WHO KILLED EMMALINE? Read online

  My mom looks like she’s at a loss for words.

  There’s a discernable twitch to Dane’s lips as he turns his attention on me. “Krista, I do have rules pertaining to employee dress code. The corset won’t be happening.” He turns back to my mom. “It was nice meeting you, Mrs. Channing. I’ll leave you to continue your conversation with your daughter, and if you should have any questions at all regarding Krista’s job or her safety, feel free to contact me.”

  “Thank you,” my mom murmurs, and then we both watch as Dane walks off towards the back of the store.

  I turn to study her as I try to gauge her mood.

  She focuses her attention on me once he’s out of sight, and she frowns. “He’s an odd man.”

  “Yes, but he’s also very upfront and has been nothing but kind and respectful towards me. Mom, you’re worrying for nothing.”

  “We’ll see,” she sighs.

  Six

  It’s been two weeks since I started working at Cordane’s. The store and all its odd merchandise has grown on me, and I’ve become more comfortable working there. Dane has been great, and he seems like a genuinely nice guy. He’s a fun and easy boss to be around, and the manager of the store, Owen, has been just as kind as Dane. Owen looks to be around Dane’s age, but he’s more reserved. Dane’s sense of style draws the eye, whereas Owen’s is more sedate. He of course wears the store’s clothing, but he has no piercings except for the septum piercing that he claims Dane talked him into last year. The two men seem to be close friends, so the comradery at the store is pretty lighthearted. Most of the shifts I work are on my own with someone generally in the back working in one of the offices or working in the prep room. Usually it’s Dane or Owen, but once Cord was working in the back while I worked the store.

  Things haven’t changed too much with Cord. We’re still eating lunch together, but he’s definitely not much of a talker. If he’s not working on whatever he draws in his sketch pad, he works on homework. We haven’t had any more conversations involving Emmaline or whoever could have killed her, and I am grateful for that. We’ve developed an odd friendship, if you can even call it that. We’re not close by any means, but he does keep track of me on the school premises. I know this because the few times Riley’s tried to pull a stunt between classes, Cord’s appeared out of nowhere to put a stop to it.

  As for my mom, she has relented where my job is concerned. Dane’s forwardness with her had helped ease her fears somewhat. So life is manageable these days, and it’s working at Cordane’s that brings me any sense of enjoyment.

  Today is Saturday, and I am feeling a sense of anticipation as I pull my car into the employee lot behind the store. It’s the last weekend in September, and I’m helping the guys prepare the store for Halloween. As I park my car next to Dane’s hearse, I spy Cord’s black van, Owen’s car, and a large, storage rental truck. Today is going to be a day full of transporting merchandise.

  Unfortunately, it’s also raining. I hurriedly climb out of my car and jog through puddles before bursting through the store’s back door that leads right into the store’s prep room.

  Cord looks up as he’s taping shut a large, cardboard box. He straightens, giving me one of his barely-there smiles. “Hey.”

  “Hey,” I greet back. I look around, taking in all the boxes that are lined up against the walls. Usually, there are merchandise boxes scattered all over that need to be unpacked and priced, but today, the boxes all look like they’ve been opened, packed, and sealed shut. Everything is neat and tidy, and in rows.

  “We’re weeding out some of the merchandise to make room for the Halloween stuff. When the items in the store get low, we’ll bring back what we need. Dane and Owen plan on packing everything up and taking it to the warehouse later.”

  “Why not leave them where they’re at?” All the boxes are stacked out of the way, and a few tables are still taking up residence in the center of the room.

  Cord shakes his head. “We’re going to need this room. You wouldn’t believe how many people come in to have custom makeup done or specially made prosthetics applied for the haunted houses. There’s a lot that goes on in here during the month of October.”

  “When Dane said the store is busy during October, what he really meant to say is that you guys get slammed, huh?”

  “It gets very hectic,” he agrees as he walks over. “Want to see what we’ve accomplished so far?”

  “Sure.”

  We walk out of the prep room, make our way down a short hall, and Cord opens the door that leads into the store. I look around with interest. The entire back half of the store has been cleared out completely of tables and racks, and I see that draped, black fabric now separates the back of the store from the front.

  Owen is standing on a ladder hanging what looks like electrical cables and extension cords near the ceiling. Looks like he’s taken a cue from Cord, because his slightly longish, dark blond hair that has dyed black streaks, happens to be pulled back into a short ponytail. I haven’t known Owen for very long, but he’s never worn his hair back when I’ve been around. He looks different to me.

  Owen, as if sensing my curious stare, glances our way. He smiles in greeting when he sees me. “Morning, Krista.”

  “Morning. How long have you guys been here?” It’s only nine, and it looks like they’ve already been at this for hours.

  “We started last night, and we were back in by six this morning,” he tells me.

  “Will the store be opening today?”

  Owen nods. “One of us will have to keep an eye on the front, and we’ll switch out depending on what needs to be done.”

  “Okay. Where should I start?” I ask.

  “Cord can take you up front where you can get your instructions from Dane.”

  I glance at Cord, and he motions me towards the fabric dividing the store. We walk to the far corner, and Cord pulls aside the fabric so that we can enter the second half of the store.

  The store looks a little more crowded than usual with all the merchandise that’s been brought up from the back, but yet it still looks neat and orderly.

  A new, temporary counter has been set up on the far right side of the store, and Dane is behind it as he fiddles around with the register.

  He looks up and spies us. “Great, you’re here. Krista, you and Cord have the first shift hauling while Owen and I keep an eye on the store and continue prepping the back. Owen and I will take the second trip, and Krista can watch the store.” He turns on Cord. “You can continue working on the set up while we’re gone.”

  Cord nods and pats the back pocket of his jeans. “I have both lists.”

  Dane nods. “See you in a few hours, and try not to get anything wet,” he warns Cord.

  We head out the back of the building, and Cord pulls out his key fob to unlock his van as we run through the rain to it. I slip into the passenger seat and pull on my seatbelt as Cord starts the van. “Why aren’t we taking the rental?”

  He glances at me, smirking. “You’ll get annoyed if I tell you the truth.”

  “Tell me anyway.”

  “We’re getting the smaller, lighter stuff since you’re on my shift. Dane and Owen plan on using the truck for the bigger stuff.”

  I shrug, not bothered by their expectations that I’m not going to be much help with the bigger items. “Makes sense. I doubt I’d be much help with anything that weighs a hundred pounds or more.”

  Cord snorts as he turns on the windshield wipers. “I can bench press more than a hundred. I wouldn’t need your help anyway.”

  My eyes roll. “Calm down, I wasn’t trying to insult your physique.”

  “As if you could,” he snickers.

  “God, you’re annoying.”

  “Tell me something that you haven’t already told me,” he quips, reminding me that we’ve grown accustomed to each other thanks to our daily lunches at school. I’ve come to learn that he has a bold, dry sense of humor. He’s also not as frightening as e
veryone seems to think he is.

  “Okay. This van you drive totally ups your creep factor,” I tell him.

  Cord laughs outright as he puts the van in gear, glancing behind us as he backs the van out of its parking space. “Yeah, I know,” he says in response to my comment.

  We both fall silent as we drive through the rain-filled streets of Manchester, and I watch the buildings pass by outside my window. I thought the warehouse would be in the city, but instead, Cord drives us a little ways outside of Manchester.

  I turn my head to look at Cord. “Why not use one of the warehouses in Manchester?”

  “We had one built on private property after we had a break-in at our old storage unit. We were running out of space anyway, so it made sense to build what we needed.”

  “Wouldn’t it have made more sense to just rent a warehouse?”

  “Why continue to pay to rent when we could build our own and have the money put to good use. We could afford it, so we had one built.”

  Dane had mentioned that the business was turning a good profit. I’d had no idea that the store was doing that well.

  Cord turns onto a gravel road, and I look around at the trees that are growing on either side. I peer up at them, and since they are tall and blocking the sky from view, it seems darker than normal this morning. I can’t help but squint around at the dense trees, searching for a hint of a building somewhere within their depths.

  “Getting nervous?”

  I glance at Cord to find his eyes locked on me, his expression indecipherable.

  “It’s raining buckets out. I get nervous every time you take your eyes off the road, so watch where we’re going.”

  He gives me one last odd look, and then drags his attention back to the puddle-filled, gravel road. A warehouse soon comes into sight, and I peer at it through the rain sliding down my window. It’s a decent-sized warehouse and looks well-kept.

  Cord drives over to the side of the building and parks the van as close to the side door as he can get it. He cuts the engine and turns to me. “We have to go in the side door where the security panel is located so I can deactivate the system. When we’re ready to load up the van, I’ll pull it around to the loading dock on the other side of the building. Stay put,” he orders.

  I watch as he opens his door and hops out into the rain. He jogs around the van to the warehouse door and keys in the password, ignoring the rain falling around him. Thunder rumbles overhead as he turns and strides over to my door. When he opens it, I’m already prepared to dart into the rain and dash for the door.

  We enter the darkened warehouse a second later, and in the doorway, Cord shakes the water off his black hoodie and swipes the rain out of his face. I shiver and pull my jacket tighter around me as Cord reaches out and flips on a half-dozen levers along the wall near the door. A loud, echoing ‘clicking’ sounds throughout the building as the overhead lights begin flickering on, one row at a time. The lights seem to bring to life the rows upon rows of props and products that look like they belong in horror movies.

  Cord closes the door to keep the rain from getting in, then grins when he catches sight of my stunned expression. “It’s pretty wicked, eh?”

  “The word disturbing comes to mind.”

  “Even better.” He motions to the aisles with his free hand as he rakes his other through his damp hair, drawing it away from his face. “That’s all our inventory. There’s an office in the back, and also a room we use for building props. We also have a mini work space in our basement at home.”

  I can’t help but look around with awe. “Will all this stuff sell?”

  “The majority of it will. We supply the local haunted houses and some of the ones in other cities. Toss in all the regular buyers in the area, then all our online sales, and yeah, this stuff will go. Dane’s been promoting the store with ads on the internet, and that has gained a lot of interest. Every year, our revenue climbs.”

  “I had no idea the store was so successful.”

  “Not a lot of people realize the business is actually turning quite lucrative. While people continuously call us freaks, we’re pulling in more money than some of them will ever hope to make,” he muses.

  “How much of the business are you actually a part of?” I ask with interest as thunder rumbles overhead.

  “Dane and I are partners, sixty-forty. It was my idea to start doing Halloween stuff, but I was twelve at the time, and Dane humored me. But then the Halloween merchandise actually started selling, and each year it grew bigger and bigger, and Dane began to grow more interested in that side of the business. He learned how to make prosthetics and animatronics and was a natural at it. He then started teaching me when I showed an interest, and here we are. When I turned eighteen, he made me forty percent partner. Without the Halloween-themed products, we wouldn’t be this successful. We’ve been talking recently about expanding the business, and we’re considering opening up another Cordane’s somewhere here on the East Coast. In order to do that, we’ll need to hire more help, especially when it comes to shipping our online sales. It would be a huge undertaking, but it’s becoming a possibility.”

  “So technically, you’re my boss, too,” I realize out loud.

  Cord flashes me a crooked smile. “Yes, I guess I am. Want a tour before we begin loading up?”

  “Sure.” I’m amazed by the transformation I’ve seen in him since we’d arrived at the warehouse. He is completely in his element, and his mood has lightened considerably.

  Cord begins leading me towards the numerous aisles. “We’ll grab some moving carts and start loading up near the loading dock. I don’t want to open the door until last minute so that there is less chance of rain getting into the building,” he says.

  This place really does remind me of a movie prop warehouse. Cord points out projects he’s worked on, or new items they’ve brought in this year during off-season, and all I see is a bunch of morbidly hideous, life-like themed creatures. I swear there is everything here. Scared of clowns? There’s a whole group of scary, life-sized clowns grinning grotesquely from their designated places in front of the shelving space. Scared of dolls? Or puppets? There’s dozens of them sitting in rows. Bloody, mangled body parts? Check. Monsters, killers, severed heads? Yep, they’re here too. It doesn’t matter where I stand in this place, I feel like thousands of beady, evil eyes are focused on me.

  “I thought most of this stuff would already be in boxes,” I comment.

  “We leave one of everything out. It’s easier to find it than trying to read what’s on the boxes. We also prefer to box everything up with the store’s logo, so online items we box ourselves. Anything smaller for the store, we like to simply tag so that the customers can see it. We’ve learned that if everything is boxed up, people open them to look at the products, inevitably ruining the packaging in some way. Then they don’t even take the item they opened, they grab a new package.”

  “I guess that makes sense.”

  Then, I stare up at what looks like a twelve foot, demonic monster that we’ve come across on the tour. Goose bumps have risen on my flesh as I look at it with a sense of appalled fascination. “What the hell is that?”

  Cord grins affectionately up at it. “That’s Darius.”

  “Darius?” I echo over a particularly loud rumble of thunder.

  “Dane named him. He was special ordered for a haunted house attraction in Massachusetts. We’ll be shipping him out there in a few days. He’s Dane’s biggest animatronic yet.”

  I take in the demon’s spine-chilling expression, and it is so life-like that I feel the need to take a step back from it. I mean seriously, even its lethal, six-inch teeth look as if their dripping saliva with a tinge of blood mixed in. And those eyes…I bet they glow when it’s on. “So that thing moves?”

  “Yeah. Want me to turn him on?”

  “No! Absolutely not,” I say quickly. “So how much does something like that cost a person to order?” I ask, switching the topic in hopes of d
istracting him from my discomfort.

  Cord names a figure as we continue walking down the aisle.

  My eyebrows shoot upwards. “Seriously?”

  “That’s another reason why the business is taking off. Dane can do anything these days when it comes to horror props.”

  “I’m impressed.”

  Cord chuckles as he gazes at me. “Impressed, but clearly not a fan of Halloween.”

  “I like it just fine. I just don’t like the gory stuff.”

  He walks over and pats a life-size snarling wolfman as if he’s a long lost friend. “Halloween is my favorite time of the year.”

  “No shit. I never would have guessed,” I state dryly.

  We move on and turn the corner of the next aisle, coming upon a vast array of torture devices. I could have done without this aisle, and I’m starting to wish I’d declined the tour. I already have a hard time sleeping at night due to the creaking of the house, now I’m going to have all these props invading my dreams tonight.

  “C’mon, October is a blast. People like to be frightened, it’s the month you can get away with virtually anything. Within reason,” he adds.

  I find myself studying what looks like a guillotine. “Not everyone likes to be frightened.”

  Cord pauses and turns on me, blocking me from moving past so that I have no choice but to come to a halt. “Do you like scary movies?” he asks bluntly.

  I fold my arms over my chest. “Yes.”

  He quirks an eyebrow. “Ever been to a haunted house with friends?”

  “Yes.”

  “Ever pull a prank during October?”

  “Okay, I get it. So we all like to be frightened to some extent.”

  He looks pleased by my admission and moves out of the way so we can continue with the tour.

  My nose wrinkles a moment later as I stop walking and stare at what looks like an upright coffin with sharp spikes all over the inside. “Is that real?”

  “The iron maiden?” Cord’s eyes light up wickedly. “Want to find out?”

  “Hell no. Is it?” I ask cautiously.

  He laughs under his breath as he walks over to the coffin and wiggles one the spikes deliberately. “It’s rubber, Krista. Relax.”