Julian reddened. He closed his eyes briefly and then gave Isabella an apologetic smile. "Sorry. I didn't mean it that way. It's just that I never really understood how you do what you do. None of us did. All we knew was that you were the best tech we'd ever had in Department A. But I was under the impression that when you searched for something that was connected to an individual, you liked to get a psychic reading on the person."
"I'm a little touchy when it comes to how I work," Isabella said. "You're right. It would be helpful to have some physical contact with an object that the broker, Orville Sloan, also would have handled. The stronger his emotional connection to the item, the better."
"How about his computer?" Julian said. "He had it with him when he was shot. One of the hunters I had tracking him managed to grab it."
"That'll do nicely," Isabella said.
Fallon looked at Julian. "You can leave now. We'll meet you at the Vantara Estate tonight. I'll call you later with a time."
Julian's jaw tightened. "I don't like the idea of leaving Isabella unprotected."
"Don't worry about me," Isabella said. "I've been doing fine without any protection from Lucan for the past month."
"The drug lord is serious," Julian said.
Fallon looked at him. "So is J&J. Get out of here, Garrett."
Julian hesitated, clearly unhappy. But he seemed to realize he could not win the argument. He left.
Isabella waited until the door closed behind him. She uncrossed her arms and leaned back against the kitchen counter, hands braced on either side.
"So Caitlin Phillips was the one running the arms-dealing operation," she said. "I never would have guessed. But I suppose it makes sense. As Julian's administrative assistant, she had access to all the data and records and connections that Julian had."
"Maybe." Fallon pulled out his computer and set it on the dining table.
"When I look at Julian, I see lots of fog, but then I see that when I look at you as well," she mused. "Everyone has secrets."
"What are you getting at?"
"I'm a walking lost-and-found department, Fallon, not a human lie detector," Isabella said. "You're the one who can assess the subtle details and spot tiny inconsistencies. Do you really think Julian is telling the truth?"
"He definitely wants to recover that device and he needs you to do it. No question about that."
"But?"
"But I think he knows more about the nature of the weapon than he's letting on."
"Well, that's no surprise." She hesitated. "So Lucan really is working for a government client. And here I thought Julian was the one doing the illegal deals."
"It can get complicated in the black market."
Isabella was quiet for a moment.
"The beagle," she said, perfectly neutral.
He frowned. "What's that supposed to mean?"
"That's what Julian and the others used to call me behind my back when I worked for Lucan. Whenever one of the agents came up against a brick wall in an investigation, someone would say, get the beagle. She can find anything."
"Beagles are born to hunt."
She brightened. "Never thought of it like that."
"Doesn't matter now. You don't work for Lucan anymore."
"That's true." She looked around the trailer. Tears glistened in her eyes. "I guess I'm going to have to accept the fact that Grandma really did die of a heart attack."
"I'm ninety-seven percent sure that your grandmother is alive."
"What?"
He took the calendar out from under his jacket. "I think she left this picture behind because she knew that I'd be with you when you finally came here to the trailer park. She knew I'd recognize it. Your grandmother has gone to ground like the former intelligence agent that she probably is."
"Are you telling me that Grandma once worked for some secret agency?"
He studied the picture. "Got a hunch she's hiding out with an old colleague."
"But that beach scene means nothing to me."
"It does to me." He held out the calendar so that she could read the caption beneath the photo.
"Eclipse Arch, Eclipse Bay, Oregon," Isabella read. She looked up. "Never heard of the place."
"I have. Your grandmother is safe, but we can't risk contacting her until this thing is over. She was right about one thing. Communication between the two of you at this juncture might put both of you in danger."
"You said if my grandmother was alive, it would change everything."
"Yes," Fallon said. "It does."
28
Shortly before midnight, Isabella stood with Fallon in the night-darkened gardens of the Vantara Estate. They were not alone. Julian and the Lucan agent who was posing as a security guard were with them. They all contemplated the theatrically illuminated mansion. With its pastiche of Baroque, Renaissance and Iberian architectural elements, the ornate structure looked like a fairy-tale castle.
"Got to admit, those old 1930s film stars knew how to do over-the-top," Fallon said.
Isabella smiled. "I like it."
"Let's go," Julian said. Urgency and impatience crackled in the atmosphere around him.
"I've got the code," the hunter said. "I'll let you into the house through one of the side doors. I turned off the alarm system just before you got here. You'll have the mansion to yourselves. You should be okay if you stick to pencil flashlights, but don't turn on any lights in the main rooms. There's not a lot of traffic out here at night, but the county cops run regular patrols every couple of hours."
"I don't need visible spectrum light to do my job," Isabella said.
The hunter led them through a section of gardens steeped in shadows. He wielded a flashlight, but Isabella knew that he did not need it for himself. His preternatural night vision allowed him to move through the darkness as confidently as if the path were lit with floodlights.
He stopped at a discreetly concealed side door and punched in a code. The door opened. He ushered Isabella, Fallon and Julian into a hallway.
"Got the floor plan?" he asked.
"Yes," Julian said.
"I'll leave you to it, then," the hunter said. "I need to check in with company headquarters. Don't want to break routine or they might send someone to check."
He closed the door, plunging the hall into darkness.
Fallon switched on a pencil flashlight. Julian did the same. Isabella raised her talent.