The Lost Night (7 page)

They called him the Merchant on the streets of Frequency City. He specialized in the high-end black market. It was said that, for a price, he could get you anything you wanted.

At that moment, however, he
could not get what he wanted most for himself. Time was running out. Everything had gone wrong. The frustration and rage were building.

He picked up the sledgehammer and slammed it against the frozen waterfall. Aside from the jarring jolt to his shoulder, nothing happened. The blow did not take so much as a chip out of the door of the big crystal vault.

“Shit.”

Frustration and fury roared through him. He dropped the hammer and stared into the transparent chamber. He was so damn close.

The crystal vault extended
from one side of the cavern wall to the opposite side and from the floor to the ceiling. It blocked the entire passage. Cascades of solid rainstone sealed both ends.

He could see the treasures inside—the artifacts of ancient Alien technology were worth a fortune on the black market. But nothing he had tried could smash through the doors of the chamber. The crystal walls had proved equally impenetrable. The transparent stone was as hard as the green quartz that the Aliens had used to build their cities and the catacombs. Nothing made by humans could put a dent in it.

He made a fist and pounded it against the rainstone. He only did it once.

“
Shit.
”

Grimacing from the pain, he turned and went back through the psi-lit cavern and into the crystal tunnel through the artificial sea.

The sea monsters that swam and crawled through the depths watched him with their cold, unblinking eyes. Their tentacles writhed and their fins rippled in the currents. The Merchant ignored them.

There was only one person who had the talent to open the vault doors. Things had gone wrong the last time, but Rachel Blake was once again back within reach. Unfortunately, there was a new twist. Harry Sebastian, the man in charge of security inside the Preserve, was now on the island. It was no secret in town that he was conducting a full-scale investigation.

But that was not the worst of it. The real problem was that Sebastian had obviously sensed that Rachel was the key. He had closed in on her with a hunter’s intuition almost immediately after he had arrived.

The Merchant’s frustration
threatened to swamp his logic. He forced himself to step back emotionally and think like the smart guy he was. One thing was clear: To get to Rachel, he would first have to get rid of Harry Sebastian.

The bell over the door of Shadow Bay Books jangled brightly. Charlotte Enright, the proprietor of Looking Glass Antiques, entered. Rex, Slade’s dust bunny companion, was on her shoulder. Rex had his favorite object, a small, elegant, and very expensive antique clutch purse in one of his six paws. He chortled excitedly at the sight of Darwina and bounded down to the floor.

He scooted across the bookshop
and into the café at the rear. Darwina waited for him on the windowsill, and he hopped up to join her. She graciously gave him part of the day-old cookie that she had been munching. They murmured to each other.

Although Rachel had unlocked the front door of the shop, the Closed sign still hung in the window. The official opening time was nine. It was only eight thirty. Jilly Finch, Rachel’s part-time assistant, had not yet arrived. Rachel and Charlotte and the dust bunnies had the premises to themselves.

“Young love in bloom, do you think?” Charlotte asked. She nodded toward Rex and Darwina.

“Or a hot fling,” Rachel said. She went behind the counter to pour some tea. “Hard to say with dust bunnies.”

“Or humans, at least at the beginning,” Charlotte said. “Takes a while to figure out what’s really driving a relationship at first, doesn’t it?”

Amusement and friendly commiseration
gleamed in her hazel eyes. Rachel gave her a rueful smile. They had met and become “summer friends” in their teens. Their families had vacationed on the island and they each had aunts who had been local residents.

After graduating high school, however, life had taken them in different directions. Charlotte had gone to college and eventually pursued a career as a dealer in paranormal antiques. Rachel had studied crystal healing at the Harmonic Enlightenment Academy and moved on to practice at the Enlightenment Institute until she had decided to try to find a place for herself in the mainstream world.

Now they were both back on Rainshadow and it was as if their friendship had been in hibernation during the time they were apart. It had blossomed immediately when their winding paths had brought them back to the island.

“No need to be subtle.” Rachel put two cups of tea on the counter. “I’m well aware that the news that Harry spent the night at my place is the chief topic of conversation in town this morning. I fed him breakfast and kicked him out of the house as soon as I could, but Hank Levenson, the fish guy, drove past just as Harry was pulling out of my driveway in that big SUV of his.”

“Hard to disguise
that vehicle. Everyone in town knows it belongs to Harry.”

“So true.”

“How did he end up at your place?” Charlotte asked.

“He went into town for dinner. When the storm hit, he decided to turn around but there was a tree down on the road. At least that’s the story I was given.”

“Do you doubt it?”

“Let’s just say that I’m sure there probably is a tree down on the road to the old gatekeeper’s cabin. Whether or not the road was impassable is an open question.”

Charlotte smiled. “Meaning?”

“Meaning that if Harry did give me a story, he would have made certain that it would hold up under scrutiny.”

“Well, for what it’s worth, Slade says there are several trees down on various roads.”

“Okay.”

“And to be fair, if he couldn’t get back to the cabin, it’s not like Harry would have had a lot of options,” Charlotte said. “Your place was the closest.”

“Uh-huh.”

“I can tell that you are not entirely convinced.”

“Huh-uh.”

Charlotte smiled. “That was a really bad storm.”

Rachel folded her arms on the counter. “I thought about posting a banner outside the shop window today that reads
NOTHING HAPPENED LAST NIGHT
but I decided it would be a total waste of time and energy. Also, not entirely honest.”

“Oh, wow.” Charlotte’s eyes widened behind the lenses of her stylish glasses. “Something
did
happen?”

“Yes, but don’t get too excited.
I fed him leftover lasagna and then he more or less blackmailed me into helping him investigate what is going on inside the Preserve.”

“
Blackmail?
” Charlotte straightened, incensed.

“I know what you mean.” Rachel made a tut-tutting sound with her teeth and tongue. “What is the modern dating scene coming to?”

“Wait until I talk to Slade.”

“Thanks, but don’t bother. I exaggerated somewhat. It would be more accurate to say I was pressured into agreeing to assist with the investigation. And it’s too late to back out now. I’ve already committed myself.”

“But why? How?” Charlotte frowned. “And what in the world could Sebastian possibly use to pressure you?”

“The entire town of Shadow Bay, for starters.”

“Excuse me?”

“Here’s the problem,” Rachel said. “Harry thinks someone in town is responsible for what is going on in the Preserve. If I don’t use my talent to help him narrow the field of suspects, he’ll handle the investigation his way and most likely order an evacuation.”

“Oh, crap. Slade said something about a possible evacuation but I didn’t think it would come to that.” Charlotte paused, frowning. “I doubt if it would work. You know folks on this island. A lot of them would simply ignore or defy an order to leave. They would conclude that it was some sort of conspiracy to seize their property or expose their secrets or something. There are a bunch of people on Rainshadow who have reasons to keep their pasts buried.”

“I did warn Harry but
he thinks that whatever is going on in the Preserve is potentially quite dangerous.”

“So you’ve agreed to help him.”

“Yes, but mostly because I think he’s flat-out wrong.”

“About the situation in the Preserve becoming dangerous?” Charlotte shook her head. “Slade agrees with him. I’ve been inside the fence and I can tell you that there is a lot of ambient psi in the Preserve.”

“I didn’t mean that I think Harry is wrong about the trouble in the Preserve. I meant that I think he’s wrong about one of the locals being responsible. Most of the residents have been here for years. Why would the trouble start now if one of them was involved? Why not a long time ago?”

Charlotte cleared her throat discreetly. “Not all of us have been living on the island for a long time. Take me, for instance. And Slade. We both moved here recently.”

Rachel winced. “Same with me. But we’re the exceptions. Regardless, I think it’s best that I keep an eye on Harry Sebastian. I know most of the locals and I understand them. I’ll try to keep Harry from leaping to the wrong conclusions.”

“I agree. And you won’t be on your own for long. Slade and I will be back in a week—sooner if necessary. You know Slade. He’ll stay in close contact while we’re doing the meet-the-relatives routine in Frequency City. He takes his responsibility as police chief here very, very seriously.”

Rachel smiled. “I know.”

“If there’s any trouble, he can be back here within a few hours.”

“Reassuring,” Rachel said.

“So that’s what didn’t happen
last night, hmm?” Charlotte gave her an assessing look. “A little lasagna and some delicate blackmail.”

“That’s about it, I’m afraid.” Rachel picked up her teacup. She decided not to mention the kiss in the kitchen.
Not like it amounted to much,
she thought.

“Well, as it happens,” Charlotte said, “I’ve got a little gossip to give you.”

“Sounds good,” Rachel said. “Let’s have it.”

Charlotte shook her head. “You were never meant to be a member of the HE community, were you?”

“Hey, according to the Principles, all knowledge is enlightening. As far as I’m concerned, that includes gossip.”

“In this case, what I have to tell you may balance the harmonic scales a little because it concerns Harry.” Charlotte lowered her voice even though there was no one else in the shop. “Slade did a background check on him as soon as he learned that Harry was the security expert the Foundation was sending to the island.”

A flicker of unease ruffled Rachel’s senses. “What did he find out?”

“Harry Sebastian was married in a Full Covenant Marriage wedding ceremony two years ago.”

The floor fell away
beneath Rachel’s feet. The shock took her breath and left her dazed.
How could she have been so wrong about Harry Sebastian?
She struggled to come to grips with the reality of what Charlotte had just said.

“Are you sure there isn’t some mistake?” she whispered. “I got the impression that he wasn’t married, not even a Marriage of Convenience.”

“He’s not married,” Charlotte said. “At least, not any longer.”

Rachel managed to breathe. “Widowed?”

“No. Three weeks after the wedding, Harry’s wife filed for divorce.”

Rachel felt as if she had fallen into a very deep hole, yet again.

“Oh my,” she managed. “Leaving aside the issue of the scandal involved, divorce is a legal and financial nightmare.”

“Yes, it is.”

“It must have cost a fortune.”

“I’m sure it did. But the Sebastians happen to have a fortune. Harry is very wealthy in his own right.”

Rachel drank more tea and lowered the cup slowly. “There aren’t many grounds for divorce. The ones that do exist are narrow and quite strict.”

“In this case we can rule out most of them. Both parties were well above the age of consent. There was no mental illness and it was not a case of bigamy. Neither individual was already married to someone else.”

Rachel shook her head, more
bewildered than shocked now. “Then what in the world were the grounds?”

“Get this,” Charlotte said. “Evidently the divorce was granted under the new laws providing for the dissolution of a marriage in cases of
intolerable psychical incompatibility
. Harry’s wife asked the court to grant the divorce on the grounds that the nature of Harry’s talent caused her to fear for her safety and her sanity.”

Rachel sniffed. “Well, that’s pure ghost-shit.”

Charlotte cleared her throat. “I beg your pardon? Did I just hear you use the term
ghost-shit
?”

“Being raised HE doesn’t mean I don’t know the language.”

“Obviously.”

“The bride must have come down with a very bad case of bridal jitters
after
the ceremony,” Rachel said. “Terrible timing on her part. I would have thought that she would have figured out that she didn’t want to marry Harry at some point during the engagement.”

“The engagement was quite short. It lasted only a couple of months. Harry and his bride did not meet through a matchmaking agency.”

“Probably because no agency would take Harry on as a client,” Rachel said. “His talent is a little unusual.”