Guild Boss (Ghost Hunters #14)(9)

“Where’s your car parked?” Gabriel asked.

“I don’t have a car. Can’t afford one at the moment. Luckily, I live in the Dark Zone. I can walk to work and back home.”

“Long walk around the Dead City to the Dark Zone.”

“Not if you cut across the ruins,” Lucy said.

Gabriel eyed her as if he wasn’t sure how to handle that comment.

“That’s a joke, right?” he said. “You don’t really walk home through the ruins.”

She rolled the bus into the big garage and brought it to a halt. She shut down the engine and turned to face him, one arm draped over the steering wheel.

“I’m sure you aren’t here to quiz me on my commuting habits,” she said. “What can I do for you, Mr. Jones?”

“I want to hire you. I’ve got a situation that requires a weather channeler.”





CHAPTER FOUR





Okay, she had not seen that coming. Had she been silly enough to wonder if he might have come looking for her because he wanted to see her again? She tried to focus.

“What kind of situation are we talking about?” she asked.

“I’m sure you’re aware of the recent discovery of the long-lost Midnight Carnival museum down in the tunnels beneath the Dead City ruins here in Illusion Town.”

“The news was in the papers and on the rez screen. Someone found a whole bunch of valuable Earth artifacts that were lost after the Curtain closed. A group called the Arcane Society bought the entire collection. They paid a fortune. Something to do with the fact that the relics were associated with the Old World history of their organization.”

The vast energy field in space known as the Curtain had opened more than two hundred years earlier, making it possible for humans to explore and colonize other planets. But the Curtain had closed as suddenly and mysteriously as it had opened. The colonists from Earth had been stranded, with the result that, two hundred years later, Old World items had become extremely valuable and had inspired a lively market in antiques and antiquities.

“As far as the members of the Arcane Society are concerned, the relics are literally priceless,” Gabriel said.

“Yes, well, it’s certainly nice to have that kind of cash to throw around.”

“True,” he said.

To her relief, he was too polite to bring up the fact that her father had that sort of cash. It was annoying to have to explain that she was living from paycheck to paycheck these days because she refused to go back to Resonance City and admit failure. Deborah would not be pleased to see her standing on the doorstep. There would be lectures about screwing up and embarrassing the family. Again. Also a lot of conversations about how weather channeling was not a worthy career for a Bell.

“What about the Midnight Carnival brings you here?” she asked.

“Last night one of the relics went missing.”

“Tsk, tsk. If the collection was so valuable they should have installed better security.” A terrible thought struck her. “You think I had something to do with it?”

That succeeded in startling him. He was first shocked, and then she could have sworn something akin to pain flashed in his eyes. Had she somehow hurt him? Impossible. He was a Guild boss. Everyone knew they were as hard as the green quartz the Aliens had used to build their cities and tunnels.

But the ruins were not entirely impervious, she reminded herself. Eons earlier, some unknown force had ripped through the Dead City here in Illusion Town, and there were plenty of fissures in the tunnels. Nothing and no one was truly indestructible, including Guild bosses. She was annoyed to discover that she felt bad about the faint possibility that she had hurt Gabriel. The man had saved her life. She had to cut him some slack.

“No one thinks you took the damn artifact,” he said.

“I can’t tell you how relieved I am to hear that. Things have been a little rough careerwise for the past two months. I don’t need any more bad publicity.”

“I, uh, heard some of the talk,” he admitted.

“I’m sure you have.” The last thing she wanted from him was sympathy. “Let’s move along here. I’ve got plans for tonight.”

“Right.” He cleared his throat. “Let me just say that, for the record, Arcane has good security in place. The theft of the artifact appears to have been an inside job. Indications are the thief or thieves escaped into the Ghost City.”

“That’s a tough one. Very few people can track someone down there.”

“Pretty sure I can handle it.”

She smiled. “Of course.”

“But I’m going to need a very, very good weather channeler.”

“And you came to me because?”

“Everyone says you’re the best.”

She shook her head. “You misunderstood. What everyone says is that I used to be the best but that’s no longer true.” She waved a hand to indicate the tour bus. “I’ve changed careers.”

Her talent for being able to channel the paranormal wavelengths associated with the bizarre and often dangerous weather in the Underworld was as strong as ever. She loved the work. The thrill of controlling such powerful energy was unlike any other. She had the ability to save lives and prevent disasters. But handling weather down below was a business, and she was no longer in that business, thanks in large part to Gabriel Jones.