Chapter 21
Carl Hagen from the National Office showed up at the house an hour before his appointment at the Lodge. He was a short, pudgy man with a few hairs on his head and a smile that warmed Mia from the inside out. They met in the living room after Christina had provided coffee and treats for the visitor.
“Cleo called to let me know you’d be here.
I heard you had quite a day yesterday, and I thought it might be easier to meet you at your home.
The academy seems very happy under your stewardship.
I didn’t attend here. I’m from Central California.
We had our own boarding school on the beach.
It was the best six years of my life.” He sipped his coffee, looking around the great room.
“I feel so many happy memories here. Are you with ghosts?”
Mia frowned a bit at the wording. “Yes, the academy is haunted. They mostly hang out in the library.”
“Probably trying to finish their to-be-read pile.” He smiled at her. “I know mine is larger than several lifetimes.”
Mia couldn’t help but laugh. Carl Hagen had a way of making people comfortable. It was probably his gift, like Christina’s.
“Mine is getting that way too,” Mia said. “I’m just a few chapters away from finishing a book and things keep getting in the way. Thank you for coming. I have a few questions about my testing.”
“I want to apologize on behalf of the entire board. If we’d known this was some kind of vendetta, we never would have sent Suzanne.
Hugh is furious about the method of testing she used.
He sends his regards. He said you were lovely, and you are.
” Carl smiled. His eyes kept returning to a corner of the room with nothing in it, at least not anything Mia could see.
“He was amazing as well. He made the test so easy. Please send him my best wishes.” Mia set down her coffee cup. “I’ve done some research and found that retesting is rarely done.”
“You’re right about that. The issue was the amount of complaints we received and, of course, the push from local leadership.”
Mia thought about his response and then continued. “One question before I go into the leadership issue. Did you verify that any of the complaints were valid? Did you talk to anyone who sent in a complaint? Directly, I mean.”
Carl turned away from his fascination with the corner.
“No. It’s not in our process to verify that the signer actually sent the complaint.
We assume that the local leadership has a finger on the pulse of their coven, so when Brandon and Sabrina sent in their own complaints, we assumed the rest were valid too.
Now that I’m saying it aloud, I realize our mistake. The complaints were fake.”
“At least a few. I haven’t verified all of them, but one was from Thomas Majors, who told me he didn’t write or send the complaint that had his name on it. I was planning on asking the others, but I’ve been under the weather.” Mia watched him for a reaction.
He rubbed his face. “I’m truly sorry. You shouldn’t have been put through another testing yet. Although with your increase in level, I’m thinking your third jump will also be large and happen soon. We’ll make sure Hugh does all of your tests from now on.”
Mia didn’t want to test again, but like she’d told Christina, maybe she should keep a door open. You never knew what you might want in the future.
Carl stood, breaking her thought process. “I promised Cleo I wouldn’t stay long and wear you out. I also need to chat with the office holder before I leave. Apparently the local coven here is having some issues. I’m sorry you got caught up in our politics.”
“Thank you for coming to me. I know you have processes for finding out who killed Suzanne Parker, but I still have a lot of questions. I feel like I was in the middle of the whole thing.” Mia stood and followed him out.
“I need to get control of whatever virus I have, because I’m missing way too much work. ”
“I’m sure it’s just the stress.” He reached out his hand, and as they shook, his eyes widened. “Well, isn’t that special. Take care, Mia Malone. I’m sure we’ll be hearing good things from you, sooner rather than later.”
As he walked out, Trent came out of the kitchen, where he’d been listening. “He was a man of few words.”
“Yes, but I think we found the hole in the process. Maybe I can save someone else the embarrassment.” She went over to the elevator. “I’m still not up to this. I’m heading upstairs. Want to watch a movie with me?”
“Desperately.” He put his arm around her and they stepped into the elevator car. “You feel worn to the bone. Are you sure you can stay awake?”
“If I can’t, I’ll just rewind when I wake up.” Her watch buzzed with a notice that someone was at the door. “We need to go back down. Someone’s at the door.”
“I can go.” He held the door open when they reached the third floor. “Go in and get the movie set up. No chick flicks. Okay, maybe a rom-com, but it better be funny.”
“I’ll ride down with you. I haven’t seen you in weeks.” She brushed his arm away from the door, then pushed the button for the first floor.
“You’re stubborn.” He pulled her into a hug. “I’m so glad you’re okay.”
“I’ve got a few steps before I’d say ‘okay.’ Standing and not crying is more my mood today.” She kept her head on his chest and listened to his beating heart as they made their way down.
A flower delivery was at the door. A beautiful blue-and-silver bouquet with a note. Happy birthday, Finn.
Mia frowned and looked at the flowers. “I wonder why Abigail didn’t tell us Finn’s birthday is today.”
“Maybe she has a surprise party planned for later. Is Finn even here?” Trent checked his watch.
“I don’t know. She’s probably at the Lodge. James has been giving her tons of hours.” Mia paused by the corner Carl had been watching and closed her eyes. Could she feel anything?
“Are you okay?” Trent’s hand was on her arm.
She didn’t look at him as she answered. “Fine, but Carl Hagen couldn’t stop staring at this corner. Why?”
“Could be many reasons. He was attracted to the power? He had a lazy eye? Maybe he just thought he saw something.”
Mia thought about Trent’s explanations. “Damien was getting records, no, blueprints of the academy from the library last night when I fell. Did he get them?”
“I don’t know, but we can check. What are you doing with the flowers?”
“I’ll put them in her room, then talk to her as soon as she’s home from work.” Mia looked up at the stairs. “Want to make a stop before we watch the movie?”
“Sure.” He waited for her to drop off the flowers, then they took the elevator to the second floor.
The workmen weren’t there today. Damien must have asked them to stay away to give Mia some peace and quiet.
She and Trent walked down to the new suite Damien had carved out for himself.
The door to what appeared to be a library or office was open, and Damien was there, going through boxes.
This room was complete, with wall-to-ceiling walnut bookcases, wood floors, a large desk, two large wing chairs on an Oriental rug, and spotlights over the chairs to add reading light.
It was a perfect room for someone in love with books.
Damien looked up as they came to the door. “Welcome. This room is almost done. I had them start here so I could get my books out of storage, especially because I’m sleeping over at your grandmother’s house. I swear, Mary Alice thinks we live in Victorian England.”
“Too much information.” Mia held her hands over her ears, then let them down. “Did you get the blueprints from the library?”
“This morning. Last night was a little hectic, with you swooning into my arms. Purely platonic, of course, but I’m glad I was there.
” He stood from the chair where he’d been unpacking a box of books.
“I have the prints over here on the table. Nathan is supposed to come over this afternoon to take a look. I’m not sure what the library wanted me to see, but I thought he might see it through his construction lens better than I could. ”
Damien unrolled the many-paged blueprint. “This is the outside front view of the plans. Each floor should have its own sheet.”
“Can we see the first floor?” Mia glanced at Trent, who was staring at the pages. “Is something wrong?”
He shook his head. “No, but something’s off. These are different from the original prints.”
Damien looked at him. “Good eye. There’s a second wing that doesn’t show on the prints. The gym and main kitchen were added a few years later.”
Trent let the answer settle. “That must be it. Where’s the first floor?”
“Here it is.” Damien smoothed out the prints. He pointed to the left side. “This ends right where the living room ends now. Mia’s office is back here. The kitchen and gym addition is shaped like an L.”
Mia pointed to a spot on the page. A drawing. If she was right, it was where Carl had been staring. “What’s that?”
Damien squinted at the symbol, then at the legend on the side.
“Weird. That’s where the original dumbwaiter was located.
It went from the basement to the top floor and ran through what is now your potions lab.
It was probably closed off and boarded up so the kids wouldn’t mess with it when the building was changed into the academy. ”
“Wait? It wasn’t always a school?” Mia looked up at Damien.
He shook his head. “The building was supposed to be coven headquarters. It was changed to a school when new leadership was voted into office a few years after the building was finished. That was when Suzanne Parker was leading the coven. She was voted out and a whole new board came in. She never forgave the people who turned on her.”
“That wasn’t in her life book.” Mia glanced at Trent. “Damien? Were you two an item then?”
“Was she wearing my class ring?” He chuckled. “Kind of. We saw each other, but I know she was also seeing other people. She hated the thought of becoming attached. Of trusting someone. I wonder what changed her mind later. She seemed to trust someone a lot.”