“Guys, meet January Jaxson. She’s here to interview for the job,” Tad said. He pointed to a large metal desk in the corner. “Take a seat. Just grab a chair from over there.”
I did as he asked, sitting down in front of the totally functional, totally unattractive metal desk. It looked like they had gotten their equipment from a second-hand office supply store and it occurred to me that this might be a volunteer job.
“I have to ask, is this a paying gig? I don’t mean to sound snarky, but I can’t afford to volunteer right now.” Given the looks of the office, I had the feeling they were running on a shoestring. Oh, the computers looked like they had cost a fortune, but everything else had that air of “Can we get it for free?” about it.
“Oh, it pays, don’t worry about that,” Tad said. He smiled and it totally altered the way he looked, making him appear much more approachable. His glasses—a throwback to John Lennon’s round granny glasses—and the polo shirt and jeans gave him the look of a first-class geek, in a cute sort of way. His hair was tousled and blond, and he reminded me of a kid straight out of college.
“We pour most of our money into our payroll, our investigations, and our supplies and tech that we need, so the office is sparse, but it’s functional and that’s what matters. So, what do you know about Conjure Ink?” he asked.
I frowned. I had taken a quick look at the website on my laptop, but hadn’t had the chance to study it in depth. “I’m going to be honest with you. I just moved back to Moonshadow Bay after years of living in Seattle. Like, just moved back yesterday. My friend heard about this job and she seemed to think I’d be a good fit. Her name is Ari Wheeler.”
“Right, Ari. Well, I trust her instincts. So, writing’s your specialty?” Tad asked.
I nodded. “I majored in journalism in college, and I built the Seattle Monitor of Art & Literature from the ground up. I actually founded it, but my ex-husband gained custody during the divorce proceedings.” I scowled. “If you call him, however, he’ll insist he did all the work, but it’s not true.”
“Acrimonious parting, eh?” Tad asked.
I nodded. “I wouldn’t mention it, except that magazine was my baby. I put all the work into it for the first year or two, and then he joined in and managed to squeeze me out of it. I spent over a dozen years building the circulation and writing most of the articles. At least he can’t go back and change my bylines, unless he digitalizes everything.” I reached in my tote bag and pulled out the file folder. “Here are my resume and clips of some of my best articles.” I handed the folder to him.
He flipped through it, taking his time. After about ten minutes, he closed the folder and set it on the desk. “I believe you. You can really write. What are your connections to the paranormal?”
“I’m a Fam-Trad witch. My great-grandfather was one of the founders of Moonshadow Bay,” I said. “My own powers passed down matrilineally, from my great-grandmother. That’s why I returned here to live.”
He looked pleased. “Good. The fact that you’re both a witch and you can write solves two problems with one stone, so to speak. I need someone who works magic, as well as someone who can write. You see, there are two sides to Conjure Ink. The website is run as…think of it as an online encyclopedia of paranormal happenings from all over the western coast of Washington. However, to fund the research, we also hire out to clients who are looking for someone to take care of paranormal creepy-crawlies and to investigate—and at times, clear—hauntings. We’re seldom at a loss for clients, and we make more than enough to fund the research aspects of the company. I, myself, don’t take a salary. I’m independently wealthy and this is a passion of mine. So I funded the business at the start, and I pour all money back into the business, other than paying your salaries.”
I blinked. So, this was more than a desk job. “What’s the job entail?”
“Hank watches for reports that come in from around the area. We have a weekly meeting where we discuss whether there’s enough evidence to investigate the cases Hank finds, and then we go from there. When we are hired on by clients, we proceed like an investigation—check out the background of the story, then do walk-throughs, try to find what’s causing the problem unless it’s already known, and then deal with it. All of us are investigators, though sometimes we’ll take turns if the job isn’t big enough for everyone to go out on. Besides Hank and me, there’s Caitlin—she’s over at the desk right now, and Wren, who’s on vacation.”
“So we cover all of Western Washington?”
“Yes, including the peninsula. We’re one of a number of clearinghouses for paranormal information. A library of sorts. Since Conjure Ink covers Western Washington, you could end up traveling to Seattle or down to Vancouver, or out to Mount Rainier. There are other groups scattered all over the states that do the same kind of thing, and we’re all interconnected.”
The job sounded more interesting by the minute. “What about expenses, like if I have to stay the night, or something?”
“You pay for them, we reimburse you. Keep all receipts. While our office may look spartan, the fact is Conjure Ink takes in a lot of money and all employees receive a living wage. Salary here starts at fifteen hundred a week, with a six-month probation period, then it bumps up to eighteen hundred a week. We pay for fifty percent of your health insurance. After six months, you get one week off the first year, two weeks for the second year, and if you are with us three years, you’ll have three weeks off a year from then on. Two sick days a month. On days you’re not investigating, there’s always data entry and other work to do.” Tad rattled off the stats on his fingers.
I looked around. The work sounded interesting, and it paid enough for me to live comfortably without dipping into my reserves.
“All right, I’m interested.”
“Good—I think you’ll fit. I may be human, but I have a sixth sense about people. Can you start tomorrow? We have a stack of cases in reserve.” Tad grinned and held out his hand. “Welcome aboard.”
“I guess…I’m in.” As I shook his hand, I wondered just what I was getting myself into. But it was better than dishing up french fries and burgers.
After I agreed to take the job, Tad introduced me to Caitlin and Hank. Caitlin not only kept the hardware going, but she also did preliminary research and helped out on investigations.
“Welcome aboard. Good to have you here,” she said, shaking my hand perfunctorily before turning back to the computer she was taking apart. “Tad, we need a new sound card and I’m concerned about one of the hard drives. I’ll perform a diagnostic and let you know, and while I’m at it, I’m going to verify that we’ve backed up all the data on the drive to the server.”
“Good. Let me know what we need and I’ll write up a purchase authorization.” Tad tapped Hank, who was still glued to the bank of computers. He had half a dozen monitors going and I wondered how he was able to focus on all of them. “Hank, meet January, our new investigator.”
Hank glanced up from the screens and gave me a faint wave of the hand. “Yo,” was all he said before turning back to his work.