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.'
'One of you?' she repeated, going blank.
Simon grinned. 'He means you weren't Guild. Now you are.'
'So it's okay to tell me secrets?' She waved her hands. 'What kind of crazy logic is that?'
'Guild logic,' Jeff explained helpfully.
Mitch regarded Jake with a thoughtful expression. 'You seem to be okay off the juice.'
Jake grimaced. 'Luckily the withdrawal doesn't last long. It's more mental than physical. You miss the dreamworld for a while, and you get the shakes for about a day, but then things return to normal.'
Simon looked at him. 'Think you'd go back on the stuff if you had a chance?'
'Not like that's going to happen now that Fontana and the government authorities have control of the source,' Jeff said dryly.
'I wouldn't go back on it,' Jake said. He frowned, very serious now. 'I'm done with the juice.'
'How do you know?' Andy asked.
'Had time to do a lot of thinking while I was filling up those bottles for the Riders,' Jake said. 'Something Sierra told me started to make a lot of sense.'
'What was that?' Simon asked.
Jake looked at Sierra, intent and determined. 'You told me I was an artist. Don't know if that's true, but I do know I get something out of making those miniatures. It's satisfying somehow.'
'I understand,' Sierra said.
Jeff grew thoughtful. 'I'll bet Mitch and I could sell your miniatures for you in our shop. What do you say, Mitch?'
'Sure.' Mitch said. 'People love miniatures. There are collectors out there who will pay big bucks for fancy, high-end dollhouses and all the little things that go inside.'
Sierra smiled at Jake. 'Congratulations. I think you've found yourself a new career path.'
'Thanks to you and Elvis,' Jake said.
'Don't thank us,' Sierra said. 'Thank Fontana and Ray. They're the ones who went into the jungle to find you and the others.'
Simon chuckled. 'Fontana's First Rule: Never leave a man behind for ghost bait.'
Jake looked at Sierra. 'Well, he sure as hell married the right woman. She wouldn't leave a man behind, either.'
Chapter 39
IT WAS LATE MORNING. THE WEATHER REPORT HAD called for a slight lifting of the fog by noon, but Fontana had seen no signs of any lightening in the permanent twilight outside the windows of his office. He looked at the notes on his desk. There was a timeline and a rough sketch of the catacombs beneath what was left of his house. Ray sat in the chair on the opposite side of the desk.
'Patterson obviously knew about the hole-in-the-wall in the basement,' Fontana said. 'He must have also known that the closest exit was beneath the warehouse.'
'In which case, it didn't take a genius to figure out that if you and Sierra went into the tunnels to escape the fire, you would head for the warehouse,' Ray said. 'What I find really interesting is that the Riders set their trap in the one short section of the tunnels where there was a blind curve and no intersecting corridors that you could use to evade them.'
'That means that they had an accurate map of that sector of the catacombs.' Fontana raised his brows. 'But according to the former owner's journal, the chart he made was the only one in existence.'
'Either he was wrong—'
Fontana leaned back in his chair. 'Or somehow Patterson got hold of the journal and used the information in it to set up his ambush.'
Ray's expression was grim. 'You told me that you discovered the journal in a hidden wall safe in the art gallery. You said you never showed it to anyone else. How the hell would Patterson have known about it, let alone have a chance to study it?'
'Good question.' The intercom buzzed. Fontana leaned forward and rezzed it. 'What is it, Harlan?'
'I have the Foundation files that you requested, sir. Shall I bring them in now, or would you prefer to deal with them at another time?'
'Bring them in now. I want to look them over before I talk to Bonner.'
'Yes, sir.'
Ray's brows rose. 'Why the sudden interest in the Foundation?'
The door opened. Harlan came into the room.
'I'm going to get rid of Bonner,' Fontana said.
'You're going to put someone else in charge of the Foundation?' Ray asked.
'Yes. My wife.'
Harlan set the files on the desk. 'Here you are, sir.'
'Thanks, Harlan.'
Ray grinned. 'Interesting choice. Sierra will clean things up in about twenty-four hours. You won't have to worry about where the money is going with her in charge.'
Fontana set the file aside. 'I figure my main problem will be explaining to her that I don't intend to increase her budget every time she decides to take on a new philanthropic project.'
Chapter 40
'THIS PLACE IS INCREDIBLE.' KAY WHISPERED, HER VOICE hushed to the point of reverence. 'I've never
