Chapter 34

“I can explain everything,” Grady said. “This isn’t some kind of sinister conspiracy.” He shot Hannah a reproachful look. “Frankly, the fact that you’re trying to make it look that way indicates a degree of paranoia. It’s another sign of instability in your aura.”

“Oh, shut up,” Hannah said. “I don’t want to hear another word about my para-psych instability. Just answer my questions.”

Elias suppressed a groan. They were gathered in Grady’s office. Kelsey Lewis sat stiffly in a chair, and he had to admit that she did, indeed, look quite attractive in a chilly, dominatrix sort of way. Her red hair was cut in a sleek wedge that angled down to her sharp chin and she had the body and the sculpted features that would have made it possible for her to apply for a position in an Illusion Town chorus line. She lacked the height, however. She was not nearly as tall as the average showgirl. At the moment her pretty face was tight with anger.

Grady was in his chair, his hands folded on top of his desk. Hannah was seated in one of the two padded chairs in front of the desk. Virgil was perched on the back, hovering in a protective manner. Only his baby blues were open now but the way he watched Grady would have made any smart man nervous. Grady appeared to be smart enough to be nervous.

Elias had one shoulder propped against the doorway where he could keep an eye on the hall as well as the tense scene inside the office.

The biggest problem at the moment was restraining Hannah. She was in a fine rage. He didn’t blame her but he knew it wasn’t the best way to get answers.

“If you don’t want to answer our questions, Barnett, you’re welcome to go downtown to police headquarters and answer Detective Jensen’s questions,” Elias said.

“The cops can’t arrest me,” Grady announced. “They’ve got nothing on me because I haven’t done anything illegal.”

“How about unethical?” Hannah said fiercely. “You set me up for a lying, thieving bastard who wants to steal something I discovered in the Underworld.”

“I swear, I didn’t know that Wilcox was planning to steal anything,” Grady said. “He contacted me about a month ago.”

“Right after I bought my crystal at an online auction,” Hannah snapped.

“I don’t know anything about a crystal. I did know Wilcox. We met while I was affiliated with the University of Resonance. But it’s not like we were good friends. He had retired from the faculty but he had the usual academic privileges that retired professors get. He spent a lot of time in the para-psych library doing his own research. I knew he was interested in using para-genetic profiles as a tool for genealogical research. He came into the lab a few times. We had some conversations about my dreamlight work. But that was the end of it.”

“Until you got fired,” Hannah snapped.

Grady looked deeply offended. “I was not fired. I left the university to pursue other career opportunities. I’ve always wanted my own research lab.”

“You were fired because you faked the data you used on some of your published papers,” Hannah said.

“It was a matter of interpretation,” Grady said coldly.

Elias held up one hand, palm out. “We’re going way off topic here. Let’s get back to Wilcox. You said he contacted you about a month ago.”

“Yes.” Grady inhaled slowly and exhaled with control, regaining his composure. “He said he wanted to refer a client to me for a complete dreamlight workup.”

“Me,” Hannah said.

“Yes. You showed up and I agreed to perform the analysis at a discount. You were an extremely interesting subject.”

Kelsey smiled an icy smile. “But quite unstable.”

Hannah rounded on her. “You want unstable? I’ll give you unstable.”

“Hannah,” Elias said gently. “Let’s try to stay focused here.”

Hannah gave him a bright, ominous smile. “Oh, you mean on having these two arrested for fraud? Sure. By all means let’s stay focused.”

“We haven’t committed fraud,” Grady roared.

“Let me see if I’ve got this straight,” Elias said. “You got a call from Paxton Wilcox informing you that he was referring a client to you for testing. When Hannah arrived you began analyzing her para-psych currents. Right so far?”

“Right,” Grady said forcefully.

“When did you realize that you could use her for your own personal research purposes?” Elias asked.

“The day she walked into his office.” Kelsey gave a little snort of disgust. “Grady was so excited. He couldn’t wait to get to the sleep tests. All he could talk about was how badly he wanted to hook her up to his machines.”

“But all I wanted was a basic para-psych profile,” Hannah said. “I didn’t want to be a research subject.”

“Which is why he didn’t tell you after that night in the sleep lab that the para-psych profile was complete,” Kelsey said. “He knew you’d quit the testing process as soon as you had that profile. He had to find a way to keep you coming back for more tests. That’s why he tried to seduce you.”

Hannah smiled coolly. “Well, that didn’t go well, did it? Thanks to you. I really owe you, Kelsey. If I hadn’t overheard that conversation between the two of you and caught the two of you having a good time in the supply closet, I might have stuck around to finish the profile. Yes, indeed, I am truly grateful to you.”

“Once again we are straying from the subject,” Elias said. “All right, here’s what I’ve got so far, Barnett. Correct me if there is any misunderstanding. You prepared a para-psych profile on Hannah but you lied to her and told her that it was not complete.”

“I wanted to recheck some of my findings,” Grady muttered.

“But you sent that profile to Wilcox, didn’t you?” Elias said.

“Wilcox was a colleague,” Grady said stiffly. “He offered to consult on Hannah’s profile.”

“He offered to pay you a nice fat bribe for a copy of that profile,” Elias said.

“It wasn’t a bribe,” Grady snapped. “And it wasn’t unethical. After all, Hannah had commissioned the profile with the intention of sending it to Wilcox herself.”

“The money you got from Wilcox was a bribe,” Elias said. “And, yes, what you did was unethical.”

Hannah smiled at Grady. “But that’s nothing new for you, is it, Grady? You’ve got a history of unethical behavior.”

Grady propped his elbows on his desk and dropped his head into his hands. “What do you want from me, damn it?”

“We know Wilcox came to see you recently,” Elias said. “When was the last time you met with him?”

Grady scowled. “How did you know he was here?”

“My unstable talent tells me he was standing right here in this office,” Hannah said very sweetly. “I can see his footsteps. He came up the back way. Used the alley entrance. Guess he didn’t want to take a chance on being seen with you.”

Grady shrugged. “Fine. He was here this morning.”

“Where is he now?” Elias asked.

“How should I know?” Grady said.

“Got an address for him here in Illusion Town?” Elias asked. “Does he have an apartment? Is he staying in a hotel room?”

“I don’t know, damn it.” Grady raised his head. “I didn’t ask for details. He was in a raging temper, if you must know. Something about having spent years searching for some lost artifacts and that he was so close he could almost touch it, whatever that means. He claimed I’d screwed up everything and that our deal was off the table if I didn’t get you to cooperate by five o’clock today.”

Hannah’s eyes widened. “Wilcox was the mysterious collector you claimed to be representing, wasn’t he? The one you said wanted to hire me to find a lost artifact. That was the deal you were so eager to broker.”

“Yeah, well, you can forget it now,” Grady said. “You blew it for both of us. You could have made a lot of money and I could have had a new lab. But thanks to you, it’s all gone to green hell. I hope you’re satisfied.”

Hannah looked at Elias. “Wilcox had no intention of hiring me to find a lost artifact. He already knows where it is. He just can’t get to it.”

“It was yet another desperate plan to grab you,” Elias said. “He probably figured he might have a shot at it if you accepted the bogus job he was offering through Barnett.”

Grady looked at Elias and then he glared at Hannah. “I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

She sighed. “Oddly enough, I believe you.”

Elias straightened away from the doorjamb. “Time to go talk to Detective Jensen. We know Wilcox is somewhere in Illusion Town. He’s a stranger. Doesn’t know the territory. We’ve got a good description. Shouldn’t take too long to find him.”

Kelsey cleared her throat discreetly. “I might be able to help you speed up the process.”

They all looked at her.

She raised one shoulder in an elegant shrug. “Professor Wilcox made me a little uneasy.” She gave Hannah a thin smile. “I do have some talent, you know. He arrived in a cab. He was afraid he wouldn’t be able to get another one to pick him up in this neighborhood so he instructed the cab to wait.”

Elias looked at her. “You made a note of the number of the cab, didn’t you?”

“Yes,” she said. “I’m sure the police can persuade the cab company to tell them where the cab took Wilcox.”

“Wow,” Hannah said. “I’m impressed. Just how much do you want in exchange for the number of the cab that picked up Wilcox?”

“A lot,” Kelsey said. She gave Elias a glowing smile. “But I’m sure that it will be petty cash to Mr. Coppersmith.”

“Always happy to pay for good information,” Elias said.

*   *   *

Detective Jensen phoned Elias twenty minutes later.

“I’m standing in room 118 at the Glowing Ruin Inn,” Jensen said. “Wilcox was here, all right. Registered under another name but the front desk clerk recognized him from a photo. He checked out a few hours ago. Now that we have a lead on him it shouldn’t take us too long to find him.”

“We’ve got another problem,” Elias said. “A few minutes ago Wilcox contacted Hannah. This is now a hostage situation.”