No, something weird was going on, and we needed to find out what. Tess was going to call him as soon as she got a minute, and I was heading out to the excavation site. I'd heard about the wizard, but shifters have some natural immunity to glamours and other magic. Not all, and we were as susceptible to blood magic as ordinary humans, but we could usually see right through illusion magic.
Oddly, when I pulled up and parked outside the tall wire fence that encircled the site, nobody came out to challenge me or even ask who I was or why I was there. I climbed out of the truck and walked through the visual distortion that signaled the edges of the look-away spell. I could feel how potent it was, so it was probably very effective against ordinary humans. When I reached the fence, I scanned the area for guards or other personnel—still nobody—and hopped easily over the six-foot-tall wire boundary.
The site looked like every other construction site I'd ever seen, with several trailers, probably used as offices and break rooms for the workers, off to one side. A couple of trucks and a few Toyota sedans were neatly parked next to the furthest trailer from me and, oddly, their license plates were all smeared with mud even though the cars themselves were clean.
The enormous mound of dirt told me that UltraShopMart had been digging like crazy, which was surprising, since they still hadn't gotten town permission via the revised zoning. Maybe they knew something the rest of us didn't?
Maybe they'd bribed one or more town council members? Ruby would have a fit if that were the case. She was every bit as honest and ethical as her niece.
I casually strolled over to the mound of dirt that marked the edge of the excavation, hands in my pockets, trying to project "I belong here" vibes. When I reached the line of enormous machines, I studied them for a minute. These differed from excavators I'd seen before that ran on wheels. These had tank tracks that propelled them. I'd have to ask Dave about why they were being used here as opposed to the wheeled kind. Not that it probably mattered to anything, but I'd had a love of this kind of equipment ever since Jeremiah had given me my first toy truck when I was three or four.
"Hey! You! Stop right there!"
I turned to see two heavily armed guards—and assault rifles were way more than what they needed to protect a construction site—rushing down the steps from a trailer and headed my way.
I decided I didn't feel like explaining myself to more of UltraShopMart's thugs, so I just waved at them.
"Sorry! Wrong turn!" With that, I loped back to the fence and hopped over it, expecting to hear shots any second. Luckily for me, they probably didn't have authority to shoot townspeople in the back. Might make UltraShopMart look bad.
I raced back through the look-away spell, wondering if the effect applied on this side, too, and the guards would have trouble seeing me now. It cost quite a lot more to hire a wizard who was both talented and precise enough to cast one that only worked one way, but UltraShopMart certainly had the money.
Nobody shot me, so there was at least that. I took the win, climbed into my truck, and sped out of there. I'd see if Jed wanted to come back to the site with me tonight.
Because an interesting thing about tigers?
We can see in the dark.
31
Tess
It was a banner day for sales, and we were happy—at least about that—and exhausted when six o'clock rolled around. I actually couldn't get the door locked and the CLOSED sign up until almost six-thirty, but I hadn't wanted to hurry my last two customers.
They'd been buying a lot.
I'd taken in a few items in pawn, but the day was mostly straight sales, and we'd rung up over a thousand dollars. I offered a quick prayer of thanks and sighed with relief that I was good to keep the lights on for several more months. My earnings this year had been a little precarious—I think I'd been spending more time investigating crimes than working at my business.
Next year would have to be different.
But I had the holidays to enjoy before I started making plans and resolutions.
"Eleanor!" I hugged my tired employee. "You are wonderful. Thank you so much for everything today."
She hugged me and then stepped back, smiling wearily. "That was certainly a day to remember! Well, I'm off. I'll see you at the festival?"
I held up a hand to stop her. "Yes! But hang on a moment, please."
I retrieved the bright red envelope from my bag and handed it to her. "Your Christmas card from me, with a little something to say thank you for your hard work this year."
She shook her head. "Tess, you know you don't have to do that! But I'll happily take it, because I have wedding expenses. Maybe I can put it toward the flowers. The nursery is giving me a deal, but they'll still be nearly three hundred dollars! Can you imagine?"
I just smiled, hugged her again, and sent her on her way. She'd be happily surprised when she opened that envelope and saw her bonus check. The store may have had less profit than usual this year, but what profit we had was due in large part to Eleanor stepping in when I'd been off investigating crimes with Jack.
I really,reallyhoped she still wanted to work at least a few hours a week after the wedding.
"But that, like so many other things, is a problem for next year," I told my empty shop. "And I'll be back to clean up after Christmas."
I turned off most of the lights and double-checked the security cameras, not that they'd been much help so far, and unlocked the front door. I stopped in the doorway, struck by an impulse I didn't quite understand, and turned to face my shop. "Thank you. For giving me a job and a life and a livelihood. For giving me Jeremiah and leading me to Jack. Thank you."
