“I can afford to pay for it,” Jack said.
“I know that. You’re Jack Winters of Winters Investments, right?”
“You did your research.”
“Of course. You’ve got more money than God. But so do I. Take the lamp. It’s yours.”
Jack studied him for a moment. Chloe felt another little rush of energy. Then Jack nodded once, as though a bargain had been struck.
“I owe you,” Jack said. “If there’s ever anything you need that I can supply, you’ve got it.”
“Yeah, I can see that,” Drake said. He was obviously satisfied with the deal. “Good to know. Money can’t buy everything, even in this town. I learned a long time ago that sometimes a favor owed is a hell of a lot more valuable.”
He closed the door of the shed.
19
“AREN’T YOU EVEN GOING TO LOOK AT IT BEFORE WE GET ON the plane?” Chloe asked. “Don’t you want to make sure that whatever is inside that crate really is the Burning Lamp?”
“Like I told Stone, whatever is inside that crate has got my name on it,” Jack said. “And, yes, I intend to examine it before we go back to Seattle. But not here. Not now.”
They were standing outside the entrance to McCarran Airport. The long limo had just deposited them and the crate on the sidewalk. The big vehicle was already vanishing into the endless stream of cabs and cars.
She glanced at her watch. “You want to find someplace more private? I understand, but our plane leaves in an hour and a half.” She looked around. “I suppose we could take a cab to a nearby hotel, but we’d need to get a room. There’s just not enough time.”
“A room is exactly what we need,” Jack said. He gripped the crate tightly under his arm. He had not let go of it since he had carried it out of the pool house. The case containing his computer was slung over his shoulder. “We’ll spend the night here. Figure out how to work the lamp and fly back to Seattle in the morning.”
She blinked. “I’m not sure that’s a good idea.”
“I want to get this done. Tonight.”
She sensed the psi burning through him. He was focused one hundred percent on the object inside the crate, obsessed with it. In this condition he was not likely to listen to anything she had to say. But she had to try.
“I realize that you’re anxious to see if the lamp can stop what you think is happening to you,” she said, “but I’m the one who is supposed to work it, remember? I don’t have a clue about how I’m going to do that. I’ll need time to study the lamp. Time to do some research online. Time to think.”
“What’s to study or think about? The lamp emits radiation on the dreamlight end of the spectrum. You’re a high- level dreamlight reader. You’re supposed to be able to work that radiation to make sure I don’t turn into a monster.”
“You make it sound so simple.”
“It is simple.”
“Oh, yeah? And what happens if I screw up my part of this business?”
He looked at her through the dark shield of his sunglasses. “According to the legends, if things go wrong there are two possibilities: You’ll either destroy all of my talent or you’ll kill me.”
“Gee, you know, given those options, I think we might want to allow a little time for study and contemplation here.”
For a moment he did not speak. She was beginning to hope that he was starting to see the wisdom of her logic when his jaw tightened.
“There’s something else, Chloe,” he said finally.
“What?”
“If things go wrong, if you can’t get rid of this second talent and stabilize my dreamstate, I will have to disappear.”
“Because of J&J, you mean?”
“For all I know they’ve been watching me for months. Years, maybe.”
“For heaven’s sake, why?”
“Because that’s the way Fallon Jones is when it comes to potential problems that could blow up into major headaches for the Society. As Nicholas Winters’s direct male descendant, his only male descendant, I fit the profile of a walking time bomb as far as Fallon is concerned.”
“Just how do you plan to pull this disappearing act?”
“A year ago I established a second ID for myself. I carry the passport and credit cards with me at all times. If the lamp doesn’t work, I’ll get on a plane and vanish.”
She cleared her throat. “Uh, Jack, does it strike you that you’re becoming a trifle paranoid here?”
“Fallon and I talked about it once.”
“You and Fallon Jones talked about this human time-bomb thing?” she asked, incredulous.
“The last time we went out together for a beer. Just before he moved to Scargill Cove. We’ve known each other since childhood. We were friends once upon a time. He knew the history of the lamp, knew what might happen to me if I got hit by the curse. And he made it clear what he would have to do if I turned rogue.”
“He actually warned you that he would hunt you down?” She sniffed, disgusted. “Guess that’s what you get when you have a Jones for a friend.”
“I knew where he was coming from. I told you at the start of this thing that if I were in his place, I’d do the same. The Society has a responsibility in situations like this. It can’t allow artificially enhanced psychic rogues to run free.”
“Whoa.” She put both hands up, palms out. “Back up here. You are not a rogue. I can personally testify to that. I’ve read your dreamlight. I know the bad guys when I see them. You are not one of them.”
“I agree that I haven’t gone rogue yet. But who knows how long I’ve got before some switch gets tripped at the paranormal end of my energy field? Now that I’ve got the lamp, I can’t waste any time. I told you, the damn thing has a habit of disappearing.”
She was never going to get him on a plane. That was obvious.
“Okay,” she said. “I’ll make a deal with you. We’ll get a room here in town. I’ll take a look at the lamp. If I feel comfortable trying to work it, I’ll go for it. But if I don’t think I can handle it—”
“You have to work it, Chloe. I told you, the only other dream readers I identified in the Arcane files are employed by the Society. Even if I could take the risk of contacting one of them it wouldn’t do any good. None of them are as strong as you.”
She exhaled slowly, out of arguments. “Aunt Phyllis always said that someday I’d find a man who didn’t have a problem with my talent.”