Illusion Town
Page 1
Praise for the novels of New York Times bestselling author Jayne Castle . . .
“This highly talented author never disappoints readers. I am always looking forward to her next novel.”
—Fresh Fiction
“Inventive and brimming with whimsy, this pleasing escapade gives sexy new meaning to the term ‘fire and ice’ and carves another brilliant facet in Castle’s mesmerizing futuristic world. Great fun!”
—Library Journal
“Definitely hot in more ways than one. The world and characterization continue to expand and evolve in the most delicious of ways.”
—Smexy Books
“The intensity a Castle hero projects toward [his] woman is what makes these books for me. It is why I keep coming back for more.”
—Fiction Vixen
“Castle is well-known for her playful love stories, and this futuristic tale of romantic suspense runs delightfully true to form . . . An appealing, effervescent romance mildly spiced with paranormal fun, this novel won’t disappoint.”
—Publishers Weekly
. . . and Jayne Ann Krentz
“Good fun.”
—Cosmopolitan
“Entertaining.”
—People
“Fast-moving . . . Entertaining . . . Highly successful.”
—The Seattle Times
“Fast-paced . . . Interesting characters . . . A good time is had by the reader.”
—Chicago Tribune
“Along with Nora Roberts, Krentz is one of the most reliably satisfying romance writers publishing.”
—Sunday Times (CA)
“Jayne Ann Krentz is one of the hottest writers around.”
—Albuquerque Journal
Titles by Jayne Ann Krentz writing as Jayne Castle
ILLUSION TOWN
SIREN’S CALL
THE HOT ZONE
DECEPTION COVE
THE LOST NIGHT
CANYONS OF NIGHT
MIDNIGHT CRYSTAL
OBSIDIAN PREY
DARK LIGHT
SILVER MASTER
GHOST HUNTER
AFTER GLOW
HARMONY
AFTER DARK
AMARYLLIS
ZINNIA
ORCHID
The Guinevere Jones Titles
Desperate and Deceptive
The Guinevere Jones Collection, Volume 1
THE DESPERATE GAME
THE CHILLING DECEPTION
Sinister and Fatal
The Guinevere Jones Collection, Volume 2
THE SINISTER TOUCH
THE FATAL FORTUNE
Titles by Jayne Ann Krentz writing as Amanda Quick
’TIL DEATH DO US PART
GARDEN OF LIES
OTHERWISE ENGAGED
THE MYSTERY WOMAN
CRYSTAL GARDENS
QUICKSILVER
BURNING LAMP
THE PERFECT POISON
THE THIRD CIRCLE
THE RIVER KNOWS
SECOND SIGHT
LIE BY MOONLIGHT
THE PAID COMPANION
WAIT UNTIL MIDNIGHT
LATE FOR THE WEDDING
DON’T LOOK BACK
SLIGHTLY SHADY
WICKED WIDOW
I THEE WED
WITH THIS RING
AFFAIR
MISCHIEF
MYSTIQUE
MISTRESS
DECEPTION
DESIRE
DANGEROUS
RECKLESS
RAVISHED
RENDEZVOUS
SCANDAL
SURRENDER
SEDUCTION
Other titles by Jayne Ann Krentz
SECRET SISTERS
TRUST NO ONE
RIVER ROAD
DREAM EYES
COPPER BEACH
IN TOO DEEP
FIRED UP
RUNNING HOT
SIZZLE AND BURN
WHITE LIES
ALL NIGHT LONG
FALLING AWAKE
TRUTH OR DARE
LIGHT IN SHADOW
SUMMER IN ECLIPSE BAY
TOGETHER IN ECLIPSE BAY
SMOKE IN MIRRORS
LOST & FOUND
DAWN IN ECLIPSE BAY
SOFT FOCUS
ECLIPSE BAY
EYE OF THE BEHOLDER
FLASH
SHARP EDGES
DEEP WATERS
ABSOLUTELY, POSITIVELY
TRUST ME
GRAND PASSION
HIDDEN TALENTS
WILDEST HEARTS
FAMILY MAN
PERFECT PARTNERS
SWEET FORTUNE
SILVER LININGS
THE GOLDEN CHANCE
Specials
THE SCARGILL COVE CASE FILES
BRIDAL JITTERS
(writing as Jayne Castle)
Anthologies
CHARMED
(with Julie Beard, Lori Foster, and Eileen Wilks)
Titles written by Jayne Ann Krentz and Jayne Castle
NO GOING BACK
An imprint of Penguin Random House LLC
375 Hudson Street, New York, New York 10014
ILLUSION TOWN
A Jove Book / published by arrangement with the author
Copyright © 2016 by Jayne Ann Krentz.
Penguin supports copyright. Copyright fuels creativity, encourages diverse voices, promotes free speech, and creates a vibrant culture. Thank you for buying an authorized edition of this book and for complying with copyright laws by not reproducing, scanning, or distributing any part of it in any form without permission. You are supporting writers and allowing Penguin to continue to publish books for every reader.
JOVE® is a registered trademark of Penguin Random House LLC.
The “J” design is a trademark of Penguin Random House LLC.
For more information, visit penguin.com.
eBook ISBN: 9780698187429
PUBLISHING HISTORY
Jove mass-market edition / August 2016
Cover art by Craig White / Lott Reps.
Cover design by George Long.
This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents either are the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously, and any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, business establishments, events, or locales is entirely coincidental.
Version_1
This one’s for Virgil: Tell Arizona Snow I said hello.
Contents
Praise for the novels of Jayne Castle and Jayne Ann Krentz
Titles by Jayne Ann Krentz
Title Page
Copyright
Dedication
A Note from Jayne
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
Chapter 8
Chapter 9
Chapter 10
Chapter 11
Chapter 12
Chapter 13
Chapter 14
Chapter 15
Chapter 16
Chapter 17
Chapter 18
Chapter 19
Chapter 20
Chapter 21
Chapter 22
Chapter 24
Chapter 25
Chapter 26
Chapter 27
Chapter 28
Chapter 29
Chapter 30
Chapter 31
Chapter 32
Chapter 33
Chapter 34
Chapter 35
Chapter 36
Chapter 37
Chapter 38
Chapter 39
About the Author
A Note from Jayne
Welcome back to my Jayne Castle world—Harmony. A new adventure begins in Illusion Town. This is Las Vegas on Harmony but way more weird. The local slogan says it all: The thrills are real.
Turns out the town sits right on top of the latest Underworld discovery, the mysterious ruins known as the Ghost City. The Coppersmith Mining Company won the contract to open up the potentially lucrative new territory. They’ve set up headquarters just outside of Illusion Town. Coppersmith outbid the competition to get the rights but could be looking at a bad case of buyer’s remorse. This is Harmony, after all.
There are Alien mysteries and dangers lurking around every corner, both aboveground and in the Underworld, but, as usual, the real trouble is caused by humans.
Chapter 1
TO: E. Coppersmith
SUBJECT: It’s late
FROM: Finder
You’re up late again. More problems with the Ghost City project?
Sincerely,
Finder
TO: Finder
SUBJECT: It’s very late
FROM: E. Coppersmith
The Ghost City project is presenting the usual challenges, most of which fall into one of the following two categories: SNAFU and FUBAR. (Sorry for using technical terms.) And it looks like I’m not the only one who is up late. It’s one o’clock in the morning. Am I interrupting anything?
Sincerely,
E. Coppersmith
TO: E. Coppersmith
SUBJECT: Nope
FROM: Finder
You’re not interrupting anything. A dream woke me up. I decided to do some work online. What’s your excuse?
Sincerely,
Finder
TO: Finder
SUBJECT: Your dreams
FROM: E. Coppersmith
Working here, too. I’d like to talk to you about your dreams. And I’d like to do that in person. Will you have dinner with me tomorrow night?
Sincerely,
E. Coppersmith
TO: E. Coppersmith
SUBJECT: Dinner
FROM: Finder
Thank you for the invitation to dinner. It is a very nice gesture but entirely unnecessary. I am glad that I was able to find your heirloom ring. You paid my fees. You don’t owe me anything else. Really.
Sincerely,
Finder
TO: Finder
SUBJECT: It’s not about the ring
FROM: E. Coppersmith
I’m an engineer. I do not make very nice but entirely unnecessary gestures. I am no longer a client. This is personal. I would like to take you to dinner.
Sincerely, but not nicely,
E. Coppersmith
TO: E. Coppersmith
SUBJECT: Bad dates
FROM: Finder
I have found that dates with clients generally don’t end well. Sooner or later it turns out that the client wants an off-the-books favor.
Cautiously,
Finder
TO: Finder
SUBJECT: What the hell?
FROM: E. Coppersmith
This isn’t about the damn ring. I told you, I’m no longer a client. Off-the-books?
Curiously,
E. Coppersmith
TO: E. Coppersmith
SUBJECT: Bad dates
FROM: Finder
Off-the-books, as in finding antiquities on the black market or missing-persons work. I never do the former and I try really, really hard to avoid the latter. Never ends well. Like dating clients.
Clarifying,
Finder
TO: Finder
SUBJECT: Just dinner
FROM: E. Coppersmith
I do my own black-market searches, and no one I know has gone missing. I just want to take you out to dinner tomorrow night.
Sincerely not a client,
E. Coppersmith
TO: E. Coppersmith
SUBJECT: Just dinner
FROM: Finder
Thank you. I would like to have dinner with you. My address is 15 Midnight Lane, Dark Zone, Illusion Town. I live in an apartment above my shop, Visions. Finding a specific address in this zone can be tricky. GPS and the mapping programs don’t work well. I can meet you at the restaurant, if that would be easier.
Sincerely,
Hannah
TO: Finder
SUBJECT: I’ll find you
FROM: E. Coppersmith
I’m an engineer. I’ll figure it out.
Good night,
Elias
The Coppersmith Mining headquarters of the Ghost City project was located several miles outside Illusion Town. The narrow two-lane highway cut through empty desert for the entire distance. Roadside signs promising flashy casinos, high-payout slot machines, and sexy shows appeared every couple of miles.
At the posted speed limit the drive took about forty minutes. A man behind the wheel of a Cadence could cover the distance in half an hour. A man driving a Cadence who was looking forward to an evening with an intriguing woman could do it in twenty-five minutes.
Elias Coppersmith was driving a hot, enhanced Cadence and he was making very, very good time because he was looking forward to meeting Hannah West in person.
For the first few weeks of their online connection he had known her only as the Finder. She specialized in locating missing, lost, or stolen antiquities in the murky underground world where secretive collectors bought and sold powerful relics and crystals. She dealt in hot crystals and he was a crystal engineer. He figured they had a few things in common.
When he contacted her two months ago, he hadn’t expected much. She was just one in a long line of experts he had consulted. But she had located the long-lost Coppersmith family heirloom within days. He had known then that she possessed some very powerful psychic abilities. It hadn’t taken him long to figure out that she was a dreamlight talent.
Dreamlights were not uncommon. After all, everyone dreamed and, to some extent, everyone possessed some psychic ability. But most dreamlight psychics ranked at the lower end of the paranormal scale.
Powerful dreamlight talents were scarce and he was pretty sure he knew why. Para-psych researchers were convinced that strong dreamlights possessed unstable, fragile para-psych profiles.
Given the general consensus of the research community it seemed perfectly reasonable that very strong dreamlights would keep the extent of their abilities to themselves. No one wanted to be labeled unstable or fragile.
He knew a lot about keeping paranormal secrets. His family had kept a few for generations.
The online connection with Hannah had evolved quickly from a business relationship into something that he hoped was about to become much more personal.
Night fell fast in the desert. The glittering lights of the opulent casinos and hotels of Illusion Town had just come into view when Elias got the call. He would have ignored it but it was coming in on the frequency reserved for emergencies.
By the time the call from headquarters ended he knew that all of his carefully laid plans for the evening had just gone up in smoke.
So much for assuring Hannah West that their relationship was no longer a business affair.
Another sign came up in his headlights.
WELCOME TO ILLUSION TOWN.
THE THRILLS ARE REAL.
Chapter 2
The dream walk started the way it always did . . .
She rose from the bed and stopped to look down at herself. Over the years she had become familiar with the weirdness of an out-of-body experience but it always sent a psychic shock across her senses. She had been dream-walking since the age of thirteen, yet the sensation of being in two places at the same time was still disorienting, at least in those first few seconds. She was both the dreamer and the doppelgänger—her very own double.
The dreamer was curled on her side, asleep on top of the cheap, faded bedspread. The doppelgänger was relieved to see that she was still wearing the new, pricey little red dress that she had saved for a special occasion. The skirt of the dress was hiked up high on her thigh but at least she wasn’t flashing the room. Her high-heeled evening sandals were on the floor beside the bed.
The crystal necklace that she had worn earlier in the evening was gone.
“Not good,” the doppelgänger said in the silent language of dreams.
“I know,” the dreamer replied in the same soundless whisper. “Need to find it.”
“Finding things is what we do.”
“Careful with the ‘we,’ pal. Remember, ‘we’ were recently diagnosed as having a para-psych personality disorder. Our goal is to try to pass for normal.”
“Grady Barnett is a lying, cheating bastard. We aren’t going to pay any attention to his diagnosis.”
“Yeah, yeah. Speaking of finding things, let’s try to stay focused here.”
“Right.”
The light filtering in around the blinds was a familiar eerie green.
“We’re near the Dead City ruins,” the doppelgänger said. “Probably better than being stranded somewhere in the desert.”
“That’s right. Think positive.”
The doppelgänger surveyed the shadowed space, searching for something that was important. She was dream-walking so there had to be a reason. There was always a reason for a lucid dream.