Working as a professional consultant you need to be adaptable. There are no limits to the places or circumstances where you can end up working. I opened the door with Veronica by my side, still fidgeting with her headset. Thirty-foot ceilings, hanging lights, and roughly the size of a moderate aircraft hangar; the warehouse was massive. A large cluster of crates and supplies on pallets covered the distant corner of the room, with a few other stashes in other areas. Some collections of pallets extended up to a metal and wood catwalk that ringed the second floor of the room.
Heading to our right, we found an enclosed room with large glass windows facing the storage area. Part of working as a consultant means you work with whomever the client dictates should be part of the project. If that means you’re stuck working with amateurs or even local ghost hunters, so be it. You don’t have a choice. Inside the office we found the Massachusetts Area Paranormal Society team in their black polo shirts and jeans. The sandy haired man with glasses, Brandon, was explaining to the security guard what exactly the team did on an investigation. Brandon’s maple-haired, average-looking girlfriend, Melissa, was sitting at the only desk with her laptop. She was issuing commands into a radio headset.
“Where’s Alison?” I leaned on the edge of the desk to better see the computer screen.
“Setting up the second camera.” Melissa clicked open a channel on her headset again. “That’s good. Okay, let me know.” She continued staring at the display.
“Right.” Alison may believe in what they were doing, but I preferred to stay away from the things that made me doubt my sanity.
“She’s on her way to set up the last camera now. Then you guys can go do your security thingy.” She tilted the screen to show me that two of the four boxes on the screen had views of locations within the building.
“Wait. Are you sure you can get a signal out of the storage rooms?” If they could get wireless out of the most confined rooms, it would mean a whole different set of options for security. While the ghost hunters may just be prodding at bad wiring a good portion of the time, it doesn’t mean they can’t be useful.
“We couldn’t. So she took a camcorder and a transmitter.” Melissa checked the black equipment case next to her. “Veronica, can you get me the receiver from that bag? It’s the silver UFO shaped thing.”
Veronica checked the bag left on top of a filing cabinet. She pulled out the device and handed it to Melissa. Lifting up the center, Melissa plugged the wires into an octopus-like adapter attached to the laptop. Another corner of the four squares came to life on her computer, showing yet another room. “A little to the left and down, a bit more, good.” Melissa nodded and turned the computer to face everyone. On the lower left quarter of the screen, Alison walked out of the room being filmed.
“Good.” I nodded satisfied. “I guess it’s time. As soon as Alison gets back we’ll start a sweep of the area.”
“Sounds good.” Brandon joined us and left the security guard to protect the ever-important empty corner. Veronica seated herself on the low two-drawer filing cabinet. A few minutes later, Alison finally stalked in the room wearing a jeans and a purple blouse tied over a black tank. I shot her a questioning look, but all she did was shake the dust off her black denim jacket.
“Okay.” I grabbed everyone’s attention. “Veronica and I will check the storage rooms, Alison will take the offices. Standard sweeps.”
“As you finish with a section, Brandon and I will conduct our investigation behind you guys. We’ll call it in when we’re going to run an EVP session.” Melissa finished by starting the cameras recording.
“EVP?” the security guard asked from his corner.
“Electronic Voice Phenomenon, picking up noises and voices that we can’t hear when we record,” Brandon answered, but I couldn’t help rolling my eyes. Brandon switched on the flat silver device on his belt. Melissa mimicked his actions. A cold blue light came from the digital displays noting the environmental conditions. The downside of working with them tonight meant we had to make a number of compromises.
“Alright, going dark.” Melissa reached over and flipped a switch in the breaker box by her feet. The entire warehouse fell into darkness, leaving the pale glow of emergency lights to illuminate the room.
“Extra fun,” Alison said. Brandon picked up the second camcorder and switched it on after double checking the tape. “First steps huh?” She headed out the door with Brandon a few steps behind.
“Veronica.” I moved for the doorway.
“Coming.” She hopped off the metal cabinet and switched on the camera.
“Everyone is on channel one,” Melissa announced as we crossed the threshold. I led Veronica across the barren concrete floor of the warehouse to a series of rooms connected by large open rolling doorways.
“I can already tell you that they just made this a lot more difficult,” I grumbled back at Veronica.
“Thief’s perspective?” Veronica replied. I frowned turning the flashlight on her. She almost looked like she could smile. I shook my head and continued across the floor.
“First up, storage room one-A of Cordage Park Warehouse. Eight fifty-three pm,” Veronica announced, narrating the video.
“Room temp is a cool forty-seven degrees and thirty-two percent humidity. Low probability of signal interference.” I swept my light across the room looking for any structural weaknesses that a thief could exploit as well as potential surveillance points.
“Anything?”
“Nope, no weaknesses but plenty of blind spots.” I switched on my tablet and started making notes on the blueprints of the structure. “Moving on.” I entered the adjacent room sweeping it with the pistol-gripped scanner. A security analysis is an expensive means of applying common sense from an objective source. If a company conducts their own analysis, the internal politics of the company come into play with any delivered results. When the same results are delivered from an external source, the company politics rarely enter into the equation. It’s why we will always have work as consultants. I made a couple of notes on the plans again.
“Let me guess,” Veronica grumbled from behind her camera.
“Set,” I declared, lowering the tablet.
“Moving on.” Veronica followed me through the eight interconnected rooms repeating the procedure. In the last room, the doorway to main warehouse floor was barred by Melissa’s surveillance gear haphazardly attached to a tripod. Veronica waved at the camera, knowing Melissa could see us clear as day.
“Finished the initial sweep. We’re going to re-check the rooms and check the back utility room.” I let go of the activation switch on my radio headset.
“Okay, we’re still in the office area. Lots of wiring here.” Brandon replied in my ear. I rolled my eyes. I needed to talk with Alison, and it was a safe bet that she was already tired of dealing with Brandon.
“Too much,” Alison grumbled. Stepping out of the camera frame, I gestured for Veronica to cut filming. She happily obliged.
“Are you finally going to tell me what that gibberish was that the sleaze ball said?” Stretching, she let the camcorder dangled from the shoulder strap. I motioned for her to head back through first room.
“It wasn’t gibberish. He repeated a name in old Italian.” Walking between a pair of stocked pallets, I listened to the idle radio chatter. There were too many questions and no one seemed to be willing to help.
“Hey.” Veronica snapped her fingers next to my left ear to get my attention. “Italian? Why Italian?”
“Because I’m betting it’s a location.”
“Why? What’s it mean?”
“It’s the Italian word for witch or witchcraft.” I let out a sigh.
“So what does that mean in terms of our shooter?” She thought about it for a second. “He’s a witch?” Stumbling over a pallet, she clicked on her own flashlight.
“No. I doubt that.” I hit the activation button for the rolling door. Turning back to Veronica, I pointed the light at the floor between us. “It could mean practically anything from they’re hanging out in a cemetery to the name of a town.”
“So assuming it’s a location, it still doesn’t mean they know the shooter.”
“Scoot.” I turned her around, lightly pushing her into the next room. “That’s our problem in this. The shooter can be a disgruntled client, someone one of us irritated or most likely it’s tied to Rostern.”
“Oh.” Veronica fell silent. “So, what about locations with that name?” I gave her a look. She was pretty quick.
“There are a couple dozen locations that match the name including a town, a river and even a golf course.”
“I’ve got to be the dumbest person on earth to suggest this but what about strip clubs or similar places.” She looked very unhappy with the prospect.
“I admire your enthusiasm, but no.” Shaking my head at the thought, something came back to me. I remembered Veronica flirting and teasing information out of a bunch of men that had gathered around her at a bar, Alison tugging on my arm asking for help, and at the end of the bar a woman in a white dress with short blonde hair. Kelly. It all came flooding back. She raised her glass in toast and nodded at a collage of photos on the wall. “Nightlife,” I whispered to myself.
“What?” Veronica stared at me. Nightlife had been the start of it all but anyone who was there that night was never there when I tried to get information out of the place. If someone was taking pictures that night, a photo just might have caught something.
I must have been slipping, there wasn’t a connection. It was just a dream.
I froze. It wasn’t possible.
I pulled out my phone and typed in the search, checking the results. My jaw dropped. “What is it?”
“Nightlife.”
“What about it?”
“It was bought last year and it just re-opened under the name ‘Striga’ by the Italians.”
“Nightlife?” Veronica staggered.
“It’s the best lead we have.” She gave a shaky nod.
“Connor.” Our headsets burst to life with Alison’s voice. I gestured for Veronica to start filming again before I responded.
“Yeah.”
“We’re finished with the offices down here.”
“We’ll meet you back at control.”
“Alright,” Alison chirped.
“Control?” Veronica muttered, lowering the camera again.
“Come on.” We made our way toward the one lit room. Setting foot in the office again, Veronica shut off the camcorder and moved to take her seat on the filing cabinet.
“Get anything…anyone?” I looked over the team, all wearing depressed expressions. I knew they had nothing.
“Have you checked the out building?” The security guard asked, reminding us that he was still around.
“Out building?” Brandon looked at the man.
“Yeah, it’s the one right over there.” He pointed at the south wall in the direction of the parking lot.
“What is it?” Melissa asked.
“Storage, mostly. It’s where they’re keeping most of the equipment and is storage for the temporary shipping items.”
“Any stories?” Melissa pulled out a recorder.
“Not that I know of but it’s very creepy.” The security guard shifted uncomfortably in the corner. “It’s not locked.”
“Okay, out building.” I surveyed the team. “Who wants it? Veronica?” Veronica leaned back on the filing cabinet, resting her head against the wall.
“I’m on break.”
“Right.” I picked up the camcorder that Veronica had been using. Stepping past Brandon, I stopped in the doorway. “I’ll be back in a bit. Check the second floor offices once your break is over.”
“Sure.” Brandon moved over to Melissa to look at the screens. Shaking my head, I stepped out the door. Part of being lead on a project is doing work that others are unmotivated to do.
“I’ll come with you.” Alison spun on her heel and followed.