanced at them, then turned to her.

Ugh!
There was no way he was going to let her follow him on the job if she acted like this.

“Where are we going?”

“East River. Where no one will see when I drop kick you in.”

She crossed her arms and turned away from him. As far as impressions go she didn’t set the finest example, but he could cut her a break.

They jumped into a cab. “982 River Road—Roosevelt Island.” Rob instructed the driver.

After a forty minute-ride to the Roosevelt Island Bridge, they reached the island. She’d never visited the area before and was pleasantly surprised by the beautiful apartment buildings along the main street. In the distance, the lights from the bridge cast a bright glow on the river.

Once they reached their destination on River Street—a brick multi-level residence--Rob paid the driver.

A tingle of power cascaded down the walls. One that Tessa has encountered before. A distant relative, who somehow avoided Grandma’s wrath since she’d lost her mind in a game of cards during the Spanish Inquisition, hid herself away in farmhouse about fifty miles outside of Chicago. She wanted no intruders so she used magic to keep the curious away. Another powerful witch used a warding spell to protect this home, but this one was for warlocks only. Tessa confidently walked forward as Rob took a step back to the curb.

“You coming?” she teased.

“Yeah.” Rob retrieved his trusty peacock feather and mumbled an incantation to counteract the ward spell. Power radiated from him as his first steps scraped against the sidewalk, but eventually he crossed the threshold. Quite a handy little trick he had there. Inside the lobby, a young Indian woman sat behind the concierge desk. She peeked up from her book. “Can I help you?”

“We’re friends of Madame Tuliere.”

The young woman checked her notes on the desk. “Mrs. Tuliere is away on business—”

Rob leaned against the counter and fixed his gaze on her. His compulsion magic bathed the counter in white. “Mrs. Tuliere has left something behind for me.
You’ll let us pass to retrieve it
.”

The woman blinked. “Of course, Sir,” she blurted. “Feel free to call down to the main desk if you need assistance.”

“Thank you.” Rob left a ten on the counter and headed for the elevators against the back wall and clicked the up button.

“Are we breaking and entering again?” Tessa mumbled under her breath.
As well as coercing people without their consent?

For good measure, she tossed another ten at the poor hypnotized woman.

Rob stepped into the elevator, and she had to hurry to avoid missing the doors. In the enclosed space, he crossed his arms and faced the doors. When they opened on the fourth floor, he didn’t move. She left the elevator and turned to see him standing in the same place.

“Rob, what are you doing?”

He grunted and didn’t move an inch. After a few seconds the elevator beeped, annoyed with their dawdling. Tessa shot her arm out to stop the closing doors. When she pulled at him, Rob didn’t budge. What the hell? Even stranger, the satchel on his hip grew warm.

“Another spell? I can’t feel it.” She peered down the well-lit hallway. Two red doors with large clay urns lined the hallway.

“Stop it.” The words were barely understandable from his frozen lips.

“All right. All right,” she said with a grin.

“Get the ring of keys out of my pocket. Head into 4B and break the red flowerpot next to the door.”

She fished her smartphone out for a quick picture. Seeing Rob like this was priceless. She posed for a quick selfie with him in the shot.

She liked this version of Rob so much better. Silent and docile. Too bad she couldn’t leave him like this.

While she used her body to hold open the elevator doors, she leaned down to retrieve the key. His relaxed blue jeans hugged his lean waist. She turned her eyes away as she patted down his left pocket while trying to avoid to grazing between his legs. Empty. The right pocket of his jeans had the keys, but it was wedged deep near the middle. Damn it!

Tessa’s gaze darted upwards, and she could sense his smug satisfaction. Did he know this would happen and she’d have to do this? She was tempted to click the emergency button and leave his cocky ass locked in place like this. It most certainly would’ve served him right.

She pursed her lips and dug her hand into his pocket. She wanted to make this as quick and as pain free as possible on her part, but of course, she had to dig in and hunt among the pocket change and other stuff in there. Her hand grazed an ample swelling and she mumbled, “Sorry,” before retrieving the key.

Rob would have to stay in the elevator while she broke the spell holding him in place. “H-head on down and by the time you come back up I should be done,” she stammered with eyes cast downward. She tried to brush away the delicious thought of her intrusion, but couldn’t resist mouthing out what came to mind. “Why did the keys have to be down
there
?”

Apartment 4B was the wide brick-red door on the right. A pile of newspapers sat on the drab brown doormat beckoning the homeowner back. Tessa went through the four sets of keys on the key rings before the last one worked. As the heavy door creaked open, she cringed, waiting for someone to rush into the unlit foyer. The small space had a tiny table with a red flower pot filled with fake dark purple-colored flowers. A heavy scent of vanilla and clover filled the space. Beyond the foyer was a cryptic living room with billowy black shades, maroon-colored Old English furniture, and an immense grandfather clock in the corner.

Break the red flower pot,
he’d said. Not only was she entering someone’s home illegally, Tessa was destroying their belongings. What a great way to build her image as a potential leader in the community. She grasped the fake flowers gingerly and placed them on the shiny marble floor. Then with a resounding whack she broke the red flowerpot against the floor. Not her best Bette Davis performance, but it would work for now.

She stepped over the broken clay pot and left the apartment to see Rob waiting by the open elevator doors. He took a step or two forward, then strode down the hallway to meet her. Once inside the apartment, he assessed her handy work on the floor. “Better you than me.”

Thanks would’ve been better, but she was used to his attitude.

“Let’s get what we came here for so we can leave.” The loud tick-tick of the grandfather clock in the corner was creepy. Every time it clicked, the sounds echoed against the walls and thudded against her forehead. She fought a compulsion to avert her eyes.

Rob strode into the living room and walked over to the grandfather clock. The ancient time-keeping device stood a few inches below the ceiling with a large face emblazoned with golden Roman numerals.

She expected him to prep the clock for removal to Limbo. Instead, he examined the edge and pried open a hidden panel to remove a 5-inch tall vase made of Tiger’s Eye.

“How beautiful,” she murmured. Tessa owned a few pairs of earrings with the semi-precious stone. The streaks of gold, black, and white in this piece were far more vivid.

The vase hummed like a tuning fork. Rob grasped the urn tighter as his hand shook.

He clenched his teeth. “Active little devil.”

The open space between the living room and the foyer served as a workspace for the spell to open a gate into Limbo. Honestly, before her repo adventures the other day, she hadn’t seen Limbo before. Every young witch learned about it during their daily studies conducted as extracurricular studies after school. Their instructors scared them into thinking it was some demon-laden place not meant for curious eyes. Maybe it was, but now she had no choice.