Willow’s lips thinned. “I hate to hear that everyone is still talking about it.”
“I understand.”
“You don’t seem concerned about the old rumors.”
“Nope. Thaddeus Webber would never have sent me to Sam if he thought there was any danger involved. And my friend Gwen vouched for Sam.”
“Who’s Gwen?”
“She’s a psychic counselor. Reads auras.”
“Good grief. You decided to trust my son because your friend claimed to be able to see his aura?”
“Gwen is a genuine talent, and she is very, very good,” Abby said coolly. “But I can see that even though you’re married to a man who has a considerable amount of talent himself, and you’ve got two sons and a daughter with exceptional abilities, you don’t really want to buy into the whole paranormal thing any more than is absolutely necessary.”
Willow grimaced. “I’ve always realized that my husband and Sam and Emma and Judson all have unusual sensitivities. But I prefer to think of their gifts as being more in the nature of very powerful intuition.”
Abby smiled. “You’re okay with the concept of intuition?”
“Yes, of course.” Willow moved a hand slightly. “I’m sure that most people have experienced a flash of intuition at one time or another in their lives. Unfortunately, they don’t always listen to their inner voice.”
Abby smiled. “That’s true.”
Willow’s brows came together in a severe expression. “But that doesn’t mean there is any need to resort to the concept of paranormal forces in order to explain my husband’s and my sons’ and daughter’s abilities.”
“Okay,” Abby said.
“I don’t want to debate the existence of the paranormal with you,” Willow said quietly. “I want to make sure you understand my son. Cassidy’s murder affected him very deeply. He did not realize that she was a complete fraud and had set him up until it was too late. He was heartbroken after he found the body.”
“Well…”
“Now I’m afraid he no longer trusts his own judgment or his heart. In the past few months, I have become increasingly concerned about him. He has retreated into himself and that old house of his more and more. He only leaves the island these days when he absolutely has to go into the Black Box lab or when he takes one of those dreadful jobs for that private contractor. I think he uses the work to distract himself. He is not engaged with life, if you know what I mean.”
“Hmm.”
“What?” Willow asked, her tone sharpening.
“I agree with you that Sam has more or less imprisoned himself in the Copper Beach house. But it’s not because his heart is broken or because he’s afraid to love.”
“No?” Willow watched her closely. “What, then?”
“You have to see the situation from his point of view. As far as Sam is concerned, Cassidy was a victim.”
“She was a thief.” Willow gripped the arm of her chair very tightly. “She seduced Sam so that she could steal the Phoenix crystals.”
“He doesn’t see it that way. He’s the one who started the relationship and then continued it, breaking some unwritten rule about dating employees in the process. He blames himself for not getting a handle on the situation sooner. His heart isn’t broken. But he’s a man of honor, and he’s got an over-the-top, steel-clad sense of responsibility. Plus he’s just plain mad.”
“He is not mad,” Willow snapped. “Don’t you dare say that.”
“Sorry, I meant angry mad, not crazy mad. Poor choice of words. The thing is, it’s intolerable to him that such a crime was committed in his home. He’s been brooding over Cassidy’s murder because he hasn’t been able to bring the killer to justice.”
“Good lord.” Willow took a long moment to absorb that information. “You may be right. None of us looked at it from that angle. We were all so certain that Cassidy broke his heart with her betrayal.”
“Don’t worry, I’m sure it would take a lot more than that to break Sam’s heart. Frankly, I’m not certain it’s even possible.”
“And here I was just starting to think that you knew Sam better than his own family does,” Willow said. “You have a few things to learn about him as well, Abby.”
27
ELIAS MATERIALIZED IN THE DOORWAY. “WELL? ANY MORE leads on that Milton character?”
Newton, napping beside Abby’s chair, stirred, raised his head, and focused on Elias.
“Maybe.” Abby pushed herself away from the glowing computer screen and got to her feet. “But if you keep interrupting me every five minutes, it will take me forever to follow up on them.”
Elias beetled his brows. “I thought I made it clear, we don’t have a lot of time. You need to find Milton before he holds that auction. I don’t want to take the risk of losing that damn lab book.”
“I’m doing my best, Mr. Coppersmith. But in the meantime, I’ve assured Milton that we will top any bid, and he has agreed to give us that option.”
“If Lander Knox gets to him first, there won’t be an auction. He’ll murder the dealer the way he did Webber and take the notebook.”
“I realize that we’re in a time crunch here. Which is why I would prefer to work without someone looking over my shoulder. But since you have interrupted me, I’m going to the kitchen to get some coffee.”
She walked toward Elias. Newton sprang to his feet and padded after her. Faced with the oncoming woman and dog, Elias reluctantly fell back into the hall. Abby slipped past him, Newton at her heels, and headed for the kitchen. Elias stalked after them.
“What did you mean by ‘maybe’?” he demanded.
“I meant maybe, as in maybe I have a couple of leads.” Abby walked into the kitchen. “You need to understand that I don’t usually work with dealers like Milton. I know how to contact him, thanks to Thaddeus and my friend Nick, but I don’t know anything else about him.”
“Thaddeus is gone, but what about this Nick you mentioned? Does he deal with Milton?”
“Yes, but I can’t ask him for more information.”
“Why not?”
“Because currently he’s my competition. He’s after the lab book, too. Knowing Nick, by now he’ll have lined up a client.”
“Knox.”
“It’s possible, but I think it’s unlikely,” Abby said.
“Why?”
“The clients in the deep end are more dangerous than the ones I usually work with, but Nick is not stupid. He takes precautions. Lander Knox is an unknown in the underground market. He’s not a regular collector. Nick wouldn’t want to take him on as a client, especially if he’s got options.”
“Hah. Options like Hank Barrett or his son.”
“The owners of Helicon Stone?” Abby picked up the coffeepot. “That’s a much more likely possibility. Can I pour you a cup?”
“Yeah, sure.”
“You’re so very welcome,” she murmured, going for excruciatingly gracious.
Elias was oblivious to the sarcasm. He started to pace the kitchen. “Maybe I’ve been too focused on Lander Knox. No question that he’s after the lab book. But if Hank Barrett has heard the rumors, he or his son will be trying to find it as well. They might be a bigger problem than Knox, if for no other reason than that they have the money to pay top dollar.”
Abby handed him a full mug as he stomped past her. “There are other problems with auctions like this. I think that Milton is reliable, but we have to allow for the possibility that the book he is going to auction off is a forgery.”
Elias’s face worked in outrage. “Are you telling me that someone might try to pass off a fake?”