He studied the street scene. He couldn’t help but examine it. His senses were still on full alert, which meant that he was automatically registering the details of his immediate environment, looking for a threat, seeking prey. The phrase “call of the wild” was uncomfortably close to the mark.
Throwback.
Then he thought about how Clare had leaped to his defense when Ingle called him that. Some of the prowling tension inside him started to ease.
“What’s it like for you?” he asked quietly.
She did not ask him what he meant.
“When I first came into my parasenses and awoke to a world full of lies I had wave after wave of uncontrollable panic attacks,” she said.
“That was before you learned to filter the lies?”
“Yes. The Arcane House experts have very little experience in dealing with my type of sensitivity because it’s so rare. But eventually a parapsychologist realized that my particular senses are hardwired to the good old fight-or-flight response.”
“Sure,” he said, thinking it through. “Lies, in general, even the harmless type, always represent a potential threat, after all. You were reacting appropriately.”
“My therapist helped me create a psychic filter. It wasn’t easy. But the only alternative was to become a total hermit so that I could avoid all lies.”
“Sure glad you didn’t go that route.”
She smiled. “Me, too.”
“You were good back there with Ingle,” he said. “You worked him brilliantly.”
“Not the first time I’ve dealt with scam artists.”
“That was obvious. Fallon sure screwed up by not hiring you.”
“That is certainly my opinion.”
Jake settled back a little, shutting down his senses with an act of will. He needed to think and he didn’t always do his best thinking when he was running hot. One of the downsides to being a hunter.
“You know,” he said, “that part about McAllister getting agitated when the Glazebrook operation went south but refusing to call it off was interesting.”
“Yes, it was. Very interesting. Ingle was right. Most scammers in that situation would have disappeared. There must have been a very compelling reason to make a professional con stick with a bad project after it became clear that it would probably fail.”
“I keep coming back to the possibility that failure was not an option. Historically, the Arcane Society cabals have been very Darwinian organizations. If you want to ascend to the higher levels, you have to prove yourself every step of the way by accomplishing certain tasks that are assigned by the guys at the top.”
“If Brad McAllister was working for this new cabal it means that the organization must have sent him to acquire control of Glazebrook,” Clare said. “He may have been executed when it became clear that he had failed. In which case, the killer is probably long gone.”
“Maybe,” Jake agreed. “But I’m not going to close any more doors; I made that mistake back at the beginning of the investigation. Once was enough.”
“I keep wondering where Kimberley Todd fits into this thing,” Clare mused.
“You and me both. The fact that the analysts at J&J haven’t been able to find her yet may mean that she’s dead and buried somewhere out in the desert. Part of a cleanup operation after the project failed.”
Clare shuddered. “Think they got rid of her because she knew too much?”
“It’s a possibility.”
“Maybe that’s why Valerie Shipley was killed, too. You heard what Ingle said. She was the one person Brad trusted. The cabal might have been worried that he confided the plan to her.” Clare tensed. “Good grief, I just thought of something.”
“What?”
“I wonder if Owen Shipley is in any danger. After all, he was married to Valerie. The cabal may decide he knows too much, too.”
Jake contemplated that briefly. “Elizabeth was married to Brad, but so far there’s been no attempt on her life. My guess is the cabal crowd would rather avoid gunning down every prominent resident of Stone Canyon who ever got near McAllister. It would attract way too much attention.”
“Someone tried to gun you down yesterday,” she reminded him.
“I know. But I’m not a pillar of the community. I’m just a passing consultant. Here today, gone tomorrow.”
She slanted him a disapproving glance. “I wish you didn’t sound so cheerful when you talk about someone trying to murder you in cold blood.”
“Sorry. Like I said, it tells me that I’m getting close.”
“Wonder why the cabal wanted Glazebrook, Inc., so badly.”
“In case you haven’t noticed, it happens to be an extremely profitable company,” Jake said. “Every organization needs money.”
“Yes, but why Glazebrook? There must be hundreds if not thousands of very successful businesses that generate plenty of cash.”
“But not all are closely held, family-owned enterprises that can be quietly taken over without arousing the attention of a board of directors, shareholders and government watchdogs.”
“I see what you mean,” she said. “Nevertheless, it can’t be a complete coincidence that the cabal chose a very successful company that just happens to be owned by a member of the Society.”
“No big mystery there,” Jake said. “The leader or leaders of the cabal would naturally be inclined to go after companies they can research thoroughly. The genealogy records at Arcane House are open to all members of the Society.”
“Members do tend to marry other members,” Clare said. “They often form partnerships and close friendships with people connected to the Society. You’re right, the cabal would have been able to provide an enormous amount of background material to McAllister before he made his attempt to grab Glazebrook.”
“All right,” Jake said. “So much for looking at the deaths of McAllister and his mother from a cabal conspiracy point of view. Let’s try another approach.”
“Such as?”
“I wonder if we’re working too hard to connect them both to the cabal.”
Clare frowned. “I thought we agreed they had to be connected.”
“It’s a possibility, not a fact. Until you know for sure, you have to be able to step back and come at the problem from different directions.”
“Is that something they teach you at Jones & Jones?”