Ghost Hunter

Chapter 37

ROSE'S TEETH FLASHED. SIMULTANEOUSLY SHE GROWLED a warning.

"Wait." Elly grabbed Doreen's arm, halting her. "Something's wrong. Look at Rose."

Doreen stopped and stared at Rose, who was crouched on Elly's shoulder.

"What's wrong with her?" Doreen took a step back in alarm. "I've never seen her like that. She's all teeth and eyes. I thought you said she didn't bite."

"I lied." Elly reached up carefully to take hold of Rose. "But she won't bite you."

"Are you sure?"

"Pretty sure. This is her way of telling us that there's trouble nearby. Maybe a stray ghost."

"Got it. Okay, we'll be careful." Doreen looked at Rose. "Don't worry, I'm your fashion friend, remember? I know what I'm doing down here. I've got pretty good psi senses. We won't walk into any ghosts."

Rose did not appear reassured. She scrabbled furiously in Elly's grip and made odd whimpering noises.

"All right, I'll put you down, sweetie." Elly set her on the floor. "But please don't run off."

Rose disobeyed immediately. She dashed away, full tilt, down a corridor. When she realized that Elly wasn't following, she stopped, sat up on her hind legs, and chittered loudly.

"I've never seen her like this," Elly said. "I think she wants us to follow her."

Doreen frowned. "We can't do that. We've got to get to Bertha's personal exit point as quickly as possible. Cooper will be waiting."

A faint, high-pitched hum echoed in the distance. Elly stilled.

"I think I hear a sled," she whispered.

Doreen cocked her head, listening.

The whine of the engine grew louder.

Doreen's bruised face went pale. "You're right. Sound gets distorted down here, but if we can hear him, we have to assume he isn't too far away. Probably another ruin rat. He might be able to help us."

Elly looked back over her shoulder. "Or not."

"What do you mean?"

"I'm convinced that dust bunnies have an animal version of parapsych senses. Rose's judgment when it comes to people has always been amazingly accurate. For whatever reason she doesn't think we should stick around to find out who is piloting that sled. I vote we go with her."

Rose scurried back toward Elly, made urgent, anxious noises, whipped around, and ran off again.

"That settles it," Elly said. She grabbed Doreen's arm and started forward at a run. "Follow that bunny."

Doreen did not argue.

Rose rounded a corner at top speed, claws clicking on the quartz floor.

Elly and Doreen ran faster.

"Little sucker sure can move when she wants to," Doreen panted.

The engine noise grew louder.

"Damn." Doreen glanced back over her shoulder. "He's getting closer, and I think I'm picking up some ghost energy. He must be following us. How can he be doing that?"

"Your amber," Elly said. "He must have your frequency."

"Oh, shit," Doreen said. "It must be Frazier or whatever his name is. He had plenty of opportunity to get my frequency."

"Toss your amber into one of the chambers."

"Are you nuts? We're underground. If we lose this amber, we'll never find our way out."

Elly touched one earring. "I've got some."

Doreen looked at her earrings, startled. "That's tuned amber you're wearing?"

"Yes."

"I thought it was just a fashion statement. You never said anything about having strong para-rez senses."

"I'll explain later. Trust me, this amber is tuned. And the frequency is unique. There's no way Palmer could know it, because he doesn't know that I have a strong parapsych profile."

"What kind of profile? Hunter? Tangler?"

"Neither. Look, can we talk about this some other time? We've got a situation here."

"But I always work with my own amber," Doreen said uncertainly.

Elly felt a trickle of energy across the nape of her neck. She looked down the length of the tunnel. Blue light sparked in the distance.

"Oh, damn. Looks like a blue light special. It must be Frazier. You have to get rid of your amber, Doreen."

Doreen followed her gaze. "What is that thing? It looks like ghost light, but it's blue. And it's whirling in a weird way."

"He's using your amber to guide that ghost."

"This is so weird." Doreen whipped off her pendant and hurled it back toward the advancing vortex.

The ghost swooped down on the necklace and locked on to its frequency.

"Okay, I believe you now," Doreen whispered.

"That bought us some time," Elly said. "Hurry. Rose is moving fast."

Up ahead Rose veered around another corner, paws scrabbling frantically on the glowing green stone. Elly followed her, Doreen close beside her.

But when they turned the corner, a massive wall of quartz blocked their path. The hallways on either side were solid. There were no branching corridors or vaulted chamber entrances.

Elly slammed to a halt. Doreen did the same. Together they stared in mute horror at the quartz wall.

"There's no way out except back the way we came," Doreen said flatly. "Maybe we can reach that last intersection before Frazier does and turn down another passageway."

Elly shivered beneath a gentle tide of strong, pulsing energy. It was different from what she normally sensed underground. It had an eerily familiar feel.

"Do you sense anything unusual?" she asked.

Doreen frowned. "I'm scared to death, if that's what you mean."

"I'm talking about psi energy waves." Elly moved closer to the wall. "I think they're coming from the quartz."

"I'm not picking up anything except the usual." Doreen broke off, distracted. "I can hear the sled again."

Elly listened to the faint vibrating whine of the sled's motor. Frazier was still hot on their trail.

"Come on." Doreen grabbed her wrist. "We've got to at least try to find another intersection."

Elly did not take her eyes off the wall. "Look at Rose."

"What?"

"Look at her."

Rose had come to a halt directly in front of the solid quartz wall. She was standing on her hind legs facing the barrier.

Incredibly, a small hole materialized in the quartz at dust bunny height. Rose zipped through it and promptly disappeared.

The hole closed behind her, leaving Elly and Doreen gazing at the solid, glowing quartz.

Elly looked at Doreen and saw the despair on her face.

"He's closing in on us," Doreen said. "We're trapped."