Jayne Castle - After Glow

Lydia slumped deeper into her chair.

"On the other hand," Melanie continued on a brighter note, "this is a Guild matter and everyone knows that the Guild polices its own." She hopped off the desk. "Well, gotta run. Things to do. By the way I meant to tell you that Shrimp is feeling very pleased with himself."

"Why is that?"

"He got an offer from a private collector for the Mudd Sarcophagus. The guy apparently saw it in the Tomb Wing last week and wants it badly because it fills out his collection. He's willing to pay a lot more than it's worth. Shrimp is thrilled, as you can imagine. He says you can use the profits to get a more interesting coffin." She rolled her eyes. "What a concept, huh? An interesting coffin."

"Thanks for the heads-up."

"The client is making arrangements to pick it up Friday at five. Shrimp wants you to supervise the crating and packing and see that it gets safely out the door with all the paperwork in order."

"I'll make a note." Lydia pulled her desk calendar toward her and flipped the pages to Friday's date.

"Also, just so you'll know, I'm going to slip out of here a little early today. Got a date with Jack tonight."

Jack Brodie, Lydia knew, was another in a long line of ghost-hunter dates for Melanie.

"Don't tell me, let me guess," Lydia said. "The two of you are going to spend the evening somewhere in the Old Quarter."

Melanie wiggled her brows. "Jack promised me that he'll summon a little ghost or two to burn before we go back to my place."

"Have fun," Lydia mumbled.

"Oh, I'm sure I will. You know what they say, there's nothing like a hunter in bed after he's burned a ghost. We're talking hot, hot, hot." Melanie grinned from the doorway. "But you already know that, don't you? After all, you're dating the top hunter, himself."

"Emmett is stuck in an office for the foreseeable future." Lydia knew she sounded unbearably prim. She couldn't help it. Melanie's easy way with sexual innuendos and her casual lust for hunters was always a bit disconcerting. She could feel herself turning a vivid shade of pink. "He hasn't got time to zap ghosts for fun and games."

"Too bad." Melanie disappeared around the corner.

Lydia sat for a long time, staring morosely at the front page photo of the Tattler . The gossip about a scandalous lovers' triangle at the top of the Cadence Guild was only going to get worse. The story was simply too juicy to fade away.

If anyone could take care of himself, it was Emmett, she thought. But he had his hands full at the moment.

Something told her that the next few days and weeks were going to be very difficult for all of them.

EMMETT OPENED THE file that Perkins, Wyatt's administrative assistant, had just handed him. "This is the list of people who phoned Wyatt the day before he was shot?"

"This is the list I gave to Detective Martinez, when she interviewed me," Perkins said with clipped precision. "It includes all of the business calls, both incoming and outgoing, that were made from this office on that date."

Emmett looked up. Perkins probably had a first name but no one in Wyatt's headquarters had used it in so long that it had been forgotten. Perkins evidently preferred it that way.

He was a small, dapper man who looked more like a butler than a professional secretary. A circle of close-cropped gray hair surrounded his gleaming bald pate. He peered at Emmett through gold-framed spectacles.

"Can I assume from the way you responded to my question that there were some calls of a personal nature that were not included on this list?" Emmett asked evenly.

Perkins cleared his throat. "There was one that I saw no reason to add."

Emmett raised his brows. "You made that decision on your own?"

Perkins drew himself up to his full height. "I have worked for Mr. Wyatt for twenty-three years. I think I know him well enough to say that he would not have wanted me to give the caller's name to the police."

"Because?"

"Because the call was from an old friend of his who was, I'm sure, in no way connected to the dreadful events."

Emmett rubbed the bridge of his nose. "I'll need the name, Perkins."

"Yes, sir, I understand, sir. The caller's name was Sandra Thornton."

Emmett frowned. "She gave you her name when she phoned?"

"No, sir, but I recognized her voice immediately."

"She calls frequently?"

"She hasn't called at all in the past two years, but before that Miss Thornton and Mr. Wyatt had a close, extremely personal relationship for a period of several months. During that time, she called Mr. Wyatt's private number on several occasions."

One of Wyatt's former mistresses, Emmett thought. Great. Talk about complications. He closed the file and stacked his hands on top of it. "Let me get this straight, Perkins. One of Mercer Wyatt's old lovers who hasn't been in touch in two years just happens to call the day before Wyatt gets shot and you didn't think that was worth mentioning to the cops?"

Perkins looked down his nose at Emmett. "I beg your pardon, sir, but this is Guild business of the most personal nature."

Emmett tried not to grind his back teeth. He reminded himself that this was the Cadence Guild, not the new, reformed Resonance Guild. In spite of Wyatt's avowed intentions to modernize the organization, they still did a lot of things the old-fashioned way in this town. And by long-standing tradition, Guild affairs were guided by one unshakable precept: Guild business stays within the Guild .

"What's the story on Sandra Thornton?" Emmett asked, reigning in irritation. "Think she's still got feelings for Wyatt? Was she angry when he broke off the relationship?"

Perkins blinked a couple of times in obvious surprise. "My understanding is that Miss Thornton was the one who ended the affair, sir, not Mr. Wyatt."

"Did she call it off because Wyatt was seeing other women besides her?"

"I have no idea why she ended the arrangement, sir." Perkins cleared his throat. "Mr. Wyatt did not confide that information."

He wished Perkins hadn't used the word arrangement .

"Did Wyatt say anything after Thornton called? How did he react? Was he annoyed?"

"Perhaps a bit preoccupied, sir, but that was all." Perkins hesitated. "He did ask me not to mention the call to Mrs. Wyatt, however."

"Why not?"

"Mr. Wyatt cares deeply for Mrs. Wyatt. I believe he was afraid that she would be hurt or upset if she knew that an old flame had contacted him."

Tamara would not have been pleased, that was certain. Emmett considered his options. He would turn the information over to Detective Martinez, but given the extensive resources and manpower available to him through the Guild, he could probably find Sandra Thornton a lot sooner than the cops.

Wyatt's last coherent words before he went unconscious rang in his ears: It wasn't politics, it was personal .

"Get hold of Verwood," Emmett said. "Tell him I want to see him immediately."

Lloyd Verwood was in charge of Guild security here in Cadence. The only thing Emmett knew about him was that Wyatt had appointed him to the position. That was enough. Verwood wouldn't have gotten the job if he wasn't good.

"Yes, sir," Perkins said. "Shall I—"

He stopped when the door opened without warning. Tamara Wyatt walked into the office. One look at her tense, drawn expression and Emmett knew that she was very tightly rezzed. The stress she was under was taking its toll.

"Perkins." She nodded at the little man. "Wondered where you were."

"Mrs. Wyatt." Perkins bobbed his head deferentially and then looked at Emmett for directions.

"That's all for now, Perkins," Emmett said. "Let me know when Verwood gets here."

"Yes, sir." Perkins left, closing the door discreetly behind him.