"We still need her expertise in the lab. Nothing has changed since last night. Webber hasn't been able to find anyone else who can tune amethyst, let alone rez those relics."
"Damn." Jake was silent for a moment. "Well, hell, maybe those stones are just pretty little alien sculptures after all, like Lyra Dore claimed."
"Got a hunch that the ones that we found in the ruin may be nothing more than attractive works of art," Cruz agreed.
There was a short silence while Jake digested that. "You think she held out on us? Stashed some of the stones?"
"What would you have done if you had been in her situation with a big company moving in to take over your discovery?"
Jake snorted. "Hell, I'd have picked out some of the most important pieces and tucked them away someplace safe where I was sure no one would ever find them. Then I'd bide my time until the heat died down and move them on the underground collectors' market."
"That same thought crossed my mind, too."
"Green hell. Should have figured she'd try something like that. She's a Dore. Chip of amber straight off the old block. If she'd had a lick of common sense, she would have taken the cash we offered. That's what any reasonable person would have done."
"I don't think Lyra was feeling reasonable three months ago when we moved in on the ruin."
"What caused the chamber entrance to close?" Jake asked.
"We don't know. Lyra said it was probably some stray currents from a nearby psi river or storm. The only other possibility, according to her, is that someone deliberately closed the entrance by working silver, diamond, or amethyst amber."
"You said there was no indication of any rivers or storms in the area."
"Right."
"Well, we know we don't have anyone on staff who can work amethyst. If we did, you wouldn't have had to pull in Lyra Dore." Jake paused. "Anyone on that team who could work silver or diamond?"
"No. After I got back to the surface I checked the parapsych profiles of everyone involved last night. I looked at the files of the two Guild men, as well. None of them could rez any of those three varieties of rock. And even if it did turn out that one of them had kept his or her talent a secret, there's no obvious motive for trying to murder five people."
"We sure as hell know one person who could have closed that entrance, don't we? And she had a motive. Revenge. Where was Lyra Dore when the chamber locked up?"
"I don't know," Cruz admitted. "But it doesn't matter. She didn't sabotage the ruin."
"Maybe she figured out how to set some kind of time-delayed trap before she turned over control of the chamber," Jake mused.
"No," Cruz said. "Lyra is pissed at AI, but she would never have put lives at risk for the sake of a little vengeance."
"What makes you so sure of that?"
"You know why I'm sure."
Jake exhaled heavily. "Face it, you were wrong about her. She's not the right woman for you."
"Yes," Cruz said quietly, "she is."
"Damn it, if she were the right woman, you wouldn't be in this situation. She's playing you."
"Things got complicated three months ago. My fault. She doesn't trust me now. I need to change that."
"What you need to do is your job. Find out what she's hiding from us."
Jake ended the connection.
Cruz looked at the dead phone in his hand. "Hate to tell you this, Big Jake, but I've got other priorities."
Chapter 8
"FORGIVE ME FOR SPEAKING OF PERSONAL MATTERS, Lyra." Master Quinn smiled his gentle smile. "I cannot help but notice that you seem increasingly uncentered lately. I sense that something is making it difficult for you to find the harmonic balance within."
The last of the meditation students was leaving the studio. Lyra finished rolling up her mat and stuffed it into her gym bag.
"I know I haven't been a great student," she said. "I can't seem to concentrate properly. Things have been somewhat hectic lately."
Quinn nodded somberly. "I saw the morning papers. The head of Amber Inc. Security asked you to assist in a rescue mission at the ruin that you discovered a few months ago. I'm surprised you agreed to help."
"Not like I had much choice." She crouched to zip up the bag. "There were several people trapped inside. Amber Inc. didn't have anyone else available who could de-rez the entrance."
"I understand. It was a generous and charitable action on your part. But I suspect that now that AI knows that you are the only one they can call on to work that amethyst amber, they will request more and more assistance from you."
"They can ask, but my answer will be no."
"I hope for your sake that you will find the strength to refuse."
The concern in his quiet voice startled her. She rose slowly to her feet.
"Why do you say that?"
He did not respond immediately. Instead, he watched her for a long moment. She wondered uneasily what he saw.
"I hesitate to say anything more," he said finally. "It is not my place. My job is to provide guidance to you as you seek balance and harmony in your life. But you are my student, and I have a responsibility toward you. I feel I must warn you."
A chill swept through her not unlike the sensation she got when one of the nightmares struck. She gripped the handle of the gym bag tightly.
"If you intend to warn me not to get any more involved with Amber Inc., don't worry," she said. "I realize that would be asking for trouble."
"It is not just your renewed association with Cruz Sweetwater and his family firm that makes me uneasy." Quinn walked to the high windows on one wall of the studio. He clasped his hands behind his back and contemplated the view of the Dead City wall. "It is the escalating energy of disharmony I perceive in your aura that worries me. Once again I apologize for intruding, but are you feeling well, Lyra?"
She was afraid to breathe. If Quinn could sense that something was happening to her, something that affected her mind and her perception of reality, maybe she had an even bigger problem than she thought. But damned if she would admit it to anyone, including Quinn. At least, not yet. There was still a possibility that she was just suffering from stress. Also an excellent possibility that I'm in complete denial, she thought.
But she could not get past the fact that, except for those harrowing moments when the nightmares enveloped her, she felt normal. Well, as normal as she ever had. Of course, crazy people usually thought they were normal, too. Take Grandpa, for instance, she thought sadly.
Arthur Dore had spent his last years obsessed with finding various and assorted legendary lost amber claims. He had spent all of his money on phony treasure maps and fake journals purporting to contain the secret locations of fabled mines of rare and exotic amber. In the end he had died penniless. She had been the only one at his bedside. She'd had to dig into her own small savings account to pay for the funeral.
Her grandfather had been a gruff, disappointed, unhappy man, but in his own way, he had loved her. And he had taught her a few things, one of which was the importance of keeping her secrets.
"I'm all right, Master Quinn," she said politely. "I appreciate your concern, but I'm in excellent health. Really."
"I was not referring to your physical health." Quinn did not take his eyes off the emerald towers. "It is the state of your psychic well-being that worries me. I can see that you do not wish to discuss it, and that is most certainly your prerogative. But I sense that whatever is going on within you is linked to your talent. The harmonic imbalance in your aura this morning is worse than usual."
"Please don't worry about me, sir."
"Have you considered the possibility that working that amethyst amber last night might have exacerbated the problem?"
"I don't have a problem," she said briskly. "I'm just a little tired and stressed out. Got home late. Didn't get enough sleep. Didn't have time for breakfast. What with one thing and another, I probably am out of whack this morning, harmonically speaking. Nothing another cup of strong coffee can't fix."