Deception Cove

Chapter 30

ALICE EMERGED FROM THE TAVERN IN MID-AFTERNOON after the lunch rush. The laughter at the end of the street drew her attention. She looked around and saw Houdini and Darwina playing yet another game of hide-and-seek with the kids. The dust bunnies were chortling happily and the children’s laughter rang true. She smiled. It wasn’t just the mood of the youngsters that seemed elevated today. The adults she had served at lunch were also in a more positive, optimistic frame of mind.

Somehow Drake had managed to convince everyone that the situation on the island was under control and that progress was being made.

Drake did his own kind of magic, Alice thought.

She spotted Egan when she turned to walk toward the Marina Inn. He stood in front of the window of the Kane Gallery, gripping his Glorious Dawn sign. He was transfixed by whatever he saw in the darkened window.

Curious, she walked toward him.

“Hello, Egan,” she said when she got close.

He did not turn toward her or acknowledge her existence. The picture on the other side of the window held his complete attention. She stopped beside him and studied the painting propped on an easel. The gallery lights were off but there was enough weak, gray daylight left to make out the landscape.

The focal point of the picture was what appeared to be a frozen waterfall. The hot, seething brushstrokes and the surreal aspect of the image somehow conveyed the impression that the scene could only exist inside the Preserve.

“It’s a very interesting picture, isn’t it?” Alice ventured after a while.

Egan did not respond. He just stood there, staring at the image.

A figure moved in the shadows on the other side of the window. The door of the shop opened. Jasper came out onto the sidewalk.

“Hi, Alice,” he said. “Taking a break before the dinner rush?”

“Yes. Just so you know, I think there will be hamburger on the menu again tonight.”

“The last of the meat from the freezer?”

“Don’t worry, it wasn’t anywhere near the body and Burt has big plans for it.”

“The body or the hamburger?” Jasper asked.

“Ha-ha.” She shot him a severe glare. “The hamburger. I think the recipe involves canned mushroom soup.” She gestured toward the painting. “Your work?”

“Yes.” Jasper looked at the riveted Egan. “Hey, buddy, how are you doing today?”

“The ghost that doesn’t kill you only makes you stronger,” Egan intoned. He did not take his eyes off the painting.

Alice looked at Jasper. “An old hunter saying, I assume?”

“Yeah.” Jasper blew out a long sigh. “Egan is a former Guild man—at least, that’s what Kane and I think. Once in a while when Egan is coherent and not rambling about the return of the Aliens, he talks like a hunter who spent a little too much time in the tunnels. We think maybe he got burned real bad somewhere along the line.”

“By one of those energy storms Guild men call ghosts?”

“Right. Ghosts are a hazard of the job. The new Guild bosses are shaking things up with stricter safety codes and security measures. But back in the day when Egan was working the tunnels, things were different. Guys took chances they shouldn’t have taken. A lot of ’em still do, come to that. Now there are the added risks of the rain forest work.”

“It’s no secret that a lot of hunters get singed one time too many and end up on the streets,” Alice said.

Egan stirred, hoisting his sign. “Those who do not seek the third level of Enlightenment will be swept away when the Aliens return.”

He turned and walked down the street. Alice glanced at Jasper.

“Egan seemed quite taken with your painting,” she said.

“I’ve noticed him checking it out a few times.” Jasper watched Egan move down the street. “I don’t know why it fascinates him so much.”

“The picture is stunning,” Alice said. “I can feel the energy in it even out here on the sidewalk. A scene from inside the Preserve, I assume?”

“To be more precise, it’s a scene of a dream about the Preserve,” Jasper said.

“One of your dreams?”

Before Jasper could answer, Fletcher emerged from the gallery.

“Not in this case,” he said. He looked at the picture with a critical eye. “It’s an interpretation of one of Rachel’s dreams. She says Jasper got it pretty much right.”

“It looks like a frozen waterfall,” Alice said. “Or maybe a waterfall made of crystal.”

“That’s close,” Jasper said. “It’s actually a dream vision of what turned out to be an Alien storage vault made of frozen rainstone.”

“Rainstone?” Alice asked.

“It’s a kind of stone that has the properties of both a crystal and a liquid. It’s harder than mag-rez steel in one state, but if you can work the currents locked in the rock the way Rachel does, it can be transformed into a liquid.”

Alice shivered. “That rainstone vault is where Drake’s brother, Harry, and Rachel found one of the missing Keys, isn’t it?”

“That’s right,” Fletcher said. “They nearly got killed in the process, but at least they bought us some time to find the other two Keys.”

“Do they have any idea how one of the Keys ended up in that rainstone vault?” Alice asked.

“Nope.” Jasper shook his head. “It’s a mystery, like so many other things here on Rainshadow.”

Fletcher gave Alice a sympathetic look. “I’ll bet you didn’t expect to spend another honeymoon on Rainshadow.”

Alice winced. “I’m really hoping this one goes more smoothly.”

“Way I heard it, this honeymoon couldn’t be as bad as the first one.” Jasper snorted. “Rumor has it your first husband tried to kill you.”

“Word gets around,” Alice said.

“That’s the way it is in small towns,” Jasper said.

“I know,” Alice said.

“You don’t need to worry about history repeating itself here in Shadow Bay,” Fletcher said quickly. “Not with Drake Sebastian.”

“Hell, no,” Jasper said. “We’ve seen enough of the Sebastian men to know they take care of their own.”

“I’m sure they do,” Alice said politely. “But I’m not a real member of the Sebastian family. As I keep explaining to people, Drake and I are in an MC, not a CM.”

It dawned on her that Fletcher and Jasper were not looking at her. Instead, they were focused on something over her shoulder. She heard boot steps approaching behind her.

Drake came to a halt and looked at her. The gray light glinted somewhat ominously on his mirrored glasses.

“Did I hear my name?” he asked very softly.

She raised her brows, refusing to be intimidated.

“Jasper and Fletcher were assuring me that my second honeymoon on Rainshadow would end on a more upbeat note than the first one did,” she said.

Drake studied her for a long moment. She could not see his eyes but she knew there was some heat in them. She could sense it in the atmosphere. Her intuition warned her that he was recalling hot sex and damp sheets.

After a couple of beats, Drake’s mouth curved slightly in a sensual, deeply satisfied smile.

“Oh, yeah,” he said. “This honeymoon will be different.”

Alice narrowed her eyes, shoved her hands deep into the pockets of her windbreaker, and started walking toward the three men who blocked her path.

“If you’ll excuse me,” she said crisply, “I need to go help Burt get ready for the dinner rush.”

The three men got out of her way. None of them said a word. There was no need. Jasper’s and Fletcher’s hastily suppressed grins said it all.

Alice kept walking. Men.