“Yes,” she said. “He’s fine now.”
“Thanks to you.”
“No, Judson just needed some time to heal after the psi-burn he took here.”
“You helped the process along. Willow and me, we won’t forget what you did for Judson. The family owes you. If you ever need anything, all you’ve got to do is ask.”
She smiled, touched. “Thank you, Mr. Coppersmith. But that favor has already been paid off. Judson helped me close out that unfinished business in Wilby. We’re more than even, believe me.”
“Good.” Satisfaction etched Elias’s craggy face. “Willow says it’s better that way.”
“She’s right,” Gwen said. “This way everyone is free to move on.”
“Yep. Willow says it’s not good for a woman to worry that a man might think he’s in love with her just because she saved him from some bad dreams. She says when it comes to a relationship, a woman needs to know that there’s something deeper and more lasting involved.”
Gwen caught her breath. “Your wife is a very wise woman.”
“She is.” Elias looked at her, sunglasses glinting in the hot light. “I’m not so dumb, either.”
Gwen laughed. “No one would ever call you dumb, Mr. Coppersmith.”
“Judson is in love with you.”
She turned away to look at the cave entrance. “It’s too soon to know.”
“Not for a Coppersmith. The question here is, are you going to break his heart?”
She flushed. “I really don’t think this is the time or place to talk about that sort of thing.”
“Can’t think of a better time or place. It’s a simple question. Are you going to break my son’s heart?”
“Mr. Coppersmith, for heaven’s sake—”
“Willow says that if you do intend to break his heart, it ought to at least be for the right reason—not the wrong one.”
Gwen realized she was starting to get mad. “Assuming I do have that power—which I very much doubt—what would constitute the wrong reason for breaking Judson’s heart?”
“Doing it because you think it’s for his own good,” Elias said. “Worst damn reason in the world.”
She froze. “But, if he doesn’t know his own mind—”
“No such thing as a Coppersmith who doesn’t know his own mind.” Elias broke off and focused his attention on the cave entrance. “Here they come. Doesn’t look like they got fried while they were inside.”
Gwen followed his gaze. Judson and Nick emerged from the cave. Automatically she raised her senses and studied the auras of the two men. They both looked normal—at least as normal as the auras of two powerful talents could look, she thought.
“They’re fine,” she agreed.
Judson stripped off his helmet and put on his sunglasses. He walked to where she and Elias stood. Nick accompanied him, grinning with excitement.
“Still damn intense in there,” he said. “Makes for a great ride.”
Elias looked at Judson. “Find anything?”
“Maybe.” Judson held up an object that looked like a flashlight. “This is the weapon that Spalding used on me. I’ll have Sam and his techs take a look at it.”
Gwen frowned. “But that’s not what you were looking for in your dreamscape.”
“No,” Judson said. He reached into his pocket and removed a slip of paper. “This is what I went down there to find.”
“What’s that written on it?” Elias asked.
“I think the name of a business firm and the town where it’s located,” Judson said. “Anyone ever heard of Jones and Jones in Scargill Cove, California?”
Forty-five
The voice on the other end of the connection sounded like the low, ominous growl of a bear.
“This is Fallon Jones,” the bear said. “Who are you, and how did you get this number?”
“The name is Judson Coppersmith,” Judson said. “Got the number from a guy who’s really good at tracking down information online.”
Nick smiled and drank some of his beer.
There was a brief silence on the other end of the phone.
“Coppersmith as in the Coppersmith mining company?” Fallon Jones said. He sounded interested now.
“Yes. And also as in Coppersmith Consulting,” Judson said.
“Never heard of Coppersmith Consulting.”
“We’re a small security outfit,” Judson said. “Specializing in psychic investigations. Sort of like Jones and Jones.”
“Yeah? Lot of psychic investigation agencies out there. Most of them are frauds.”
“We’re a little different,” Judson said. “Like you. And by the way, we’ve never heard of you, either. But we need to talk.”
“Why is that?”
“I’m calling from a small island in the Caribbean. We pulled what’s left of a man named Daniel Parker out of an underwater cave today. He was murdered a little over a month ago. He left a message for whoever found him, a scrap of paper with the name of your firm on it.”
“You’re right,” Fallon Jones said. “We need to talk.”
Forty-six
This Jones and Jones agency had Daniel Parker working undercover in yet another low-profile agency affiliated with the government’s intelligence community,” Judson said. “He vanished without a trace over a month ago. Jones said they tracked him to an island in the Caribbean but not to this island. That was the end of the trail.”
Nick studied the screen of his computer. “From that point on, Parker paid cash. Chartered a boat to bring him to this island where he evidently intended to meet up with Spalding.”
“Jones says he thinks Parker stumbled into Spalding’s operation while he was working another case,” Judson said. “Instead of reporting back to Jones and Jones, it looks like Parker went rogue. Saw a chance to make some easy money. Jones thinks he probably tried to blackmail Spalding. But if that’s the case, Parker was way out of his league.”
They were gathered on the veranda of the hotel’s open-air bar. Gwen lounged in her chair and toyed with the little umbrella in her colorful rum-based drink. She contemplated the glorious island sunset. It was the same color as her drink.
“Spalding planned to go to work for this Nightshade bunch that Jones told you about?” she said.
“Jones says Nightshade is a group of talents who have developed some kind of formula that enhances a person’s natural paranormal abilities,” Judson said.