Dark Light

Chapter 42

THE ICY, HYPERVIGILANT SENSATION WAS NOT UNLIKE the feeling he got when he encountered ghost light. But there was no dissonance energy in the room. What he was looking at, Fontana knew, was the answer to the question he had been asking ever since he and Sierra had escaped the burning mansion.

He raised his eyes to meet Ray's. He shook his head once, indicating that he wanted silence. Then he reached for a pen and wrote the name on a piece of paper. Ray glanced at it, frowning a little. His expression cleared and his face went hard. He nodded once, in agreement.

Fontana rezzed the intercom. "Harlan, would you come in here for a minute? I've got a question about the Foundation files."

"I'm sorry, sir, Mr. Ostendorf has gone to lunch," Dray Levine said. "Is there anything I can do?"

Fontana felt everything inside him turn stone cold. "Did Harlan go down to the cafeteria?"

"No, sir. He said something about going out to a restaurant."

"What restaurant?"

"He didn't say, sir."

Fontana reached for the phone and entered the number of the Curtain's newsroom. Matt answered on the second ring.

"This is Fontana. I want to talk to Sierra."

"Huh?" Matt sounded bewildered. "She left a few minutes ago to have lunch with you."

"The hell she did. Who picked her up?"

"She said you were sending a limo for her. She went downstairs, and that was the last we've seen of her. To tell you the truth, we were starting to get a little worried."

Gripping the phone very tightly, he got to his feet. "What was your first clue?"

"Elvis has left the building."

"Skip the Elvis jokes."

"I'm serious. He's gone. One minute he was in his balloon basket, and the next he just disappeared. The door was open, but no one saw him leave. What's wrong?"

"I think Sierra has just been kidnapped by my executive assistant."

"Shit," Matt whispered, stunned. "I told her you weren't going to propose a Covenant Marriage over lunch."