Ghost Hunter

Chapter 30

HIS PHONE RANG A LITTLE AFTER THREE IN THE MORNING. Cooper stirred against the warm, comfortable softness of Elly's curved backside and stretched an arm out from under the quilt to answer.

"Yeah?" he said.

"Ormond Ripley, here. Thought you'd like to know that my evening was very nearly ruined a short time ago by a glory-hunting detective named Grayson DeWitt of the Cadence Police Department's Drug Task Force. Maybe you've heard of him?"

Cooper felt the adrenaline splash through him. He sat up against the pillows. "Saw the name in the papers."

"DeWitt does like the media," Ripley said. "And the media loves him. He showed up here tonight with a warrant and what looked to be about half the available manpower of the department. He also had a bunch of intrepid reporters from the Cadence Star and the tabloids."

"What did he want?"

"Evidently he had received an anonymous tip from a reliable informant to the effect that there was a large stash of drugs on the premises."

Elly rose on one elbow. In the reflected glow of the fog Cooper could see the concern on her face.

"I assume Detective DeWitt did not find any drugs," Cooper said.

"Of course not." Ripley sounded quietly satisfied. "The Road to the Ruins is a legitimate business that pays its taxes and operates strictly within the laws."

"Right."

"Pursuant to our earlier conversation, I found it interesting that Detective DeWitt did not feel the need to conduct a full-scale top-to-bottom search of my club and casino. He headed straight down to the basement. Evidently, the anonymous tipster gave him very explicit directions."

"What happened when he failed to turn up a drug stash?"

"He did not look very cheerful," Ripley said, sounding quite cheerful, himself. "I do believe that he was counting on another headline in tomorrow's papers. He's going to get it, but I doubt if it's the one he wanted."

"Are the headlines going to be a problem for you?"

"Haven't you heard the old saying that there is no such thing as bad publicity? There will be lines around the block tomorrow night."

"Any luck with that other matter we discussed?" Cooper asked.

"Nothing yet, but I'm still going through the video recordings from the security cameras. I'll be in touch tomorrow."

"Thanks."

"By the way, anytime you and your lady friend want to stop by for a drink on me, let me know. I'll give the VIP door staff your names."

Cooper looked at Elly, who was watching him intently. "Might take you up on that. Got to say, the nightlife here in Cadence is a whole lot different than it is back home."

"Wouldn't be much point in coming to the big city if everything was just the same as it was back home."

Ripley cut the connection.

Cooper put the phone down on the table beside the bed.

"Well?" Elly demanded. "What happened?"

"Detective DeWitt raided The Road tonight. Knew right where to look for a stash of drugs. Didn't find any, though, and evidently went away unhappy."

She searched his face. "That would appear to prove your theory that someone wanted Ormond Ripley to take a very public fall for drug dealing."

"Yes," he said. "It would. And it also suggests the name of at least one person who had a lot to gain from what would have been a very high-profile arrest."

"Detective Grayson DeWitt?"

"Yes."

"Do you think it's possible that DeWitt is the blue freak?"

"I don't know the answer to that yet, but I sure as green hell need to find out more about him. Wyatt should be able to get some background for me."

"Because this is his town?" she asked dryly.

He caught a tendril of her hair and wound it around his finger. "Because in every town the Guilds make it a policy to maintain a good working relationship with the local police."

"Spoken like a diplomatic Guild boss."

"Thanks. I do try."

She did not smile. He could feel her anxiety.

"This is getting very complicated, isn't it?" she asked.

"Some aspects of it certainly are." He slid down on the pillows and pulled her across his chest. "But not this part."

*****

A LONG TIME LATER SHE WAS STILL AWAKE, WATCHING the glowing fog-scape outside the window. After making love to her the second time that night, Cooper had fallen into a deep, totally relaxed slumber.

She was learning that having a man in one's bed all night took some getting used to. Cooper's sleek, muscled body was curved around her own, generating so much heat that she'd had to kick off the blankets on her side. The weight of his arm was heavy around her midsection. In addition, he had somehow managed to take up more than his share of the available mattress space.

She looked down at the foot of the bed and saw two bright eyes staring at her. Rose was also wide awake.

Very carefully she eased herself out from under Cooper's arm and slid from the bed. She took her robe down off the bedpost and slipped into her slippers.

Rose drifted silently across the quilt. Elly scooped her up and went out into the hall, pausing briefly in the doorway to marvel once more at the strange and exotic sight of Cooper in her bed. Even in sleep, he dominated the space he occupied. In the strange, eerie light, he was the embodiment of every dark, erotic fantasy she had ever had about him.

She plopped Rose on her shoulder, went down the hall to the kitchen, and rezzed the light. At the counter she selected a cookie from the jar and gave it to Rose. Then she washed her hands very carefully and went to sit at the table. Rose fluttered up to the windowsill and settled down next to the quartz vase to munch.

Elly reached for Jordan's Medicinal Herbs and Flowers of Harmony and opened it carefully. She used a clean cloth napkin to turn the pages so as not to risk marring them.

The volume was in excellent condition, she noticed. Evidently it had been little used during the years it had resided in the libraries of various collectors. The paper was of good quality and had lasted well. There were no marks or tears on the pages.

She leafed through the herbal slowly, admiring the beautifully rendered illustrations of familiar and not-so-familiar herbs and plants. Mary Tyler Jordan had, indeed, been a true artist, she thought. There were photographs, but it was the superb botanical drawings that compelled and transfixed. Each was fine enough to hang in a museum. Each showed details in a way that no camera could ever capture.

She found the thin slip of paper when she turned to the last chapter. It had obviously been placed there to mark a page that contained a drawing. Shock sizzled through her when she saw the elegantly rendered flower on the page.

"What is it?" Cooper asked.

Startled, she raised her head and saw him lounging, arms crossed over his bare chest, in the doorway. He had put on his trousers. His feet were bare, and his hair was tousled.

"I think I know now why Griggs tried to steal my flower and possibly Rose, too," she said softly.

She turned the herbal around so that he could see the drawing.

Cooper dropped his arms and padded across the room to the table. He picked up the small case he had left there earlier, removed his glasses, and put them on.

He studied the picture closely. After a few seconds, he looked at the green bloom in the vase on the windowsill.

"It's a drawing of your flower," he said quietly.

"Correction, it's a drawing of Rose's flower." She turned the book back around so that she could read it. "And just listen to what Jordan wrote in the text."

*****

…When I awoke, I found this astonishing flower still clutched in my hand. I am convinced that, in some way that I cannot explain, I was able to use it to navigate through the catacombs and return to the surface.

My memories of the time that I was lost in the alien underworld are, at best, shards and fragments devoid of meaning or context. I have been told not to trust any of the images in my head as they are likely all delusions and false recollections forged by a troubled mind. The experts say that I show symptoms of the type of severe parapsych trauma typically induced by an encounter with either a UDEM or an illusion trap.

But I have this drawing and my dreams to remind me that I once journeyed through a strange and wondrous rainforest, a realm lit by an emerald sun and a jade moon, an underground world of vibrant green where every shadow conceals mysteries waiting to be discovered.