The pressure in his head abruptly got stronger, becoming almost intolerable. He resumed his rounds in a desperate effort to ease the pain while he tried to decide how to handle the catastrophe that had just struck the Cove.
6
Her name was Millicent Bridewell,” Fallon said. “She was a brilliant inventor and a trained clockmaker who lived during the Victorian era. She was also a powerful talent with a very unusual gift for accessing the paranormal properties of glass. All of her inventions include glass of some kind.”
“Like the face of the clock?” Isabella asked.
“Yes.” Fallon looked at the blanket-wrapped clock sitting on the floor of Isabella’s apartment. “Glass is still a big mystery to the Arcane experts. It’s unique in that it has properties of both liquids and solids. Generally speaking, paranormal energy passing through glass has unpredictable effects. But Bridewell figured out how to control the results. She used her talents to create a large number of what she called her clockwork curiosities. They were actually weapons.”
“How many did she make?” Isabella asked.
“No one knows for certain. She operated a legitimate shop that featured beautiful clockwork curiosities. Essentially, her creations were elegant toys for wealthy collectors. But she also ran a side business that catered to a different clientele.”
“What kind of clientele would that be?”
“Folks who wanted other folks such as inconvenient spouses or business partners permanently removed.”
“Got it,” Isabella said. “In other words Mrs. Bridewell ran a murder-for-hire business.”
“Well, in fairness to Mrs. B, she always insisted that the customer had to actually commit the murder. She considered herself an artist, after all, not a professional killer.”
“But she supplied the murder weapon,” Isabella said.
“Which was disguised as a charming example of the clockmaker’s art. The victim never saw it coming until it was too late.”
Fallon took a swallow of the whiskey Isabella had poured for him and let himself sink into the lumpy sofa. A great weariness was seeping into his bones, but it was not the kind of drowsiness that would promote sleep. The whiskey was taking off some of the edge, but it couldn’t touch the deep places. He would not get any real rest tonight. Just as well—he needed to think.
He watched Isabella through half-closed eyes. She was moving around in the minuscule kitchenette, putting together a meal. Her motions were economical, efficient, graceful. He was not hungry, but whatever she was making was starting to smell good.
He had been surprised when she had suggested that he come to her apartment for dinner after he finished with the county cops. We both need to decompress, she said. He wasn’t accustomed to decompressing with anyone else, but it had suddenly seemed like an excellent idea.
Isabella’s apartment was a warm, cheerful space filled with thriving green plants and cast-off furniture. The former tenant had disappeared one night, leaving no forwarding address, not an uncommon event in the Cove. Ralph Toomey owned the shabby rooms above his shop. He had offered them to Isabella and told her she could have the previous occupant’s furniture as well.
She had taken the apartment but declined the furniture. Fallon had helped Toomey haul a battered table, a couple of wobbly chairs, an unattractively stained mattress and rusty bedsprings to the town dump.
On the final expedition to the dump, a plastic baggie full of marijuana had fallen out of one ripped cushion.
“Always wondered how he managed to pay the rent,” Toomey remarked, pocketing the baggie. “Guy had no visible means of support. Figured he was in the business.”
“Probably explains why he disappeared in a hurry,” Fallon said.
Scargill Cove was on the fringes of the Emerald Triangle, a tricounty region in Northern California. In these parts it was freely acknowledged that marijuana was the largest cash crop, an economic engine that supported a multitude of businesses from gardening supply stores to gas stations. It also brought with it the usual law enforcement problems.
Toomey contemplated the stained mattress that they had tossed over the cliff into the ravine that served as the Cove’s dump.
“You know,” he said, “Isabella fits right in at the Cove. It’s like she belongs here with the rest of us or something.”
One more lost soul in a town where lost souls constituted the majority of the citizenry, Fallon thought.
When the apartment had been emptied out, Isabella, together with Marge from the café, Harriet Stokes, proprietor of Stokes’s Grocery, and the innkeepers, Violet and Patty, scrubbed the place from top to bottom. The cleaning had been followed by a fresh coat of sunny gold paint.
After the paint had dried, several people in the Cove had offered Isabella replacements for the furnishings and kitchen equipment that had been tossed. She had accepted each used item with glowing pleasure, as if it were a treasured housewarming gift or a valuable antique. The table and chairs and the heavy crockery had come from Marge. The secondhand sofa and the end table were courtesy of Violet and Patty. The Elvis lamps were a gift from Oliver and Fran Hitchcock, owners of the Scar.
The only new furniture in the place was the bed. Everyone in town had witnessed its arrival. The big van bearing the logo of a discount mattress store had blocked the street for half an hour while the new mattress and box springs were unloaded.
Fallon had watched the operation from the window of his office. Keen detective that he was, he had observed that the mattress was a traditional double. Unfortunately, that information was inconclusive. It did not tell him what he really wanted to know. Single people often used double beds.
On the other hand, the size of the mattress could indicate that there was a man in Isabella’s life. If so, the guy had not yet put in an appearance. On the whole, though, the evidence appeared to indicate that Isabella was alone.
Like me, Fallon thought.
The weariness was getting heavier, weighing him down. He had used a lot of energy to take down the killer. Energy was energy, and when you pulled on your reserves, you had to allow time to recover. But he knew that the soul-deep exhaustion that was sinking into him was more than just the result of having pushed his para-senses to the max. It was not the first time he had killed and it might not be the last but coming to terms with the psychic damage was not getting easier. He knew it never would.
“More whiskey?” Isabella asked, coming toward him with the bottle.
He looked down at the glass he cradled in his hands and was surprised to see that it was empty.
“Yes,” he said. “Thanks.”
She poured out another healthy measure and went back into the kitchenette, where she splashed a little more into her own glass. She knocked back the whiskey with a dashing air and promptly went into a small coughing spasm.
He got up, crossed the room and thumped her lightly between the shoulder blades.
“Thanks,” she managed. She took a deep breath. “Whew. Bad day at Black Rock.”
“You okay?” he asked.
“Yeah, sure. I’m a J&J agent. I can handle the whiskey.”
“I’m surprised you keep a bottle around,” he said. “Thought women liked white wine and pink cocktail drinks.”
“Shows how much you know.”
“Yeah, it does, doesn’t it?”
He looked at the bottle. It was nearly full. He’d heard her crack the seal earlier when she’d opened it and knew that his glass was the first she had poured from it. He wondered how she knew the brand he preferred, and then it dawned on him that she had probably seen the bottle he kept in the bottom drawer of his desk.
What were the odds that she drank the same brand? he wondered. About zero, given all available evidence. That left one tantalizing possibility. She had purchased this particular bottle of whiskey with the express purpose of serving him a drink from it. Something inside him warmed at the thought.
“Isabella.”
“Hmm?” She loo
ked at him with her wonderful eyes.
“I think I’m going to kiss you,” he said.
“Want some advice?”
“Sure.”
“Don’t think about it too much,” she said. “Just do it.”
He set his glass down on the counter, took hers from her hand and put it down as well. He pulled her into his arms and kissed her.
For an instant, she did not respond. A heartbeat later the atmosphere around them exploded with blazing energy. Isabella put her arms around his neck and kissed him back with a fierce, feminine hunger that set his senses on fire.
She might as well have picked up a sledgehammer and used it to shatter the crystalline prison cell in which he had lived most of his adult life. He was suddenly free, wholly consumed by a fever unlike anything he had ever experienced.
“Isabella.” He could barely shape the word. It was as if he were invoking magic. He framed her face in his hands, astonishment and wonder unfurling somewhere inside him. “Isabella.”
Her mysterious eyes widened briefly, as though she, too, was amazed by what was happening.
“It’s okay,” she said. “I won’t break.”
“I might.”
She smiled again and kissed him just under his jaw.
“No,” she said, sounding very certain. “You won’t. Nothing could break you, Fallon Jones.”
He could not seem to find his breath. The hair on the back of his neck stirred. He tightened his arms around Isabella, pinned her to him and kissed her mouth and then her throat. She responded with a soft cry and an electric passion. She was so delicate and sleek and feminine. He was afraid of crushing her.
He picked her up in his arms.
“Wait,” she said urgently. “The soup.”
He waited while she reached down to turn off the burner. Then he carried her swiftly down the short hall into the small bedroom. He set her on her feet beside the bed. When he started to undress her, he fumbled the business because his hands were trembling.
“It’s been a long time for me,” he warned.
“For me, too,” she said. “But I’m sure we’ll figure it out.”
The sound of his own laughter startled him. Delight gleamed in Isabella’s eyes. She reached up to take down her hair and then she unbuckled his belt.
They undressed each other in a haze of hot, shuddering excitement. Finally Isabella stood before him wearing only her panties. He looked at her, overcome by a sense of wonder. He cupped the gentle swell of one of her breasts in his hand and drew his thumb across the tight little nipple.
“You’re so beautiful,” he said.
“No,” she said. “But you make me feel beautiful.” She flattened her palms on his bare chest and slid her fingers up to close around his shoulders. “You, however, are absolutely gorgeous.”
He knew he was probably turning red, but he did not care.
“Sounds like we have a mutual admiration society going here,” he said.
“Works for me.”
He fell with her onto the bed, careful to make certain that he landed on the bottom. She sprawled on top of him and kissed him with an abandon that enthralled him. He felt her warm, damp mouth on his throat and then his shoulder. She started to go lower.
In an effort to get a grip on what was left of his self-control, he rolled Isabella under him, anchoring her there. In response her eyes became luminous. He could have sworn that the energy level in the bedroom kicked up a few more degrees. The place was so hot now, he half expected bolts of real lightning to appear.
He wanted to take his time, to make everything perfect for her, to imprint himself on her so that she would never forget him. But when he moved his hand down over her belly and slipped his fingers under the waistband of her panties, he discovered the liquid heat between her thighs. The scent of her arousal drove him to the edge. He groaned. The knowledge that she was so hot and wet for him undermined what little was left of his control. He was a man in the grip of a raging fever, and he had never felt more alive.
When he probed she made a soft, low sound and twisted beneath him. Her nails sank into his back. He raised his head and looked down at her.
“I want you,” he said.
He knew that his voice sounded stark and savage with the force of his need. He was afraid that he might frighten her. But she wrapped herself around him and opened her thighs so that he could settle between her legs.
He seized the invitation and thrust into her. She was snug and tight and he was desperate not to hurt her. He longed to please her but the need to join with her in the most intimate, elemental way was paramount tonight. The small muscles of her passage resisted at first but he pushed steadily deeper until she sighed and closed around him, accepting him completely.
He dragged his mouth across hers as if he could somehow seal the bond between them with a kiss.
“Remember me,” he grated.
“Always.”
Then he began to move within her, seeking the rhythms that pleased her. She clutched at his shoulders. Her head tilted back on the pillow. She closed her eyes.
He felt the tension gathering in her. She started to tremble in his arms. He sensed the first small contractions sweeping through her lower body.
“Fallon,” she gasped.
Everything inside him went rigid. For a timeless moment he hung there with her on the edge of the abyss. The searing intimacy was the most profound sensation he had ever experienced.
The storm broke. And then he was flying with Isabella into the dazzling energy that fueled the heart of chaos.
7
He awoke to the sweet-and-sour aroma of the ginger-scented soup. He could hear Isabella moving about in the kitchen. He hauled his arm up over his face and looked at his watch. An hour had passed since he had carried Isabella into the bedroom and made love to her as though the future of the world depended on it. Maybe his own future had depended on it, he thought. One thing was certain. He felt a hell of a lot better than he had an hour ago. Almost human again.
He climbed out of bed and went into the bathroom. When he saw the man in the mirror, his sense of well-being faded rapidly. It was replaced with dread. She’ll want to talk about it, he thought. He was not good with conversations of that sort.
He washed up, dressed and went back into the front room, determined to do what a man had to do. Isabella was waiting for him. She had put on a fresh shirt and a pair of trousers. She looked a little flushed and her eyes seemed brighter than usual but she made no comment on the fact that he had just emerged from her bedroom.
“Dinner’s ready,” she announced. She ladled the soup into two bowls. “Have a seat.”
It dawned on him that she was acting as if nothing of significance had happened between them. He’d been worried about having the conversation, but now he was more alarmed by the fact that she didn’t seem interested in discussing what had occurred on her new double bed. Maybe the sex was what she had meant when she talked about decompressing together. He did not want to think that was all it had been for her.
Warily, he sat down at the table. “Smells good.”
“It’s my grandmother’s recipe. She used to make it for me whenever I got a cold or felt ill. Vegetable stock, ginger, garlic, soy sauce, vinegar, water chestnuts, tofu, red bell peppers and then, at the very end, you drizzle in some beaten eggs. The eggs come out looking like little noodles.”
When she put the steaming bowl in front of him, he discovered that he did have an appetite, after all. In fact, he was suddenly starving. He picked up the spoon and started to eat. Nothing had tasted so good in a very long time. The sense of well-being flooded back. Nothing like sex and home cooking to put the world to rights.
Isabella sat down across from him. She looked pleased to see him eating with enthusiasm. “I understand that this Mrs. Bridewell could manipulate the paranormal properties of glass, but that clock isn’t generating any energy now.”
“It has to be wound up first,” he said.
He liked the way Isabella’s brain worked.
“Good question,” he said. “That, as it happens, was Bridewell’s real genius. She found a way to use mechanical energy to ignite paranormal energy that was otherwise locked in stasis.”
“Like using a mechanically generated spark to ignite the pilot light in a gas fireplace?”
“Right. According to the J&J notes on the case, Mrs. B. also supplied the client with a small mirror that could be used to switch off the curiosity.”
“So the customer didn’t accidentally zap himself?”
“That was evidently the idea. The deactivating devices were not ordinary mirrors, however. The glass involved, like the glass in the killer toys, possessed unique properties that have never been duplicated. To my knowledge, none of the small deactivation mirrors survived. There are no examples in any of the Arcane museums.”
“Holy cow. I’d like to read the file on that case one of these days.”
It was the first time she’d shown any curiosity about the history of the agency, he thought. Progress of a sort.
“Sure,” he said. “Remind me tomorrow. You can tell me what you’re running from then, too.”
“Not tonight?”
“I’m too tired to concentrate tonight.”
“Okay,” she said.
They were both quiet for a while.
“So Kevin Conner Andrews, alias Nightman, turned out to be an upstanding citizen.” Isabella said after a time. “Sterling employment record at the construction company. No criminal record. Everyone thought he was such a nice, normal guy. Blah, blah, blah.”
“They always say that. The fact that he was local and in the construction business does explain how he knew about the basement in the old Zander house. Explains the new floor, as well.”
“Yes. Want some more soup?”
“Yes,” he said.
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