Love Vs. Illusion

by MJ Rodgers

  “It’s Octavia.”

  A.J. immediately came forward in her chair. “Octavia, I’m so glad you called. I have so many questions I need to-”

  “Hold it,” Octavia interrupted. “I cannot answer your questions.”

  “Then why have you called?”

  “To tell you it’s all up to you now.”

  Octavia disconnected her end without explaining further or even saying goodbye. She didn’t have to. A.J. understood the message. Only too clearly. She replaced the receiver on the telephone base as a sharp chill stabbed up her spine.

  “What is it?” Piper asked.

  “Whatever legal action Adam’s partners at Justice Inc. were taking to try to get him out of prison wasn’t successful.”

  A.J. felt Piper’s hand coming to rest on her shoulder, heard her tone soften.

  “Damn, I’m sorry.”

  A.J. said nothing. There was nothing to say.

  Piper gave her shoulder a gentle shake. “I don’t care what the doctor says about your being recovered. That client getting killed and now this business with your brother have you strung out. You’re in no shape for this undercover assignment at Fabulous Fantasies. The best thing you could do is stay here and coordinate the rest of the team’s efforts while I go in and find out why Adam resigned from the case.”

  “No,” A.J. said.

  “But-”

  “No!” A.J.’s fingers clutched the edge of her desk. She took a deep breath, determined to regain control over her voice and her emotions. Slowly, she faced her colleague and friend.

  “Piper, there is no choice here. I must do it. This isn’t just a client. This is my brother.”

  “He’d understand-”

  “No, Piper, you must understand. Adam’s always come through for me. Now, for the first time in my life, he needs me to come through for him. I will not let him down. I will not fail Adam!”

  LEX LINBOW watched the young programmers’ fingers flying over the keys and took a swig of his Scotch. There they were—three zit-faced kids barely out of high school, blasting out their rock music, turning his dream of VR into images so real that even he had a hard time believing they weren’t.

  These programmers were the best money could buy, and he had bought them. But he hated them. Because he needed them.

  There was a time when he had been on top—the very top. There was a time when he could run circles around even the best minds the military recruited. He’d loved those times.

  But those times were gone. The younger crop, and then the one after them, and now the one after them had surpassed his programming skills so fast that he now felt like a match in the path of flamethrowers.

  He knew that as a programmer all he was good for were the primitive VR sex scenarios he fiddled with behind closed doors in his Seattle office to try to improve his love life.

  He took another gulp of Scotch. Well, he might be washed up as a programmer, but he was the owner of Fabulous Fantasies. It was his vision that had put this park together, with the best in programs and the best in programmers. It was he who knew enough to lease the latest in electronic hardware so it could be constantly updated. It was he who had seen the need to combine psychology with the technology of the computer.

  Despite their considerable talent, these programmers could be replaced. Despite her considerable expertise and natural feel for the medium, even Clarise could be replaced. There was only one person around here who couldn’t be replaced.

  Him. Lex Linbow. Here, he was king. Here, no one could or would ever surpass him.

  “Lex, we may have a problem,” Clarise’s voice said from behind him. He turned to see a worried look on her face as she approached with a computer readout in her hands.

  “What kind of problem?”

  “There’s a name on the list of attendees for this weekend that isn’t checking out. A Lamont Cranston.”

  Linbow stiffened at the genuine note of concern in Clarise’s voice. “Another private investigator?”

  “We have a thorough list of all their names. No match. But there’s no credit report on this guy, either.”

  “That’s impossible in this day and age, isn’t it?”

  “Precisely, Lex.”

  Linbow relaxed a bit. Didn’t sound like such a big problem to him. “So call up the ticket broker and make him cancel this guy’s passage to the island.”

  “No. If he is here for something other than a fantasy weekend, the smart thing to do is let him come over, keep an eye on him and see if we can learn who sent him.”

  “Okay. Keep me informed. If this guy is a plant, he’ll no doubt have disks on him to try to swap for ours. They always attempt that ploy, like they could ever duplicate my CD ROM technology.”

  “I’m having all the luggage X-rayed,” Clarise said. “And the airport security guard is ours. If this guy has CDs of any type, we’ll stop him at the airport and won’t even allow him to come to the island.”

  Linbow took another swig of his Scotch. “I thought you just said you wanted to keep an eye on him. How are you going to do that if you stop him at the airport?”

  “There’s no point in letting a known competitor on the island.”

  “I’m getting confused here, Clarise. How can this guy hope to steal my secrets if he doesn’t plan on getting away with any of my CDs?”

  “Lex, have you given any thought to the idea that this guy may not have been sent by a competitor at all but by Adam Justice?”

  “How could he be? It’s been barely two weeks since Justice resigned as my attorney. We have a two-month waiting list for the park.”

  “Yeah, and these ticket brokers will sell their own kidney for the right amount of bribe. I’ve suspected for a long time that they’re holding back seats so they can accommodate a late passenger for the right financial incentive—an incentive, I might add, which they pocket and we never see.”

  “Then why the hell are we using them?”

  “Because we have to. For the present. When we expand and diversify, we’ll see about setting up a direct-sale operation that bypasses the brokers.”

  “Even if you’re right about the ticket brokers, this idea you have that this guy without a credit rating being sent by Adam Justice is still pretty farfetched. For one, what could this guy hope to find on the island?”

  “Whatever tipped Justice off in the first place that something was wrong. Lex, are you sure Justice never got hold of any of our sensitive files?”

  “How many times do I have to tell you, Clarise? I personally went over every scrap of paper before he got it. There was nothing. Nothing!”

  “Then why did he withdraw as your attorney?”

  Linbow’s knuckles went white as he clenched his glass. “I’m getting damn tired of hearing that same damn question.”

  “But I’m worried about Justice trying to—”

  “Stop worrying about Adam Justice. My new attorney tells me that those partners of his got a closed session with the judge to plead his contempt of court charge, and the fool wouldn’t even testify on his own behalf or let his staff say a word. Whatever he knows, or thinks he knows, Adam Justice just cooked his own goose by insisting on maintaining his attorney-client silence. He’s history, Clarise.”

  Linbow paused to drain the last of his Scotch. He slammed his empty glass on the table. “Ancient history.”

  Chapter Six

  Zane slipped into the seat beside A.J. on the small commuter plane headed for the island domain of the Fabulous Fantasies amusement park.

  “Now what’s a nice private investigator like you doing in a place like this?” he asked.

  She returned his greeting with a cool blue stare. “Who do you think—”

  “Lamont Cranston,” he interrupted deliberately as he held out his hand for a shake.

  She ignored his offered hand. “If you—”

  A.J. stopped her protest abruptly. Her pupils expanded as the name he gave her registered. Her denial came out on the tail
end of a heavy exhale. “You didn’t.”

  He chuckled as he picked up her hand and shook it. “Ms. Lane, I presume?”

  She snatched her hand back. “What could you have been thinking? You’ve deliberately linked our names!”

  “Come on now. How many people do you think remember that old radio show?”

  “Coltrane, they made a very recent motion picture based on that old radio show.”

  “Oh? I hadn’t heard. I’m not much of a fan of the current brand of movies. So, how was it?”

  “How it was is not the point. People might remember that the mysterious crime fighter known as The Shadow goes by the name of Lamont Cranston and that his female…”

  “Lover,” Zane provided since A.J. was obviously having difficulty with the word.

  “Is called Margot Lane,” A.J. finished.

  “And?”

  “And become suspicious of us, of course.”

  Zane kept his voice low as the plane began to take on other passengers. “A.J., even if someone recognizes the names, do you think they would seriously consider that two people on an undercover operation would take the names of fictional crime fighters?”

  “But we are undercover and we have taken those names, although I certainly wouldn’t have done it on purpose.”

  “That’s the point. No one would think we would do so intentionally, which means we won’t be suspected, even if the names are recognized.”

  “Where did you pick up that tidbit of wisdom, the Beginning Detective’s Handbook?”

  There was such a lovely lilt of sarcasm surrounding her words. He chuckled and raised his voice again. “Yes, such a coincidence about our names, isn’t it, Ms. Lane? I hope you’ll call me Lamont. May I call you Margot?”

  A.J.’s eyes darted nervously to the elderly couple taking the two seats in front of them. She leaned closer to Zane. He could smell that warm tantalizing mix of spicy rum and warm wisteria.

  She lowered her deep, husky voice to a whisper, still managing to keep its emphasis intact even over the revving airplane engines.

  “You may get off this plane. I don’t like being followed, Coltrane.”

  Zane did not attempt to lower his voice at all but kept it at normal volume.

  “Yes, this is my first time at Fabulous Fantasies, too. I own the Olympic Mountain Guide Service. I’m the guy who treats all those insect bites and skin rashes that folks get when they decide to vacation in the great out-of-doors, having forgotten how much more comfortable it is indoors.”

  A.J. sat back, her lips drawing tight as her eyes solidified into icy, reflective mirrors.

  But it was too late for her to be cool with him. She had given herself away when she responded to his kiss. She wanted him, maybe just as much as he wanted her. His whole body had been vibrating with that knowledge for days.

  He leaned closer, lowered his voice. “You’re going to like having me as your shadow.”

  “That shows how little you know about me,” came her whispered answer.

  “How many people know you like to listen to the tapes of old radio programs?”

  “What did you do, bug my house?”

  “What a suspicious mind you have,” Zane said with a chuckle. “I like that.”

  He also liked the way her chin stayed raised, as though she was ready to take a punch—or give one.

  She crossed her arms over her chest. “I’m going to call my people and have my place swept the moment we hit the ground.”

  “Yes, a delightfully suspicious mind. I’ll save you some trouble. I know about your penchant for old radio shows because we frequent the same Seattle supplier for those shows. Last month, Ren of Rehnquist’s Radio Trivia told me that he was sorry but he couldn’t sell me the last taped show of The Shadow because a Ms. Justice had bought it less than an hour before.”

  She frowned, clearly put out by the information. “Ren had no business discussing my purchases with you.”

  “Surely your liking old radio programs isn’t such a deep dark secret it bothers you that people know about it? I don’t mind if people know that about me.”

  Zane raised his voice into a more conversational volume. “My folks and I used to listen to them together while I was growing up. They had quite a collection, especially of The Shadow series. Dad was a career Marine. Mom had been his nurse when he was injured in World War Two. It was one of those love-at-first-sight things. They were childless before I came along.”

  Zane knew that A.J. might not be participating in the conversation, but he understood why she wasn’t cutting him off. She was interested. He guessed that she would want to know about him just as much as he wanted to know about her.

  “Yep, Mom was forty-one and Dad was forty-two when I decided to show up,” Zane continued. He paused to chuckle. “As you might imagine, I was more than a surprise.”

  A.J.’s alert posture was giving her away. A more contemplative expression had replaced her determined detachment as she had become caught up in his words.

  “They weren’t the most with it of parents,” Zane continued. “Matter of fact, compared to the other kids’ folks they were downright Stone Age in most things. While I was growing up, I grumbled a lot. But, now, well, now I wouldn’t have wanted them to have been any other way.”

  Zane’s tone had altered with those last words, not intentionally but just because he found he couldn’t talk about his fond memories of his parents without appropriate emphasis.

  Her face turned toward his, her eyes registering a warmth and understanding that he liked very much. He doubted she was aware of how expressive her eyes were when that formidable guard relaxed for a second.

  He was attracted to her in ways that went far beyond sexual. He had realized this from that first moment she had returned his scrutiny in the courtroom. Those pale blue eyes that seemed so incredibly cold at first glance had grown so much warmer with every moment they boldly melded with his.

  He knew about her fiancé. And the few men since. They had been merely escorts for occasions that required them. She wasn’t interested in anything permanent. Like him, she was a loner. Which, of course, made everything perfect.

  His gaze followed the deep widow’s peak at her forehead down the prominent curves of her cheekbones and came to rest on the quiet determination that kept her chin so level with his.

  His eyes rose to hers and read her reaction to his very personal inventory. Her pupils had enlarged perceptibly.

  This attraction between them was more than exciting. It was electrifying. From the moment he had kissed her and she had responded, he had known where it would lead. But he hadn’t expected that every second that stretched in between would be sweetening the anticipation so sharply.

  He could feel every muscle in his body tensing in sudden anticipation. He leaned closer, feeling the beckoning heat of her, tantalized by that warm, special scent that was hers alone.

  She pulled quickly back at his advance.

  “What do you want?” she asked with an intake of breath.

  A hoarse laugh erupted from deep in his throat. He lowered his voice once again to a whisper. “And you call yourself a detective.”

  Fluid blue flames flickered behind the ice in her eyes. “Who are you working for?” her husky whisper demanded, suspicion in her tone.

  Zane took a deep breath and let it out slowly. They still were a long way from sharing anything physical, if the look on her face was any sign. That was all right. She was worth waiting for, and he had always been a patient man.

  “Well?” she asked.

  “A.J., if the situation were reversed, would you break confidentiality to a client?”

  She kept her voice as low as his. “You already know I’m going to the island to try to clear my brother.”

  “Only because your interest in this case is so obvious. But if you were working for someone else, would you be so unprofessional as to tell me who?”

  “Then we don’t have anything further to say to each oth
er, do we?”

  His eyes sought hers and held them. “I have this to say. The truth is all I’m after. If you believe in your brother, then it has to be all you’re after, too. Let’s work together to find the truth.”

  He could see her weighing the idea with whatever incentives she thought it might hold against all the possible liabilities.

  “No,” she said. “Not knowing who your client is makes it impossible for me to assess what your stake is in this business. How can I take you at your word? You were lying the other night when you came upon me in Linbow’s office and led me to believe you were going to turn me in.”

  “I didn’t lie. I seriously considered turning you in.”

  Her lips tightened. “Then you do work for Linbow.”

  “No, I don’t work for Linbow. That much I will tell you. But the fact that I don’t work for him wouldn’t have prevented me from phoning in an anonymous report of a break-in in progress.”

  “Then why didn’t you?”

  He smiled. “I’ve already given you my reason for that.” He leaned closer. “However, if you would like me to repeat the explanation—”

  “No!” she said, quickly drawing away. “That won’t be necessary,” she added with an immediate and enviable calm.

  He leaned back in his seat with a small exhale of regret. He could get to her, yes, but she had amazing powers for reasserting her control. Damn it.

  “A.J., I don’t give my word lightly. I’m giving you my word on this. We’re after the same thing. Let’s pool our resources.”

  She did not retreat from his gaze. He liked that.

  “You may be telling the truth,” she conceded after a moment. “Perhaps under different circumstances, I might be tempted to take a chance and team up. But this is my brother we’re talking about, and where my brother is concerned, I don’t take chances.”

  “Don’t you? With no time to prepare, you’ve hopped on this plane hoping to uncover whatever secrets Linbow may be keeping on the island. Do you even have a clue as to what you’re looking for or how you’re going to find it?”

  “That’s my business.”