“We need to find the two missing crystals.”
“Be my guest. I’m not stopping you.”
“I’m going to need your help and I’m willing to pay for it.”
She went still again. “How much?”
“Name your price.”
“That offer is never a good sign. It means you’re desperate.”
“I am desperate.”
She looked skeptical. “I can’t see you as desperate, but it’s obvious those crystals are important to you. What I don’t understand is how you think I can help you locate them.”
“I’m not sure, either. But from what I can tell, you’re the last person who saw them before they disappeared.”
“No,” Alice said. “Whoever killed Fulton Whitcomb is the last person who saw those crystals.”
“Then there’s a very good chance that person is the one who took them back to Rainshadow. You’re the key to this thing, Alice.”
“I was afraid you were going to say something like that.”
Chapter 4
DRAKE DE-REZZED THE FLASH-ROCK ENGINE OF THE rental car he had picked up at the airport. He sat quietly for a moment, his hands resting on the steering wheel, and studied the four-story apartment building. The sign at the entrance read: DEAD CITY SUITES—YOUR HOME AWAY FROM HOME. RENT BY THE WEEK. CASH ONLY.
“I know what you’re thinking,” Alice said. She freed herself from the seat belt. “Not exactly what a Sebastian would consider a suitable home away from home. But it’s clean and for the most part the plumbing works.”
She opened the door, got out, and reached back for her tote. She slung the tote over one shoulder and held out an arm to Houdini, who was perched on the back of her seat.
“Cleanliness and good plumbing are important considerations when choosing an apartment,” Drake said as he climbed out of the car.
It wasn’t the amenities of the Dead City Suites that concerned him. It was the location. The Colonial-era apartment building didn’t look as run-down as some by-the-week flophouses he’d seen, but he did not like the idea that Alice had been walking home late at night through the scruffy neighborhood.
“Relax.” Alice looked at him over the top of the car. “There hasn’t been a mugging around here in days. We’ve got a very active neighborhood crime watch program.”
“Is that right?”
“A few retired ghost hunters live in this part of town. Some of them were at the Green Gate tonight. They’ve organized themselves into a regular night patrol. It’s a lot safer here than it is in the area near the theater.”
“If you say so.”
He got Alice’s wheeled suitcase out of the trunk of the car and started toward the entrance of the Dead City Suites. Alice did not move. When he realized she was not coming with him, he stopped and looked back.
“Something wrong?” he asked politely.
“Look, you really don’t have to walk me to my front door,” she said. “I appreciate the gesture but I’ll be fine.”
“I’ll see you to the door,” he said.
He resisted the urge to take her arm. He wanted to touch her, he realized. But she probably wouldn’t appreciate the familiarity.She was on edge now, ready to run. So he waited, not pushing it.
She hesitated and then reluctantly started walking with him toward the entrance.
“I’m making you nervous,” Drake said halfway across the parking lot.
“Members of powerful, reclusive families that operate large business empires definitely make me nervous.” Alice gave him a breezy smile. “After my little brush with the Whitcomb clan, I learned a really expensive lesson.”
“For the record, the Sebastians are not close with the Whitcombs.”
“Give me a break.” Alice stopped in front of the lobby door and de-rezzed the lock. “It’s a small world at the top of the social and business ladder. I’m sure you’re well acquainted with the Whitcombs.”
“They live in Resonance City.” He kept his tone flat and cool with an effort. “The Sebastians have always maintained their headquarters in Cadence City. I’m not saying we don’t know one another. Occasionally we end up at the same events.”
“Same clubs, same charity balls, same golf courses, same art museums and hospital boards, et cetera, et cetera. Yep, I know how it works.”
“I’m saying that the Whitcombs and the Sebastians are not close,” Drake repeated. “I’d appreciate it if you did not twist my words.”
“Sorry.” She made a face and went through the door. “It’s not your fault that you associate with the family of my ex. I realize that in your world you can’t avoid that kind of contact. But you can see why that fact complicates things a tad for me.”
Drake kept his mouth shut. Sometimes that was the safest course of action.
Alice looked around the dingy lobby with obvious relief. “Well, at least my landlord hasn’t locked us out yet, Houdini. The night is looking up.”
Houdini made cheerful noises.
“Easy for you to say,” Alice grumbled. “You don’t care if we have to sleep in a doorway.”
There was no elevator, Drake noticed. Alice took Houdini off her shoulder and set him on the first step of the staircase.
“You can walk,” she told him. “I’m not carrying you up four flights of stairs tonight.”
Houdini chortled again, as if going up the stairs was a game. He bounced up each step, keeping pace with Alice. And then, because she evidently moved too slowly, he bounced down a couple of steps, turned around, and scampered back to meet her.
Drake followed, allowing himself to enjoy the rear view of Alice in her snug black jeans.
“What is it with Rainshadow?” Alice paused at the second-floor landing, gripped the railing, and looked down at Drake. “That island has always had a weird psi-vibe from what I’ve been able to find out.”
“Based on what we learned recently, it looks like Rainshadow was at one time a giant bioengineering lab for the Aliens.”
Alice’s eyes widened. “Okay, that’s a chilling thought.”
“My brother and his fiancée recently found the ruins of an ancient aquarium filled with the results of some of the Aliens’ genetic experiments on marine animals.”
Alice started up the next flight of stairs. “Fossils, you mean?”
“Not fossils,” Drake said. He rounded the landing. “Living fish. Really, really bizarre fish. Sea monsters.”
“In an aquarium?”
“A giant, crystal-walled aquarium in a huge cavern. The aquarium was still operational and so were the creatures inside. They were bioengineered to survive in high-psi environments like Rainshadow. There was an explosion inside the cavern triggered by one of the three crystals. A lot of the creatures escaped into the flooded caves on the island.”
Alice paused on the third-floor landing to catch her breath. “Are we talking the kind of marine animals that snack on seaweed?”
“No. We’re talking the kind of monsters that would eat any human unlucky enough to fall into one of the cave pools.”
Alice started up the last flight of stairs. “That doesn’t sound good.”
“No, it’s not good.”
“But I still don’t see what I can do to help.”
“Neither do I, but my brother is convinced that we need you, and Harry is never wrong when it comes to this kind of stuff.”
“What kind of stuff, exactly, is he never wrong about?”
“Harry is in the security business. Specifically, he’s the head of Sebastian, Inc. security, which has responsibility for Rainshadow Foundation Security. When he’s working a case his intuition is off the charts.”
“Your brother has never even met me.”
“No, but now I have met you and I think he’s right,” Drake said. “We need you on the island. My intuition is pretty good, too.”
She glanced back over her shoulder. “You said your brother handles security for Sebastian, Inc. and the Foundation. But according to the business press, you’re in line to take over as CEO of the family empire.”