(Rainshadow, #2) Deception Cove (21 page)

She bent down to collect Houdini. He rumbled as though in warning but he did not try to evade her. He dropped the object he had been playing with. It landed on the concrete floor with a small clink. Alice straightened, Houdini in her arms, and glanced down.

When she saw the object at her feet, everything inside her went cold.

“Oh, crap,” she whispered. “Houdini, where did you find that?”

But of course there was no answer. Nor did she need one. It didn’t matter now. The only thing that mattered was getting Billy and Mark out of the warehouse.

She picked up the object that Houdini had found, straightened, and looked at the boys.

“We’re leaving,” she said. She spoke very quietly. “Come with me. We’ll go out the back door, it’s closer.”

Something in her tone must have gotten through to Mark and Billy. They followed her out the rear door of the warehouse without asking any questions. She breathed a sigh of relief when they were safely outside and hurried them around the corner of the building.

A moment later they were on the sidewalk and no longer alone. Lanterns bobbed in the gathering dusk. They passed several people who were on their way to various places of refuge for the night.

Billy’s parents and Mark’s father appeared out of the fog.

“There you are,” Mrs. Walters said. “I was starting to worry.”

Mr. Snyder glared sternly at Mark, but his relief was palpable. “Didn’t I tell you not to wander off alone?”

“I wasn’t alone,” Mark said quickly. “Billy and I were playing with Houdini. And then Ms. North found us.”

Mrs. Walters looked at Alice, gratitude in her worried eyes. “Thanks for rounding them up.”

“No problem,” Alice said. “Almost time for dinner. I’ll see you at the tavern in a few minutes.”

“Where are you going?” Billy asked.

“To find Drake,” Alice said. “Is he still at the Kane Gallery?”

“No,” Mr. Snyder said. “I saw him a while ago. He was heading down to the police station.”

“Thanks,” Alice said.

With Houdini under one arm, the object he had discovered in her other hand, she hurried along the empty sidewalk. The windows of the unlit shops glittered darkly in the gathering dusk.

Her intuition was screaming at her now. She focused on finding Drake. The first tendrils of the mist wreathed around her like the tentacles of some monstrous sea creature rising from the depths to hunt on the shore.

She did not sense the dark shadow in the narrow alley until Houdini hissed a warning and went into full combat mode. Instinctively she pulled hard on her talent, trying to go invisible and take Houdini with her.

But it was too late. Neither she nor Houdini could move fast enough to evade the chilling radiation from the Alien weapon. Houdini went limp in her arm.

“Houdini,”
she whispered.
“No
.
”

She tried to run but she could not move. Instead the icy psi-light forced her to her knees. Her heart was pounding. Consciousness was slipping away. She managed to put Houdini on the ground. His paws twitched. His hunting eyes were closed but his baby blue eyes were still partially open. She dropped the object in her other hand on the ground next to him.

“Drake.” She did not know if she said the name aloud or not. “Get Drake.”

Drake would come to this place eventually, she thought. He would retrace her steps from the warehouse and find the object. He would understand why it was important.

Egan took no notice of the small object. Perhaps he never even saw it. He was too busy focusing energy through the Alien weapon.

For a terrible moment Alice locked eyes with him. But he was already pocketing the weapon and reaching down to catch hold of her. She tried to scream but she could not manage so much as a whisper.

She plummeted into the abyss. Egan’s hands and the terrible fog closed around her.

“TUCKER’S CONNECTION HERE IN TOWN IS EGAN,” DRAKE
said. He tossed the notes that he and the others had made down onto Myrna’s desk. “None of the other suspects even come close.”

“Crazy Egan?” Myrna frowned at the handwritten notes in front of her. “But that makes no sense.”

“Not so sure about that,” Kirk said, his expression tightening. “When you think about it, he’s the one person who can move around town at any time, day or night, without drawing more than a passing glance. Hell, none of us even sees him after dark because he sleeps in the warehouse.”

“The kids have seen him at night,” Drake said.

Myrna raised her brows. “What do you mean?”

“They’ve been talking about the ghost in the graveyard,” Drake said. “I saw one the other night, too. Pretty sure now that was Egan.”

“Get real,” Kirk said, looking uneasy. “No such thing as ghosts.”

“No, but there are ghost hunters,” Drake said. “Egan is one. He must be the person I saw prowling around the old cemetery last night. I tried to find him, but by the time I got downstairs to the street he had disappeared.”

“Why would he go to the graveyard?” Myrna asked.

“I don’t know,” Drake said. “What can you tell me about him?”

“Nothing that you don’t already know,” Myrna said. “He arrived on the ferry a few days ago with the rest of the Glorious Dawn crowd. According to you, Zara Tucker has been running her operation inside the Preserve for nearly a year. If Egan is her spy and he’s been in Shadow Bay all this time, where’s he been hiding?”

“I don’t know,” Drake said again. “What I can tell you is that Rachel and Charlotte and Fletch and Jasper have taken a close look at every man in Shadow Bay who fits the profile I drew up. Egan is a perfect match.”

“Except that he just arrived on the island,” Kirk pointed out.

“Look, I admit there are a lot of questions that need answering here, but I’m convinced that Egan has the answers,” Drake said. “Whether he knows it or not.”

Kirk frowned. “You think maybe he doesn’t know what he’s doing? Maybe he’s an innocent victim who Tucker is manipulating?”

“Maybe,” Drake said. “Regardless, I need your help. We’ve got to bring him in.”

Kirk and Myrna exchanged brief glances. Drake could see that the decision had been made.

“You got it,” Myrna said. “Not like we have any better ideas.”

Kirk came away from the desk. “Let’s pick him up.”

“What charges?” Jasper asked dryly.

“Hell, I don’t know,” Kirk said. “We’ll call him a person of interest for now.”

Drake glanced out the window, trying to suppress the rising sense of urgency that was eating at him. A moment ago he’d gotten the gut-wrenching feeling that something had happened to Alice, but there was nothing going on out in the street that indicated trouble. He was on edge like everyone else. He had to control his imagination.
Stick to the facts
,
Sebastian.

The fog was coming in earlier that afternoon and people were reacting accordingly. The amber lanterns in windows and over doorways had been lit even though it was not yet dark. Parents had already hauled kids off the swings in the small park. The softball game had ended. In the town square the door of the library opened. Those who had spent most of the day inside trooped out.

Everyone headed toward the B&Bs or the Marina Inn. By now Alice would be fully occupied with the evening dinner rush. She was safe indoors. So why was his intuition waving red flags of warning?

Because something bad had happened, of course.
When you were born with a psychic talent, you learned to pay attention to your intuition
.
He headed for the door.

“Where are you going?” Rachel asked.

“I need to find Alice,” he said.

“She’ll be at the tavern,” Jasper called after him.

Drake ignored him and went out onto the front porch of the station. He jacked up his senses a little, looking deeper into the gathering shadows. One of the shadows, a small one with four eyes, rushed toward him down the middle of the empty street.

Houdini’s fur was plastered against his small frame. He was running on his four hind legs and clutching a small object in one front paw. Drake’s blood turned to ice.

“Houdini.” Drake went down the steps and crouched on the pavement. “What’s wrong?”

Houdini vaulted up onto his shoulder, yammering madly. He waved the object in his paw. Drake rose and took the object.

The door of the police station slammed open. Jasper and Fletcher emerged and Myrna and Kirk followed.

“What is it?” Fletcher asked.

Charlotte came down the steps, peering through the gloom. “Looks like eye makeup.” She took the flat plastic box and looked at the label. “It’s not a standard cosmetic counter brand. This is stage makeup, the kind actors wear.”

Drake looked at Houdini. “Where did you find this?”

Houdini rumbled in agitation.

“I saw Houdini playing with some kids a short time ago,” Kirk said. “Maybe they can tell us where he found the stage makeup. The families will all be down at the tavern by now.”

* * * 

TEN MINUTES LATER DRAKE STOOD IN THE GLOOM-
filled warehouse, looking at Egan’s ragged bedroll and the “Prepare for the Glorious Dawn” sign. He found the rest of the stage makeup and some fake eyebrows stashed in a nearby crate.

“He’s got her, doesn’t he?” Jasper asked.

Houdini growled.

“We’ll find her,” Drake said.

Fletcher was grim-faced. “How are we going to do that?”

Drake looked at Houdini. “Time to play hide-and-seek for real, pal. Find Alice.”

Houdini needed no second urging. He took off at a run. Drake followed, Jasper and Fletcher on his heels.

“Where’s he going?” Jasper asked. “I can’t see more than ten feet in this fog and the stuff is getting worse.”

“He’s heading for the graveyard,” Drake said.

ALICE CAME AWAKE ON A SURGE OF PANICKY ENERGY AND
the sound of a low, moaning litany infused with resigned despair.

“Oh, shit, oh, shit, oh, shit
.
”

The voice was male, she decided.

She realized she was lying on what felt like a very hard cot. She opened her eyes and discovered that she was on her back looking up at a green quartz ceiling that glowed with the unmistakable radiance of Alien psi. The ambient, senses-ruffling currents of energy in the atmosphere confirmed that she was in a chamber that could only have been built by the ancients.

For a few tense seconds she listened for Houdini’s reassuring chortle. But all she got was the bleak, toneless litany.

“Shit, shit, shit
.
”

She sat up slowly and looked around. It came as no surprise to discover that there were no windows. The Aliens had avoided sunlight and fresh air as if both were poison. There was a door that was a heavy, manmade mag-steel gate fitted with prison-style bars. It was mounted on steel rails at the bottom and top so that it could be slid aside. Through the bars she could see a portion of a glowing green hallway.

She was not alone in the Chamber. A young man was huddled in the corner. He was visibly pulled in on himself, his arms locked around his knees. He rocked numbly. His long sandy-brown hair was dirty and unkempt. There was dull fear in his eyes, as if he had seen one too many ghosts. Alice was quite certain that he had not eaten or slept well in a long time.

“You must be Pete,” she said.

He stopped rocking. His eyes widened. “I’m officially whacked now, aren’t I? Flat-out crazy.”

“I doubt it.” She waved a hand to indicate their surroundings. “But I can certainly understand why you might think so. Living in this place would make anyone a little nuts. Karen Rosser told us that Tucker had probably sent you into the Chamber a few more times since you helped her escape. She says it’s a real nightmare trip.”

Disbelief flashed in Pete’s eyes. It was followed by a faint glimmer of hope.

“You saw Karen?” he whispered. “She’s okay? She made it to Shadow Bay?”

“She’s fine. We found her in Deception Cove. She’s safe in Shadow Bay now.”

“You’re for real?” Pete came out of his huddled position and got slowly to his feet. “You’re not a ghost?”

“What makes you think I’m a ghost?”

“You’ve been asleep ever since they brought you in here. I was waiting for you to wake up. But a minute ago you sort of disappeared and then you reappeared. I figured I was hallucinating.”

“Oh, yeah, the disappearing thing,” Alice said. “Sorry about that. Instinct, I guess. I woke up in a bit of a panic. I’m a light-talent, like you and Karen. But you know how it is with talent. No two people get the same version. Mine is only good for vanishing temporarily.”

“I’d give a lot to be able to disappear from this place, believe me. You’re sure Karen is okay?”

“You have my word, she’s safe. I can also assure you that no matter what you’ve been told, Zara Tucker’s operation is not an authorized Foundation excavation. But Foundation Security—the real deal—is here on the island. Just a matter of time before help arrives.”

She infused her words with all the confidence she could muster. But Pete wasn’t buying the act.

“If Foundation Security is on Rainshadow, what are you doing here?” he asked.

She winced. “That’s a little harder to explain. I managed to get myself kidnapped by a cult guy named Egan. Everyone in Shadow Bay believed he was harmless. Evidently we were wrong. He’s working with Dr. Tucker, isn’t he?”

“I don’t know anyone named Egan, but the witch does have one security guy left. The others bailed a while ago but the last one stuck around. He’s crazy about Tucker. I mean literally crazy about her.”

“Any idea why Tucker had Egan kidnap me?”

“You said you’re a light-talent, right?”

“Right.”

Pete grimaced. “She needs light-talents to go into that damned Chamber. I’m not strong enough to find the Keys. Neither was Karen. Maybe Tucker thinks you can do it. She’s desperate.”

Crisp footsteps echoed in the hallway. A woman appeared on the other side of the barred door. She was dainty and delicate, with fine bones and exquisite features. Her big blue eyes were shielded by a pair of very serious black-framed glasses that somehow made her appear absolutely adorable. Her blonde hair was pinned in a severe knot at the back of her head. She wore a camp shirt embroidered with the Sebastian, Inc. logo as well as khaki trousers and boots. The swashbuckling jungle gear only served to enhance her adorableness. She held a clipboard and a leather-bound volume in one hand.

“Let me take a wild guess here,” Alice said. “Dr. Zara Tucker, Professional Mad Scientist, I presume.”

The woman blinked, frowning ever so slightly as if she had not expected quite that reaction. Her expression smoothed out almost immediately.
Probably afraid of getting frown lines,
Alice thought.

“I’m Dr. Tucker and I assure you I’m not mad,” Zara said calmly. “I expect that Drake Sebastian has been feeding you that line. He’s the one who is unbalanced. His para-psych profile has been terribly unstable ever since the accident.”

“It wasn’t an accident. You attacked him with an Alien weapon.”

“Is that what he told you?” Zara sighed. “Well, I’m not surprised. He was furious because I wanted to end our relationship. He threatened to kill me. I had to defend myself. We were in one of the artifact labs when the argument occurred. I grabbed the laser device and fired it in self-defense.”

“Geez,” Alice said. “You’re not just a mad scientist, you’re also a pathological liar, aren’t you? Wow, talk about a warped para-psych profile. You’d make a terrific case study for the shrinks. And by the way, I’ll bet that’s my great-grandfather’s diary. It belongs to me.”

Something that looked a lot like rage burned in Zara’s eyes. But she got control of it quickly.

“I don’t have time for this,” she said. “The reason you are here is because there is a possibility that you are my ticket off this damn island.”

Alice got to her feet. “How am I supposed to get you off Rainshadow? I can’t even drive a boat. Not that anyone is going to be leaving by boat until that fog clears.”

“According to my calculations, the fog will clear as soon as the two crystals are removed from the Chamber.” Zara’s fine brows puckered briefly in another barely there frown. “I am convinced now that the problems began when the oscillation pattern became unstable. The effect was so subtle at first that the instruments missed it. The crystals did ignite the forces inside the Chamber, as your great-grandfather theorized in this diary, but the currents became unstable.”

“Blah, blah, blah,” Alice said. “In other words, you screwed up. Mad scientists do that a lot. Ever hear about a guy named Dr. Frankenstein?”

Once again Zara’s eyes went hot with fury. Like the tiny frown lines, however, the fierce emotions were quickly veiled.

“You’re a real bitch, aren’t you?” Zara smiled. “And a not very bright bitch at that. For your information, that damn fog and everything else that has gone wrong here on Rainshadow is your fault.”

“How do you figure that?”

“You were supposed to marry Fulton Whitcomb, you stupid woman. Not just an MC, a full Covenant Marriage.”

“After which I was scheduled to suffer a lethal accident, leaving my Rainshadow inheritance to Fulton, right?”

“That was the original plan. Aldwin and I needed Whitcomb from the start because he was the one who had the kind of money it takes to underwrite a full-scale excavation of an Alien ruin. We also assumed that, with his looks and his social status, he would have no problem convincing you to marry him. Instead, you only agreed to an MC.”

“Lucky me, marrying up like that.”

“Still, he was sure he could get you pregnant and force you into a Covenant Marriage. Instead, the day you found those crystals, you told him you wanted a divorce. From then on, things kept going wrong.”

“Why did you murder Fulton? He returned from Rainshadow with the three crystals and you said you needed his money. Why get rid of him?”

“Whitcomb decided he didn’t need us any longer. He was planning to go to the Sebastians and offer to tell them what I had discovered on Rainshadow if they would agree to let him conduct the excavation. All Fulton cared about was having his name attached to the project.”

“So you killed him.”

“I didn’t kill him. The head of my security team took care of that aspect of things. No choice really. For a time everything was put on hold. But Aldwin managed to get enough money out of Ethel Whitcomb to finance my work. She thinks she’s building a new wing on her precious museum.”

“But the money has been going into your project here on Rainshadow,” Alice said.

“Unfortunately, I haven’t had the budget I needed to hire the kind of professionals I wanted, the kind I deserve to work with. I was forced to make do with low-rent talents like Pete, here, and Karen Rosser.”

“To summarize, you’ve been running an illegal, off-the-books operation here on Rainshadow and you’ve screwed it up so much the whole island is about to blow.” Alice nodded. “Nice work, Dr. Tucker. This should certainly earn you a place in the journals of para-archaeology, not to mention a nice long vacation in prison, assuming you survive.”

“Shut up.” Zara’s eyes were chips of ice. “You have no idea what you’re talking about.”

“Then let’s cut to the chase. How am I supposed to rescue you?”

“You’re a light-talent, a strong one, evidently. We didn’t know just how strong you were back at the start.” Dr. Tucker clicked her teeth in mild disapproval. “You certainly kept your ability to bend light a secret from Fulton and the rest of us. I didn’t believe you were anything but a run-of-the-mill talent until you started doing your little magic tricks for the kids in Shadow Bay.”

Alice smiled.

Zara raised her brows. “No, you won’t try that magic act with me. For one thing, although I know that you can go invisible, it’s just a trick of the light. You certainly can’t walk through walls or the door of this cell. And just to make sure you don’t try anything clever, you will be handcuffed to Pete, who will be closely guarded by the head of my security team.”

“You are no doubt referring to your last remaining thug-for-hire,” Alice said. “That would be Egan.”

“Egan Quinton,” Zara said. “He has proved to be an extremely useful and versatile employee.”

“Okay, so I can’t escape. What do you expect me to accomplish?”

Zara’s hands clenched around the clipboard and the diary. Her eyes narrowed. “You are going to go into that overheated Chamber and retrieve the two crystals. Once they’re out, I’m certain that the Chamber will cool down. When the energy levels start to fall, the fog will recede and I will be able to get off the island.”

“What makes you think I can get the crystals out of the Chamber?”

“Only a light-talent can enter that Chamber now. But it’s going to take one with a lot of power to find the crystals and bring them out. Let’s hope you’re stronger than Pete or Ms. Rosser.”

“And if I refuse to give it a whirl?”

“In that case, Egan will start killing people in Shadow Bay. One by one.” Zara glanced at Pete. “But we’ll let him start with Pete so that you can be certain that I mean business. Egan?”

There were more footsteps in the glowing hall, heavy boots this time. Egan Quinton appeared on the other side of the steel bars. He was no longer in costume and he had removed his makeup. Minus the scraggly, long-haired wig, heavy eyebrows, and the facial prosthetics that had altered the lines of his face, he looked remarkably ordinary; remarkably unremarkable.

“How’s that enlightenment thing working out for you, Egan?” Alice asked. “Any insights into Zara, here?”

Egan gave her a brief, irritated look and then fixed his ghost-gaze on Pete.

“Want me to do him now?” he asked. There was no trace of emotion in the question. He might as well have been asking Zara if she wanted him to take out the trash.

Zara removed her geeky glasses. “That depends on Alice. It’s her decision.”

Pete watched Egan the way a small creature watches a cobra. “Please, don’t.”

Egan reached into his jacket and pulled out the Alien weapon he had used on Alice and Houdini.

“At full power it causes the heart to stop,” he explained.

“Forget it,” Alice said. “I’ll try to get those crystals for you but only if you leave Pete alone.”

Zara gave her an approving smile. “Excellent. I assure you, I have no wish to kill Pete or anyone else. I would prefer not to waste the time or the energy in the weapon. No telling how long it will last. My only goal now is to get off Rainshadow and disappear.”

“Probably a good idea,” Alice said. “Because it won’t be long before the Sebastians come looking for you.”

“I vanished once, quite successfully. I can do it again.” Zara turned away from the cell gate. “Egan, bring them both to the Chamber. Time is running out.”