Guild Boss (Ghost Hunters #14)(64)

He knew an off-the-books lab when he saw one. The Guild was forever taking down such operations in the Underworld. The tunnels and the Rainforest were ideal places to set up illegal businesses, but the location had one very big drawback—high-tech equipment didn’t work down below. The fact that the lab he had just seen was filled with exotic instrumentation explained why it was on the surface.

The old casino didn’t look like a standard drug lab. More like a weapons factory.

He considered his options. The four ex-Guild men were involved in whatever was going on in the lab. He had the authority to take them into custody and request that the police hold them for questioning. But at this point it would be next to impossible to prove they had kidnapped Lucy. He needed more information before he could act.

He brought the sled to a halt near Tuck’s hole-in-the-wall and stepped down onto the quartz floor. He took out his flamer and his own locator. No sense courting trouble by exiting the tunnels through Tuck’s house. Soon there would be a confrontation with the mercenary, but there was one more thing to do before that happened. It was time to take care of the public relations aspect of the case.

When he picked up Tuck, he wanted the cooperation of the Illusion Town Police and the local authorities. He could almost hear Aiden now. It will look much better in the press if the Guild and the cops are seen as having worked together to break this case.

Time to talk to the chief of police.

It was a good plan, as plans go—and as plans go, it went to green hell the moment he launched it.

He was about twelve feet away when the intense storm of acid-green dissonance energy flashed into existence in front of him. The whirling, pulsing ball of hot green fire momentarily seared his senses.

It happened that way sometimes. The ghosts drifted randomly throughout the tunnels. It was impossible to predict when you might turn a corner and blunder into one. That was why corporations, entrepreneurs, and research projects always hired Guild teams for protection.

The hot green fires of swirling dissonance energy were slow moving, but the big ones were exceedingly dangerous. A small version could knock you unconscious if it brushed against you. The monsters could shatter the senses—paranormal and normal—and leave the victim in a coma. A ghost that burned hot enough could kill.

But ghost hunters had some natural immunity, a side effect of their talent for handling dissonance energy. They also had the ability to sense a ghost before it got too close, assuming the ball of acid-hot flames was one of the natural sort.

This one had exploded into existence with no warning. That happened only when it had been generated by someone with a strong talent for controlling dissonance energy—another trained ghost hunter.

“Drop the flamer, Jones.”

Gabriel set the weapon down on the tunnel floor. He used the move to palm the glowing blue amber, wrapping his fingers tightly around the tracker to conceal the energy. The wild flames of the huge ghost offered plenty of distraction.

“Turn around. Slowly.”

Gabriel took a few steps back from the hot ghost and obeyed the command.

Tuck stood in the tunnel, flamer in hand. “Got a silent alarm that alerts me if someone accesses my hole-in-the-wall. Nice little gadget I picked up in the Guild.”

“You’re good,” Gabriel said. “That is one badass ghost you pulled.”

Tuck smiled a thin smile. His eyes glittered with energy. He was rezzed, riding the high that came with using his psychic talent at full strength.

“I was the best when I was in the Guild,” he said. “But the new boss didn’t appreciate my talent.”

“According to the file, you were kicked out because you were running your own private pirate operation in the Underworld.”

Tuck shrugged. “So? The old boss looked the other way as long as I did my job.”

“You may have noticed that the Guilds are under new management now.”

“Yeah, well, some of us are still old-school.”

Gabriel could feel the paranormal heat from the blazing energy behind him, but the ghost wasn’t coming closer. Yet. Evidently Tuck didn’t want to kill him until he got some answers. That worked both ways.

“Have a nice little trip on my sled?” Tuck asked.

“I found the lab in that old casino,” Gabriel said. “What’s going on there?”

Tuck grinned, showing a lot of teeth. “Remember the power failure on the Amber Strip?”

“I was there,” Gabriel said.

“It wasn’t an accident.”

“I had a feeling you were going to say that. So, you’re into the weapons trade now?”

“It’s not just a weapon. Don’t you get it? That device took down the whole fucking Strip. My client controls that gadget and the source of the liquid crystal it uses. And I’m in charge of security for the project.”

“Impressive.” Gabriel opened his hand. The blue amber tracker glowed. “I see you’re also into kidnapping these days.”

Jolted, Tuck stared at the amber. “That’s not one of my team’s ID stones. Where did you get it?”

“Pitney made one more tracker before you murdered him and burned down his shop. The Guild and the local police will be able to use it to round up your gang. It’s evidence that you and your pals are involved in the kidnapping of a weather channeler named Lucy Bell.”