Part 2 (1/2)
Of course, there was no immediate response.
”Sean? Sean! d.a.m.n it, this is not funny.”
”Sorry Boss, just kidding.”
Royce heard rustling sounds from Sean's end of the conversation. He was multi-tasking; Sean could never do just one thing at a time. He had too much energy. It wore a man out trying to keep up with him.
”I've got to take this link from the council. I'll see you soon,” Sean said in a rush, disconnecting before Royce could get a straight answer about the possible ”side-effects” Joanna had mentioned.
What the h.e.l.l is going on with the Council? He needed a full update on the status of all missions. He also needed this d.a.m.n crate to open, his body was becoming more solid, and the son-of-a-b.i.t.c.h was getting tight. Why were the Witches involved, Royce wondered, and why did they care about the coins? He could not believe they had done this to him. He had known the majority of all practicing Witches for most of his adult life, counting them as friend, not foe. It didn't hurt that his sister was half Witch, which probably explained why they hadn't just killed him. He might as well try to get some sleep while he waited for the moon to work its magic. As he closed his eyes, trying not to dwell on how hot it was getting inside that box, he wondered what morning would bring.
Inside the house, Becki turned out the lights and headed to bed. Before putting her phone on the charger, she sent a quick text to Kurt; Stop by tomorrow? Need ur help. Nothing wrong! Night love u B. She added the part about there being 'nothing wrong', because she didn't want him to jump in his truck and drive over to her house the second he was conscious enough to read the text message.
Kurt was very much like his father, Becki's grandfather. Both men were fiercely protective of their girls and worked hard to keep them all happy. Papaw always said he could ”fix anything but a broken heart”. He could too, she thought smiling. The world needed more men like that.
Becki thought about the crate, imagining what might be inside. Just before sleep claimed her, she felt a s.h.i.+mmer of unease crawl down her spine and prayed she had not found Pandora's Box.
CHAPTER TWO.
Kurt knocked, well actually pounded for the third time, while continuing to press the b.u.t.ton that activated the doorbell.
”Becki, what is going on?” he yelled, ”open the door!” That girl ran full-steam ahead, and when she crashed, she was hard to wake up. He dialed her cell number hoping that if he could make enough noise, it might just wake sleeping beauty. Actually it would be more like waking a sleeping beast as she tended to be extremely grouchy if her eyes were forced to open before noon. Kurt didn't have a choice today; he had to meet subcontractors at the jobsite this morning.
Pressing the doorbell b.u.t.ton with his left hand, while beating on the door with his other fist, did not seem to be electing a response. He was about two seconds from taking the door off the hinges but yelled one last warning, ”Becki, if you want to keep your front door intact, I suggest you open it.”
Big chocolate-brown eyes peeked out through the door still glazed with sleep. ”Did you have to come this early,” she grouched, opening the door to let Kurt inside, ”I just got to bed a few hours ago,” she complained with a glare. Becki absolutely hated being woken up before the sun s.h.i.+ned directly overhead. There was nothing on earth that had to be taken care of prior to twelve noon, at least nothing she could think of.
”You said 'stop by,'” Kurt defended with a shrug, ”I'm stopping by. Now, what was this about needing my help?”
Becki rolled her eyes and said, ”I'm just sure I added 'nothing is wrong'? Meaning you did not need to come straight over here first thing this morning.”
”You think I don't know by now? You would say that, even if there was something wrong.”
Ok, he had a point there. Without giving him the satisfaction of acknowledging the accusation, she explained, ”I found a crate yesterday when Jonah and I were diving; I wanted to see if you could open it for me.”
”Let me take a look at it. I don't have a lot of time this morning, but I can work on it later.”
'Later' would have been just fine to begin with. Shooting him one more narrow-eyed glare, Becki turned and stomped toward the patio door located in the kitchen, pausing to turn on the coffee maker as she pa.s.sed by.
After sliding the patio door open with more force than necessary, she pointed toward the crate. Kurt moved forward, frowning as he spotted symbols etched into the top of the crate, outlining the parameter of the lid. A heat advisory had been issued for today; the temperature was already nearing ninety degrees. Kurt, however, was suddenly chilled to the bone.
”Where did you say you found this?” he asked, moving closer to the crate.
”I found it in the cove yesterday when Jonah, Natie, and I were looking for sharks' teeth. Well, Natie wasn't looking for teeth, you know she won't step foot in the water. She lounged on deck and caught some rays.”
Kurt tested the weight of the crate. d.a.m.n, it was heavy. He wanted to load it in his truck and remove it from Becki's house as quickly as possible. Truthfully, he wanted to get it far, far away from Becki as quickly as possible.
”It seemed a lot lighter when I pulled it out of the water yesterday,” she remarked with a perplexed expression on her face. She shrugged and continued, ”I don't know, it must have been that buoyancy thing. Either that, or you and Landon are getting weak with age,” she added, still not over the fact that she had been awoken far too early.
”Landon?” Kurt prompted, running his fingers over the symbols etched into the crate's lid. The symbols were very intricate, the lines clean, indications that a powerful force had crafted this container.
”Yes, Landon!” Becki confirmed, rolling her eyes. ”He helped me move it home from the boat last night. It wouldn't fit in my car,” Becki explained.
As Kurt scanned the markings on the lid, hoping to find something he could interpret, Becki suddenly moved in for a closer look.
”I don't remember seeing those yesterday,” she said with a frown, ”but then again, it is hard to think straight with Natie and Jonah around.” Abruptly turning to make her way back inside, she called, ”I need caffeine; do you want a cup of coffee?”
”Huh?” Kurt responded, still concentrating on the crate. ”Coffee, do you want coffee?”
”No thanks. I'm trying to quit,” he answered quickly.
Becki liked her coffee strong and sweet. Her favorite recipe consisted of one part coffee, strong enough to stand a spoon in, added to an equal part of cinnamon creamer. As if that were not enough to eat the lining of a person's stomach, she topped it off with whipped cream, from a can.
”What the h.e.l.l is going on?” he muttered, as he pulled a cell phone from his pocket. Kurt's stomach was already churning, and the last thing he needed was a cup of her coffee. He had seen designs like this only once before during a top-secret mission in the Middle East. As he punched in Landon's number, he wondered how the crate had ended up here, of all places. Good Witch? Bad Witch? It was hard to tell, but most definitely the work of a Witch.
The call went straight to Landon's voice mail. ”Landon, we've got trouble. It's about that d.a.m.n box you brought to Becki's last night. Didn't you sense anything? Find me as soon as you get this message. We may need to call in some markers.”
Pressing the 'end call' b.u.t.ton, he mentally rearranged his day. He would call Roger to meet him at the job site, hand off the punch list, then find Landon. They had to move this crate as soon as possible if they were to protect Becki from whatever might be inside.
”Can you get it opened?” Becki startled him as she spoke.
”Not now. I don't have the right tools with me,” Kurt lied without hesitation. ”I'll get things started at the jobsite and then come back to pick it up. I have something at home I think might work to pry the lid off.”
”Ok, sounds good. I'm going to drink my coffee and work up the courage to face the day,” she said with a grimace.
”Go back to bed,” he urged forcing a grin. ”You know you want to. I'll walk around through the gate and grab it a little later.”
”Ok, but don't go through it without me,” Becki stipulated.
”I wouldn't dream of leaving you out of it,” Kurt promised as he opened the patio door, motioning for her to precede him into the house.
There was no way in h.e.l.l Becki would be allowed anywhere near that crate once it had been opened. Kurt would simply tell her the crate had been empty and it had fallen apart from being sea-logged. The dumpster was being emptied tomorrow so he had disposed of it at the job site. He only hoped it would be that simple.
As Royce listened to their conversation, he surmised that Becki's visitor knew more than the average civilian. As their voices drifted away, he pushed against the top of the crate once more hoping to force it open. Sean said the moon would trigger an unlock sequence, since it was now daylight, he a.s.sumed the crate should be opening soon. He only hoped it was soon enough.
”Sean! We have a problem,” Royce whispered urgently.
”I'm on it boss,” came the immediate reply.
Kurt wracked his brain, as he drove toward Charleston trying to remember what the symbols on the crate stood for. Most of them he could not decipher, but one appeared to resemble the moon. He had tried to pick the crate up, hoping to take it with him, but there was no possible way of moving it himself. Regardless of what Becki said, that d.a.m.n thing was heavy.
Pulling his cell out to dial again, he waited for Landon to answer. Voice mail, again! Where the h.e.l.l was Landon, and why was his phone going to voice mail?
”Call me as soon as you get this message,” Kurt barked into the phone, after dialing for the third time. ”Did you notice markings on the lid of that d.a.m.n crate? We are in real trouble here.”