Flash (31 page)

At eight o'clock the following evening Jasper got gingerly out of the cab in front of the Enfield Mansion. He had been right about the bruises on his ribs. They had not improved in the course of what had proved to be a very long day.

“Looks like the Mansion's been taken over by space aliens or somethin'.” The cab driver squinted up at Jasper. “Some kinda weird gig goin' on here tonight, huh?”

Jasper glanced at the old Capital Hill house as he removed some cash from his wallet. Every window of the stately two-story mansion glowed with an eerie blue light. “Just your typical software launch party.”

The driver examined the surreal scene with an expression of bemused wonder. “Looks kinda like a giant arcade game.”

“Perceptive of you to notice.” Jasper slipped his wallet back into the inside pocket of his evening jacket.

He walked up a brick path that wound through a garden stuffed with rhododendron bushes to the graceful, colonnaded veranda.

A young man garbed in blue chain mail and a blue tunic emblazoned with the Camelot Blue logo inclined his shaved head. He held an electronic notebook computer in one hand.

“Welcome to the festivities, Sir Knight. May I please have your name?”

“Sloan. Jasper Sloan.”

“Ah, yes.” The gatekeeper clicked a name. Then he bowed deeply from the waist and swept out an arm. “I bid you enter the world of Camelot Blue, Sir Knight.”

“Thanks.”

Walking into the wide hall was akin to sinking into the deep end of a bottomless swimming pool. Jasper was enveloped immediately in an unearthly realm.

He was amused, in spite of his sore ribs and generally frustrating day. He had made a bet with himself that Olivia would not be able to top her Silver Galaxy Foods Night event, but he had been wrong.

The entire interior of the mansion was illuminated in the odd, dark turquoise hue that was the Camelot Blue trademark color. A forest of deep azure banners hung from the ceiling. The walls were draped in yards of iridescent blue fabric. Tables were covered in faux blue stone. Even the cushions of the chairs were blue.

Although the unrelenting blue furnishings created a bizarre impression, Jasper realized that the otherworldly sensation was achieved primarily with special effects lighting. He suspected that most of the hightech fixtures had been “borrowed” from the test labs of Glow, Inc.

Great advertising, he reminded himself. At least, that's what Olivia claimed.

A waiter dressed in a Camelot Blue medieval page costume held out a blue tray. “Hors d'oeuvres, Sir Knight?”

“Thanks. I didn't get dinner.” Jasper was relieved to see that the food was not blue.

He piled several canapés onto a napkin and wandered into a ballroom suffused in a hazy blue light.

He recognized the centerpiece of the room. It was the large sword-in-the-stone model he had seen in the Light Fantastic studio. Tonight only the blue gemstone-studded hilt of the sword was visible. The blade portion was sunk deep into the fake blue stone. The entire assembly pulsed and glowed neon blue.

Computer stations were set up in a circle around the model. Heads were bent intently over screens that flickered with Camelot Blue software products.

Guests, some in futuristic medieval fantasy costume, others in evening dress, swirled around him. Musicians garbed in gleaming blue tunics played on a stage illuminated in a foggy turquoise light. The decibel level of laughter and conversation indicated that the crowd was enjoying itself.

“It's a mock-up of Camelot Blue's new game,” said a familiar voice. “The idea is to find the secret code
that allows you to pull the sword out of the stone.”

Jasper glanced at Todd, who had come up beside him.

Todd was dressed as conservatively as himself in a black evening jacket and tie.

“Bolivar explained the game to me.” Jasper selected the canapé on top of his small pile and took a large bite. “Looks like it will be another hit for Camelot Blue.”

“Probably. They haven't had a failure yet.”

“I know,” Jasper said. “That's why Sloan & Associates financed their new product line research four years ago.”

Todd shook his head. “I should have guessed. Have you been upstairs?”

“No.”

“If you think this is weird, wait until you see what Olivia did on the floor above.”

“I'll check it out.”

The gold rims of Todd's serious glasses winked in the blue light. “I didn't know you planned to be here tonight.”

“I had to see if Olivia could outdo Foil Town.”

Todd winced. “Whatever you do, don't call the Silver Galaxy Foods Night event Foil Town in her presence.”

“What do you think I am?” Jasper munched down on a cracker. “Stupid?”

Todd did not smile. He appeared to take the question seriously, as if Jasper had asked about a campaign policy issue.

“No. Whatever else you are, Sloan, you aren't stupid.”

Jasper decided to change the subject. “Does the fact that you're here tonight mean that Eleanor Lancaster is somewhere in the vicinity?”

Todd studied the crowd with a neutral expression. “Lot of money in this room. It's an ideal venue for Eleanor.”

Something cool and distant in his voice caught Jasper's attention. He wondered if there had been a few ripples on the seas of the perfect political relationship. He downed the rest of his cracker. “Campaign looks like it's going well. Picking up a lot of momentum.”

“And money.” Todd took a swallow from the glass in his hand. “Eleanor is going straight to the governor's office in November. And after that there's no reason she shouldn't eventually take a look at running for the White House.”

Jasper whistled soundlessly. “Big plans.”

“Very big.”

“Takes a lot of money to get all the way to Washington, D.C.”

“She can pull it in.” Todd's jaw hardened. He took another swallow from his glass. “She's very, very focused.”

“Guess that's what it requires to be president.”

“Yes. If you're going to be a winner like Eleanor, everything else in your life has to take a back seat.”

He wasn't the most intuitive person on the planet, Jasper told himself, but even he could feel the undercurrents here.

“Something wrong, Todd?”

“No.” Todd smiled without a trace of amusement. “Everything's right on schedule. Including me.”

Jasper was wondering how far to push, when another man shouldered his way through a nearby knot of guests. It was obvious from the slow, careful way he moved and the hot, glittery look in his eyes that he had started drinking before he had arrived at the party.

“Hello, Dixon.” Todd glanced quickly at Jasper. “Have you met Dixon Haggard? Eleanor Lancaster's campaign manager. Dixon, this is Jasper Sloan. The co-owner of Glow, Inc.”

“Haggard.” Jasper nodded slightly.

“Sloan.” The single word was slightly slurred. “Didn't know you'd be here tonight. Quite a production, isn't it?”

“It's definitely got the Light Fantastic stamp all over it,” Jasper agreed. “Where's the candidate?”

“Over there.” Dixon waved the glass in his hand in a vague manner to indicate a spot on the other side of the room. “Talking to some VIPs from Camelot Blue. Can't waste a golden opportunity like this to raise a few bucks.”

There was no quiet, melancholic resignation in Dixon's voice as there had been in Todd's, just a willing, eager acceptance of the facts. Politics was fueled with money. Everyone knew that. But maybe, Jasper reflected, it took idealists such as Todd a little longer to realize exactly what that fact meant in the real world.

He looked across the heads of the crowd and saw a ring of people gathered around the statuesque figure of Eleanor Lancaster. His first thought surprised him.
She looks just like she does on TV.

Her black hair gleamed a metallic blue in the eerie lights. The air around her seemed to shimmer with energy. It was obvious even from where Jasper stood that everyone in the small group clustered near her was hanging on every word.

Dixon shoved a hand into the pocket of his evening trousers and slurped blue-tinted champagne. “Been upstairs yet?”

“No. I hear it's interesting up there.”

Dixon made a face. “Light Fantastic turned the entire floor into a neon arcade. Not exactly the height of sophistication.”

“Olivia has a policy of giving her clients exactly what they want,” Jasper said quietly. “It's good business. Sort of like a politician getting herself invited to a shindig like this so that she can troll for financial donors.”

Todd gave him a sharp, slightly startled look but said nothing.

Dixon's eyes narrowed. “Okay, I get your point. Business is business. I notice that Sean Dane and his family are not here tonight. I know for a fact that they were invited. Guess it's no surprise they stayed away, given their history with Olivia.”

Todd stiffened visibly. He looked at Dixon with illconcealed annoyance. “The Danes owe my sister a hell of a lot.”

“No shit?” Dixon gave him a mockingly innocent look of inquiry. “Thought they held her responsible for driving Logan Dane to his death.”

“Dane got drunk and did something stupid. He was responsible for his own death,” Todd said.

Dixon shrugged as if the matter were supremely
unimportant. “Sorry. Didn't mean to step on any toes.”

“Bullshit,” Todd said very softly.

Dixon ignored him. Perhaps he had not heard the succinct comment.

Jasper looked at Todd. “Why do you say the Danes owe Olivia?”

Todd's jaw jerked slightly. “If it hadn't been for her, they wouldn't have been able to cash in on Logan Dane's reputation during the past three years.”

Dixon looked briefly interested in the conversation again. Money, Jasper noticed, had a way of grabbing his attention.

“What do you mean?” Dixon demanded.

“One of the little details that Crawford Lee Wilder conveniently left out of his piece on Olivia,” Todd said, “is the fact that right after Dane's funeral she gave every single one of his paintings in her possession to the Dane family. Sean and the others have been selling off Logan's pictures very quietly ever since. They've made a fortune.”

Dixon scowled. “That's not the way I heard it.”

“Like everyone else, you bought the Crawford Lee Wilder version of the Logan Dane legend.” Todd looked Dixon up and down with unmistakable disgust. “Wilder was right on one point. Dane did have a will. He left everything to Olivia, including his unsold paintings. At the time of his death, his work had just begun to escalate in value. Nobody knew better than Olivia did how much his stuff would be worth in a few years.”

Dixon's features twisted in disbelief. “You're telling me she gave every damn one of those pictures to Dane's relatives?”

“Yes. Olivia likes money as much as anyone else, but unlike some people, there are a lot of things she won't do to get it.” Todd turned on his heel and walked away into the crowd.

“Sonofabitch.” Dixon sounded genuinely awed. “We must be talking about a couple of million bucks worth of art.”

“That might have been the value of the pictures at the time of Dane's death.” Jasper watched Todd's rigidly set shoulders. “But they would be worth four or five times that amount now. Even more in the future.”

“Nobody gives away that kind of cash.” Dixon shook his head. “Nobody. I can't believe Olivia would have been fool enough to do it.”

“Olivia is no fool.” Jasper felt anger coil deep inside. “But she does make her decisions on the basis of values rather than money.”

Dixon's brow furrowed in confusion. “What the hell are you talking about?”

“Forget it. The subject of values is probably a little too high-concept for you, Haggard. Especially after a few drinks.”

In his inebriated state, Dixon was having difficulty following the thread of the conversation. Jasper waited patiently until a belligerent expression belatedly dawned in the other man's eyes.

“Are you insulting me, you bastard?” Dixon finally managed.

“If you can't figure that out, you've definitely had one too many, Dixon.”

Jasper turned and made his way out into the hall to hunt for Olivia. He did not look back.

At the foot of the wide blue-lit staircase he paused to contemplate the murky azure glow that emanated from the next level. A steady stream of animated guests moved between the two floors. He wondered which room housed Merlin's Cave.

He had a special attachment to that cave, he thought. He would never forget his first sight of Olivia floating toward him through eerily lit vapor.

He went down the hall behind the staircase, glancing into various rooms. Some glowed blue and were in use as smaller, quieter spaces for guests to gather. Others were closed to the public.

The door of one of the closed rooms opened just as Jasper walked past. Olivia, dressed in a long, Camelot Blue, off-the-shoulder gown, stepped out of a pantry closet. She had what looked to be a stack of blue tunics in one hand. She did not see him until she collided with him.

“Jasper.”

He caught her arm and gently steadied her. “Congratulations on another big success.”

She ignored that to glare at him as she pushed her glasses more firmly back on her nose. “It's about time you got here. I tried to call you every time I had a free second this afternoon. Aunt Rose always said you were either out of the office or couldn't be disturbed.”

“I was a little busy today.”

She gave him a knowing look. “Because of Melwood's death?”

“Among other things. I spent most of the morning going through Gill's desk and his computer files.”

Her eyes widened eagerly. “Find anything?”

“No. But I'm not what anyone could call an expert hacker. If Gill hid something deep in his computer files, I probably wouldn't be able to find it.”