Ghost Hunter

'At the time,' Cooper said, continuing his deliberate slicing, 'there were some who expected that Watson Whittaker would get the job.'

'Hah. Not a chance.' She chuckled, thinking of the books and films she had seen over the years. 'They didn't call him Wild Watson Whittaker for nothing. He was one of those larger-than-life heroic types who comes through in a crisis, but he certainly wasn't management material. The founders of the Aurora Springs Guild recognized that.'

'They pinned a lot of medals on Whittaker, held a parade in his honor, and put up a statue in the park.' Cooper sliced boldly into the tomato. 'Then they gave the Guild boss job to John Sander St. Clair.'

'They sure did.' She opened a box of croutons for him. 'And Whittaker went right out and proved beyond a shadow of a doubt that the founders had been absolutely right to pass him over. He vowed revenge on the Guild and the town. Went from being a legendary hero to being the most notorious catacomb raider in the history of the colonies.'

'Yeah, Whittaker was pretty pissed,' Cooper said, looking thoughtful.

'And the rest, as they say, is history. In the six months following the establishment of the Aurora Springs Guild, a fortune in alien artifacts was stolen from excavation teams working in the sectors that the Aurora Springs hunters were responsible for protecting. The raids were all daring and brilliantly executed. The raider was never caught, but everyone knew it was Watson Whittaker. Then, one day, he did what all great legends do, he vanished into the realm of myth.'

Cooper reached into the box and helped himself to a crouton. 'Over the years, the official version of the legend has lost a few details in the telling.'

She frowned. 'You're not supposed to eat those straight out of the box. You sprinkle them on the salad.'

'Yeah?' He fed one to Rose, who was drifting around the floor at his feet. 'Thought maybe they were an hors d'oeuvre or something.'

'Forget the croutons,' she said. 'You know, sometimes I forget that you really do have a background in history and archival research. Tell me what's missing from the official version of the Watson Whittaker story.'

He scooped up the sliced tomatoes and arranged them in neat rows on top of the lettuce. 'Among other things, there was a woman involved.'

'Really?' She got some cheese out of the refrigerator. 'I never heard that.'

'Probably because the lady ended up marrying your ever-so-great-grandfather, John Sander St. Clair.'

'What?' Dumbfounded, she straightened abruptly, packet of cheese in her hand. 'Watson Whittaker and St. Clair were rivals for my multi-great-grandmother's hand?'

'Yes. When Whittaker realized he wasn't going to be given control of the Aurora Springs Guild, he tried to convince your ancestor to run off with him. She declined and married St. Clair, instead.' He took the cheese from her. 'That was when Whittaker went rogue and became a blue freak.'

She whistled softly. 'Watson Whittaker could work blue ghost energy?'

'Yes.'

'That certainly explains a few things, like how he managed to save Aurora Springs pretty much all on his own during the Era of Discord.'

Cooper unwrapped the cheese. 'Right. The Guild knew that if the truth about the blue ghost light got out, it would make folks nervous. So they hushed up the facts.'

'That wouldn't have been hard to do, seeing as how it was primarily Guild historians who wrote the official accounts concerning the Era of Discord.'

'You know what they say, history is written by the winners.'

'This is fascinating.' She watched him study the hunk of cheese he had uncovered. 'You've done some serious research on Wild Watson Whittaker, haven't you?'

'Oh, yeah.' He crunched another crouton and dropped one into Rose's waiting paws. 'You might say I had a personal interest in him.'

She nodded. 'Because he had a rare parapsych talent like yours. Makes sense. So what actually happened to Whittaker? Did he die alone somewhere underground, or did he live to enjoy his ill-gotten gains?'

'He changed his name, built a new identity for himself in one of the big cities, got married, and started a family.'

'Sounds a trifle boring after all his adventures in Aurora Springs.'

'Even guys like Watson Whittaker have to settle down sometime.' He examined the cheese closely. 'Now what?'

'Cut off a chunk and crumble it,' she said absently, her thoughts on what he had just told her. 'What about the fortune in artifacts that Watson Whittaker stole? What happened to the relics?'

'Let's just say that Watson Whittaker showed more business acumen than the members of the Aurora Springs Guild credited him with having.'

'Aha. He invested well?'

'Very well. Unfortunately, few of his descendents displayed the same gifts for finances. Over the years, Whittaker's offspring managed to fritter away the empire that he built.' He dropped a piece of cheese to Rose. 'But, hey, easy come, easy go.'

'What about Whittaker's descendents? What happened to them?'

'A few became hunters, but for the most part they were fairly standard para-rez talents. The majority of his offspring showed no dissonance-energy para-rez talents at all. They chose other careers.'

'Were there any more who could work blue ghost light?'

'Eventually there was one.' Cooper crumbled cheese into the bowl. 'But he didn't come along for quite a while.'

'Did he turn out to be notorious like Watson Whittaker?'

'Depends on your point of view.' Cooper crumbled cheese onto the salad. 'He recently became the boss of the Aurora Springs Guild.'

She had been so wrapped up in the story that it took a second or two before she got it.

'You?' She dropped her arms in shock. 'Watson Whittaker was your direct ancestor?'

'Yeah.' He studied the bottles of oil and vinegar. 'What do I do with these?'

She stared at him, openmouthed, and then she felt the ironic humor of the situation strike her full force.

'Oh, my,' she said. 'Oh, my goodness.'

She was suddenly laughing so hard, she had to grab the edge of the counter to steady herself. 'This is priceless. The funniest thing I've heard in ages.'

'I live to amuse. Part of the Guild boss job description.'

She reeled against the kitchen counter, slapping a palm across her mouth in a vain attempt to stifle the giggles. 'If only the Council members back home knew about this.' She flapped a hand. 'Wait. Do any of them know? Or is this still a deep, dark family secret?'

He watched her with an unreadable expression. 'It's still a deep, dark family secret.'

'Not anymore. Now I know it. Oh, wow. This is so cool. I know your deepest, darkest family secret. I know that you are the descendent of the most notorious man in Aurora Springs history. I have you in my power, Cooper Boone.'

'The way I figure it, you're going to be family one of these days, so it's okay for you to know the secret.'

That stopped her laughter as effectively as if he had suddenly pumped all of the oxygen out of the air.

'You figured what?' she sputtered.

'You heard me.'

She put up both hands, palms out. 'Oh, no you don't. There has been no change in the status of our relationship regarding marriage.'

'That hurts. We've been living under the same roof for a couple of days. We've dined together, we've danced together, and we've had some great sex.'

'Once. We had great sex one time. That's all.'