Crystal Vision

by Patricia Rice

  “They are not directly involved. Val is, but I can persuade her. If you’ll send them to me, we can form a shielding circle, but that’s all we can do.” Cass’s lined and weary face relaxed at Mariah’s cooperation.

  “They’ll not be happy. You’ll have to work to keep them with you,” Mariah warned.

  “Beware Carmel. She’s not what she seems. Those who hide behind crystal evil are beyond my abilities. I can only tell that they are here and they are waiting.”

  The killers were here? Damn, Walker was too good at grasping criminal motivation.

  “Can you tell how many?” Mariah asked, amazed that Cass bothered to offer any information at all. Usually, she chose not to, especially in front of strangers like Keegan.

  Cass shook her graying head. “Too many people are tainted. There is no predicting which side they will fall on when the time comes. Trust Lucys and no one else.”

  “Not even Walker, Kurt, and Lance?” Mariah’s mouth dried at the thought of doing this practically alone.

  “They will protect family first,” Cass warned. “Kurt may despise what Carmel has become, but he will defend her with his dying breath.”

  “Then we’d better be sure that no one dies,” Keegan said in his driest voice. “You have just named the partners of the women you’re taking into your home. Perhaps we should send them to you as well.”

  Cass looked properly appalled. Mariah couldn’t tell if Cass was shocked at the thought of Nulls at one of her shielding circles, or at Lance being Val’s partner, when they hardly ever spoke to each other—very perceptive was her warrior to notice that. Although the unicorn painting and Lance’s artwork sort of gave it all away.

  Mariah stepped in to smooth over that bump. “If anything, we would need to send the Kennedys down the mountain, away from whatever happens. Hillvale needs them.”

  “You and Mr. Ives must decide on that course. Simply assure us that Samantha and Theodosia will join me this evening, and I will depart.” Cass held herself regally straight, holding her walking staff without leaning on it. Cass would not beg, but she understood that Mariah wasn’t hers to command.

  “I will do all in my power to send them to safety,” Mariah assured her.

  She couldn’t harm another friend.

  “See that you succeed.” Cass marched out. Amber offered an apologetic shrug, whispered, “It’s in the cards,” then hurried after Cass.

  Keegan ran his hand through his unruly curls. “We’re talking futuristic computers and currency, and they’re talking magic spells?”

  Mariah patted his arm again. “Welcome to Hillvale, Mr. Ives.”

  “You really want me to sell. . . evil. . . to the goons?” Teddy whispered when Keegan and Mariah returned to her shop after lunch.

  Keegan paced, hating every minute of this. He wanted to sweep everyone out of town and just punch Wainwright’s face, but the dodgy pillock hadn’t shown said face yet.

  The thought gave him an idea, though. If he couldn’t send everyone in Hillvale out of town, maybe he could send potential villains to a place where they could cause less harm.

  “We do,” he agreed aloud, before Mariah could answer. “If the goons are the paranormal police, they’ll know what to do with hot rocks. If they’re killers, then they can rot in their own hell.”

  “Paranormal police?” Teddy asked. “You’re kidding, right?”

  “He’s kidding,” Mariah said reassuringly. “Our Scot has a conscience bigger than his head. If we’re right about what we think is going down, then they might be FBI or CIA collecting evidence. Not that they’ll get far figuring out how the stones are used, since they don’t have our abilities, but they’ll take the evil rocks out of circulation.”

  Teddy donned the protective gloves Keegan had ordered. “And you can’t explain who is doing what with corrupt almandine?” She swiftly sorted through the stones Kurt had brought from his safe.

  “You want to explain how you feel emotions?” Keegan asked curtly. He wanted this over. “It has to do with what I can do to the crystals. It’s better if you head off to Cass’s after you’re done here.”

  Teddy sorted the last few stones, shut the normal ones in her lockbox, and pushed the freezer bag of bad ones across her counter. “I’d certainly rather not see those creeps again. They might be good guys, but I no longer trust anyone carrying guns.”

  “Cass and Val promised more commune photos, so you and Sam can work through those. The ones they’ve already sent are fabulous. Maybe they’ll have some of your parents as children? Or of your grandparents?” Mariah suggested.

  Keegan pulled on the heavy gloves Teddy had taken off so he could handle the freezer bag. “Have Kurt and Monty take the photos you choose down to Baskerville for mounting. If those goons are working with Carmel, it’s best to keep them away.”

  Teddy grimaced. “Does this mean we can’t be part of tonight’s fun?”

  “We’ll try to get rid of the goons before the reception. We’ll let you know when it’s all clear.” Mariah stood at the front window, watching for customers heading this way.

  Keegan wanted Mariah gone too. He just hadn’t found a way to make her leave. She was more creative at making excuses to send people away than he was. She’d already told Samantha that Cass was receiving messages for Susannah, and that Cass needed Sam to assist in the séance. Apparently honesty wasn’t a Lucy attribute.

  Once Teddy had slipped out the back way and Keegan had the stones in hand, he glared at Mariah. “Go play with Lance and the gallery. The goons may recognize you.”

  “In war paint?” She had touched up the paint with streaks of brown and red and added an abundance of silver and turquoise cuffs to her shapely arms. “Finding a hulk like you in Teddy’s place will scare them off. Stay in the kitchen. If they try to cheat, you can come out and shake them down.”

  “And if they’re behind EWG? They’re likely to eliminate you as a witness.” Keegan grabbed one of the consignment wooden staffs off the wall. He’d tossed a few cabers in his time, but these weak branches would crack with one good blow.

  “I’m no loss to the world.” She dropped the bag in a drawer.

  “There are times when I think you actually believe that, but now is not the time to knock the foolishness out of your head.” Laying down the staff, Keegan hugged her. “I’ll show you differently later.”

  He set her aside to retrieve the bag from the drawer and remove a stone with a gloved hand. He snapped it into one of the sample cases in his backpack. He’d yet to don a costume, but he’d pulled a work shirt on over his t-shirt. He’d ask magical Tullah for a hard hat so he could pretend he was a miner.

  She watched him worriedly. “I hope the crystals are not affecting you already.”

  Frowning at that foolishness, he strode back to the window. “Here they come. Will you please leave this to me? I promise, I will not turn into a troll.”

  She thought about it while his blood pressure rose ten points.

  “No, I still think they want to see a female here. You can sit on the stairs right behind this wall and hear everything. Not that either of us can stop speeding bullets, mind you.”

  Realizing he didn’t have time to win this argument, Keegan growled, grabbed her waist, and messed up her war paint with a quick kiss. “Duck if they pull a gun. That counter base is solid.”

  The flimsy partition behind Mariah wasn’t solid, and he had no intention of standing there. Carrying his purloined staff, Keegan yanked open the front door and marched out just as the two colorfully-shirted goons reached for the door. He gave them a steely glare and headed down the boardwalk.

  The minute they closed the shop door, Keegan swung on his boot heels and slipped back to the partially open front door. He’d left a wedge in the frame so the door couldn’t completely close. He waited on the side without the window. He couldn’t see in, but they couldn’t see him either.

  “Where’s the clerk we talked to this morning?” one of the shirts dema
nded.

  “Teddy had to find a costume for tonight’s reception. She said you’d left a deposit on these stones.” Mariah sounded clipped and professional as she named the balance due.

  Keegan clenched the stick in his fists, waiting.

  “Will everyone be in costume?” the same man asked.

  “No, just the locals. This is a practice run for the big gala next month. Hope you can come back then!”

  Keegan heard the register ring. They’d paid cash, of course.

  “Are you planning on making natural paints with those stones the way the hippies did?” Mariah asked.

  “Paint? That’s what they used tourmaline for?” the other man asked. “Pretty pricey paint.”

  “Teddy did tell you that those stones are almandine, didn’t she?” Mariah sounded genuinely worried. “That amount of tourmaline would have cost you enough to buy this shop.”

  “It’s reddish. That’s all we need.”

  Keegan ducked around the corner as the door opened again. They carried the bag of stones toward the parking lot—and the chauffeured Escalade that he’d been told belonged to Carmel Kennedy.

  The moment the Escalade drove off, Keegan returned to the shop. Mariah was holding up the bills to the light, presumably looking for the holograph to prove they weren’t counterfeit.

  “Real,” she declared, returning the money to the drawer. “If they have that kind of cash, why would they need drug money?”

  “Cryptocurrency isn’t all about drugs,” he reminded her. “It’s simply a way to move funds without the feds or banks knowing about it. Just imagine what politicians could do with unrecorded funds! This, however, was a perfectly legal transaction.”

  “If selling evil can be called legal,” she grumbled. “They didn’t even open the bag. Does that mean they can sense what’s in it?”

  “I think it means the opposite. You’ll remember my reaction when I first felt those stones. If they had any paranormal ability, they would have reacted to the bad energy. They took them to the Escalade that belongs to the lodge. Is there some chance that Kurt’s mother is a Lucy?” Keegan had yet to meet the woman who owned the majority of the resort.

  She wrinkled her nose. “Highly doubtful. Carmel was married to a Null and produced two Nulls. Nulls like money. Harvey says most of his family is Null and affected with avarice, as he calls it. I’d wager Carmel is the same. I think greed is the evil that lurks in these hills.” She locked up the cash drawer and looked at him expectantly. “Now what?”

  “Now we lure the villains out of town.” Where he could lock Mariah in the bunker, if necessary.

  Mariah studied him with suspicion. “I think Teddy is right. I think those stones remove inhibitions. You’re not thinking like a scientist right now.”

  No, he was acting like a man protecting the treasure of his heart and her friends. Maybe the stones had affected him, but Keegan was pretty sure it was Mariah who had shattered his restraint.

  Mariah locked up Teddy’s shop after Mountain Man stomped off, heading for who-knew-what trouble. How did he propose to find the villains? By the time she was out in the street, Keegan was already half way to the gallery.

  She hurried after him, but Tullah stopped her outside the thrift store.

  “You’ll need this to complete your outfit,” Tullah said, handing Mariah a bow and a quiver of arrows—real ones.

  Appalled at being handed the kind of weapon that had murdered Daisy, Mariah pushed them away. “You do know that I have no idea how to shoot those things?”

  “You will need them. The fates will see justice done.” Tullah held the weapon commandingly.

  Justice, she understood. Still uncomfortable, Mariah hung her crystal staff on her belt so she could gingerly accept the quiver. What the hell did she do with the huge bow? “I hope you didn’t acquire them from anyone around here.” Like Daisy’s killer.

  “EBay,” Tullah said. “Now go after that man of yours. He knows their use.”

  Mariah saluted with the bow. Tullah was psychic in weirdly unpredictable ways, and she shivered at whatever stray intuition had caused her to look for bows on the internet.

  Syd and Lance were still arranging photos when she entered the meeting hall. Mariah automatically checked the ghostcatchers near the ceiling—they were jiggling frantically. Damn.

  Obviously on a mission, her Scot warrior stalked straight past reporters, Lucys arranging food tables, and tourists picking up pamphlets.

  Focus, Mariah. She found a hook on the quiver for hanging the bow and reached for her staff. The energies building in here were peculiar. The crystal in her staff allowed her to feel them more clearly.

  She felt a tug from the direction of the north wall. A distinguished man with graying light-colored hair was intently watching Keegan. She glanced down—the stranger’s hands were clenched in fists.

  The right hand bore a signet ring much like Keegan’s.

  They’d dragged Robert Gabriel out of hiding. Pulse escalating, Mariah studied Trevor’s son, the one meeting with Edison and Wainwright for reasons unknown. What had Keegan said about his ring? It was usually given to the daughters but went to a son if he had paranormal abilities? Would Robert have Keegan’s crystal conversion gift?

  Of course he did. The question was only—what did he do with it?

  She didn’t like the way he watched Keegan. Did he recognize him as family? She eased in Gabriel’s direction while scanning the rest of the room. She didn’t see Caldwell Edison or Ralph Wainwright.

  “Ladies and gentlemen.” Reaching the podium in front of the triptych curtain, Keegan spoke in his most rounded Oxford accents.

  Mariah figured the Brit accent alone caused heads to swerve. His size and movie-star looks would hold their attention.

  “We have discovered a secret treasure trove of Ingersson crystals, the famed stones ground into paint and used in the museum pieces found around the world. The pamphlets and website are better at explaining their use in oils and artwork than I am. I’m a mere geologist, but I can recognize and identify the rocks stored on the farm, still in their natural state. This evening may be the one and only time that these rare crystals will be displayed in one place. After that, the rocks will be dispersed to various organizations chosen by the Ingersson heirs. So call your friends and tell them this is the event of a lifetime for art lovers. There’s still time to book rooms at the lodge!”

  Mariah stared in disbelief as Keegan casually strode out the side exit.

  The stranger who had to be Robert Gabriel reached for his phone, realized it wouldn’t work, and hustled out.

  Appalled, Mariah grasped Keegan’s intent. How could he put himself in danger knowing how much he meant to so many people? Including her, in case the beast didn’t realize it.

  He’d said he wanted to get the villains out of town—he meant to have them follow him! Crap damn frigging hell. She’d have to shoot him if the villains didn’t.

  Thirty-one

  July 14: early Saturday afternoon

  Keegan rode the ATV straight up to the farmhouse ruins. He was fairly certain he was running on insanity, but he wasn’t born to play cat-and-mouse games. He couldn’t cruise the dark web and locate his suspects the way Mariah might. And he damned well didn’t want her to risk her soul doing so. He lacked the patience or cleverness to draw suspects into incriminating themselves at a social gathering the way Walker planned. It wasn’t as if a killer would conveniently admit to murder.

  And he didn’t want killers stalking Mariah or her friends.

  What he did have was his wits and his knowledge. They’d been enough to help him out of tight situations on six continents. That would have to be enough now. He hoped the bait he’d offered reached the right ears. Even so, it would take time for anyone to find their way up here. While he waited, he needed to choose his battleground the same way his warrior ancestors once had.

  Kurt’s security guard wandered over to see what was up. Keegan had him radio Walker his
position and told the guard to stay out of sight. After obtaining approval from the police chief, the guard returned to the lane to move his car.

  Keegan had set up the basics around the bunker door by the time Mariah hiked up the back trail, still wearing her archery weapons. He had hoped she’d let him be. He’d known she wouldn’t.

  “I lost my best friend when I gave her too much information,” she said ominously. “I am not losing you.”

  That would take a while to wrap his head around—she was protecting him? “I don’t suppose that’s a real bow?” Her declaration had thrown him off balance. He attempted to find firmer ground.

  “It is, but I don’t know how to use it. Give me a surfboard, and I can knock a man flying. I’d be good with a slingshot too, if we had one.” She removed her leather net bag from her waist and opened it.

  “Are you planning on spinning string between the rocks, capturing ghosts, and scaring evil-doers to death?” He kept on gathering rocks, rolling boulders, and listening for vehicles.

  Mariah punched his arm. “You’d do better moving Daisy’s guardians in front of your position. If you keep your back to the bunker door, you only need them in front.” She strode off to pick up the foot-high stone statues with crystal eyes.

  He didn’t bother arguing, which proved his state of insanity. If he could melt rocks into diamonds, why not rely on stone guardians?

  “I can’t do this if you’re here,” he warned, which was when he realized he expected her to understand what he was doing. Judging from her lack of complaint, he figured she was a born warrior too. “You’re too much of a distraction.”

  “Get used to it, big boy. Distract is what I do best. Put me to use.” She lined the statues in a semi-circle in front of the bunker.

  And then she opened the bag she’d left on the ground and pulled out ghostcatchers.

  “You think the killers are ghosts?” Keegan asked in disbelief.

  “Hardly.” She took one of the arrows, twirled it in the ground in front of her barrier of statues, and inserted a long branch into the hole she created. Then she removed her peculiar string and tied a crosspiece on the branch, forming a tall skinny cross, to which she tied one of her feathery, beaded nets. “Spirits—and thus my nets—warn of disturbances in the ether.”