Jayne Castle - Dark Light

She heard his harsh, muffled exclamation: satisfaction, triumph, and surrender inextricably entwined.

Together they fell into the sea of night.

"HELL OF A FIRE," NICK SAID. "BURNED RIGHT DOWN TO the foundation."

"Arson," Fontana said.

"Heard that." Nick's serious expression did not alter by so much as the flicker of an eyelash. "Caused by aliens, according to your wife's paper."

"Never underestimate the investigative reporting in the Curtains'"

They both looked at the charred ruins of the mansion. The only thing still standing was the massive stone fireplace. It projected upward into the fog, defying the destructive force of the fire to the end. Everything else had collapsed into the basement.

The good news, Fontana decided, was that the pile of blackened rubble hid the old staircase that led down into the catacombs.

"Planning to rebuild?" Nick asked, studying the scene.

"Sure. You know what they say about the three rules of real estate."

"Location, location, location."

"There's no better location in Crystal, as far as I'm concerned."

Nick pushed the edges of his jacket out of the way and planted his hands on his hips. "Okay. I'm here. Mind telling me why you called and said you wanted to see me?"

"You told Sierra that I could save Burns."

"I told her you were the company's only chance. Didn't say it would work."

"May be a lost cause already."

"Josh thinks he can turn things around if he gets the cash he needs," Nick said. "But he doesn't want to risk going the usual venture capital route. That would start rumors, he says. The suppliers and creditors and customers would panic. He says things have got to be handled quietly."

"He's right. Even if he did convince a venture capitalist group to invest, he'd have to turn over a controlling interest in the company to the investors."

"He doesn't want to do that for obvious reasons."

Fontana said nothing.

Nick was silent for a moment. "Did you ask me to meet you here so that you could tell me to go home and instruct the rest of the family to get screwed?"

"No. You can tell Josh that I'll have the money transferred to his account tomorrow morning."

Nick exhaled slowly, stunned. "Thanks."

"There's one condition."

"Just one?"

"I want a seat on the board."

Nick winced. "Josh isn't going to be thrilled with that."

"It's the only way I can keep an eye on my money."

"Sounds fair to me," Nick said. "But then, I didn't get the flair for business that you and Josh got from Dad."

"Until recently I didn't think I got anything at all from him."

Nick studied the remains of the mansion for a while.

"Probably doesn't mean much to you," he said finally, "but as far I'm concerned, none of us got a lot from Dad. He was a lousy father and an even lousier husband. All he cared about was Burns & Co."

"I noticed that."

"You still haven't told me why you're going to help Josh save Burns."

Fontana studied the ruins of the mansion. "My wife thinks I should do it. Says it will be good psychic karma."

Disbelief flashed across Nick's face. "Uh, you believe in psychic karma?"

"No."

"So, in other words, you're doing this to please your wife?"

Fontana nodded, "That's pretty much what it comes down to, yes. I'm trying to think of it as a wedding present."

Nick whistled. "It'll be a damned expensive wedding present if you lose your investment."

"What the hell, I can afford to take the loss."

Nick gave him a quizzical look. "Thought your marriage was just an MC."

"For now."

Nick raised his brows. "It's serious?"

"Serious."

They studied the charred remains for a while longer.

"Rebuilding this place is going to be a major project," Nick said eventually.

"I know."

"Got an architect lined up?"

"No," Fontana said. "Haven't had time to think about it."

"I could fit you into my schedule."

Fontana looked at him. "You?"

"I'm an architect."

"I know."

"I've handled large residential projects like this one."

"I know," Fontana said. "Saw one of them profiled in an architectural magazine last year."

"You read architectural magazines?"

"Not usually, no. Saw your name on the cover. I was curious."

"I'll give you the family rate."

"I'll think about it," Fontana said.

"ALWAYS KNEW I COULD COUNT ON ELVIS," JAKE TANNER said.

They were gathered in the Green Gate Tavern. Simon was behind the bar. Mitch, Jeff, and Andy lounged on their stools. Bottles of beer sat in front of them. Jake was drinking coffee.

Sierra stood at one end of the bar, her arms folded on the polished surface. Elvis, attired in his sparkling white cape, the new pair of tiny sunglasses that Jake had made perched on his head, sat beside her on the counter. There was a cup of coffee and a bowl of pretzels in front of him. He had already drained half the coffee.

"What made you put the coordinates behind the mirror in the miniature dressing room?" Sierra asked.

"Dunno." Jake shrugged. "Just came to me in a juice dream."

Mitch scowled. "You got the idea in a dream? How the hell does that work?"

Jake exhaled heavily. "The juice is weird crap. It takes you into another dimension. You feel so damn brilliant, like you're a god or a wizard or something. Everything seems so clear in the dreams. You think differently. It's like you're having visions."

"What happens when you wake up?" Sierra asked.

He shook his head. "That's the big downside. When you come out of a juice dream, reality and the visions get all mixed up in your head. But one day after you and Elvis visited me and brought me some cookies, I drank some juice and had this really clear vision. I saw myself getting kidnapped by aliens, just like the others who had gone missing. Somehow I knew that if that happened, it would have something to do with the ruins we had found in the jungle."

"It was probably your subconscious mind putting together some of the facts about the recent kidnappings combined with your own knowledge of the situation," Sierra said.

"No," Jake said. "After I got into the juice big-time, my subconscious brain wasn't working any better than my conscious brain. It was something you said that day, I think."

Mitch looked at him. "What did she say?"

"We had talked about the disappearances and how no one was looking for the guys who'd gone missing. She wanted to know if I had any idea why someone would want to kidnap a bunch of washed-up hunters. Then we talked about how all the juicers seemed to be ex-hunters. I guess I sort of knew all along that there had to be a connection and that they might come for me. I just hadn't wanted to think about it."

"So you wrote out the coordinates of the fountains on a piece of paper and tucked it behind the dressing room mirror," Sierra concluded. "Just in case you, yourself, went missing."

"Right," Jake said. "Knew you'd look for me."

Simon shook his head. "Great idea, but why the hell didn't you simply give Sierra those coordinates?"

Jake sighed. "Part of me didn't feel right about that. In fact, at the last minute, I almost changed my mind about putting the coordinates behind the mirror."

"For heaven's sake, why would you have had second thoughts?" Sierra demanded.

They all looked at her, saying nothing.

She raised her eyes to the ceiling. "Right. Guild secrets. I should have known."

"Patterson told me that the fountains were a classified Guild matter," Jake explained apologetically. "Hell, the man was a member of the Council. What was I supposed to do? I liked you a lot, and I trusted you, but, well, you weren't one of us at the time."