Everything about him looked as if it had been honed for the hunt. His dark hair was cut in a short, crisp, no-nonsense style. The hard, unyielding planes and angles of his face could have landed him a role as a professional assassin in the movies—or in real life. The fact that she could not read his expression because of his sunglasses only served to heighten the aura of power and danger.
He handed her the ID card. It showed a photo of Drake complete with the glasses. In addition to a brief personal description and a phone number to call for verification, there was a small sliver of amber embedded in the plastic. The amber was hot. It resonated faintly when she touched it with her fingertip. It wasn’t absolute proof that the document was authentic, of course. She had been in show business long enough to know that, for a price, you could buy fake verification chips as easily as mag-rez guns in any of the Old Quarters. Still, it seemed unlikely that one of Ethel’s private investigators would risk carrying a document that could get him locked up for a very, very long time.
Besides, she thought, there could not be two men in the world who looked like the man in the photo. Drake Sebastian was definitely one of a kind.
“You can call that number if you’ve got any doubts,” Drake said. “It goes straight to the security department at company headquarters.”
“That won’t be necessary.” She handed the card back to him. “I’ve seen you in the media a few times. You’re Drake Sebastian and, according to the business press, you and your family are still in the pirate business. The only difference these days is that you do your plundering legally.”
He startled her with a wicked smile that sent another disturbing frisson across her senses.
“You know, Alice, you aren’t in any position to insult my ancestor,” he said. “Your great-grandfather was Harry Sebastian’s business partner out there in the Amber Sea. They did their pirating together.”
She raised her chin. She had known nothing about her family history until last year, but now that she finally had some knowledge of her roots she was fiercely determined to protect the North family honor. She was, after all, the last of the line.
“They were partners in a shipping business,” she insisted. “But somehow, when the partnership ended, your ancestor came out of it a rich man. My great-grandfather got screwed.”
“We can argue about ancient history later. It’s modern history that we need to talk about tonight. If our conversation goes the way I’m hoping it will, I’ll have a business proposition for you that I think you’ll find interesting.”
Well, at least he wasn’t threatening to have her arrested for theft and/or murder, Alice thought. And evidently he was not in the employ of Ethel Whitcomb. Instead he had specifically used the words business proposition. But that still left a lot of questions. She did not know whether to be somewhat relieved or downright scared.
“Damn it, I knew someone was watching me today,” she said.
“Took me a lot longer to find you than I thought it would.” Drake sounded impressed. “You do a good disappearing act.”
“I’ve had some practice.”
“A few days ago I traced you to a magic act here in the Quarter, but when I got to that theater I discovered that you had vanished again. Took me another three days to figure out that you hadn’t left town like everyone seemed to think. Instead, you changed your name again and set up your own show here at this theater.”
“Alien Illusions closed tonight. Mind telling me why you’ve been following me around?”
“It’s a little complicated. Why don’t we go someplace where we can talk? Don’t know about you but I’m not keen on holding a serious business discussion in an alley in the Old Quarter at this hour of the night.”
“Where do you suggest we have this business chat?”
“I vote for your apartment.”
“Forget it,” she said. “If you want to talk, we’ll do it in public. There’s a tavern a couple of blocks from here. I’m hungry and I could really use a drink.”
“Okay, that works for me.” Drake studied Houdini. “Does the local Board of Health allow dust bunnies into food-and-beverage establishments?”
Houdini chortled encouragingly, clearly aware that he was the topic of discussion. Alice took heart from the realization that he was not showing any indication that he viewed Drake Sebastian as a direct or immediate threat. Houdini’s instincts were reliable when it came to that sort of thing. He had saved her from a close encounter with more than one Whitcomb investigator during the past year.
“In this neighborhood, the restaurant owners aren’t too particular,” Alice said. “Besides, everyone at the Green Gate knows Houdini. We always drop in for a bite after the show.”
She started toward the alley entrance again, towing the suitcase.
“I’ll take that,” Drake said.
He gripped the handle of the suitcase and deftly slipped it out of her grasp before she could decide whether or not to accept the offer. Then again, it hadn’t exactly been an offer, she thought. More like an order. Nevertheless, the suitcase was heavy and she was tired. It had been a very long night and it wasn’t over yet. She released the suitcase without further argument.
“I guess you probably aren’t going to steal a bunch of costumes and props,” she said.
“Probably not,” Drake agreed.
She glanced at the two men on the pavement. “What did you use on that pair? I thought I saw a little flash of dark lightning.”
“I used a gadget that came out of one of the company labs. It’s still experimental. We’re calling it a light spear. It uses ultralight to temporarily freeze the target’s senses—all of the senses, normal as well as paranormal.”
“Sounds useful.”
“Not yet. It was designed as a law-enforcement weapon but it’s still in development. There’s a major hurdle that has to be overcome before we can go into production.”
“What’s the problem?” she asked.
“Currently only someone with our kind of talent can activate a light spear.”
She gave him a searching look. “You’re a light-talent, too?”
“Yes.”
“I’ve never met another light. I’ve heard there aren’t a lot of us around.”
“No,” Drake said. “There aren’t. To further complicate matters, no two light-talents are the same, so each spear has to be individually tuned to the person who will use it. I’m the only one who can operate this particular spear. Once I’ve exhausted the charge it will have to be re-tuned.”
“What happens to those two guys that you took down?”
“I don’t know and I don’t give a damn. I’m not here on a mission to clean up the Old Quarter. I’ve got other things on my to-do list tonight.”
“Clearly you are a man who knows how to prioritize,” she said.
He ignored the not-so-veiled sarcasm. “That pair just happened to get in the way. Sorry I got here a bit late.” Drake looked at the two men without much interest. “Not that you weren’t handling things just fine all by yourself.”
“My version of light-talent isn’t good for much, but occasionally it comes in handy.”
“I noticed,” Drake said. “Same with my version.”
She shot him a quick sidelong glance, trying to read his unreadable face. “You could see me when I did my invisibility thing. I’ve never met anyone who could do that.”
“My version of the talent is as rare as yours.” Drake’s mouth quirked in a brief, humorless smile. “But not nearly as useful. It would be handy to be able to become invisible once in a while.”