It was either that or get a job as a cocktail waitress, she had explained to Elly.
Doreen had been one of the first on Ruin Lane to welcome Elly to the neighborhood. Elly had been grateful for both the friendship and the fashion advice. Until she met Doreen she had not realized how sadly unstylish her Aurora Springs wardrobe was.
Doreen darted across the mist-bound street and opened the door of St. Clair's Herbal Emporium. The bell tinkled.
"Man, I don't think this fog is ever going to lift," she announced, closing the door. "I know this is the season for it, but I can't remember the last time it hung around for so long. Not good for business, that's for sure."
"Tell me about it," Elly said, leaning on the counter. "I've only had two customers all morning."
Rose, crouched over her little box of bracelets at the end of the counter, chortled a greeting.
Doreen patted her affectionately. "You are looking fabulous today, my little fashionista." She peered more closely at the strand of green stones that sparkled in Rose's gray fur. "New bracelet?
Rose preened.
"She helped herself to it out of my jewelry box this morning," Elly explained.
"Give the girl credit. She knows what looks good on her."
"Maybe, but at the rate things are going, I'm not going to have any bracelets left," Elly said.
"So take Rose shopping."
"I may have to do that. How was the visit to the parents?"
"The usual. Dad coughed up a small loan to help with the rent on the shop this month." Doreen made a face.
"Had to listen to another lecture from my mom and my aunt on the subject of getting serious about a Covenant Marriage. I drove back here as fast as I could very early this morning."
Elly went to the hot plate and poured two mugs of the herbal tisane that she had made earlier. The aromatic blend of Harmonic honey, redstick spice, and amber root made a pleasant contrast to the damp, gray day.
"Did you tell them about the new boyfriend?" she asked, carrying the mugs back to the counter.
"No." Doreen picked up one of the mugs and inhaled the fragrance with an air of delight. "Figured they would just start asking questions, and I really can't talk about him yet. I gave him my word that I would keep our relationship quiet until after he's finished with this new assignment."
"Must be hard dating a cop."
"The hours are weird, that's for sure." Doreen grinned. "Kind of exciting, though. He's such a hunk, and he sure doesn't dress like the average detective. The man has a sense of style like you would not believe."
"I can't wait to meet him."
"I'll introduce you as soon as he's off this current case. He says that until it's finished, he has to keep a very low profile, especially in the Old Quarter. He can't risk being seen by the bad guys. So, what's up with you? I heard you had a visitor last night."
Elly winced. "Word travels fast."
"Especially on Ruin Lane. I got the story from Phillip and Garrick first thing today. They said they saw a black Spectrum EX parked in the alley behind your shop last night and that it didn't leave until after eight this morning. Can you confirm or deny?"
"Uh-huh."
"I'll take that as a confirm." Doreen grinned. "Well?"
"There's not much to tell," Elly mumbled. "Just a friend from out of town. I let him stay overnight at my place. No big deal."
"How can you say that? He spent the whole night."
"Not in my bed," Elly said.
It was always nice to be able to tell the truth.
Chapter 13
BOTH THE BLUE VORTEX AND THE UTILITY SLED WERE gone.
Impossible.
Shaken, the killer stared at the section of the catacombs where he had rezzed the blue and anchored it to the sled.
He checked his amber for the fifth or sixth time, wondering if he had taken a wrong turn somewhere in the catacombs on his way back to this place. But when he pulsed a little psi power through the navigational device he got the same reading. This was the precise spot where he had nailed Newell's sled.
There was no way the woman could have de-rezzed the blue. She was a tangler, not a hunter, let alone a blue hunter.
Nothing and no one could have destroyed the vortex except another dissonance-energy para-rez who could do what he could do with energy from the blue end of the spectrum. That kind of parapsych talent was so rare that it had become the stuff of myth and legend.
There was no escaping the obvious: Another blue had de-rezzed his vortex. Coincidences of this magnitude were even more scarce than hunters who could raise blue ghosts.
That damned blue freak, Cooper Boone, was in town. Somehow he had found Bertha Newell last night.
Chapter 14
"WHEN IT COMES TO BARBECUING FISH, THE FIRST RULE IS to make sure the grill is clean and well-oiled." Emmett London made an adjustment to one of the gleaming knobs on the giant outdoor grill. "That's what keeps the filets from sticking, falling apart, and dropping into the fire."
Cooper lounged against the deck railing, drink in hand, and surveyed the massive grill. Flames leaped and smoke roiled out across the deck, mingling with the fog.
"That thing is as big as a car," he said.
"Sure is," Emmett said, looking pleased. "Mercer Wyatt gave it to us for a wedding present. You should see the manual."
"Tricky to operate, huh?"
"It is more than merely tricky," Emmett said. "Grilling is an art, my friend, one that requires innate talent, practice, a passion for perfection, and the ability to work under pressure."
"I can see the problem with the pressure," Cooper said.
He glanced at the three dust bunnies perched on the railing beside him.
The one introduced as Fuzz and his small companion, who went by the name of Ginger, wore little satin ribbons on top of their furry heads. Rose hovered next to them, glittering like a high-class showgirl in the green-stone bracelet she had selected to wear for the evening.
None of the bunnies had seemed surprised to see each other tonight. Cooper got the feeling they had all been previously acquainted. The fluffy beasts supervised the grilling process with close attention.
"In my admittedly limited experience, dust bunnies are big on barbecue," Emmett said. "Probably because they are not what you'd call vegetarians."
"How did you end up with two of the little guys?"
Emmett glanced at the bunnies wearing the bows. "One's a girl, I think. She's Fuzz's friend. He started inviting her to dinner a few weeks ago. Got a bad feeling I'm going to look under the bed one of these days and find a bunch of baby dust bunnies."
"You know, until I arrived here in Cadence yesterday and discovered that Elly was rooming with Rose, I never knew anyone who kept a dust bunny as a pet."
"Until you and Elly showed up with Rose tonight, my wife was the only person I knew who lived with one. Lydia once told me that it was Fuzz who initiated the association. Just appeared on her balcony one evening and made himself at home."
"Elly says that's how it was with Rose. Brings flowers every so often, and in exchange, she likes to wear Elly's bracelets."
"I'm not sure what's going on between Lydia and Fuzz, but I've got a hunch there's some kind of psychic bond."
"The experts say there's no such thing as a true psychic bond between animals and humans," Cooper reminded him.
"Tell that to Fuzz and Lydia."
Cooper smiled. He was enjoying the evening, in spite of the complications of the last twenty-four hours. He hadn't intended to have the blue ghost problem turn into a social visit with an old friend, but that was where the phone call to Mercer Wyatt, the chief of the Cadence Guild, had led.