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We sat in silence, each in our own thoughts.
“We’re missing something,” Sam said finally. “Wade’s motive is easy enough to figure out—killing is just a payday for him—but Sebastian and Kimberley? They’re a riddle.” Sam turned to me. “When you were in their safe, what else did you see?”
“I didn’t go through their things. I went right to the envelope Kimberley identified.”
“Can you get back in there? You might have missed something. Something that would explain their behaviour, point to a motive.”
I exhaled in a puff. “If they’re not in their bedroom, I can.”
“Take pictures of everything. Even if it doesn’t look important.”
“All right.” I ghosted and drifted back into Sebastian’s house. He and Kimberley were seated in the great room. I prayed they stayed put and headed upstairs.
Their bedroom door hung open. I breezed inside and straight to their dressing room. Unlike last time, the door was ajar. I re-formed inside and gently closed the door. It would help dampen any sound I made. I prayed it was enough because if Sebastian became suspicious, I’d never see or even hear him coming. I pulled the clothing aside, entered the code and opened the safe.
Someone had been inside it since my last visit. A black box the size of a large deck of cards sat on top of the manila envelope of photos. I picked it up and examined it. It was a hard drive, and I bet I knew whose. My hands started to shake. Questions I had no answers for swirled in my head.
I tucked the drive in my pocket and searched through the safe. I snapped photos of Kimberley’s jewels and the deed to the house. With each flash of the camera, I feared someone would see the light leak out around the door frame. Still, I pushed on. They had Mansfield’s drive. What else were they hiding?
Their family anthology was inside, but it was too lengthy to photograph in its entirety. I took shots of the family tree and what looked to be their holdings. I snapped the front page of their passports and some business documents. There were also records of provenance for some artwork and a couple of old coins. I photographed them as well.
When I was done, I put everything back the way I’d found it and closed the safe door. After rearranging the clothing in front of the safe, I ghosted and pushed out of the dressing room. Their bedroom was blessedly still unoccupied. I re-formed and opened the dressing-room door, leaving it ajar, as it had been when I arrived.
I checked that the drive was still in my pocket then ghosted again and drifted down the stairs and back out the front door. Relief didn’t hit until I was back in Sam’s truck. I re-formed. Sam gave a start. I pulled the drive out of my pocket and showed him.
“Is that Mansfield’s?”
“I can’t tell.”
Sam took a photo of it and another photo of its serial number and sent them off to Peter Caulfield. Despite the late hour, Peter took less than ten minutes to confirm it was his. After Sam promised to have it couriered to him, he hung up.
“If Sebastian looks in his safe, he’ll know this is gone,” Sam said. “He might suspect you took it.”
“There’s not a lot I can do about that tonight. Tomorrow I’ll buy another one to replace it and hope he can’t tell the difference.”
“No. Let’s do it tonight.” He reached down and started the truck. “There’s a Staples at the university. They should have something similar enough to fool him.”
“What’s one more break-in?” I said, as Sam pulled out. “Kimberley has access to the safe, but she’s not a Ghost; she couldn’t have taken Mansfield’s drive without being seen. That leaves Sebastian, unless he put Wade up to it. Why would Sebastian do that?”
“The man’s a manipulator and obviously well versed in the art of blackmail. That hard drive has already neutralized you, and if Mason is guilty of an unsanctioned hit, it’s a compelling weapon to hold over his head.”
“If he has the means to control Mason, why would he want him dead?”
“I don’t know, and we don’t know if Mason is Sebastian’s target, but we’re getting closer. Didn’t you mention that Wade said something about Sebastian losing an ace if Mason was eliminated?”
“Yeah, it was back there at Sebastian’s, when Wade confronted Kimberley. Wade said ‘one less ace up his sleeve,’ meaning Sebastian’s sleeve.”
“That suggests keeping Mason alive might somehow benefit Sebastian. Maybe Kimberley did indeed get it wrong and Mason isn’t the unsanctioned Tribunal hit Sebastian was talking about.”
“Are you thinking Sebastian was talking about me? You can’t be serious?”
“You were a threat to his wife before she tried to kill you. And if you prove Mason killed your father, Sebastian loses some sort of an ace. So yeah, I’m serious.”
“Sebastian went out on a limb for me. He mentored me.”
“I know, but so did Mason. What’s that tell you?”
“I need better friends?”
Sam laughed. The levity was a welcome reprieve, but it felt like laughter at a funeral.
Behind the computer counter at Staples, I found a hard drive with the same brand name and design as the one I’d taken from Sebastian’s safe. Kudos to me. I could now add common thief to my resume.
Sam drove us back to Sebastian’s. Hitting Sebastian’s home three times in one night was a test of my nerves. I ghosted out of Sam’s truck and returned to the house. Sebastian and Kimberley were no longer in the great room. Unease gripped my shoulders as I drifted up the stairs. I found them upstairs in their bedroom and cursed silently. Sebastian lay in the bed propped up on pillows. The sound of running water came from the ensuite. It would be impossible to replace the drive tonight. I spun away from the sight of Sebastian’s naked chest and returned to Sam’s truck with the news.
“Shit!” he said. He pulled out and started back toward his place.
“You have to leave,” I said. “Go find that hammock. If Sebastian discovers the drive is missing, you’re in danger.”
“So are you,” Sam said.
“But unlike you, I can get away from him.”
“Hiding’s not my style.”
“Screw the heroics. Don’t be a moron.”
Sam didn’t respond—unless pursed lips and a clenched jaw counted.
As we once again approached Burrard Street I thought of my mother. “I have an idea.”
His foul humour came through in just one word. “What?”
“Ditch your truck, pack a bag. Megan Fairchild will book a room for you near Mom. You can protect Mom, and you and I can keep looking for answers.”
He glanced at me. “Much better,” he said, and stepped on the gas.
Back at Sam’s place, I called Mom and asked her to arrange a second room, preferably close to hers. Sam came down the stairs with a worn backpack.
“You ready?” I asked.
He hiked one strap of his pack over his shoulder. “More than I was the first time you did this.”
I offered him my hand. He rubbed his palm against his thigh before he placed his hand in mine. His gaze was on our clasped hands when I ghosted. He didn’t falter even as his body disappeared.
“This is fucking unbelievable.”
I warned him to stay quiet. We slid through his front door and I dragged him a few blocks away to a back lane. In the shadow of a dumpster, I dropped his hand and re-formed. After he re-formed, he patted his body down, as if he’d find it missing parts.
“Come on. Let’s get a cab,” I said. He stumbled behind me.
When we got to Mom’s room at the Pan Pacific, she’d already picked up the key to a room across the hall. I showed her the hard drive I’d recovered from Sebastian’s safe.
“I knew that man wasn’t to be trusted,” she said.
“I’ll courier this to Peter Caulfield in the morning,” Sam said. “It’s late. I’m going to get some shut-eye.” Mom gave him the key and saw him out the door. I plopped onto the bed Mom hadn’t been using.
After Sam left, Mom cozied up beside me. I told her what Ortez had learned about Kimberley being in my neighbourhood around the time of the break-in. “I don’t know what her motives are, but Sam agrees that she’s likely responsible.”
Mom shook her head. “Sebastian, his wife, Mason, Stuart—they’re immoral, evil people.” She took my hand in hers. “You have to get away from them before they find a way to kill you.”
She’d left out Wade. I stared at her simple wedding band and debated telling her that Sam and I suspected it was Wade who’d killed Dad. I decided not to. It was speculation at this point. Besides which, Wade didn’t operate on his own. Someone had hired him to do it. The Tribunal and the Reynoldses were on the list. Awash in cold dread, I etched two more names on the list: Sebastian and Kimberley. “Do you want company tonight? I don’t feel like going home.”
She was happy to have me stay. After the lights were out, I lay in bed thinking. If I walked away from my seat on the Tribunal, I could, as Mom had said, get away from them. But what kind of a life would that be? Hiding and living in fear? What about Mom and Sam? They’d be condemned to the same fate. I didn’t have a death wish, but living like that didn’t sound like much of a life for any of us.
Walking away wasn’t the answer. What I needed to do was find out who’d ordered Dad’s assassination. I had Mansfield’s data, so I had the proof my father was murdered, and I had Sam’s research that identified Jolene as the pivot point. But I had nothing to connect Dad’s murder directly to the Reynoldses or the Kirks. Or had the Tribunal ordered it?
I knew Wade had the answers, but he wasn’t about to incriminate himself. I had no leverage with Mason, but I did have it with Sebastian: Kimberley’s attempt on my life was a death sentence for her if the Tribunal learned of it. The danger in using that leverage lay in how involved Sebastian really was.
I thought back to my father’s warning. He’d named the Reynoldses, not the Kirks. Though Mason denied it, preventing Jolene from marrying someone non-Gifted was a compelling motive to murder her suitors. Jealousy on Sebastian’s part didn’t seem as compelling a motive, not after what I’d witnessed tonight; he wanted to protect Kimberly. He cared about her. And Kimberley may have wanted me dead, but if she were jealous of Jolene, she’d promote a marriage, not kill off her prospects.
I compared their motives. I weighed my choices. I had to place a bet.
By the time the sun rose, my resolve had hardened. I’d make a deal with Sebastian. Even if Ortez was able to prove Kimberley’s guilt, I’d let it go. Sebastian could deal with Ortez’s evidence any way he wanted and I’d not take it to the Tribunal. That would also nullify anything Wade had on Kimberley. In exchange, I wanted what he knew about my father’s murder—there was no doubt in my mind that he knew something. If Wade had done it, he would pay, and so would the person who’d ordered it.
Mom called for room service and Sam joined us for breakfast. While we ate, I told them my thoughts. “I know this plan isn’t perfect, but the Reynoldses had more to gain by Dad’s death than the Kirks, and the only one I have leverage with is Sebastian.”
“It’s a crapshoot is what it is,” Sam said. “And you’re assuming you can trust Sebastian. That’s a mistake. You’ll always be a threat to him.”
“Not if no one can prove Kimberley tried to kill me,” I said. “I’ll make sure of it. I’ll destroy Ortez’s evidence myself if I have to.” I stood and walked to the window. “We have to do something.” I parted the sheers with my fingers and looked down to the street. “We can’t stay holed up in here for the rest of our lives, and we can’t undo what we’ve done. I don’t see another way out.”
“Maybe we need to take a step back,” Mom said. “Replace the hard drive to hold off Sebastian, and give this plan of yours more thought.”
I turned to face them. “I’ve been thinking about that hard drive, too. I’m the one who’s been wronged, not Sebastian. So what if he finds out I took it back? He stole that drive from us. I can turn it around. Make him defend himself.”
“Bad idea,” Sam said. “If Sebastian’s the one who ordered the hit and you confront him like that, he’ll kill you.”
“No, he won’t. Not as long as I hold the proof.”
“Jesus, Emelynn,” Sam said. “You’re holding a torch to a powder keg.”
“I know, and it scares the crap out of me. But he already has the physical advantage; if I let him manipulate me, he’s won the head game, too. I can’t let that happen. I’m not completely powerless, and when he learns I’ve got the hard drive, he’ll realize something else: that I know he can’t be trusted and I’m not afraid of him.”
I sat back down. Mom was perched on the edge of her seat. I reached a reassuring hand to her knee. “Giving this more time only delays the inevitable. I have to do this and I’m the only one who can.”
Though Mom and Sam didn’t like my decision, they understood it.
After breakfast, I left them and took a cab to Sam’s place, where I’d left the MGB. Getting inside and firing up the ignition felt like reclaiming a tiny bit of my life. I stopped for groceries and drove past the police cruiser and into the underground.
Colin sat behind the front desk. I approached to ask how he was doing. The shock of a high-profile crime so close to home still had a grip on the building. I added my concern, collected my mail and took the elevator to the top floor.
The normalcy of it felt like staking another claim to my life. I slid my key into the new lock and the moment I opened the door, the joy I’d felt washed away. I closed the door behind me and stared at the chaos before me. The alarm beeped a reminder. I shoved the garments that belonged in the hall closet out of the way and punched in the disarm code. I sensed for a Ghost signature and found none. I slipped from room to room, but whoever had rifled through my place was gone.
What a mess. Not a cupboard or drawer had been spared. The scope of the disarray made me appreciate the respect and restraint the police had shown. I wondered if Sam’s place had been hit as well. Had Sebastian already opened his safe? I remembered Sam’s advice about confirmation bias, and though I pegged Sebastian for this rearrangement of my condo, I knew I needed to keep my mind open.
I closed the refrigerator door, set the groceries and the dummy hard drive on the kitchen counter and headed to the bedroom to start straightening the disorder. I put my clothes back on their hangers and paired up the shoes. I sorted and refolded clothes, muscled the mattress back onto its box spring and remade the bed.
The bathroom required more than tidying. I headed to the kitchen for the cleaning supplies. The moment I opened the broom closet, the sense of Mason’s ghost hit me. I swung around as he took form in the dining room. Our eyes met before I ghosted. He could kill me as quick as a thought, but not if I was in my ghosted form.
He jutted his head into the kitchen and looked around, his expression perplexed. “What the hell happened in here?”
“What do you think?”
“It didn’t look like this last night.”
“What were you doing here last night?”
“Looking for you. You weren’t home.” With each step he took, glass crunched under his feet. “Did they find what they were looking for?”
“I couldn’t tell you.”
“Well, at least they didn’t get this,” he said, and laid out his mother’s crystal case with care. The crystal gleamed inside it. “You forgot to take it with you.”
I had no words. He’d witnessed my biggest secret. The one I’d vowed never to reveal.
“If you’re not going to use it, you should keep it in a safe,” he said. He walked out of the kitchen and into the living room. He hadn’t so much as glanced at the hard drive lying on the counter in front of him.
I drifted into the room behind him. He stood in front of the windows, staring out at the Pacific.
“How long have you known?” I asked.
“I didn’t know for sure until now, but I suspected it from the night I found you outside Carson Manse’s trailer. It’s why I had you swallow the amber before the paramedics evacuated you. Didn’t want you exposing our secret on the treatment table.”
“You never said anything.”
“I did. I asked you about it twice—before I taught you how to ghost and again after the Redeemers’ attacked at Cairabrae. You hedged, both times.”
“I remember.” I felt like I should apologize, but I’d never wanted him to know. I’d never wanted anyone to know. In a world where I was outpowered, every advantage counted.
“Jolene was the same. I found out when we were children and promised her I’d never reveal her secret. I never did. Not even to our parents.”
“I don’t know what to say.” Had I been wrong about Mason?
“I’d like to apologize,” Mason said. “Trust is a delicate thing and I’ve been careless with yours. It pains me to see you frightened of me and pushing me away. It’s Jolene all over again.”
“Why did you come here?”
Mason turned away from the window. “Someone tried to kill you. And now this?” He looked pointedly at the mess. “I’m worried about you, Emelynn. You’ve pulled away from me and Dad. From James. Who’s left?”
“Don’t pretend you don’t know why you and I are estranged, and James is none of your business.”
“Let me ask you this. Your father knew about the gift, about Ghosts. Did he tell your mother about us?”
“Of course not. He’d never endanger her like that.”
“So if he knew about the Tribunal, he wouldn’t have disclosed that either. In fact, he couldn’t identify anyone but Dad and me for fear he’d put his family in danger. I don’t fault Brian for the warning. He didn’t have a lot of leeway. Laura did the smart thing hiding you away after he died.”
His analysis threw me off-kilter. What else could Dad have said to warn Mom? If he’d named others on the Tribunal, would she have tried to find them? Put herself in danger? Could Mason be right?
He picked up a pillow and set it on the sofa. “What were they looking for?”
I drifted into the kitchen and re-formed. It was a terrible risk, but I had to know. I picked up the dummy hard drive, established my block for what good it would do me and walked out to the living room to face Mason. A wisp of a smile formed on his lips.
“This,” I said, holding the hard drive out to him. He didn’t move.
“What’s on it?”
“Proof that my father was murdered.”
“Who was looking for it?”
“I’m not sure, but I have my suspicions.”
“Do you care to share?”
“No. But I will tell you that Wade Hofmann is staying in town.”
Mason’s face hardened. “Where?”
Sam wasn’t the only one who could stir a pot. I set the hard drive down on the coffee table, pulled out my phone and sent Mason Wade’s address. “What are you are going to do?”
“You’d better put that somewhere safe,” Mason said, motioning toward the hard drive. “You’re going to need it.”
I frowned, and Mason seemed to read my mind. “I told you before. I’m not the one you’re looking for. I didn’t kill your father, and I would never hurt you.” He ghosted and his aura disappeared.
I dropped to the sofa. Had I been wrong about Mason? Had my accusation been a cruel mistake?
