The Hot Zone (A Rainshadow Novel Book 3) (12 page)

Margaret made an outraged sound that was not quite a hiss. “You are the most ungrateful little bitch I have ever met in my life.”

Sedona was suddenly exhausted by the skirmish. “Does Ethel know you’re making this call?”

“Yes.”

“Did she approve of it?”

“Like everyone else in the family, your grandmother thinks it is in your own best interests,” Margaret said very steadily.

“Why would she care about my best interests? She hates me.”

“Ethel has some unresolved anger and resentment issues,” Margaret allowed in stiff accents.

“There’s nothing unresolved about Ethel. She’s resolved to hate me because she thinks that if I hadn’t come along Mom would never have run off with Dad.”

“Don’t you understand?” Margaret snapped. “This is about family, Sedona. You are being handed a golden opportunity to put some closure on the past and reunite with your blood kin. It is up to you to do the right thing. You know what that is.”

“You had to pull the take-the-higher-path card, didn’t you?” Sedona said. “Here’s what I will do. I will consider attending Bob Snow’s birthday celebration but I’m not making any commitments. Is that understood?”

“Yes, absolutely.” Margaret sounded almost pathetically relieved. “As I told you, all expenses will be covered. I’ll have your uncle Mark’s administrative assistant make all the travel arrangements for you.”

“Don’t bother. If I decide to attend I’ll make my own travel arrangements. I really do have to go now. Good-bye, Margaret.”

“Sedona—”

“What?”

“Thanks for at least considering this invitation,” Margaret said. “I know how hard it must be for you.”

“I don’t think so. Good-bye, Margaret.”

Sedona ended the connection and looked at Rachel.

“My life has just gotten even more complicated,” Sedona said.

“Anyone can tell you that when it comes to complicating a person’s life, there is nothing like family,” Rachel said.

“This morning a few folks who live out near the fence reported hearing what may have been some very large critters deep inside the Preserve last night,” Slade Attridge said. “The sound was described as a muffled roar. Could have been thunder, but given that we’ve found a couple of large carcasses in the past few weeks, I think we’d better assume there was another kill last night.”

“I’ll put a Foundation team together this morning and see if we can find the new carcass.” Harry Sebastian looked up from the maps. “I’ve got to tell you that our research people are loving this stuff. They’re like kids with big bags of Halloween candy.”

“I know,” Cyrus said. “I had a chat with Dr. Knutson this morning. He says the two carcasses you’ve found thus far match descriptions of fossils that date back a few million years. He’s beyond thrilled with the possibility that the Aliens may have managed to reverse-engineer some living dinosaurs.”

“Knutson isn’t the one in charge of containing those critters,” Harry said.

“Or the one in charge of making sure they don’t decide to stampede down the Main Street of Shadow Bay,” Slade added.

“No,” Cyrus said. “That would be us.”

The three of them were in the makeshift office that had been set up for Guild operations. The furnishings were spare. They consisted of a battered desk and a couple of folding chairs. Maps of the island and charts of the surrounding seas—some dating back to the Colonial Era—were stacked on the top of the desk.

The most prominent feature on each map of Rainshadow was the large swath of the island that was designated as the Rainshadow Preserve. The powerful psi-fence that surrounded the mysterious region was indicated with a forbidding red line on the newer maps. The thickly wooded interior behind the fence was labeled
UNCHARTED,
and Cyrus figured that it was likely to remain that way for some time. The heavy paranormal forces that swirled like the tides and currents of an invisible ocean inside the fence rendered even the most basic navigation and charting equipment useless. Aerial photographs were always wildly distorted by the clouds of psi that covered the interior of the island.

HERE THERE BE MONSTERS
was clearly printed in large, bold letters on all of the historic maps of Rainshadow. The newer maps took the legal approach to discourage trespassers:
PRIVATE PROPERTY. DANGER. KEEP OUT.

Maybe they should add
TRESPASSERS WILL BE EATEN
, Cyrus thought.

He was well aware that he had lucked out when it came to his counterparts among the local authorities. He had recognized kindred spirits in Slade and Harry. It wasn’t just the auras of strong talent that whispered in the atmosphere around them. He had met a lot of high-rez talents in his time—some of them very dangerous.

He knew that Slade and Harry could be dangerous, too. He was good with that. When you went monster hunting, you needed folks who could deal with monsters. As soon as he had shaken hands with Sebastian and Attridge, he had understood that he could not only work well with them—he could also rely on them to have his back if there was real trouble. You didn’t meet a lot of people like that in a lifetime, he thought. He was fortunate to find two of them on Rainshadow.

He put down the pen he had been using to make notes. “The monsters may be the big problem but the more immediate concerns are treasure hunters and thrill seekers. Saw a couple of them come out of the graveyard entrance site last night. I’m going to station a guard there starting this evening.”

Harry shook his head. “We installed the latest in security fencing but no barrier is perfect.”

“
Keep Out
signs are magnets,” Cyrus said. He leaned back in the chair. “You know, other new Guild bosses get territories that contain lucrative amber mining operations and Alien ruins,” he observed. “Their clients are big government agencies, corporate R-and-D divisions, and academic exploration teams with unlimited budgets. I get a territory with dinosaurs and one client—the Foundation.”

“Don’t forget the crystal pyramid down below,” Harry said. “My brother, Drake, says it’s some kind of ancient Alien storehouse of knowledge—a paranormal library. The value is incalculable.”

“Right,” Cyrus said. “And it’s already been claimed by your family firm.”

“Look on the bright side,” Harry said. “The research teams we send into the pyramid will be paying high fees for Guild protection.”

Cyrus smiled. “We like to think our services are worth every penny.”

Slade looked amused. “No one ever said that Guild bosses don’t have a talent for making the most of the business opportunities that come their way.”

“It’s a job requirement,” Cyrus admitted. “But at the moment no one is going to be making any money down below in the catacombs—not until we get those tunnels cleared and charted.”

“All right, looks like we’ve got something resembling a plan,” Harry said. “You’ll oversee the Underworld operations, Cyrus. I’ll control activities inside the Preserve. Slade will handle his usual police duties in Shadow Bay and try to control the thrill seekers who have been trickling into town ever since the rumors about the weirdness on the island started to leak out awhile back.”

“I’ll take a dinosaur trotting down Main Street any day over a dumbass thrill seeker,” Slade said. “And things aren’t going to be easy this week, what with the Halloween tourism promotion the new mayor has been running. Every time a ferry docks, another bunch of strangers walks off.”

“Which brings me to the problem that Sedona encountered last night,” Cyrus said.

Both men looked at him with speculative expressions and some amusement.

“There was a problem last night?” Slade asked rather blandly.

“We had the impression that things had gotten quite cozy between you and Sedona,” Harry said.

Cyrus ignored the innuendoes. He gave them a quick rundown of the psi-trap episode. By the time he had finished all of the male humor in the room had dissipated.

Slade walked over to the window and looked out onto Main Street with its crowds of tourists and garish decorations.

“A few weeks ago, after Sedona arrived on the island, she told Rachel and my wife, Charlotte, that she was afraid Blankenship might try to track her down,” he said. “I’ve had someone at the dock every time the ferry arrives. But so far we haven’t spotted anyone matching the descriptions of Blankenship or the two assistants.”

“Rachel is watching for unstable or dangerous auras, but when you’ve got this many strangers on the island, it’s impossible to check out everyone,” Harry added.

Cyrus looked at him and then he switched his attention to Slade. “You believed Sedona’s story from the start?”

“This is Rainshadow,” Slade said. “No one ends up here without a really good story. In my experience, most of those stories turn out to be true.”

“Sedona is one of us now,” Harry said. “It’s a small town. We look out for each other.”

“Thanks,” Cyrus said.

Cyrus glanced at his watch and then looked at Brock Prescott. “You’ve got five minutes. What do you want?”

“I want to know why you’re hanging around my wife,” Brock said.

“Two points. First, she’s not your wife, not anymore. Second, regarding my relationship with her—I don’t owe you any explanations.”

Prescott had shown up just as Cyrus was finishing a briefing with his lieutenants. Cyrus had considered ignoring him, but in the end he had concluded it made more sense to try to get a handle on what Prescott wanted. Once you knew an opponent’s priorities, you could usually predict his actions with a fair degree of accuracy. Motive was all.

Brock’s face tightened with an expression of Serious Concern. “I’m sure you’re aware that my wife is believed to have suffered a bad psi-burn in the course of her last Guild job. She is probably in a very fragile condition.”

“She’s not your wife,” Cyrus repeated. “You filed the papers, remember?”

“Damn it, I thought I had no choice. The Gold Creek Guild authorities informed me she was missing and presumed dead.” Brock shoved his fingers through his hair and went to stand at the window. “It seemed clear that she was not coming back. What the hell was I supposed to do?”

“Look for her,” Cyrus said.

Brock spun around. “That’s easy for you to say. You’re a Guild exec. And you’re a Jones. You could afford to mount a private search-and-rescue operation.”

“You’re the head of Prescott Industries. You could have paid for your own private search-and-rescue op.”

“They told me she had been lost in an energy river. No one comes out of a river.”

“Almost no one,” Cyrus said. There was a loud, protesting squeak when he leaned back in the old office chair. “You still haven’t explained why you’re here on the island.”

“Isn’t it obvious? I care about her. She’s my wife, damn it.”

“She was your wife. And it was just an MC. What’s more, you had every intention of keeping it that way, didn’t you?”

“Our relationship started out as an MC,” Brock said through his teeth. “But after she disappeared, I realized that what I felt for her was something much deeper and more profound.”

“So deep and profound that you decided to start sleeping with your administrative assistant?”

Brock’s face creased in grim lines. “It was all a misunderstanding. Sedona never gave me a chance to explain.”

Cyrus raised his brows. “Now you’re thinking Covenant Marriage?”

“Absolutely.” Brock walked forward and planted both hands, palms down, on the surface of the desk. “Not that my relationship with Sedona is any of your damn business.”

“Actually it is my business. She has agreed to take gatekeeping contracts with the Rainshadow Guild on an ad hoc basis. As far as I’m concerned, that makes her a member of my team. I have every right to look out for her welfare.”

“Is that so? Do you make a habit of sleeping with all your female team members?”

Cyrus stood and confronted Brock across the depth of the old desk. “If you make one move to take Sedona away from this island without her clear, informed consent, I will make sure that Prescott Industries never gets access to the Underworld again.”

“That’s bullshit.” Fury came and went in Brock’s eyes. “You can’t threaten me like that. You may be a Jones, but we both know you’re just a low-rent Guild boss with a small, unimportant territory on an island in the middle of the Amber Sea. It’s not like you’re the head of one of the big city-state Guilds.”

“This may not be Crystal City or Resonance City. But the Underworld here on Rainshadow is my territory.”

Brock’s eyes narrowed. “Is that a threat?”

“If you know anything about the members of the Chamber, you know they don’t assign any territory, large or small, to someone unless they think he can control it. Believe me when I tell you that I can and will protect what’s mine. We’re done here, Prescott. It’s true, I don’t have the power to order you off the island—just out of the Underworld. But if you aren’t very careful I will make sure that you disappear from Rainshadow, one way or another. Now get out of here. I’ve got work to do.”

Prescott looked as if he was going to refuse to be hustled out of the office. But in the end, he evidently concluded that there was no benefit to pushing the issue.

He yanked open the door and strode outside as if it were his idea to leave. On the sidewalk he paused briefly to look back at Cyrus.

“Who the hell do you think you are, Jones?”

“The man they sent to take care of the monsters on Rainshadow,” Cyrus said.

It was just after eight o’clock but the noise level in the tavern was climbing rapidly. Lyle had vanished into the darkened interior twenty minutes earlier. There had been no sign of him since, but the rez-rock music and the roars of masculine laughter booming out of the doorway that separated the bar from the lobby did not bode well in Sedona’s opinion.

She was about to leave her post behind the front desk to check on the situation when a six-foot-tall Amazon with endless waves of blond hair and a bust that would have done credit to a lingerie model came through the lobby doors. Hannah Holbrook was dressed in her trademark head-to-toe leather and all of it—jacket, vest, and trousers—clung to her centerfold-worthy figure like a hand-tailored glove. High-heeled boots and a leather computer bag completed the look.

“Hey, Sedona.” She flashed her camera-ready smile. “Sounds like you’ve got a crowd in the tavern tonight.”

“Hi, Hannah. Knox is getting rich but I’m getting a little worried about Lyle.”

“I’ve always heard that dust bunnies can take care of themselves.” Hannah glanced toward the doorway. “I could really use a drink but it looks like I’m going to have to wade through a bunch of drunken ghost hunters to get it.”

“I’ll be happy to have Knox bring one out to you.”

Hannah chuckled. “Thanks, but I’ll take my chances in the bar. I am in desperate need of information and who better to get it from than a crowd of inebriated hunters?”

Hannah might look like Miss July but she had a reporter’s eyes. She had arrived on the island a few days earlier and it had immediately become clear that she was determined to use all of her impressive assets and her journalist’s savvy to get her story.

“I’m not so sure you’ll get anything out of them, even if they are drunk,” Sedona said. “I hear they’ve been given strict orders not to talk to the press. The local authorities are trying to keep a lid on the rumors that are circulating about the Preserve.”

“Fat chance.”

Sedona smiled. “True.”

Hannah gave her a suspiciously sweet smile. “The new Guild boss seems to be determined to run a tight operation. I caught Jones on the street today, but all I got from him was the same thing I got from Harry Sebastian and the police chief. ‘No comment.’”

“As I’m sure you’re aware, the Foundation controls most of Rainshadow,” Sedona said. “It doesn’t want any publicity. Neither do the local residents.”

“In that case, they shouldn’t have announced Halloween Week.”

“I’ll give you that. All I can say is that when the new mayor proposed the idea, the town council thought it was a good idea at the time.”

Hannah narrowed her eyes. “There’s a story here, I can feel it. Sooner or later it will be covered in the media.”

“Not if the Rainshadow Foundation and the Guild have anything to say about it.”

Hannah groaned. “That’s becoming more obvious by the minute. All I’ve got are rumors of monsters running around in the Preserve. But according to the local legends, that’s not exactly news on Rainshadow.”

“Nope, it’s not.”

Hannah got a crafty look. “I heard that Brock Prescott is on the island.”

“Mmm.”

“I find that rather interesting under the circumstances.” Hannah crossed the lobby to lounge against the front desk. She winked in a conspiratorial fashion. “Not like his family’s company has any interests here on Rainshadow. Most of this island, and anything found inside the Preserve, belong to Sebastian, Inc.”

“Don’t look at me,” Sedona said. “I have no idea what he’s doing here.”

“According to my research, you and Prescott were in an MC not so long ago.”

“That’s old history,” Sedona said, going for casual.

“Men like Prescott don’t usually follow an ex to a remote island in the Amber Sea if they believe that the relationship is actually over,” Hannah said.

Sedona folded her arms on the counter. “It’s over.”

The truth was, she’d been expecting Brock to show up at the inn ever since she had arrived at work that morning. Each time the front door of the lobby opened she braced herself for the confrontation. But there had been no sign of him all day. She had begun to hope that he had left the island.

Another wave of shouts and laughter rolled through the doorway. Hannah looked in that direction.

“Sounds like a real party going on in there,” she said.

“Yes, it does, doesn’t it?” Sedona straightened, rounded the end of the counter, and started toward the tavern door. “And I’ll bet I know who is wearing the lampshade.”

Hannah perked up. “Yeah?”

Sedona went through the doorway.

“Look out,” a hunter shouted. “Incoming dust bunny.”

A man’s hand closed around Sedona’s upper arm and hauled her aside just as a small, makeshift trapeze sailed past her. She caught a glimpse of Lyle riding the wooden platform.

He chortled exuberantly. When the trapeze reached the end of its arc he leaped nimbly off the platform and onto the bar.

A cheer went up around the room. Lyle bounced up and down and chortled wildly.

“I knew it,” Sedona said, resigned. “Always the life of the party.”

“Doesn’t take much to entertain a bunch of ghost hunters,” Hannah said.

“Or a dust bunny,” Sedona said.

The hunter who had whisked Sedona aside released her as if he’d been burned.

“Sorry, ma’am,” he said. “Didn’t mean to grab you like that. I was afraid you would get hit by the trapeze we built for the little guy.”

“It’s okay,” Sedona said. “You probably saved me from getting clunked on the head.”

The hunter looked relieved. “Just having a little fun with the dust bunny.” He raised his voice. “Let’s lower the rez level, people. The boss’s lady is here.”

The reaction from the crowd was almost as jolting as the hunter’s description of her. The noise level immediately dropped several decibels.

The boss’s lady
.

Crap, Sedona thought. The word that Cyrus had spent the night at her place had spread far and wide. She had worked with ghost hunters long enough to know there was no stuffing the toothpaste back into the tube. As far as Cyrus’s men were concerned she was now officially the boss’s lady.

“If you don’t mind, I’ll take Lyle and leave now,” she said politely. “He needs his rest.”

A path through the throng of hunters opened up as if by magic. She went to the bar and collected Lyle.

Knox frowned, his bushy brows bobbing up and down over his sun-faded eyes. “You’re going home now?”

“Yes, I am. Call the police department if things get out of hand.”

Knox leaned forward and lowered his voice. “I’m not worried about these hunters. After what happened last night I’m worried about you going back to your place alone.”

“I’ll be fine,” Sedona said.

“You should wait until Jones gets here to walk you home and keep an eye on you.”

The boss’s lady
.

“I know you mean well, Knox, however, Cyrus is very busy these days.”

Knox glanced toward the door and looked relieved. “There he is now. Jones will take care of you. Off you go.”

Sedona turned her head and saw Cyrus filling the tavern doorway. Everyone else in the room noticed him at the same time. There was an abrupt silence. Chairs scraped and hunters got to their feet.

“Good evening, gentlemen,” Cyrus said. “Go back to your burgers and drinks. Report to headquarters in the morning at oh-seven-hundred. We’ll be clearing Sector One tomorrow. I will expect everyone to be at full rez.”

There was a chorus of
“Yes, sir.”

Cyrus looked at Sedona. “Ready to go home?”

She considered the options and concluded that all but one of them would make her look foolish or, worse yet, like a sulky teenager. She went with the only remaining alternative.

“Yes,” she said.

With Lyle under one arm, she walked through the gauntlet of hunters to where Cyrus waited in the doorway. He stood aside for her. She did not pause, but kept moving across the lobby. Cyrus followed her.

“Don’t know about you, but I’m hungry,” he said when he caught up with her. “What do you say we get some dinner over at the Marina Café?”

Well, she did need to eat, Sedona thought. And really, how much more damage could it do to have dinner with Cyrus?

The boss’s lady
.

“Okay,” she said.

Hannah surveyed the crowded tavern with a sparkling smile.

“I know the boss probably told you all not to talk to me about your work in the tunnels,” she said cheerfully. “But would anyone like to buy me a drink?”

Chairs scraped again and every man in the room shot to his feet. There was a great deal of pushing and shoving.

“Over here, Miss Holbrook.”

“Be my pleasure, ma’am.”

Hannah laughed a throaty, sexy laugh and headed toward the bar. “No need to fight over me, gentlemen. I plan to be here for a while. Not like there’s anything else to do on this rock at night.”

Someone cranked up the music.

Sedona went out into the night with Cyrus.

“I know what you’re thinking,” Cyrus said.

“I’m thinking I’m hungry.”