Ghost Hunter

stimulation at all, really, and most hunters have to retire early when they start losing their edge. A lot of middle- aged hunters end up just sitting around the Guild Hall all day, collecting their pensions and swapping ghost stories.'

'The profession has its moments.'

'Why the law classes?'

'Like I said, figured it was good background for my future career.'

'But you were a Guild archivist before you became a Guild boss.'

'The history and information retrieval studies were part of the preparation, too.'

'For what?' she asked blankly.

'From the time I was nine years old, the only thing I wanted to be when I grew up was boss of the Aurora Springs Guild.'

She stood, unmoving. The last of the laughter faded from her expressive face.

'Good grief,' she said, clearly stunned. 'Most of the men who make it to the top of the Guilds rely on their natural para-rez talents, family connections, and a very wide streak of ruthless ambition. I've never heard of one actually studying to prepare himself for the job.'

He gripped the edge of the doorway. 'Something you should understand about me, Elly. Almost every move I've made and almost every step I've taken in my life has been designed with two goals in mind: to become a Guild boss and to keep the job for as long as I wanted it.'

She tapped one crimson fingernail against the counter-top. 'I always knew the position was important to you. I just didn't realize how important.'

'Something else you should know. I said almost every move and every step was designed to achieve those objectives. But there have been a couple of notable exceptions, one of which was what happened in the front seat of the Spectrum last night.'

Her eyes widened.

He pushed himself out of the doorway before she could get her mouth closed and went down the hall to take a shower.

Chapter 11

ELLY TOSSED THE BEATEN EGGS INTO THE PAN WHEN SHE heard the door of the bathroom open. She was okay now, she assured herself. In the length of time it had taken him to shower and shave, she had cleaned up the spilled orange juice, organized breakfast, and gotten her emotions back under control.

His booted footsteps sounded softly in the hall. She was unable to suppress the little chill of excitement that swept through her. She was about to serve breakfast to Cooper Boone after a night of wild sexual abandon in his arms.

Don't get carried away here, she told herself, sprinkling fresh herbs onto the eggs, that little scene in the Spectrum lasted just long enough for him to get your clothes off. We're talking at most maybe fifteen minutes, after which he went right to sleep. We are not talking about an entire night of passionate sexual abandon.

In addition she must not forget that the fact that he had wanted to have hot sex with her while he was in the midst of a major burn-and-crash was not exactly a ringing testimonial to her seductive powers. Any man who had melted amber would have been in the mood for sex.

Cooper walked into the kitchen. She blinked.

'What now?' he asked.

'Your shirt.'

'What about it?'

She cleared her throat. 'You forgot to put it on.'

He looked down at his naked chest. 'It was soaked with orange juice, remember?'

'Oh. Right.' She concentrated on stirring the eggs and tried not to think about the fact that she was going to serve breakfast to Cooper Boone and that he was naked from the waist up.

Rose chortled cheerfully, tumbled off the windowsill, and drifted across the floor to greet Cooper for the second time that morning.

'Hello, gorgeous.' Cooper scooped her up and held her in one hand. 'You'd think I'd been away for a week.'

Elly moved the eggs off the heat. 'Ready to eat?'

'Oh, yeah. I'm hungry enough to chew green quartz.'

His body needed fuel after the heavy psi drain last night, she told herself. Good thing she had scrambled every last egg left in the carton.

'Back to your windowsill, gorgeous.' Cooper set Rose down next to the vase and flower. He took a closer look at the green blossom. 'Never saw a flower like this before,' he remarked. 'What's it called?'

She watched him covertly. Cooper was nothing if not a very powerful para-resonator. Was he picking up any trace of the psi buzz?

'I don't know,' she admitted. 'Rose started bringing them to me shortly after she moved in. I hunted through my reference books, but I couldn't find any flower matching its description. A few weeks ago I finally showed one to Stuart Griggs.'

'Who is Griggs?'

'The florist who has the shop next to Bertha's place. I would have gone to him sooner, but he's not very friendly. Honestly, given his general attitude, I don't know how he manages to stay in business. At any rate, he said he didn't recognize the species, either. He suggested that it was probably an orchid hybrid of some kind.'

'Odd shade of green,' Cooper observed. 'At first I thought it was an artificial flower carved out of imitation alien quartz.'

He hadn't felt a thing, she thought, not even a tingle.

'No, it's a real flower,' she said. 'It will wither in a few days, just like the others. They seem to last a little longer if I keep them in that green quartz vase.'

'So where is Rose getting them?'

'I've got a nasty feeling that she is filching them from someone's private hothouse. They're probably a local orchid grower's pride and joy. Those guys can be obsessive.'

'Yeah?'

'Trust me, you don't want to mess with an orchid person. My biggest concern is that the grower might catch Rose in the act of swiping the flowers and take after her with a rake. You know, like in that children's story, The Tale of Dickie Dust Bunny?'

'Never read it.'

'You can't have missed that one, too. Think back, Cooper. Little Dickie Dust Bunny's mother tells him that he mustn't go into Mr. McAmber's garden because his father had an accident there and ended up in a pie. But, naturally, little Dickie can't resist the idea, so he disobeys and goes into the garden.'

'What happens?'

'He has all sorts of adventures, nearly gets caught, and barely makes it out alive. There are some very charming illustrations that accompany the story.' She paused. 'Does that resonate at all?'

He reflected briefly. 'I remember Mom and Dad giving me an illustrated copy of Littleton's Founders of the Harmonic Colonies when I turned five. Does that count?'

She sighed. 'Never mind.'

Cooper scratched Rose in the general vicinity of her ears. 'I wouldn't worry about Rose getting caught, if I were you. Got a hunch she's way too smart for that. Besides, who would want to eat dust bunny pie?'

Elly glared. 'You know, you have a tendency to interpret things a bit too literally at times.'

'I prefer to deal with facts, if that's what you mean,' Cooper said. He lost interest in the flower and sat down at the table. 'Speaking of which, we need to talk about this blue ghost situation.'

'Right.' She poured him a mug of her specially blended rez-root tea and carried it to the table. 'We're