Chapter Fourteen
In the late afternoon, Seattle’s waterfront warehouses buzzed with activity.
The brick warehouse of Magus Stone & Gravel was no exception.
Perched on the farthest pier, it reeked of wet rock and sea water.
Large slabs of blue-veined stones, resembling granite, were loaded onto conveyor belts and crushed.
The material was then deposited into containers and stacked in rows, in preparation for shipment.
The company, Magus, named for a Scottish Wizard from the ninth century, supplied landscape boulders, crushed granite, flagstone and river rock for pathways and gardens to the general public.
The real money was in extracting arsenic, asbestos, mercury, lead, uranium and thallium and selling them to the magical community.
These elements were among the key ingredients used in forbidden spells and potions.
In the corner office, overlooking the warehouse floor, Zacharias Phillips studied the profit-and-loss statements on his desk.
He had the reputation of being a hard worker.
When he was younger, he’d start his day with a run around Green Lake.
Now he just went in to work. His dedication to his job had garnered him the approval from the leaders of the Talons and the Grey Council, and divorce papers from his wife of fifteen years.
The time on his cell flashed eight a.m. and, like clockwork, his new assistant, Daffeny Schultz, entered his office to review the statements she had given him last night.
She was an improvement over his last assistant. Smart and attractive, she always wore dark slacks and a jacket, and according to her resume, she played volleyball in college and held a master’s degree in business from Seattle University.
His former assistant was also pretty but was as dumb as roadkill.
After his divorce, he’d wanted a little eye-candy to decorate his office.
He was over that phase in his life now. Intelligence had become his main consideration.
If he got both, that was a bonus. The most surprising of all was that Daffeny Schultz never flirted with him, even after she found out he was single and worth billions.
He liked that about her—and the fact she always called him “sir.”
Zacharias made a few notations on the statement and then handed it Daffeny. “Are you positive the count is off?”
“Yes, sir. We double-checked. Ten fifty-pound sacks of broken rocks are missing. Sammy verified it but said we still have enough product to fill our order with Northwest Landscaping. Should I ask him to double-check the count?”
Zacharias didn’t like the implication of a discrepancy in the numbers.
It meant there was either a thief or someone who couldn’t count.
He didn’t like his choices. He kept the irritation out of his voice.
No sense alerting his secretary to the seriousness of the problem.
“Have Sammy conduct a recount, and this time bring someone else along to help him. Fifty-pound sacks of rock don’t walk away without help. ”
“Very good, sir.”
He watched her scribble on a yellow notepad. She was always making notes. He figured she was like those people who had to write everything down. He didn’t care what she did to get the job done, as long as she kept her mouth shut.
Daffeny was the fourth assistant he’d hired in the last ten months.
Finding competent people wasn’t the problem.
Zacharias could hire a law graduate with the salary he paid.
The bigger issue for him was loyalty. The minute his assistants caught on to his black-market operation and showed signs they might share that knowledge with the authorities, they were replaced.
“Will that be all, sir?”
Daffeny’s professional manner pulled him back. Yes, he hoped she wouldn’t catch on for a while.
“Excuse me, sir, but there was one more thing. Your daughter called. She said her tuition is due.”
Zacharias’s mood lightened as he pictured Katharine.
Except for her mother’s exceptionally green eyes, Katharine was as plain and bland as English Yorkshire pudding.
Maybe that’s why he spoiled and indulged her so much.
She’d never given him a moment’s worry. She’d never partied like her mother had.
Didn’t do drugs, and earned straight As in the University of Washington’s medical school.
Even when her mother divorced him and then died of an overdose, Katharine remained unchanged, as though her mother had died years before.
And in a way, she had. She’d accepted her mother’s death as easily and as unemotionally as rain in Seattle.
He’d never been more relieved. His only regret was that…
Daffeny cleared her throat.
“Sorry. I was thinking of Katharine. I’ll call her myself and let her know that I’ll transfer the money today.
” He could read the worry in his assistant’s eyes.
It was another trait he liked about her.
She couldn’t lie or bluff without him being able to read it in her expression.
He’d know if she so much as stole a stapler or a box of paperclips. “Is there anything else?”
“There’s a gentleman waiting to see you in the downstairs waiting room. I told him, per your instructions, that you weren’t to be disturbed. But he was very insistent that he meet with you as soon as possible. He…he made me very uncomfortable.”
Zacharias watched her fidget with a corner of her notepad.
There were at least a dozen bodyguards patrolling his warehouse.
He’d introduced them to Daffeny as custodians, despite the fact they looked more like pro wrestling candidates, or mercenary types in a B-rated movie.
She seemed to accept the explanation. At the time, he’d been relieved.
Her naiveté meant she could stay a little longer.
It was a time-drain getting rid of assistants, disposing of the bodies, making their deaths appear accidental.
Not to mention the inconvenience of interviewing new candidates.
He leaned back in his chair, glancing over at the drawer where he kept his gun. “Did the man give his name?”
“I apologize, sir. He refused. Should I call the police?”
Zacharias choked down an oath. The last thing he needed was the police snooping around. “No, I’ll take care of it.”
“Yes, sir.”
She seemed to relax. But something else was bothering her.
Instead of bringing it up, she just nodded and left in a hurry.
He made a mental note to ask her about it later today as he descended the stairs to the warehouse floor.
There could be any number of people who would demand an audience.
He would let Daffeny know she could call on the “custodians” to help her in the future.
If all went as planned, she might need them in the next few weeks.
Satisfied he’d covered his base, he headed toward the waiting room.
Like the warehouse and his office, it was stark and functional.
He didn’t believe in flaunting his wealth.
It sent off too many red flags. So far, the IRS bought the explanation that people paid a high premium for imported rocks to decorate their yards and use them in their outdoor water treatments.
It also helped that he had legitimate landscape companies on his client list. They wouldn’t be as understanding if they found out the blue powder was used in illegal drugs, and in forbidden potions for the Talons and the Grey Council. He loved his little secrets.
He recognized the man in the waiting room.
It was Vlad, the Grand Vizier of the Grey Council, and his specialty was surprise visits.
Vlad had made himself at home and was drinking out of Zacharias’s coffee mug.
Zacharias made a mental note to throw it out as soon as Vlad left.
He didn’t like people touching his stuff.
Zacharias camouflaged his annoyance with a smile. “An unexpected pleasure, Grand Vizier.”
Vlad held out his hand and offered a strong handshake that threatened to crush Zacharias’s fingers. Either the man didn’t know his own strength or he was making a point. A little of both was Zacharias’s guess. “We’re pleased with your progress.”
Zacharias motioned for Vlad to take a seat and then sat down, ignoring the throbbing pain in his hand. One thing he’d learned from dealing with Wizards and the magical community was that it wasn’t wise to show weakness.
He settled back in his chair and faked calm.
“Thank you for the vote of confidence, Grand Vizier. It’s easy when the product sells itself.
The ingredient you suggested made the difference.
We’ve named the product Magic Carpet Ride, or MCR, and it’s an overnight success.
I was concerned the side effects would discourage sales, but as you predicted, it only accelerated them.
The kids are addicted to the danger in the same way people eat raw puffer fish or play Russian roulette.
They believe the drug can provide them with temporary superhuman powers to give them the ability to jump off tall buildings and survive.
Even the knowledge that the majority of people die or are crippled from the fall hasn’t discouraged sales.
It helped that we spread the rumor that a few people land on their feet and walk away.
I’m curious. Is it true that the uncut stones are also an energy source, like the sun or wind? Any chance we might run out?”
“You have a lot of questions for a man in your position.” Vlad set down the mug with such force it shattered. “None of that is your concern. I thought I made that clear. What concerns me, however, is that I suspect the drug is no longer under your control. Wizards are dead ahead of schedule.”