"Okay, I think I see where you're going here. Let me guess; it takes a blue hunter to stop one of these blue freaks, right?"
"Yeah, that's pretty much what it comes down to in the end."
"Wow." She propped her elbows on the table and cradled her chin on her hands. "Those guys must be the mysterious enforcers I used to hear my brothers whispering about from time to time."
"Enforcers?"
"That's what they called them. They would never tell me exactly what an enforcer did, of course. Big Guild secret, you know. Probably weren't exactly sure, themselves."
"I'd like to think that was the case," Cooper said dryly. "Only members of the Guild Councils are supposed to be aware of the blues and everything that goes with them. But now that I've learned how gossip runs through the Guild halls, I won't hold my breath."
"I told you once before: Never underestimate the power of rumor and gossip."
His jaw tightened. "Believe me, I haven't forgotten."
She got up and went back to the counter to pour herself another cup of tea. "So the Guilds have these secret enforcers to deal with blue freaks?"
"That is more or less the job description." He paused a beat. "The hunters who pursue that particular career path prefer the title of investigator, I believe. Enforcer sounds like a hit man."
She waved that aside. "I suppose the reason I haven't heard more gossip about the blues and the enforcers over the years is because we never had any problems of that sort in the Aurora Springs Guild. One of the advantages of being a small-town organization, no doubt. Lower crime rates."
"Got news for you." He watched her very steadily from the other side of the table. "The Aurora Springs Guild did have a problem with a blue freak a while back. He went into the murder-for-hire business. Sold his services for nearly a year quite successfully before someone on the Council realized what was going on. The freak was always careful to take contracts out of town in one of the big cities so as to lower the risk of drawing attention to himself at home."
"Are you serious?"
"I never joke about Guild business."
"True," she agreed. "Well? Who was he? You've told me this much, you have to tell me the rest."
He shrugged. "The freak was Haggerty."
"Haggerty?" She couldn't believe her ears. "Douglas Haggerty, the former Guild boss? Your predecessor?"
"Yes."
"That's amazing. He was the boss of the Aurora Springs Guild for over ten years. Good grief, the man made a pass. He wanted to marry me."
Cooper raised his brows. "Your father was the Council member who first became suspicious of him. That was one of the reasons John made sure Haggerty didn't get anywhere near you."
"Holy dust bunny." She whistled softly. "This is incredible. So that's the reason Haggerty disappeared, huh? The Council brought in one of those enforcers to get rid of him?"
"They voted to bring in an investigator who worked undercover for a while, figuring out exactly what was going on and gathering evidence."
"Undercover?" She shook her head. "Real cloak-and-dagger stuff, I guess."
"Well-"
"Who was the enforcer?" she asked. "Is he still hanging around the Guild Hall back in Aurora Springs, or did he ride off into the sunset after getting rid of the bad guy?"
"As a matter of fact, he's here in Cadence."
"What's he doing here?" she demanded. "Or is that top secret?"
"At the moment he's having breakfast. Hoping for a second cup of tea."
She closed her eyes and sagged back against the counter. "You."
"Afraid so."
She opened her eyes and smiled wryly. "And to think that I mistook you for a genuine Guild librarian."
He got up abruptly, heading toward the kitchen counter. "I was a genuine Guild librarian. Still am, for that matter." He picked up the teapot. "Just because I'm now the chief exec of the Aurora Springs Guild doesn't change the past or my training."
She had managed to put a dent in his icy self-control with that last comment, she realized. He had not liked the implication that he had misled her.
"You just said you were an enforcer," she reminded him.
"Investigator." He splashed tea into his cup. "But since an investigator invariably has to do his work undercover, it means he has to have a real job that provides a legitimate cover."
"So you became a real librarian?"
"I like the work." He put the pot down on the hot plate. "I believe in learning from history. And the profession provided convenient camouflage for my investigations, regardless of the location. Every Guild has a historical archive. It never ceases to amaze me how people are inclined to underestimate folks who work with books and manuscripts."
"Well, I suppose your old job description isn't the issue any longer. You are now a Guild boss with a talent for raising blue ghosts. Last night we discovered that a blue freak tried to kill Bertha, presumably because she uncovered his drug operation. Obviously we have a situation here."
"Afraid so."
"What happens next?"
"I'm going to do some preliminary background work today. Then, tonight, you and I are going to dinner at the home of a friend of mine."
"You've got a friend here in town?" she asked.
"You don't have to look at me like that. Just because I'm a Guild boss doesn't mean I don't have friends."
"I didn't mean… oh, never mind." She raised her eyes to the ceiling and sighed. "What's the name of this friend?"
"Emmett London. He and his wife, Lydia, have a town house in another section of the Old Quarter."
"What?" She straightened. "We're invited to dinner at the home of the Mr. and Mrs. Emmett London?"
He raised his brows. "Is that a problem?"
"They were all over the newspapers about three months back. Emmett London took over as Guild boss here in Cadence for a while when Mercer Wyatt was hospitalized."
Cooper looked amused. "I heard that."
She ignored the interruption. "Emmett and Lydia were local celebrities for a short time. The tabloids made a big deal out of their relationship. It was so romantic. And the wedding was spectacular. I saw the photographs in the papers. Lydia wore the most gorgeous gown."
"When the invitation was extended, I happened to mention Rose. I was told that you should feel free to bring her along."
"Really?"
"Evidently Lydia London also has dust bunnies."
"Good heavens," Elly said. "This is the first time Rose has been invited out for dinner. She'll probably spend hours choosing the right bracelet for the occasion."
Chapter 12
SHORTLY AFTER ELEVEN O'CLOCK THAT MORNING, ELLY saw the door of Thornton's Alien Antiquities open. Doreen Thornton, the proprietor, emerged. She was cutting-edge trendy, as usual, in a tight, tiny pink skirt and snug green sweater that showed off her hourglass figure to advantage. Fishnet stockings and pink-and-green heels finished the look.
Doreen's tight black curls framed pretty, dark-brown features and riveting dark eyes. She wore an amber pendant around her neck.
Elly knew that the amber in Doreen's pendant was genuine. The stone was of good quality and professionally tuned. Doreen had spent a lot of money on it.
Like Bertha, Doreen was an ephemeral-energy para-resonator, a tangler who could handle the dangerous illusion traps that peppered the catacombs. Like Bertha, she had never had the advantages of a college education and therefore had never qualified to join the exclusive Society of Para-Archaeologists. Drawn to the world underground, as were so many with her type of parapsych abilities, she had chosen to eke out a living as a ruin rat.