The second project had been far more elaborately designed and carried out. It definitely should have been successful. Victoria's fingers tightened on the delicate stem of the glass. The concept of developing a para-weapons lab based on Bridewell's inventions had been brilliant. It should have worked.
Both projects had floundered because of Isabella Valdez and, it seemed, the very town of Scargill Cove. Something about Isabella's energy made her formidable. It was a shame that Sylvia Tremont had been unsuccessful in the attempt to introduce the poison into Isabella's kitchen. But that had been another long shot.
As for the Cove, it was as if the small community was guarded by some kind of protective force field.
Two excellent projects in ruins. In the old days when Nightshade had been governed by Craigmore, that kind of track record would have meant a death sentence.
But Nightshade was different now. Following Craigmore's death, the executives of the Inner Circle had been unable to elect a new director. Instead, they had gone for one another's throats, literally in some cases. Two of the people at the top had recently been found dead. The official verdict in each instance was natural causes, but she was quite sure that was not the case. Someone was getting rid of the competition.
Meanwhile the surviving circles were on their own and operating independently. She had no way of knowing how many more were out there in addition to the one she controlled, but she had to assume that there were other cells that possessed a version of the formula.
But she had Humphrey Hulsey, the most talented of all the researchers, working on the drug. He was overseeing the construction of his new lab at that very moment. She had every confidence that the version of the formula that came out of his facility would be the most powerful and the most stable.
Whoever controlled the strongest variation of the drug, controlled Nightshade.
A bad week. But she had uncovered three traitors within Arcane, thereby proving that the fundamental strategy had potential. Carolyn Austin and Sylvia Tremont had failed, but they were proof that the Joneses had enemies who could be turned against them.
As for the third Jones enemy, he was now her new business associate. He was going to prove invaluable because he moved in the highest circles of the Society. The desire for vengeance was a powerful motivator. Her new associate hated the Joneses with a passion that had been seething in his bloodline for generations.
"More wine, Victoria?" he said behind her.
She looked down and saw that her glass was empty. She turned around. "Yes, thanks. It's been a difficult week."
Adrian Spangler smiled. Cold energy shivered in the atmosphere around him.
"Something tells me things will soon be looking up," he said. "Together, you and I are going to destroy the Joneses and everything they have created. We will take over Arcane."
He came forward with the bottle of wine. Before he filled her glass, he kissed her. She felt her blood heat.
Adrian was valuable because of his position within Arcane. He possessed a powerful talent and, like her, he was smart enough to stay off the formula until Hulsey had proven that it was stable. The sexual attraction between them had been instantaneous from the start.
Adrian Spangler was everything she needed to achieve her objectives, Victoria thought. But she was starting to wonder who was using whom.
Sometimes Adrian Spangler scared the hell out of her.
39
They drove into Eclipse Bay just after sundown. Like all small towns on the coast in winter, the community was quiet and mostly dark. The shops on the main street were closed.
Fallon followed the directions he had been given and pulled into the driveway of a weathered cabin. Light glowed in the windows. There was another vehicle in the drive, an SUV painted camouflage green and brown.
The door of the cabin opened before he got the engine shut down. Two women came out onto the porch. Both wore their tightly permed steel-gray hair cut short in the classic senior helmet. The taller of the two was dressed in military-style fatigues and heavy black boots. The shorter one wore a faded denim shirt, jeans and running shoes. In spite of their age, there was an air of wiry vigor about the women.
Isabella smiled. "The smaller one is my grandmother. On the phone she said she's calling herself Bernice Fitzgerald here in Eclipse Bay."
"That means the other woman is Arizona Snow," Fallon said. "I've talked to her once or twice on the phone, but we've never met in person."
"Easy to believe they really did work for some clandestine black-ops agency at one time. They both look pretty tough, don't they?"
"I like that in a woman," Fallon said. "I'd be glad to have either one at my back in a bar fight."
Isabella laughed and unbuckled her seat belt. "You've got me, instead."
"You'll do."
She cracked open the door, jumped out and ran toward the porch.
"Grandma. I knew you were alive."
The smaller woman opened her arms for Isabella. "About time you got here. What took you so long?"
Fallon climbed out of the SUV and looked at the woman in fatigues. "A pleasure to meet you, Arizona Snow."
"Well, well, well, so you're Fallon Jones." Arizona gave him a head-to-toe survey and nodded once, evidently satisfied. "Yep, you look exactly like I thought you would. Come on inside, both of you. You're just in time for dinner."
THEY SAT at the old oak table and ate the hearty, cumin-scented stew that Bernice had made. There was crusty bread and a salad on the side.
"I knew as soon as I got that phone call from Isabella telling me about the conspiracy she had uncovered at her new job that she had stumbled into something real dangerous," Bernice said. "Told her to go to ground. If that didn't work, I said, get yourself to Scargill Cove and contact Fallon Jones. He'll know what to do, I said."
"It was more complicated than we guessed," Isabella said. She bit off a chunk of bread and chewed with enthusiasm. "The conspiracy at Lucan involved stolen paranormal weapons and ultimately linked to an even bigger conspiracy involving this group called Nightshade. They've stolen a secret formula from Arcane. The stuff enhances psychic talents but it's badly flawed. Makes you crazy."
Bernice narrowed her eyes. "I had a feeling that Lucan's operation was just the tip of the iceberg."
Arizona leaned back in her chair, grimly knowing. "A stolen formula and paranormal weapons, eh? Now that explains a lot. Wouldn't surprise me if there's a connection to what's going on here at the Institute. They tried to smuggle in some Area 51 artifacts a while back, but I put a stop to that."