Chapter 8: The Man in Black

Tim couldn’t remember when he passed out and hoped it wasn’t during anything important Thane was saying. He woke up when the door to his store opened and a gust of cold wind hit his face. He gripped both armrests until the freezing air stopped.

Kate walked over and set her things down on the empty chair next to Tim’s. “Did you sleep down here? You know that’s not good for your back. Do you want me to make some cof-” she stopped talking on seeing Thane come out of the back room with two mugs. She felt her face turn red and turned away. “Tim, what is he doing here?”

Tim could barely keep his eyes open and so he kept them shut as he spoke. “When he came by last night,”

“You let him stay the night?!” Kate exclaimed. “That’s who was at the door?”

Tim sighed. “Kate, he didn’t have anywhere else to go.” He looked to Thane, saw the two mugs and reached his hand, motioning to him that he wanted one. He closed his eyes again once his hands were wrapped around the warm porcelain. “Besides, it won’t happen again. I gave him some money for a taxi. He’ll be gone tonight, headed back to the city where they have pagers and intranet.”

He took a sip of the warm drink and immediately stuck out his tongue to let the liquid drip back into the cup. “What is that?”

Thane took a sip from his own mug. “Tea.”

Tim put the cup on the coffee table in front of him shaking his head. “No… nope.”

Kate watched the exchange between the two men and part of her was a little more than annoyed they were getting along so well. To Thane she asked, “Can you just be somewhere else today? I have to work here and your interference could cost me everything.”

Tim made a burning sound with his tongue. “Sssss,” and then followed up with a “Sorry.”

If her jab was meant to get a reaction out of Thane, it failed. He looked at her and then set his tea down on the front desk next to the register. “I suppose I deserved that.” He walked past her to the door ignoring her stare and stepped out into the cold.

Kate remained where she stood, staring at the door. The moment she took a step forward Tim shouted, “Nope. Do not follow him Kate. When he leaves we’re never going to see him again. Besides, you have a store to run.”

Kate turned to Tim. “What are you talking about?”

“Unlike the two of you, I need to sleep. If I don’t, I can’t operate. So you will run the store until these old bones have had their rest.”

“You’re not that old,” Kate said as she approached the register.

“I wish I could believe you.” Tim said in mock seriousness. “So, a shipment should be arriving today, the canned goods need to be rotated and the displays-”

“I know what to do Tim.”

Tim nodded. “There is one more thing.”

Kate paused from counting the money for the drawer and looked up at him.

In his rarely used somber tone he said, “Don’t leave the store today. I know you’ll want to go see him, I’m asking you not to.”

She didn’t respond.

“I’m serious Kate. I talked with him for a while last night and when it comes down to it, his career comes first.” He hoped she’d listen. Tim wanted to lock the doors and barricade the windows until Thane left town; but knew causing a panic wouldn’t help anything. “Kate?”

“Okay!” she snapped. “I didn’t want to go outside anyway, it’s too windy.”

Tim gave her a weak smile and then trudged up the stairs.

***

Just as the last bit of light was fading from the sky and they were about to close up, a customer walked through the door. From behind the cabinet Kate called out, “I’ll be with you in a second!”

“No rush,” replied the man.

She dropped the bottle of cleaner and box of rags used to wipe down the counter and stood up. The man browsing the store was as tall as Thane, but far more slender. From his dress shoes to his suede jacket, they all matched his clean cut, jet black hair.

Kate watched as he looked through a rack of t-shirts in amusement. “I doubt you’ll find anything good based on what you’re wearing.”

The man stopped, turned around and smiled. “Guilty.”

Kate kept her eyes locked on the man. For some reason he reminded her of a spider; the kind you don’t want to look away from because they’ll teleport somewhere else in your house the moment you turn away.

He strolled over to the counter, looking at every item in the store as though it were a puzzle. “I am actually looking for someone.”

“Do you have a name?” Kate asked.

The stranger stopped in front of the counter and tapped his finger on the counter top. “I do,” he looked at the tag pinned on Kate’s shirt. “Kate.”

Kate grinned. “No, I mean do you have the name of the person you’re looking for?”

“I do,” he said quietly. His sky-blue eyes locked her into place.

Moving too fast for Kate to follow, the man wearing black leaned forward in a smooth, swift motion and touched the side of her face with an icy, pale hand. She wanted to back away, but neither her legs or arms were responding.

At some point, he moved close enough to her that his face was near enough to touch. In a quiet voice she heard him say with both her ears and mind, “Thane Edwards.”

His breath smelled of freesia.

In a moment, she replayed every moment she shared with Thane in her mind since he arrived.

A second later she was standing at the counter with the man wearing black staring back at her in confusion. “Miss?” he asked. “Are you alright?”

Kate squeezed her eyes shut and groaned at the sudden throbbing in her head. “I’m sorry, what did you need?”

Tim came out from the back room carrying a box he dropped on the counter without much consideration to the contents inside. Through labored breathing he said, “Alright, we stock these and go home.” He glanced up at the man wearing all black and recalled the conversation he had with Thane the night before. “Who are you?”

He sidestepped the question with a smile. “Just passing through. I’m staying at the Winding Trail Inn up the street and was curious to see if you sold any movies? I’ve seen everything they have available.”

Kate opened her eyes. “They’re in the back, I can show you.” Squeezing around Tim, she headed to the back of the store with the customer in tow.

Tim watched the two closely.

Talking over her shoulder she asked, “Are you looking for anything in particular in regards to genre? I have,” the pulsing in her head returned for a moment, causing her to hold still.

Behind her the man asked, “Is everything alright?”

“Yeah,” she replied. After a few seconds, the headache was gone. “I just need something to eat. Right this way.”

Hiding underneath several camouflage coats was a shelf that extended across the back wall, filled with DVDs. “We have a pretty decent selection thanks to yours truly,” she pointed to herself with her thumbs.

The man rubbed his neck. “What do you recommend?”

“That’s easy,” she knelt down and mouthed the titles as she ran her fingers along the spines of the cases. She paused when she touched The Princess Bride, but only for a moment. After another minute she found what she was looking for, pulled it out and handed it to the man. “You like Tom Cruise?”

The man grinned. “Who doesn’t?”

Kate looked at Tim who looked away when she eyed him. “There’s a few out there,” she moved closer to the stranger and tapped on the case. “This one’s kind of a mashup between War of the Worlds and Groundhog’s Day.”

The man’s expression looked doubtful.

Kate laughed. “I know how it sounds, but trust me, it’s good. Oh and look,” she plucked one of the sale stickers from one of the older movies and stuck it on the movie the man was holding. “It’s on sale.”

At the counter, Tim bagged the item and when the receipt was fed out of the machine he took it and crumpled it up. He handed the sack to the man and said, “Sorry, no returns.”

The man in black didn’t take notice of Tim’s actions, and focused on Kate. He held up the bag and said, “Thanks for the recommendation.”

Kate smiled back. “If you’re still here tomorrow, let me know what you thought!”

The man winked at her. “You got it. Have a good evening.”

Tim locked the door the moment the man left.

Kate started cleaning the counter. “He was nice.”

Tim rolled his eyes. “I guess,” he nodded to the door. “I’ll finish up here, you can go home. Thanks for covering for me today.”

Kate picked up her coat and scarf. “Is everything alright?”

“Yeah, just tired is all. Go on, I’ll see you in the morning.”

Not long after Kate left, Tim put on his coat, turned off the lights and went to find Thane.