Ghost Hunter gh-4

by Jayne Castle

  "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.

  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 e
scaping 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.

  "If we're dealing with a blue," Wyatt said, "we've got to keep a low profile. Whoever he is, he may be anywhere at or near the top of the organization. I don't think you and I should take the risk of being seen meeting to talk about the problem. This is a secure line, but we both know that there is no such thing as perfect security."

  "This is your town," Cooper said. "How do you want to handle the situation?"

  "I know you're not officially an enforcer any longer, but it's not like there're a lot of guys with your kind of talent I can call on. You know that as well as I do."

  "Had a feeling you were going to say that."

  "In addition, you've already got a jump on this thing because you were first on the scene last night," Wyatt added. "Will you do me a favor here and take care of the business?"

  It never hurt to have the chief of one of the other Guilds in the position of owing you a favor, Cooper thought, but he wasn't in town to make nice with his opposite number in the Cadence City Guild. He'd had other plans.

  Nevertheless, the freak had to be uncovered and dealt with as quickly as possible. Bad press of the kind that a criminally minded blue was capable of generating would be devastating for all of the Guilds, not just the Cadence organization.

  "I'll look into it," Cooper said, reluctant but resigned.

  "Emmett will be your contact. Now that he's no longer officially associated with the Guild, no one in the organization is paying any attention to him. With luck, that includes our blue freak. You two should be able to communicate without arousing any suspicions."

  Emmett London was the former head of the Resonance City Guild. He had held the position for several years, during which he had made great strides toward transforming it into a legitimate, respected, damn near mainstream institution. Satisfied with what he had accomplished, he had stepped down from the position to pursue a career as a business consultant.

  A few months back he had moved to Cadence, met and married Lydia Smith, and settled enthusiastically into domestic life.

  Cooper envied him. Sure, there had been a few problems for Emmett along the way, small details like a couple of dead bodies and a murderous madman who had tried to become a dictator. But those distractions aside, Emmett's life looked very good.

  The Londons' town house was in one of the newly renovated, upscale neighborhoods of the Old Quarter. From where he stood on the deck Cooper could see the dark expanse of a park and the fog-reflected green glow of the Dead City Wall.

  After bringing drinks out to the men a short time earlier and declaring barbecuing to be men's work, Elly and Lydia had disappeared back into the warmly lit town house.

  "Another thing to keep in mind with fish," Emmett said, making more adjustments to the grill's controls, "is that you don't want to go poking and prodding the filets with a spatula after you've got them on the fire. That way lies disaster."

  "I'll try to remember that," Cooper said. "You know, I'm impressed. Never realized you knew how to barbecue."

  "It's a skill you don't pick up until after you get married, settle down, and stop eating out in restaurants."

  "Guess that explains it. I'm still eating in restaurants a lot."

  "Meant to talk to you about that." Emmett moved upwind of the smoke. "You were supposed to be married by now. Had my tux all pressed and ready to wear to the wedding. What the hell happened?"

  "Things got complicated."

  "Women do tend to have that impact on a man's life," Emmett said, looking knowledgeable.

  "I heard that," Lydia said loudly from the doorway.

  She walked out onto the deck carrying a flat, rectangular glass dish that contained the fish. When she passed beneath the lamp, the light gleamed on her red hair.

  Elly trailed a couple of steps behind her, a glass of wine in each hand.

  Emmett smiled winningly at his wife. "But life would sure be boring without a few complications of the female sort," he said. "Isn't that right, Cooper?"

  Cooper caught Elly's eye. She turned away very quickly and got very busy setting one of the wineglasses on the table.

  "Right," he said.

  Lydia smiled approvingly. "Just so you know."

  Emmett gave her a quick, possessive kiss and took the dish from her. Lydia picked up the wineglass that Elly had placed on the table and took a sip.

  "Pay attention, here," Emmett said to Cooper. "In spite of your recent little setback, you may have need of this information someday. I don't give out my grilling secrets to just any visiting hunter who drops in for a free meal."

  "I'm watching every move you make, London," Cooper said.

  Elly looked thoughtful. "You two have known each other a long time, I gather?"

  "Met a few years back when I was running the Resonance City Guild." E
mmett examined the marinated fish with the air of a brain surgeon preparing to operate.

  "Brought him in to handle a little problem we had at the time."

  "Really?" Elly smiled benignly. "Would that have been a problem in your Archives Department, by any chance?"

  "How did you guess?" Emmett said smoothly. "Never knew anyone who could whip an Archives Department into shape faster and with less bad press than Cooper, here." He looked at Cooper, spatula at the ready. "You ready to watch the master at work?"

  "Not sure I'm up to this," Cooper said. "I tend to faint at the sight of blood."

  "You know the old saying, the ghost that doesn't kill you makes you stronger." Emmett used the spatula to convey the fish onto the grill. "So, you got a plan to track down our blue freak?"

  "Not sure you could call it a plan," Cooper said. "More like an extremely thin lead." He reached into the pocket of his shirt and removed the object he had retrieved from the floor near the scene of the blue vortex. He held it up so that they could all see it.

  "Looks like a fancy swizzle stick," Lydia said, taking a closer look at the little plastic sword.

  "It is," Cooper said. "Ever heard of a club called The Road to the Ruins?"

  Lydia looked interested. "That's your lead?"

  Cooper looked at her. "It's all I've got at the moment. What do you know about it?"

  "Well, for starters, The Road is the most exclusive nightclub and casino in town. It's located in the Old Quarter, right up against the wall. It's a private club with a special VIP entrance. If you don't have a pass, you have to stand in a long line with all the lesser beings and hope that the bouncers will eventually let you in. I admit that I can't give you any firsthand observations of the place, because Emmett tends to be extremely straitlaced about some things."

  "I'm a married man," Emmett declared piously. "Married men don't join clubs like The Road to the Ruins unless they're doing deals with underworld figures or having torrid affairs with their best friends' wives."

  "Excuses, excuses." Lydia exchanged a meaningful glance with Elly. "Beware. This is what happens after you get married. All of a sudden they want to stay home every night and grill fish instead of taking you out for a good time."