Free Copper Beach by Jayne Ann Krentz

for offended. “I’m on your side in this thing, remember?”

    “Actually, it’s starting to sound like you’ve got your own agenda, but I’m good with that. Everyone has an agenda, right?”

    He did not dignify that with a response. “What I’m trying to explain here is that it’s reasonable to assume that Webber sent you to me because he thinks that you’re in danger from someone who is after that notebook. He understands that I’m the best-qualified person around to look after you until we find that damned book and get it off the market.”

    “Okay, I get that, but remember that you’re supposed to be working for me.”

    “Trust me, I am not going to let you out of my sight until we find the notebook and the person who is trying to blackmail you.”

    “I’m not sure that translates into working for me.”

    “You will have my full attention until this is over,” he assured her gravely.

    For a long moment, she studied him with deeply shadowed, unreadable eyes. The shriek of the teakettle’s whistle broke the tense silence. She turned away to pour the hot water into the pot.

    “All right,” she said. “I guess that’s the best deal I’m going to get. You find my blackmailer and make him go away. In exchange, I will find the lab notebook for you.”

    Irritation sparked through him. “This isn’t a business arrangement.”

    “Yes.” She set the kettle down.”That is exactly what it is. Never mind. I take it you think this lab book is locked in a psi-code?”

    “According to the rumors, yes. We don’t know when it was locked or who did the encryption.”

    “This man you mentioned, the one who kept the records of his experiments in the notebook, you say he died in a mine explosion?”

    “Yes.”

    “When?”

    “About forty years ago. His name was Ray Willis. He and my father and another man named Quinn Knox were mining engineers who all had some intuitive sensitivity for the latent energy in rocks and crystals and ores. In addition, they had the vision to see that the future of technology was going to be dependent on the so–called rare earths. They formed a partnership and went into the exploration business. They hit pay dirt, literally, when they picked up the mineral rights to an old abandoned mine out in the Nevada desert. Whoever sank the shaft originally was probably looking for gold. There wasn’t any there. But Dad and his partners were after twenty-first-century gold.”

    “The rare earths.”

    “Right. They were all convinced that the Phoenix was the modern equivalent of a gold mine.”

    “Did they find the minerals and elements they were looking for in the Phoenix Mine?”

    “Yes, but they found something a lot more interesting and, according to Dad, a lot more dangerous. They discovered geodes filled with quartzlike crystals unlike anything they had seen before. There was no data on them in the research literature. But they eventually turned up a few old references to similar crystals in some ancient books on alchemy.”

    Abby made a face and poured the tea into the mugs. “Alchemy. That figures. The old alchemists were always coming up with secret formulas and running experiments with para-crystals and amber and other stones in an effort to enhance their powers.”

    “Dad, Willis and Knox could sense the energy locked in the rocks, but they had no idea how to access it, let alone figure out how to use it. They set up a small on–site lab and started conducting experiments.”

    Abby set one of the mugs on the counter in front of him. At least she was no longer looking skeptical. Instead, she appeared to be reluctantly fascinated.

    “They found out that the crystals had paranormal properties?” she asked.

    “Yes. But they soon realized that they were playing with fire.” He was suddenly very conscious of his ring. “Maybe literally. All they could tell in the field lab was that the energy in the stones was volatile and unpredictable, and that it was