Falling Awake
Author: Jayne Ann Krentz

1

A funeral always made for a bad day. Knowing that it was probably his screwup that had put Katherine Ralston into the ground made things a whole lot worse for Ellis Cutler that afternoon.

He was supposed to be able to predict the actions of his quarry. Everyone who had ever worked with him said he was a major dream talent. Hell, he was a legend back at Frey-Salter, Inc., or at least he had been until a few months ago, when the rumors started up.

But in spite of his track record, the grim truth was that it had never even occurred to him that Vincent Scargill might kill Katherine.

“May God in his infinite mercy grant to Katherine’s family and friends the serenity and peace of mind that can only come from the sure and certain knowledge that their loved one is at last in a safe harbor. . . .”

Katherine had been murdered in her apartment in Raleigh, North Carolina, but her relatives had brought her body home to this small town in Indiana to bury. It was ten o’clock in the morning, but the muggy heat of a Midwestern summer day was building fast. The sky was heavy and leaden. Wind stirred the old oaks that stood sentinel in the cemetery. Ellis could hear thunder in the distance.

He kept apart from the crowd of mourners, occupying his own private space. The others were all strangers to him. He had met Katherine on only a handful of occasions. She had been hired after he officially resigned from his position at Frey-Salter to pursue other interests, as Jack Lawson put it. He still freelanced for Lawson, however, and he allowed himself to be dragged back half a dozen times a year to conduct seminars with the new recruits. Katherine had attended a couple of his workshops. He recalled her as an attractive, vivacious blonde.

Lawson had told him she was not only a Level Five dreamer, but also a whiz with computers. Lawson loved high-tech gadgets but had no aptitude for dealing with them. He had been delighted with Katherine’s skill.

Ellis felt like a vulture standing at Katherine’s graveside. The malevolent cloud cover made the wraparound, obsidian-tinted sunglasses he wore unnecessary, but he did not remove them. Force of habit. He had discovered a long time ago that dark glasses were one more way of keeping a safe distance between himself and other people.

The solemn service did not last long. When the final prayers had been spoken, Ellis turned and started back toward his rental car. There was nothing more he could do here.

“Did you know her?”

The voice came from behind and a few yards off. Ellis halted and looked back over his shoulder. A young man who appeared to be in his early twenties was approaching swiftly across the wet grass. There was a churning intensity in the long, quick strides. He had Katherine’s blue eyes and lean, dramatic features. Katherine’s personnel file had mentioned a twin brother.

“We were colleagues,” Ellis said. He searched for something that might sound appropriate and came up empty. “I’m sorry.”

“Dave Ralston.” Dave halted in front of him, bitter disappointment tightening his face and narrowing his eyes. “I thought maybe you were a cop.”

“What made you think that?”

“You look like one.” Dave shrugged, impatient and intense. “Also, you’re not from around here. No one recognized you.” He hesitated. “I’ve heard that the police often attend the funeral when there’s been a murder. Some theory about the killer showing up in the crowd.”

Ellis shook his head once. “I’m sorry,” he said again.

“You said you worked with my sister?”

“I’m affiliated with Frey-Salter, the firm where she was employed in North Carolina. My name is Ellis Cutler.”

Recognition and suspicion quickened in Dave’s expression. “Katherine mentioned you. Said you used to work as some kind of special analyst at Frey-Salter but that you’d left to become an outside consultant. She said you were practically a legend.”

“She exaggerated.”

Dave stared hard at the cream-colored, generic-looking Ford parked under an oak. “That yours?”

“A rental. Picked it up at the airport.”

Dave’s mouth twisted in frustration. Ellis’s intuition told him that the young man had been busily memorizing the license plate until he discovered the car was a rental.

“You probably heard that the cops think my sister was murdered because she interrupted a burglary in her apartment.”

“Yes,” Ellis said.

He hadn’t just heard the theory, he’d read every word of the investigating officer’s report, probing for anything that might give him a lead in his own quest. He’d also looked at the photos of the victim. He hoped Dave hadn’t seen those. Katherine had been shot at close range.

“My parents and the others are buying that story.” Dave glanced briefly over his shoulder at the small group of people walking slowly away from the grave. “But I’m not. Not for a minute.”

Ellis nodded, saying nothing.

“Do you know what I think, Mr. Cutler?”

“No.”

Dave’s hands tightened into fists at his sides. “I’m almost positive that Katherine was killed because of her connection to Frey-Salter.”

Lawson was not going to like this, Ellis thought. The last thing the director wanted was to draw attention to his private fiefdom. After all, Frey-Salter, Inc., was a carefully constructed corporate front for the highly classified government agency that Jack Lawson ruled.

“Why would anyone want to kill Katherine?” Ellis asked, keeping his voice as neutral as possible.

“I’m not sure,” Dave admitted, his face stony. “But I think it might have been because she discovered something going on there that she wasn’t supposed to know. She said that Frey-Salter was real big on confidentiality. Lot of secrecy involved. When she took the job she had to sign papers promising not to discuss sensitive information with anyone outside the firm.”

Something about the way Dave’s gaze shifted briefly and then quickly refocused in an intent stare told Ellis that he probably knew a lot more about his sister’s work than he should have. But if there was a problem in that direction, it was Lawson’s concern, he thought. He had his own issues.

“Signing a confidentiality statement is a common requirement in companies that conduct high-stakes research,” Ellis said mildly. “Corporate espionage is a major problem.”

“I know.” Dave hunched his shoulders. Anger vibrated through him in visible waves. “I’m wondering if maybe Katherine uncovered something like that going on.”