“What did they do?” Celinda asked.
“The tall, thin one grabbed me. The other one said, ‘Hold her still.’ Then he…he touched me.”
Celinda was horrified. “Intimately?”
Betty looked startled. Then she quickly shook her head. “Oh, no, dear. He just put a hand on my arm and started telling me how everything I had heard and seen was a dream and how I would get a headache if I tried too hard to remember it.”
“Where was his other hand?” Celinda asked. “Was he holding anything in it?”
Betty frowned a little. “No, I don’t think so. Wait. I remember he kept his other hand in the pocket of his raincoat.”
“But it wasn’t raining the other night,” Davis said quietly.
“No, it wasn’t.” Betty’s lips thinned. “I remember thinking it was odd that he was wearing any sort of coat. The night was quite warm.”
“Can you describe the two men you saw?” Davis asked.
“Well, I’m not sure I can give you a very useful description,” Betty said uneasily. “I was a bit distracted at the time.”
Celinda smiled sympathetically. “For a very good reason.”
“The lights were off, of course, so I couldn’t see their faces very clearly,” Betty explained. “The one who held the gun on me wore a cap pulled down very low over his eyes. He was rather twitchy. I remember being terrified that he would pull the trigger by accident.”
“What about the other man?” Davis asked.
Betty pursed her lips. “Tall, but not as tall as the twitchy guy. From what I could tell he was well-built. Very fit and trim. Excellent shoulders. I remember wondering if burglars worked out in fitness clubs.”
“Do you recall anything at all about his features?” Celinda asked.
Betty shook her head. “I’m afraid not. As I said, it was quite dark in here.”
“Anything else about him strike you as distinctive?” Davis said.
Betty hesitated. “Well, there was his voice.”
“What about it?” Celinda asked.
Betty’s forehead crinkled. “He didn’t have a burglar’s voice, although I must admit I’ve never spoken with a burglar before.”
Celinda leaned forward across the counter a little. “What sort of voice did he have?”
“Cultured. Well-bred. Forceful.” Betty thought for a few seconds. “Maybe authoritative is the right word. Like a doctor or a professor. He was obviously a well-educated man. He just didn’t sound like a burglar, if you see what I mean.”
“I understand,” Celinda said.
Betty shook her head, frustrated. “I don’t know why I thought the entire incident was a dream and why I never called the police. It’s…worrisome.”
Celinda dropped the relic back into the cookie jar and replaced the lid. The implications of what Betty had seen and heard made the adrenaline rush through her veins. She knew that Davis had to be thinking the same thing.
“Don’t worry, Mrs. Furnell,” she said. “You’re not going senile. I think that burglar with the well-educated, professorial voice used a form of psychic hypnosis on you to make you think that everything you saw and heard that night was a dream.”
“Hypnosis.” Betty’s eyes widened. “Good heavens.”
“He reinforced the hypnotic suggestion by doing something to your psi senses that induced a headache every time you tried to recall what really happened.”
“I suppose that would explain it,” Betty said slowly. “But how could he hypnotize me so quickly in the dark?”
“Obviously, he has some sort of extremely powerful psi talent,” Celinda said.
Betty looked at Davis, baffled. “I understand now why I didn’t call the police. But why didn’t you call them when you got home?”
Davis assumed his darkly mysterious air. “Because this is Guild business, Mrs. Furnell.”
“Oh, my goodness.” Betty looked thrilled. “You don’t say. How exciting. You’re with the Guild, then?”
“I’m working for Mercer Wyatt,” Davis said.
Betty was satisfied now. “Expect the Guild can handle a couple of burglars.”
“Yes, ma’am,” Davis said.
“I’d better be off, in that case.” Betty got to her feet. “I’m sure you’ve got a lot to do.” She smiled at Celinda. “Thank you so much for that meditation treatment. I feel ever so much better now.”
“What about your milk?” Celinda asked.
“Oh, that’s all right, dear. I’ll pick up some at the store this afternoon.”
Davis had the phone in his hand when Celinda returned from seeing Betty out the door.
“You realize what this means?” he asked her while he rezzed the number.
“Yes,” she said. “There’s a second ruby amber relic, and the man with the professorial voice not only has it, he’s got the talent required to activate it.”
“A talent like yours.”
Chapter 30
THE DOORBELL SOUNDED LESS THAN AN HOUR LATER. Araminta and Max suddenly seemed quite excited. They both bounced a couple of times and then quickly scampered down from the refrigerator.
“I’ll get it,” Davis said. He rose from the counter stool and went into the front hall.
Araminta and Max bobbed enthusiastically at his heels.
Celinda poured herself another cup of coffee and prepared for the showdown with Mercer Wyatt. She’d heard enough of Davis’s side of the phone conversation to know that the Guild boss was not a happy camper.
She listened to Davis greet the newcomer. To her amazement he sounded like he was welcoming an old friend.
“So, Wyatt sent you to do the dirty work,” Davis said. “Come on in.”
Evidently it was not Wyatt who had come to lay down Guild law. According to the press, he and his wife had a mansion on Ruin View Drive. Maybe slumming in this part of town was beneath a man of his exalted station.
Then she heard a woman’s voice, warm and vivacious.
“Hello, Davis. Good to see you again. How are you, Max? And who’s this?”
“That’s Araminta,” Davis said. “She lives here.”
“I hear you’ve got a problem on your hands,” a man said, sounding a little amused.
“Are you all right, Davis?” The woman was concerned.
“I’m fine,” Davis assured her. “But the case has gone to green hell.”
“Got that impression,” the man said. “What’s going on? When he called, Wyatt told me this was supposed to be a simple retrieval operation.”
“Things got complicated,” Davis said. “Come on into the kitchen and have some coffee. There’s someone you need to meet.”
Celinda waited for them behind the counter, instinctively seeking a barricade between herself and the sure-to-be-intimidating representatives of the Guild.
The dark-haired man with the specter-cat eyes and the redheaded woman who accompanied him were not at all what she had expected. The vibes of both were powerful. The man could be ruthless, she thought, but never cruel. He did not look like a typical hunter. His hair was cut short, and he wasn’t dressed in khaki and leather. Instead, he wore a stylish, expensively tailored mix of trousers, jacket, and open-collared shirt. The face of his watch was amber. He could have passed for a pricey business consultant.
The woman had smart, insightful eyes. She wore a conservative, skirted suit and heels. There was something about her that made Celinda think she might have an academic background.
Most reassuring of all was the dust bunny the couple had brought with them. He sported a small yellow bow on top of his head. Max and Araminta had already taken charge of him, leading him straight to the cookie jar on the counter.
“Celinda, this is Lydia and Emmett London,” Davis said. “Emmett’s an old friend of mine. Lydia and Emmett, Celinda Ingram. The bunny with the yellow bow on his head is Fuzz.”
There was a polite round of greetings. Celinda poured coffee for Lydia and Emmett, and they sat down in the living room.
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“All right,” Emmett said, looking at Davis, “I’ve got Wyatt’s version of events. Give me the rest of the story.”
Davis told them everything in short, terse sentences. When he was finished, Emmett contemplated the cookie jar.
“You definitely picked an innovative hiding place,” he said neutrally.
“My theory is that if anyone tries to take the relic out of that cookie jar, Araminta will know about it,” Celinda explained. “For some reason she wants me to have it.”
Lydia nodded thoughtfully. “Dust bunnies clearly have some psychic abilities. My guess is she senses that you can resonate with the relic and, therefore, it ought to belong to you. Probably thinks it’s a toy of some kind.”
“That’s what I concluded,” Celinda agreed.
Lydia raised her coffee cup and looked at Celinda over the rim. There was a wealth of understanding in her expression. “I don’t blame you one bit for not wanting to turn that relic over to the Guild.”
Davis and Emmett exchanged grim looks. Celinda and Lydia ignored them.
“The thing is,” Celinda said, relieved now that she had a supporter, “I think the relic has enormous potential as a medical device for the treatment of psi trauma and, perhaps, other kinds of psychic and psychiatric disorders as well. The Guild isn’t exactly into high-tech medical research.”
“Nope, it sure isn’t,” Lydia agreed. “I’m with you one hundred percent on this. The relic should go to a reputable lab.”
Emmett looked at Davis. “Wyatt isn’t going to relinquish control of the relic. Not if it’s as powerful as you think it is.”
“We’ve been giving the problem some thought,” Davis said. “Got a proposal to make to Wyatt.”
“I’m listening.”
“As far as we can tell, the relic is useless unless it is activated by someone who possesses a psi talent similar to Celinda’s,” Davis said. “Probably a very strong version of that kind of talent.”
“There can’t be a lot of people running around with my particular ability,” Celinda added swiftly. “The lab where I was tested when I was a teen said that they had only seen one other case in a decade, and that person wasn’t nearly as strong.”
“Can I try the thing?” Emmett asked.
Celinda hesitated, and then she got to her feet and went into the kitchen. Araminta, back on top of the refrigerator with Max and Fuzz, watched her take the relic out of the cookie jar but did not try to stop her.
She returned to the living room and put the relic into Emmett’s hand. Araminta muttered ominously, but she did not jump down from the refrigerator.
Emmett gripped the relic firmly. Celinda felt his psi energy pulse strongly. She knew that he was trying to rez the device. Nothing happened.
He shrugged and handed the artifact to Lydia. Again Celinda sensed a powerful rush of psi energy.
“I’m an illusion trap tangler,” Lydia said, turning the relic over in her fingers. “I can sense that there’s some energy coming from this thing, but I can’t do anything with it.”
“The Guild may be able to find someone else who can rez the device,” Celinda said, retrieving the relic. “But I think the odds are good that it won’t be easy. In the meantime, whoever wants to experiment with this thing will need my cooperation.”
Emmett regarded Celinda with a speculative expression. “That situation does appear to give you some bargaining power.”
“Oh, wow,” Lydia said, bubbling with enthusiasm. “We’re going to strong-arm Mercer Wyatt into doing the right thing. This will be fun.”
“Yeah, can’t wait,” Davis said dourly. “Probably be the last business I get from the Guild. Meanwhile, there’s one more thing Wyatt needs to know.”
“What’s that?” Emmett asked.
“We think a second relic has turned up, and it’s in the hands of someone who knows how to use it.”
“Doesn’t sound good,” Emmett said.
“It’s not,” Davis agreed. “But I’ve got a strong lead. I should have some answers later this morning.”
“When you get them, call me,” Emmett said. “I’ll arrange a meeting with Wyatt.”
“One more thing,” Davis said. “What about Benson Landry?”
Emmett’s slow grin was icy cold. “I don’t think you need to worry about him. Wyatt told me this morning that he had been assured that Benson Landry will not interfere again in Cadence Guild business. Seems like Harold Taylor, the boss of the Frequency Guild, isn’t quite as weak and toothless as Landry thinks.”
Celinda frowned. “What, exactly, does that mean?”
Emmett shrugged. “It means that Landry won’t be a problem in the future.”
She turned to Davis, who had the same cold expression on his face. He drank some coffee and said nothing.
Mystified, she looked at Lydia for clarification.
“Don’t ask me.” Lydia waved one hand. “When Guild men go all stony and secretive like this, you can’t do a thing with them.”
Celinda heard the lid of the cookie jar being removed. She looked over her shoulder and saw that Araminta was helping herself to another cookie.
“She’s eating again,” she said to Lydia. “I haven’t had much experience with dust bunnies, but lately Araminta’s appetite has seemed unnaturally strong. Do you know anything about their eating habits?”
“I don’t think it’s her eating habits that you have to worry about,” Lydia said dryly. “More likely her mating habits.”
“Uh-oh,” Celinda said. “I was afraid of that.”
“Fuzz became a father a few months ago. His girlfriend started hanging around a while before that. She nearly ate us out of house and home.”
“Then, one morning, we were presented with a couple of baby dust bunnies,” Emmett said.
“I’ve got pictures.” Lydia reached into her purse, pulled out a wallet, and flipped it open. “Aren’t they the cutest little things?”
Celinda examined the photograph. It showed Fuzz, clearly identifiable by the yellow bow in his fur, and another adult dust bunny. Between them were two tiny balls of gray fluff.
“They’re adorable,” Celinda said. She looked up from the photo. “So, now you’ve got a whole family of dust bunnies?”
“Yes, but I don’t think we’re going to have them for long. The babies are maturing rapidly. Fuzz and his girlfriend take them down into the rain forest almost every day to teach them how to hunt. Got a hunch the kids will be sent off on their own one of these days.”
“They don’t show any sign of bonding with you?” Celinda asked.
Lydia shook her head. “No, and neither does their mother. They tolerate us, but they don’t seem keen on hanging around us. When the little ones are on their own, I think Mom is going to take off, too. Dust bunnies are quite sociable with each other, but I get the impression that they only pair up when a female is ready to mate.”
They all looked at Araminta, who was holding court with Max and Fuzz.
“Ah, the simple life,” Celinda said dryly. “No need for professional marriage consultants and Covenant Weddings.”
“We humans do tend to make things more complicated, that’s for sure,” Lydia agreed.
Chapter 31
DAVIS STUDIED THE ENTRANCE OF THE RUN-DOWN FLOP- house through the windshield of the Phantom.
“I don’t like this,” he said.
“We’ve been over it a dozen times.” Celinda unfastened her seat belt. “I’m involved in this thing. That means I’ve got a right to go in with you. Besides, after I read his psi waves, I might be able to give you some useful information.”
She had a point, he thought.
He got out of the car. Celinda opened her door and joined him on the cracked sidewalk. Trig had followed them in his own car. He eased his battered little Float into a vacant slot, climbed out, and walked across the narrow lane to meet them.
“His room is on the second floor at the back,” Trig said. “I’ll go around to the
alley. That way if he slips out the window or down the fire escape, I’ll be able to grab him.”
“Right,” Davis said.
He took Celinda’s arm and steered her toward the apartment house entrance. The neighborhood was deep in the Old Quarter, only a block from the massive green wall. The Colonial-era buildings loomed darkly, blocking most of the sunlight. It was midmorning, so there was no visible glow coming from the Dead City, but you could feel the psi energy seeping up from underground.
By mutual agreement they had left Max and Araminta at the apartment along with the relic. Davis was fairly certain the artifact was safe with them. No human intruder could move as fast as the bunnies. If Araminta sensed a threat, she would most likely grab the device and run off with it.
Trig disappeared into the narrow passage that separated the apartment house from the building next to it.
The lock on the front door of the building looked as though it had been broken a long time ago. He opened the door and moved into the front hall, Celinda at his heels. The smell was a mix of rotten carpeting, garbage, and mildew.
“Whew.” Celinda wrinkled her nose. “Hard to believe anyone would actually pay rent to live here.”
“Probably better than sleeping in an alley.”
“Not by much.”
They climbed a sagging, creaking staircase and emerged in a narrow, unlit hallway. Number six was at the end of the corridor.
Davis knocked a couple of times. There was no response.
He tried the knob. The door was locked.
“Brinker,” he called. “Open up. We want to talk to you. This is Guild business.”
“Oh, that’s sure to make him come running,” Celinda mumbled.
“You’d be surprised how often it works.”
“Well, it doesn’t seem to be doing the trick this time,” Celinda observed. “I’ll bet he’s halfway out the window by now.”