As loud voices broke out in argument, Sam carried Mariah’s canvas sack of ghostcatchers over to her. “They’re wriggling like crazy,” Sam whispered.
“Demand truth,” Cass told Mariah. “Take what your grandmother taught you and apply it now.”
What her Nana had taught her? To weave nets to catch ectoplasm and fling it across the veil? Stunned by the senseless command at a time like this, Mariah retrieved a wriggling net from the sack’s interior. This one looked as if it came from the café.
Instinctively wiping the threads of ectoplasmic energy to calm the net, she recalled doing this at the farmhouse only a few hours earlier.
When Wainwright had confessed.
Keegan had said Harvey thought their abilities were what they made of them.
If she didn’t fling essence through the veil. . .
Shooting Cass a startled glance, Mariah stepped between Caldwell and Val, raised her hand, and slapped the politician’s tight-assed son with invisible plasma. “Let the truth be free,” she said in glee.
She had no idea what she was doing, but she loved the freedom of being herself.
“Why you—” Caldwell raised his fist.
Keegan was there so swiftly that he may as well have flown. He collared Caldwell, lifting his shoes from the floor. “Careful,” he warned.
“Who cut Val?” Mariah demanded, testing her insane theory.
“It was an accident,” Caldwell roared, wriggling to be set down. “The bitch lied and schemed and then she walked out, leaving me looking like a fool. No one does that to me.”
In front, Val began to hum the “Battle Hymn of the Republic.”
Mariah almost snickered. His truth is marching on, indeed. “That doesn’t sound like an accident,” she said, keeping accusation from her voice. Here’s where she applied what she’d learned from dealing with trolls—give them an opportunity and let them hang themselves.
Caldwell’s father seemed prepared to intervene, but Keegan’s glare would have turned a lesser person to stone.
“I was angry. I was drunk. It just happened. That was a long time ago,” Caldwell shouted. “It has nothing to do with her destroying our lives now!”
Wow, this ectoplasmic truth-telling took interesting turns.
“Oh, well, if we’re talking lives, do you know who killed George Thompson?” Mariah wasn’t entirely certain where that question came from—the ether? Maybe the spirits had a need for justice too.
“That little rodent?” Caldwell asked in surprise. “Rats die. George was an incompetent blackmailing piece of shit. No one would have missed him.”
He looked startled and fearful at the words falling from his mouth.
Even Carmel gasped. “What are you doing?” she whispered to no one in particular.
“Extracting the truth,” Cass said. “You really have an appalling taste in men. That’s what happens to people who break promises.”
“I didn’t break any promises,” Carmel hissed. “I just found a way around them.”
Cass snorted and pointed at Caldwell. “That cockroach?”
Keegan sent them both a look of impatience. “Mariah, ask if he knew about the crystal cave.”
Shocked that she may have just discovered another killer, Mariah saluted her Scot’s wisdom. “So Thompson was blackmailing you. He was a rat. Did you send Gabriel to take him out?”
Caldwell shot her a murderous look. Really, if looks could kill, she’d have been dead long ago. She had shed her shield of invisibility, but surrounded by friends, she still felt impervious to this troll.
“Gabriel was only interested in himself, even as a kid,” Caldwell complained. “He learned a lazy sport like archery to please the girls. I won awards for sharpshooting. I should have been in the military but Pops needed me.”
Huh, even if ectoplasm demanded veracity, Caldwell was good at evasive tactics.
“Crystals,” Keegan repeated, rattling his victim to shake out the truth.
Caldwell attempted to shrug him off, but Keegan was twice the man he was, in so many ways.
“So if lazy Gabriel wouldn’t take out blackmailing Thompson, you must have told Thompson you’d meet him at the crystal cave?” Mariah asked. This wasn’t exactly an internet search, but with practice. . . she might learn to question better.
“If Thompson hadn’t shot at you two, no one would have known about the cave,” Caldwell shouted. “He blew everything! He couldn’t even get into the damned bunker after Gabriel took out the old witch. The world is better off without stupid trash.”
Pow. The truth was out, and it hurt. It hurt like hell that harmless Daisy had died for no good reason at all. There had never been anything of value in that bunker.
The foolish reason for Daisy’s death would have crushed her—except Mariah realized that Daisy’s murder had revealed the explosive power of ectoplasmic truth. Even in death, Daisy helped. Mariah fought back tears with wonder in this astonishing gift.
“You killed Thompson with your sharpshooting,” Mariah concluded.
“Oh, God,” Carmel murmured, falling back into the arms of the elder Menendez.
Caldwell attempted to use the moment to break free. Keegan put one brawny arm under Caldwell’s chin and bent his neck to the breaking point. His prisoner quit struggling.
“Tell me again you’re a nerd,” Mariah whispered.
Keegan flashed a gleaming white-toothed smile in return.
“Did you intend to tell us we have valuable crystal in that canyon you wanted to buy for next to nothing?” the distinguished Menendez demanded of the weeping woman in his arms.
“As I told Hector, it’s not valuable,” Keegan explained, letting Caldwell’s toes touch the floor again. “Not in the way you mean. The rocks are valuable only to science. It may be a century or more before we understand what you have. And by then, we may have found bigger and better pockets of it.”
The older Menendez still looked suspicious as he dumped Carmel into the hands of Bradford Edison. “Thank you. It’s nice to hear an honest man for a change.”
He turned to Carlos and Susannah. “I’ll wait until the crazy dust settles before I call for a vote. Are you coming with me or do you want to watch the drama?”
Susannah gazed longingly at her daughter before taking her husband’s arm. “I’m sorry, Sam. This is the reason I left. I can’t handle the madness.”
Sam nodded. “I understand, and you shouldn’t have to.” She glanced over her mother’s shoulder. “I’ll be fine here.”
“Walker,” Keegan murmured to Mariah, following Sam’s glance. “If you have any more questions, make them quick.”
“So you cut Val because she ditched you and killed Thompson because he blackmailed you,” Mariah said to see if the truth spell had worn off yet. Caldwell merely rubbed his stretched neck in confusion. “What did you know of the tourmaline?”
He scowled. “That’s Wainwright’s department. When our source of synthetic diamonds was cut off because of that damned hacker—”
Her infamous info dump had stopped a murderous crook! For the first time since the Expoleaks screw-up, Mariah took pride in her accomplishment. It had only been another form of truth-telling, after all.
“Wainwright knew about Gabriel and the cave crystals,” Caldwell said. “I just made the financial connections, invested funds from the diamonds, rolled them into profitable ventures. Now the old goat is talking about running computers on weird crystals. I understand money, not computers.”
“Ask about his investments,” Sam whispered, clinging to Walker’s arm.
Mariah figured the chief was behind that question, so she obliged. “Cryptocurrency requires reliable assets, and all you had were questionable diamonds. From the looks of it, the only investors you could find were on the dark web, drug and porn dealers and greedy dictators looking to hide ill-gotten gains. . . That sound right?”
Caldwell slumped, looking tired. “It’s just money. Once we have the crystal computers
, we won’t need all that expensive electricity to run the databanks, and we can go large. We weren’t selling drugs, just moving money. That’s how banks work.”
“That’s why the feds regulate banks,” Walker said crisply. “You have the right to remain silent. . .”
The goon in Dinah’s corner approached, flashing a badge. “We’ll need to take in Mrs. Kennedy as an investor and possible witness. I have men with warrants ready.”
Carmel glared at the federal agent accusingly, then wept. “I thought you were helping me!”
Kurt Kennedy stepped out of the shadows. “Mother, listen to the man and remain silent for a change. We’ll call your lawyer.”
Carmel attacked her son with a tirade of profanity that even shook Mariah.
Teddy slipped from her position by the podium to take Kurt’s arm. He hugged her to his side and stalwartly withstood the abuse. Teddy had found a rock of a man who didn’t bend in the wind, but protected his own no matter the circumstances. Mariah had to quit judging him as a useless Null.
Mayor Monty simply shook his head and walked off to join his uncle Lance.
Bradford Edison gave both Carmel and his son a look of disbelief and walked away. Keegan released Caldwell Edison into custody of the federal agents. The powerful arm he’d used to confine a killer circled Mariah’s shoulders instead. She gratefully leaned into him, still shaken by the truths she’d unleashed.
The elder Menendez’s gaze searched the room—probably for the missing Harvey, Mariah figured.
Cameras flashed. Startled from her reverie by reporters shoving microphones into her face, Mariah cursed. She should have disappeared faster.
Weirdly, Val broke into an old sixties’ song about the sounds of silence. The song rose in an eerie condemnation of a society that never spoke up, never protested.
Silence. Decades of silence. Val talking without speaking. Edison hearing without listening. Cass. . . Carmel. . . Lance. . . All with untold stories, burying the secrets under their carpets, never protesting the crimes committed here, never speaking in defense of the injured. How many had known about Daisy and Trevor and their son? What if Robert had been raised by normal parents, as Sam had? How had it helped to keep all those secrets buried?
And what about the larger secrets, like the ones she’d uncovered with her hacking? The corrupt corporate theft, the criminals operating behind politicians. . .
“Can you confirm that you are Zoe Cervantes?” one of the reporters shouted.
“Did you uncover the material on EWG?” another called. “Is this another Expoleaks?”
She’d included the EWG material in the biographies flashing across the screen. Someone had paid attention.
Mariah turned to Keegan. He kissed her, accepting whatever she chose to do. “I’m here for you,” he murmured against her mouth. “If you want to leave, say so.”
He had been there for his father and brother, going half way around the world in search of truth. He meant what he said, and her heart filled with joy for the first time in a long time. He knew her reputation and didn’t care.
She was free at last. In relief, she turned back to the cameras. “I am Zoe Ascension de Cervantes. The truth is stranger than fiction. Do your own research. Tonight, we celebrate Hillvale and the beauty that was born here. Music, maestro!”
Someone flipped on the AV equipment again, and the recorded orchestra sprang to life while images of laughing children and beautiful artwork filled the wall.
Under Cass’s imperceptible direction, the locals began crowding the food tables, shoving aside the reporters, breaking up the gathering of elders, giving Keegan room to block Mariah from microphones and cameras.
“Side door?” he suggested.
Deciding the reporters had all they needed for now, she nodded. “We’ll have the vortex and the stars to ourselves. Let’s spend this night together in peace before the world crashes down on us.”
Outside the side exit, Harvey played his guitar. “Numero Uno could not come,” he said apologetically. “Numero Dos acts in his place.”
Presumably, the elder, distinguished Menendez, may they some day learn his name. The Menendez land was safe for another day.
Harvey blocked a reporter trying the exit, letting them escape down the street. Neither Mariah nor Zoe had any interest in investigating Menendez secrets.
Thirty-four
July 21: Saturday morning
Keegan wrapped his arms around Mariah—Zoe. She’d spent this past week reclaiming her life, one small slice at a time. He had to adjust accordingly. “I want you to come with me. My home is as private as Hillvale. My family and everyone will love you.”
Wearing her hair free in a rippling river down her back, Zoe gazed up at him with an adoration he’d never get used to—as if a nerdy rock hound could really be her hero. She kissed him with mind-bending sensuality, before abruptly pushing away.
“And I want to go with you,” she said with regret. “Just not this time. I need to stand my ground and fight my battles here, not hide in Scotland. I want you to go home, see what’s there for you, then come back because that’s what you want, not because of me. Maybe you belong there as much as I need to be here.”
He snorted. “Give me credit for knowing my mind. I have traveled the world. A place can never be my home. But you can,” he insisted, as he had every day this past week. “I know this happened fast, but you’re the only woman who has ever made me want to settle down. I won’t rush you. I just want you to trust that I’m always here for you.”
She snuggled into him. “Amazingly, despite all prior experience, I believe you. And because I think you are the most amazing man in my universe, I want you to be happy, which means you need to be positive about leaving your home. We have frightening talents we don’t fully understand. I know I must learn here, where my essence joins with that of my ancestors. You need to be certain that you can go anywhere.”
The word love didn’t come easy for either of them. Since he’d never previously experienced this roller coaster of upheaval, Keegan feared declaring his riotous feelings might be premature. If Zoe didn’t reciprocate them, he didn’t want to scare her off. But his heart felt as if it might explode if he said nothing.
“The only place I want to go is with you,” he admitted, searching her face for reaction. “I need to see my family and return these books to the library. I need to be certain there aren’t any more journals we can use. I want them scanned so we can have them here. And I need to speak with our librarian about a computerized library. I want you to meet everyone,” he said, hiding his anguish.
She stroked his clenched jaw. “You’re such a dumb ox, you’ll force me to admit you’ve burrowed into my non-existent heart, and that I want to be with you too. How can I not love the genius who created my magic mouse?”
“That was no genius,” he said in deprecation. “Teddy chose the stone to help you focus. I just formed it into a solid round form that fit a thumb roller. I don’t know for certain that it will prevent you from disappearing on an electron highway. . . .”
He stopped his nerdy explanation when what she’d said fully sank in.
She was looking at him in amusement. Mariah-Zoe, amused. He loved it, and he loved her, and she was giving him the opportunity to admit it. Really, she should smack him more often.
“I love you even when you’re yanking my chains,” he said in relief. “And I love that you trust me enough to yank them. And I want you even more with every moment that passes, so this is scary territory. But mouse or not, I still think you need to keep a journal on a non-internet computer and let someone else build the library website.”
She was covering his face with kisses as he spoke, making it difficult to think even after she stopped to answer his fears. “I promise not to experiment with the internet until you return, even with my magic mouse restraining me. But that means you have to hurry back. Walker gets impatient when I pull a truth out of his bad guys, and I can’t back it up with r
eal evidence. The feds think I know more than I do, and they’re gnawing at my door. If I could just show them. . .”
Knowing the pressure she was under, he kissed her fervently for her promise, then dragged her for the door. “No. Let them do their own research, just as you told the journalists. Give them direction and stay out of it.”
“Yes, Oh Wise One. Besides, Gabriel and Company are spilling secrets on each other so fast, they don’t really need me. Carmel hasn’t been very cooperative as a witness, but Kurt and Monty are working on her.”
“It’s a wonder they’re still talking to Walker after he brought in the feds and let her hire them as bodyguards.” Keegan hugged her close as they stepped outside.
“They appreciate that the chief was just keeping their mother safe from her own dangerous impulses.” She squeezed his hand. “Speaking of feds. . . Now that I’m no longer hiding, my lawyer thinks telling the feds that there’s a fault in the Macro Computer operating system, and offering to show them where, will get everyone off my back, but it means my best research channel will dry up.”
He kissed her again. “Please do and I’ll thank you a thousand times over. I’m terrified I’ll lose you down one of those rabbit holes.”
“Now that I have more interesting channels for ferreting out the truth. . .” Mariah laughed as he squeezed her warningly. “Okay, I’ll wait until you bring back journals that will tell me my ectoplasmic limitations.”
“The books take some study,” he warned. “I’m still trying to figure out the ancient phrases in the ones Wainwright had. No wonder Gabriel ignored them, if he read them at all.”
“None of this will help me with the Lucys and Nulls and all that damned land out there,” she complained. “Teddy and Kurt will be at each other’s throats shortly. Cass and Carmel have turned the town into a war zone. And we won’t even mention whatever dance Val and Lance are performing.”
He grunted agreement as they stepped out of her cottage, only to see Sam and Walker leaving theirs. “At least those two seem to stay together despite the conflict.”
Crystal Vision Page 32
