Black Hollow

Chapter 9 - It's the Little Things

The town center was a spacious square between connecting streets with benches lining the edges and a giant gazebo in the center with a picnic table in the middle, which is where Arden led her. The park was filled with families having picnics or couples sprawled out on blankets enjoying an afternoon outdoors. In the far corner, a trio of men tossed a Frisbee back and forth as a shaggy dog tried its best to snatch it out of the air. The day would have been perfect for a romantic picnic, and Kerry had to admit, the thought of getting to know Arden better would have enticed her if the weight of her missing sister didn't hang between them. Arden possessed a confidence and strength that, even with the threat to his bank, Kerry found intoxicating. The fact that he was soft on the eyes kept her glancing at parts of him she would have loved to spend more time exploring.

She slid onto the white wooden bench, her forearms resting on the table as she clasped her hands, waiting for Arden to finish his little show of setting out their meals so he could finally give her the answers she needed. She bit down on her impatience as he opened the Styrofoam containers, passed out the napkins, and stabbed their drinks with the straws, her nerves ready to snap if things kept crawling.

He seemed to finally settle down, but she should have known better. “Malt vinegar?" he asked, holding up one of those small condiment packets restaurants passed out with their meals.

Kerry blew out her frustration. “What I want are answers," she snapped. “You have to have some suspicions as to who is after your gold, and therefore, abducted Brandie. I also understand you being worried about word getting out that your bank wasn't necessarily secure, but you should have still gone to whatever passes for law enforcement around here. What steps have you taken to find my sister?"

Arden seemed to ignore her, which only added to her impatience, as he squeezed two packets of ketchup into the lid of his container and drowned his fried fish in malt vinegar. She just stared at him, wondering if he'd even be able to taste the food with all that g**k on it. Picking up a fry, he dragged it through the ketchup and then held it up in front of him as he finally glanced over at her, his bright blue eyes serious as he studied her. Kerry was on the verge of screaming.

“Quinn and I have tried our best to retrace your sister's steps from the little we know of her investigation," he said just before shoving the fry into his mouth. He shrugged as he reached for another. “Obviously, that hasn't been too successful. Sandie, the owner of the Daydreamer Inn, let us into her room, but there wasn't anything out of place there, either, no overturned furniture, no rummaging of her drawers, no signs of anything amiss at all. The only unusual thing was that all her possessions were still there even if she wasn't."

No signs of blood, Kerry knew he wanted to say but didn't. “What about the bank?" she asked. “Surely, she would have gone over that place with a fine-tooth comb."

He nodded as he broke off a piece of his fish. “Again, nothing. We even had Ruck run the video surveillance, but nothing came up. We saw her enter the building, but never leave. Yet, she's nowhere to be found inside, and I know all the nooks and crannies of that place."

“So, how could she get out without the video catching her?" Kerry asked as she broke off a piece of her fish, just holding it as she stared at Arden. “Someone had to have erased it."

“If they did, they didn't do it from within the bank." He reached for his drink, and Kerry noticed how thick and powerful his fingers looked as they gripped the cup and felt a tremor race through her. Now is not the time, she scolded herself. This man lost my sister.

“And you trust the ogres running your security?" she pressed, doing her best to shake the unwanted images of where she'd love his fingers to be gripping right then. “Since they're in charge of surveillance, they could've erased the footage. Or even doctored it."

Arden sighed. “That's my problem. I trust everyone at End of the Rainbow. I can't imagine anyone trying to steal the gold and ruin Black Hollow. Besides, ogres aren't known for their brain power, just their bulk and strength. They sit and stare at the screens all day, but they don't know how to actually work them. Nunk is the smartest of the lot, but I doubt even he knows how."

“And yet, someone does," she said, finally popping the fish into her mouth. Once she finished chewing and swallowing, she continued. “According to you, though, it has to be someone inside, because no one else has the magic to get into the vault." She studied her food in front of her, turning over ideas as she popped a fry into her mouth. Finally, she asked, “Could someone inside be forced to betray you? Maybe it's an outside source, and they're blackmailing one of your employees to give them access."

“I mean, it's possible, but my people know to come to me if someone tries to hurt them or threatens them," Arden answered. “We have training for just such a scenario."

“How did you find out about the threat?" Kerry watched the man across from her. She wanted to trust that he was being upfront with her, but too many bells were ringing around her. “Surely, the thief didn't leave a note on your desk informing you of his intentions."

Arden gave a snort of laughter as he shook his head. “No. Wouldn't that have been nice of him? No, whoever our thief is tried to get into the vault on his own, setting off alarms that a barrier was crossed at the entrance."

“And I'm guessing there's no footage of that, either?" Kerry glanced around the park as she found herself wondering what other kinds of magic existed inside the paranormal town. She watched as people slipped in and out of the surrounding stores, walking a few feet down the sidewalk, and then popping inside another shop, either going for coffee or entering a bar for an afternoon… “Hey, isn't that the employee you're not happy with at the moment going into that bar?" She gestured down the street as Paddy's dark red mane of hair showed him entering Thirst Bar. “Maybe he's earned that reek of alcohol we smelled on him earlier."

Arden glanced to where she pointed, and the two of them watched as Quinn followed the other man inside the bar a second later. “Looks like Quinn is on it," he said as he watched his friend slip inside the bar. “I swear, hiring Paddy was my biggest mistake to date."

Kerry stared at the bar's entrance for a moment, a fry dangling from her fingertips. The bank heist needed an inside man, someone who knew how to work around the video cameras, and who knew how to get past the magic security measures. She popped the fry into her mouth as she wondered about Quinn's disagreement with Arden about helping her find Brandie. The leprechaun fit all the criteria of the would-be thief, and would know if someone was on his trail. No, she shook her head, he has the same magic as Arden. He can get in and out anytime he wanted. Still…

“What?" Arden asked, and as Kerry turned back around, she saw him staring at her with those deep blue eyes of his. “You thought of something."

She did, but how could she tell him her thoughts about his friend. “Was Quinn in favor of hiring Brandie?" She shuffled on the bench and broke off another piece of fish, trying to look casual as she asked her question.

Arden shook his head, giving a soft chuckle. “Not at all. Quinn is old school and thinks we should handle everything in-house. I hired your sister's company against his better judgment. Why do you ask?"

She shrugged. “He seemed really against you helping me find my sister. Just seemed odd."

“He's not a big fan of asking for help or sharing." Arden started policing his trash after popping the last piece of his fish into his mouth.

Kerry chose to ignore his comment. “Brandie said someone named Seraphine recommended her company to you. Who is she?"

“That's a question everyone wants an answer to," Arden said, laughing. Kerry just stared at him until he finally explained. With a sigh, he said, “Seraphine is hard to explain. She seems to know more than anyone about anything and everything and has her fingers on the pulse of things that need doing before anyone else knows there's even a need. She seems to have connections all over and seems to know who to bring to Black Hollow at just the right time." He shrugged. “I just assumed she ran into your sister somewhere."

Kerry shook her head. “Nope. The call came out of the blue. Kind of odd, though, don't you think, for a town that desires to remain hidden from the outside world to call in an outsider?"

“Not if you want to keep the town from knowing what's going on," he said. “Seraphine knew exactly what—or rather, who—I needed for the job. She always does."

“If you wanted to keep the possible robbery a secret, why did you go to this Seraphine in the first place?"

His expression turned sober as he stared at her. “Whenever anyone in Black Hollow needs anything, we go to Seraphine. She's the heartbeat of this town. She founded it to protect the supernatural world. She'd never do anything to harm it and everything to protect it."

Kerry nodded as she took another sip of her tea. I need to talk to this Seraphine.