“But Zander went over the falls first,” Gwen said.
“Problem solved. The timing could not have been better. Poole was very relieved, I can tell you. So was I. But neither of us could figure out what had happened that day out here at the falls. Just couldn’t picture Zander a suicide.”
“Still, it was convenient for you both that Zander was gone.”
“Oh, yeah. We gave it a rest for a few months, and then we went back to business as usual.”
“Until Evelyn tumbled onto what was going on when Poole left town to attend the crafts fairs. Now Poole is dead, and you’re the one who is trying to clean up.”
“Poole was not much of a father, but he taught me a few things during the past three years,” Riley said, “the most important of which is to pay attention to the details.”
“Why did you hurt Wesley? He wasn’t involved in this.”
“I needed Lancaster to get you out here this morning so I sent you that e-mail from his address, making you an offer I knew you couldn’t turn down. When you took the bait, I got him out here first with a phone call. I told him that you had asked me to pass along a message for you. Something about wanting to meet you out here to talk about his offer. He didn’t ask any questions, believe me.”
“How do you expect to explain my death?” Gwen asked.
“It will look like you and Wesley quarreled over the future of the lab. Everyone in town knows that he wanted to use this place as a set for his pathetic TV series. They also know that you two had a history. It all adds up to a motive for murder.”
“You’re going to kill me and frame Wesley?”
“Thought about using Coppersmith, but to tell you the truth, that guy makes me nervous,” Riley admitted.
“Want some free psychic counseling advice? That’s your intuition pinging you. Pay attention.”
“Don’t worry, I’m paying attention,” Riley said. “After realizing that he somehow managed to whack Poole last night even though the crystal was still fully functional, I knew it would be way too risky to try to use Coppersmith in this game scenario. I’d sure like to know how he survived the crystal, though. Poole had a lot of experience with that gadget.”
“I’ll bet Judson would be happy to explain to you just how he survived.”
Riley snorted, amused. “You’ve got a sense of humor, I’ll give you that. There’s one thing I’d like to know before we end this game.”
“You want to know how and why Zander Taylor went over the falls two years ago.”
“How’d you guess?”
She moved one hand in a slight motion. “I can see it in your aura.”
“Bullshit.”
“You’re hooked on your game of uncovering other people’s secrets and using those secrets against them,” Gwen said. “It’s a real power trip. That’s what drives you. It’s right there in your energy field. It has been all along. I knew about your addiction problem, but I didn’t put it together until now because I didn’t have context.”
“It’s not an addiction. I’m not like Zander. He was crazy.”
“Of course you’re addicted. You couldn’t quit now if you tried.”
Riley smirked. “There’s no reason to quit.”
“Well, actually there are some very good reasons to quit but none that a wack-job like you would comprehend. So, do you want to know what happened there at the end when your brother went over the falls?”
“Tell me.” There was a sudden burst of hungry urgency in Riley’s voice.
“I’ll do better than that. I’ll show you just how he screwed up.”
Riley snickered. “You’re trying to buy time. This is the fun part. You’re hoping Coppersmith will come to the rescue. Who knows? Maybe he will. That’s the thing about a really good game. There’s always a twist. Okay, we’ll play it your way. Show me what happened to Zander.”
“He saw a ghost, a couple of them, actually. He went a little crazy. Ran out the rear door and kept going, straight into the river and over the falls.”
“Is that the best you can do?” Riley raised the barrel of the gun. “Too bad. I was hoping for a more interesting ending, but if some crappy story about ghosts is all you’ve got, we might as well end this now.”
“I can show you what Zander saw. This place really is haunted, you see. The ghosts manifest in the mirror engine.”
“Are you talking about that bunch of old mirrors at the back of the lab?”
“That’s right.”
“There aren’t any ghosts.”
“Sure there are,” Gwen said. “But it takes talent to raise them in the mirrors.”
“Your kind of talent?”
“That’s right.”
Riley was clearly skeptical, but the energy in his aura throbbed with the need to get answers.
“If you kill me now, you’ll never know what really happened at the end of Zander’s last game,” Gwen said softly.
“Show me.”
She held her breath when she turned her back on him and started toward the rear of the old lodge. Everything depended on how accurately she had read his aura.
The bullet in the back did not come. She heard Riley’s footsteps echoing on the concrete floor as he stalked her deeper into the maze of workbenches. The strips of automatic lights illuminated and then went dark as they moved through various sections of the lab. She was intensely aware of the hot energy in the atmosphere.
“This place is so weird,” Riley said.
“How often have you been inside?”
“Couple of times. Always thought the place was just a big junkyard full of Ballinger’s crazy test instruments.”
“I’ll bet you’ve never gone into the mirror engine.”
“No reason to go inside,” Riley said.
“There was a reason. You just didn’t know about it. The engine is where Evelyn hid some of her secrets. That’s how I found out that your father was still in business.”
“You’re lying. Why would Ballinger hide her secrets in this old lab? People keep their secrets on their computers.”
“Not always. This may come as a shock to you, Riley, but not everyone trusts computers.”
She stopped at the entrance to the mirror engine. In the darkness, the energy locked in the silvered glass seethed and burned. She had no idea how the trapped currents appeared to Riley, but she knew that they were affecting him. He was already aroused by the game he was playing, but under the influence of the engine, his excitement flared higher.
“What’s going on?” Riley kept the gun aimed at Gwen, but his attention was on the sparking, flashing mirrors. His growing intoxication blazed in his aura—a junkie sensing a dazzling fix.
“The mirrors are arranged in a specific way to make them work as an engine,” Gwen said. “Ever been inside a maze?”
“Sure. Mazes are simple for someone with my talent.”
“I doubt if you can get far inside this one. Zander couldn’t. He took a few steps in and that’s when he started screaming about the ghosts.”
“Zander wasn’t as strong as I am. With my talent, I know I could go into this thing.”
“I doubt it.”
“What’s at the center?” Riley asked.
“A collection of incredibly valuable paranormal crystals,” Gwen lied softly. “They’re the fuel source for the engine.”
Riley motioned with the gun. “You go first. I’ll be right behind you.”
She moved through the entrance of the maze. Riley followed. When she looked back over her shoulder, she saw the unholy excitement in his eyes.
“This is powerful,” he whispered. “A real rush.”
They were deep into the maze now. The dark mirrors reflected their images into infinity. The hot glass also reflected Riley’s aura.
It was now or never.
Gwen flashed into the zone and focused on Riley’s dreamlight. She found the wavelengths and plunged him into a dreamscape.
Then she followed him down into the nightmare that she had designed for him.
The mirrors still loomed around them, but now they appeared as open doorways suspended over a bottomless sea filled with fog. The peaks of crystal mountains speared the mist. It was a place where no one could survive.