CHAPTER THIRTY-SEVEN

“How did you figure out what was going on?” Lucy asked.

They were gathered in Gabriel’s office. He was seated behind his desk. Aiden had directed Lucy to one of the two visitor chairs. He had escorted Veronica to the other one. Veronica had accepted the courtesy with regal grace, as if it was her due. She was wearing a severely tailored black jumpsuit and black high heels. Her red hair was bound up in a tight knot. She carried a black leather handbag.

It paid to have attitude, Lucy thought, and the right clothes. She was still wearing the stupid Storm Zone Adventure Tours uniform. At least she had gotten one of the chairs. Aiden, Joe, and Jared had to stand.

“I’d like to say that I solved the case using amazing psychic intuition and secret Guild technology,” Gabriel said. “But the truth is, I went back to the start and examined the police report and compared it with the report that Cassandra Keele had given you, Lucy. When I saw that she claimed to have tracked down the cabdriver, I realized there was a problem. After all, we knew the driver must have been a fraud, not a licensed cabdriver.”

Lucy groaned. “I should have tried to track him down myself.”

“Why would you?” Jared said. “Keele told you he had confirmed the police report. You had no reason to doubt her investigation.”

“And your own memories of the evening were blurry,” Veronica reminded her. “It took you weeks to recover some of them.”

“Thanks to the drugs they used on you,” Gabriel said.

“After Luxton fired Otis and me this morning, we took the shortcut through the Dead City,” Lucy said. “The energy seemed extra strong in the ruins today. It’s like that sometimes. The weather often affects the paranormal vibe. Anyhow, today the sensations stirred up some old memories. When I reached the DZ, a cab passed us. I suddenly remembered that the police were never able to find the cabdriver. Keele told me that was because they hadn’t tried very hard. But the cops told the media they had looked for him. So who was lying?”

“You decided it wasn’t the cops?” Gabriel said.

“It struck me that Keele might have had a motive to lie if she was involved in the kidnapping.”

“She must have panicked when you contacted her agency with the intention of hiring an investigator,” Jared said. “What made you choose Keele Investigations?”

Lucy made a face. “I wanted the best. Keele Investigations is the best in Illusion Town. The really annoying part is that I paid a fortune for that investigation. It cleaned out what was left of my savings.”

Veronica glanced at Gabriel and then looked at Lucy. She smiled a cool, satisfied smile. “You both stumbled onto the truth at the same time. That wasn’t a coincidence. It was a classic example of a psychic intercept. It happens that way when the vibe is right between two people.”

“Huh.” Gabriel appeared intrigued. “My mom told me the same thing. I thought she was just putting pressure on me.”

Veronica raised her brows. “Pressure to do what?”

“Get married,” Gabriel said.

Lucy cleared her throat. “To conclude my story, I was about to call you when I walked in on the scene in my apartment.”

“Thank goodness you arrived when you did,” Veronica said. She gave an elegant shudder. “Cassandra was going to inject me with that damn drug, take me down into the Underworld, kill me, and dump my body.”

Lucy looked at her. “I am so sorry you were put in harm’s way.”

Veronica gave her a serene smile. “No worries, friend. You saved me, and now I am going to get some excellent press. In fact, I have an interview with a journalist from the Curtain as soon as I finish here. He wanted to talk to me earlier, but I made him wait. It’s always good to make them wait, you know.”

Every man in the room except Gabriel gazed at her, transfixed.

Gabriel focused on Lucy. “Waiting is hard on the nerves.”

She blinked, unsure how to respond to the cryptic comment. She sensed he wasn’t referring to sex. Something else, something deeper, was concealed in the comment. Or maybe she was overthinking and overanalyzing his words. But the heat in his eyes was real.

Before she could give the matter more thought, Joe spoke up.

“Does this close out the Liquid Crystal Conspiracy case, boss?” he asked.

Gabriel sat back in his chair. “Thanks to the tracker, we’ve accounted for all of the members of the Blue Amber mercenary team. We’ve got Westover and his client, Keele, who was running the show. But there is one very big loose end.”

“What is it?” Joe asked.

“We need to secure the source of the liquid crystal in the Ghost City and make sure it’s under the control of the Guild. The government gave Coppersmith the exploration and mining rights to that entire sector, but they will need us for security.”

“If everything Keele said is true, access to the liquid crystal is blocked by a paranormal tornado,” Lucy pointed out. “You’re going to need a really good weather channeler to take down that kind of storm.”

Gabriel gave her his slow smile. “Luckily I know one who has the talent to do it.”