Running Hot (The Arcane Society #5)(57)
Author: Jayne Ann Krentz

Luther tightened his grip on the cane. “Thanks for that.”

“Hence the possible parapsych fallout,” Fallon added.

“What the hell?”

“Posttraumatic stress and all that. The paper said that the aftereffects are highly unpredictable.”

“Did it ever occur to you to warn me about any of this?”

“No,” Fallon said.

“Why not?”

“Well, for one thing, there’s no way to know if an aura talent can actually extinguish another person’s energy field until he actually does it. That pretty much rules out experimental trials, at least as far as the Society is concerned. For another, the records of the handful of talents who could generate that kind of energy have always been classified to the highest levels. The Society doesn’t need that kind of stuff hitting the Internet or the tabloids.”

“I can’t tell you how much I appreciate your keeping that information from me, Fallon.”

“Like I said, no way to know if you could do it until you did it.” Fallon broke off again. There were more clicking noises. “Here’s something interesting.”

“I’m not sure I can take any more interesting news.”

“According to the experts, you didn’t actually kill Craigmore.”

“This is starting to sound like a trip down the rabbit hole.”

“Here’s the deal,” Fallon continued, unfazed by the lack of enthusiasm. “Evidently what you did with your aura was reflect the violent energy that Craigmore was generating. In effect, you created a mirror. When you came in contact with him, he got a severe bounce-back jolt. It set up a dissonant wave pattern that shattered his aura. In essence, Craigmore was the victim of a ricochet shot.”

“Huh.”

“Trust me,” Fallon said, “there’s no trace of physical evidence in situations like this. It will look like Craigmore’s heart just stopped. Which is pretty much what happens at the end, anyway, regardless of what kills you.”

“Craigmore was a wealthy man,” Luther said. “Whoever inherits his financial empire may have a few questions about the manner of his death.”

“A few years back Craigmore informed the previous Master that he intended to leave his entire estate to the Society to continue funding its research. Under the circumstances, I doubt that the Council will ask too many questions.”

“Craigmore and I didn’t exactly have a lengthy conversation in the garage,” Luther said, “but in view of his admission that he was Nightshade, he may have changed his mind about who gets his money.”

“Yeah, can’t wait to see who comes out of the woodwork to collect,” Fallon said. “I’ve got people on the way to Craigmore’s home and his office to see what they can dig up. The good news is that I don’t think Craigmore ever found out that you and Grace stumbled into those four other Nightshade talents on Maui. As far as he knew, you were interested in Eubanks only because J&J was investigating him for murder.”

“Craigmore was on the Council. Why didn’t he learn that we stumbled into the Nightshade connection?”

“Because I didn’t enter anything into the computer files about the link to Nightshade and because Zack chose not to inform the Council about what you and Grace discovered,” Fallon said.

Luther whistled softly. “You two really are worried about a spy, aren’t you?”

“I told you, Zack sensed that there was a Nightshade plant somewhere very high up within the Society. He had even begun to think that the spy might be on the Council. Guess the big sixty-four-dollar question now is, How many other members of the organization are members of the Society?”

“Any idea why Craigmore wanted Eubanks taken out?”

“Not yet,” Fallon admitted. “Just starting to work on that. Probably some kind of competitive thing. Maybe he and Eubanks were both going after the same promotion within Nightshade.”

“Why the hell did he come after me?”

“Because you’re guarding Grace,” Fallon said with his customary devastating logic.

Luther suppressed the icy chill that slithered through his veins.

“The only reason he would have been worried about Grace is because she can identify the singer,” he said quietly.

“Right. Craigmore must have been convinced that if we found the singer, we would uncover a connection that would lead straight back to him.”

Luther thought about that. “Wonder why he didn’t just take out the singer and cut the connection that way?”

“I keep telling you, she’s a pro like Sweetwater. She wouldn’t be all that easy to find, let alone remove.”

Fallon clicked off the way he usually did, without bothering to say good-bye. The way you knew a chat with him was over was when the phone went dead in your ear.

THIRTY-FOUR

Grace watched Luther close the phone and sink down onto the sofa. Absently he rubbed his right leg, weariness in every line of his body. The aftermath of the confrontation with Craigmore was having its way with him, hitting him on every front. She remembered the sensation all too well.

“Fallon says Sweetwater is still looking hard for the Siren,” Luther said. “He’s sure it won’t take long to find her.”

“That’s good to know.”

She got up, went into the kitchen and took the whiskey down from the cupboard. She poured a healthy shot into a glass, carried it back into the living room and gave it to him.

He looked at the glass for a moment as if he didn’t recognize the contents. Then he drank some of the whiskey.

“Thanks,” he said. “I needed that. Or something.”

Grace sat beside him. Together they looked out at the night through the open lanai windows. She put her hand on his thigh and began a gentle massage. He hesitated, as though he didn’t know how to react. Then, without a word, he let her continue. After a while he drank some more whiskey.

“Fallon sounded strange tonight,” he said.

“In what way?”

“I don’t know. Different. Tired. Worried. Depressed, maybe. Or maybe just a little overwhelmed. Hard to explain. Never heard him quite like he was tonight. He’s always been . . .”

“Fallon?”

“Yeah, that’s it. Long as I’ve known him, he’s always been Fallon. A force of nature, like a thunderstorm or a tsunami or a shark. But not tonight.”

“J&J is all we’ve got to stop Nightshade, and Fallon Jones is in charge of J&J,” she said. “That means the outcome of this battle is on his shoulders. He needs someone.”