(Rainshadow, #2) Deception Cove by Jayne Castle Read Free Book Online

positive. Trust me, if I had two really powerful crystals like that I would be trying to sell them to some outfit like Sebastian, Inc.”
    He smiled. “And we would pay any price you asked.”
    She sighed. “Well, I don’t have them to sell or give to you. What happens now?”
    “We need to find the two missing crystals.”
    “Be my guest. I’m not stopping you.”
    “I’m going to need your help and I’m willing to pay for it.”
    She went still again. “How much?”
    “Name your price.”
    “That offer is never a good sign. It means you’re desperate.”
    “I am desperate.”
    She looked skeptical. “I can’t see you as desperate, but it’s obvious those crystals are important to you. What I don’t understand is how you think I can help you locate them.”
    “I’m not sure, either. But from what I can tell, you’re the last person who saw them before they disappeared.”
    “No,” Alice said. “Whoever killed Fulton Whitcomb is the last person who saw those crystals.”
    “Then there’s a very good chance that person is the one who took them back to Rainshadow. You’re the key to this thing, Alice.”
    “I was afraid you were going to say something like that.”

Chapter 4

    DRAKE DE-REZZED THE FLASH-ROCK ENGINE OF THE rental car he had picked up at the airport. He sat quietly for a moment, his hands resting on the steering wheel, and studied the four-story apartment building. The sign at the entrance read: DEAD CITY SUITES—YOUR HOME AWAY FROM HOME. RENT BY THE WEEK. CASH ONLY.
    “I know what you’re thinking,” Alice said. She freed herself from the seat belt. “Not exactly what a Sebastian would consider a suitable home away from home. But it’s clean and for the most part the plumbing works.”
    She opened the door, got out, and reached back for her tote. She slung the tote over one shoulder and held out an arm to Houdini, who was perched on the back of her seat.
    “Cleanliness and good plumbing are important considerations when choosing an apartment,” Drake said as he climbed out of the car.
    It wasn’t the amenities of the Dead City Suites that concerned him. It was the location. The Colonial-era apartment building didn’t look as run-down as some by-the-week flophouses he’d seen, but he did not like the idea that Alice had been walking home late at night through the scruffy neighborhood.
    “Relax.” Alice looked at him over the top of the car. “There hasn’t been a mugging around here in days. We’ve got a very active neighborhood crime watch program.”
    “Is that right?”
    “A few retired ghost hunters live in this part of town. Some of them were at the Green Gate tonight. They’ve organized themselves into a regular night patrol. It’s a lot safer here than it is in the area near the theater.”
    “If you say so.”
    He got Alice’s wheeled suitcase out of the trunk of the car and started toward the entrance of the Dead City Suites. Alice did not move. When he realized she was not coming with him, he stopped and looked back.
    “Something wrong?” he asked politely.
    “Look, you really don’t have to walk me to my front door,” she said. “I appreciate the gesture but I’ll be fine.”
    “I’ll see you to the door,” he said.
    He resisted the urge to take her arm. He wanted to touch her, he realized.
But she probably wouldn’t appreciate the familiarity.
She was on edge now, ready to run. So he waited, not pushing it.
    She hesitated and then reluctantly started walking with him toward the entrance.
    “I’m making you nervous,” Drake said halfway across the parking lot.
    “Members of powerful, reclusive families that operate large business empires definitely make me nervous.” Alice gave him a breezy smile. “After my little brush with the Whitcomb clan, I learned a really expensive lesson.”
    “For the record, the Sebastians are not close with the Whitcombs.”
    “Give me a break.” Alice stopped in front of the lobby door and de-rezzed the