Free Midnight Crystal by Jayne Castle Page B

freshest at the scene. You told me they led directly to the cupboard where the lamp was stored.”
    “I know, but Dr. Lewis loves the museum,” she said. “For crying out loud, he has dedicated his life to maintaining the collection. Stealing one of his own precious relics is completely out of character.”
    “People do things that are out of character all the time.”
    “Not according to Uncle Zeke,” she said. “He claims that if you look deep enough, you can always find the explanation for an act that seems to come from left field.”
    “No offense, but your uncle is a chaos-theory talent. By definition, he’s always looking for conspiracies and patterns.”
    The chair squeaked again when she lounged back in it. “I know. Still.”
    “It’s possible that Dr. Lewis has something a little twisted in his psyche that no one knew about until now.”
    “Maybe.”
    “You’re not buying it, are you?” Rick said.
    “Not yet.”
    “The problem with verifying Lewis’s alibi is that he lives alone,” Rick said. “He told Pete that he was asleep in his bed when the break-in occurred.”
    “Well, he does live alone. By the way, I’m expecting a call from my mechanic. Put him through immediately.”
    “Speaking of which, what the heck happened to your bike? And Winters’s car, for that matter? I know the papers said something about both of you having car trouble, but that’s a little hard to believe.”
    “Some idiot hunter mistook Dream for a deer. Flattened one of the tires. Adam sent someone from the Guild to pick it up and drop it off at the bike shop this morning. It’s supposed to be ready this afternoon.”
    “And what about your, uh, date’s car?”
    “Same hunter got to it. Shot up the tires.”
    “Right. And if I believe that, you’ve got a solid-amber bridge you can sell to me.”
    She made a face. “Okay, okay. Adam has some enemies.”
    “Of course he does. He just took over the most corrupt Guild in the four city-states.” Rick’s eyes widened. “Are you saying that someone tried to kill him? While you were with him?”
    “Yep. That’s why we went underground and ended up hitchhiking.”
    “Whoa. Whoever it is must be desperate. The Guilds usually keep their political squabbles in-house. They don’t like to involve civilians. That’s an excellent way to attract the attention of the police, and that’s the last thing the organizations want.”
    “Adam thinks that someone on the Council is very unhappy about being passed over.”
    “Sure. Douglas Drake. That’s no secret.” Rick gave her a benign smile. “So, how long have you been seeing Adam ?”
    “Not long.” She swiveled the chair to switch on her computer.
    “Thought you told me and everyone else that after Tucker Deene, you had sworn off men for six months.”
    “I changed my mind,” she said evenly. “And if you want to keep your job, you will refrain from mentioning Tucker Deene’s name in this office.”
    “Sorry, boss.”
    Rick sounded contrite, and she knew he was. Tucker Deene had completely and utterly deceived her. For ten glorious days she had delighted in his company. He had seemed to possess all of the attributes that she had ever hoped to find in a lover: intelligence, humor, an upbeat and positive personality, and complementary worldviews. As an added bonus he had been incredibly good-looking. It had all made for a very sexy package.
    Tucker had been perfect. Too perfect.
    Discovering the truth had not broken her heart. She was almost certain that her talent made her immune to the kind of deep, abiding bond that her parents and so many others in the Jones family enjoyed. But the experience had done something much worse. It had shattered her faith in her own judgment. She was the head of J&J. She wasn’t supposed to make mistakes like the one she had made with Tucker.
    “Live and learn,” Uncle Zeke had said. “Chalk it up to experience.”
    Attracted by the squeaking chair, Gibson tumbled through