The bell over the door of Swan Antiques chimed. Gwendolyn Swan paused in her dusting and watched a stylishly dressed woman with auburn hair walk into the shop.
“I got your message,” Olivia LeClair said. “I’ll be happy to discuss your problem.”
Luring Olivia into the shop was incredibly risky, Gwendolyn thought, but time was running out. The underworld chatter about Vortex and paranormal weapons was getting louder. The myths and legends of the Bluestone Project were surfacing and starting to look very, very real.
She put down the duster and went behind the counter.
“Thank you for dropping by,” she said. “As I told you on the phone, I’m a little concerned about some jewelry I picked up at an estate sale. I would like to hire Lark and LeClair to check the provenance. The paperwork from the auction house looks good but I can tell that the items have a strong vibe. I’m concerned some of the pieces may have been stolen. They came from the collection of a particularly reclusive collector. You know how it is with that sort. They rarely tell the truth about how they obtained their acquisitions.”
“I can do some research for you,” Olivia said. She looked around the room. “I’ll need photographs of the pieces that you’re concerned about.”
“Certainly. The jewelry is downstairs.” Gwendolyn waved a hand at the array of reproductions that cluttered the sales floor. “The items up here are for tourists and decorators who are looking for an interesting garden statue, or perhaps a vase for the hall. I keep the real collectibles, the items with a true paranormal provenance, in the basement. Easier to maintain security down there.”
“I understand.”
Olivia started through the maze of fake statuary, tables, vases and other assorted items. Halfway across the room she halted abruptly. She gazed down at the vintage camera, riveted.
Gwendolyn opened her senses. She wasn’t an especially sharp aura reader—her talents were connected to artifacts. She was, after all, an archaeologist by training. But it wasn’t difficult to tell that Olivia was responding to the old camera.
Tentatively Olivia touched the artifact. A visible shiver of energy went through her.
“This isn’t a reproduction,” she said, speaking very quietly. She did not take her eyes off the camera.
“Hmm?” Gwendolyn tried to sound only vaguely interested. “Oh, no. It’s definitely got a little heat in it, but it’s not the type of energy that appeals to true collectors. It’s just a vintage camera. It probably picked up a bit of a vibe because it was sitting on a shelf with a lot of relatively hot artifacts.”
Olivia used both hands to carefully lift the camera off the display stand.
“I’ll take it,” she said.
Excitement flashed through Gwendolyn.
“Are you sure?” she said. “I’ve got more interesting objects downstairs. I doubt if they even make film for that old camera anymore.”
“I don’t think it was intended to take traditional pictures,” Olivia said. “How much?”
Gwendolyn took a deep breath. “Ninety-five dollars.”
A reasonable price for a relic that wasn’t supposed to have much value, she thought, but high enough to sound realistic.
“Fine.” Olivia smiled and clutched the camera very firmly, possessively. “Now, let’s go see the hot jewelry you’ve got downstairs.”
Half an hour later Olivia left with the vintage camera and a promise to research the suspicious jewelry. Gwendolyn wasn’t worried about the status of the bracelet, necklace and ring she had just hired Lark & LeClair to check out. The provenance on them was clean. But allowing the precious camera to be taken off the premises was unnerving. Still, it wasn’t as if she’d had much choice.
She locked the front door, turned the sign over in the window and pulled down the shades. She hurried to the counter and picked up the landline phone. Eloisa answered immediately.
“The princess just left with our pea,” Gwendolyn said. “She’s obsessed with it.”
“Olivia LeClair?”
“Yes. She practically jumped on the camera. I just hope we haven’t made a terrible mistake.”
“We both know she’s our best bet,” Eloisa said. “If we’re right, she can lead us to the original Vortex lab.”
“Yes. But Lark and LeClair are closely affiliated with the Foundation. If Victor Arganbright’s people get into Aurora Winston’s old lab first—”
“We don’t have a choice. The rumors about Vortex are getting stronger. It’s no longer just a legend or a myth. Other people are looking for it seriously now. We’ve got a head start but we could easily lose our edge if we don’t move fast.”
“If LeClair realizes what she’s got, she may take the information straight to Victor Arganbright. If he gets involved—”
“Trust me,” Eloisa said, “once LeClair figures out that the camera might be able to lead her to her mother’s killer, she won’t let anyone get in her way, not even Arganbright and his Foundation.”
“I hope you’re right. There may be one other possible complication, though.”
“What?”
Gwendolyn thought about Olivia’s reaction to the camera. “LeClair clearly picked up the vibe of the artifact. Her response was very intense. She did not put it down the entire time she was in my shop.”
Eloisa went silent for a moment while she considered that information.
“I thought LeClair was just a strong aura reader,” she said eventually.
“You didn’t see her resonate with the artifact. I’m telling you, she’s more than an aura reader.”
“Think she’s got her grandmother’s talent?”
“I wouldn’t be surprised.”
“Do you think she knows that?”
“No,” Gwendolyn said. “Not yet, at any rate. But now that she’s got the camera—”
“Are you saying Olivia might be able to activate the camera?”
“I have no idea,” Gwendolyn said. “All I know is that the camera is our only solid link to Vortex, and Olivia LeClair is the only one who has a chance of using it to find that old lab.”