sunk deep in his memories.
'Coff-tea?' Lucas repeated blankly.
Amaryllis panicked. Stupid, she thought. Very stupid. Lucas was hurting, but there was nothing she could do for him. 'Never mind.' She gave him a quick smile and shoved open the car door. 'It's late. I'll be in my office at nine if you have any further questions concerning the results of your security problem. But I think it's been wrapped up. It was obviously a personal situation.'
'Yeah.' He watched her face in the moonlight. 'Personal.'
'The case was unpleasant for all concerned, but at least it was relatively straightforward.' Amaryllis summoned up what she hoped was a breezy smile. 'No psychic vampire hypno-talents involved.'
'No psychic vampires.'
Amaryllis scrambled out of the Icer and bent down to look at him. 'Good night, Mr. Trent.'
'I'll come in for coff-tea.'
'Uh, well--'
He opened the door on the driver's side and climbed out of the car. Amaryllis watched him walk around the front of the sleek vehicle. She realized her mouth was still open.
Lucas went past her up the path to the front door.
'Wait a second.' Amaryllis hurried after him.
He came to a halt on the top step and waited patiently for her to unlock the door.
Unable to think of anything more clever to do, Amaryllis deactivated the jelly-ice lock. The door opened.
With the air of a man walking in his sleep, Lucas moved into the darkened hall.
'This way,' Amaryllis said very brightly. What was she doing, she berated herself. This was not a good idea. Definitely bad synergy, as Byron would say.
She dropped her purse on a small table and led the way into the kitchen. The Iceman was here in her house. Again. For the second time. Amaryllis felt an oppressive sense of impending danger mingled with great excitement. Her breathing quickened.
She must stay calm and in control. She was a professional.
She walked into the kitchen, aware of Lucas following close behind her. The orderly pattern of the pristine black-and-white tiles that marched across the floor and up the walls calmed her immediately.
She took a deep breath. Here, amid the neat, the functional, and the familiar, she regained her sense of self- possession.
Lucas glanced curiously around the black-and-white kitchen as he shrugged out of his jacket. 'This house fits you, doesn't it?'
'What do you mean?'
'Very neat. Very clean. A certain air of the fastidious, which I suppose suits a full-spectrum prism. A place for everything and everything in its place.'
She was too neat for him. That was a first. 'A little bit of clutter goes a long way in a small house like this.'
'Personally, I don't worry a whole lot about clutter.' Lucas tossed the jacket carelessly across a nearby stool. He sat down at the white tiled counter. 'Growing up on the edge of a jungle teaches you to tolerate a low standard of housekeeping. You can never get rid of all the bugs, and there's always something green growing on the shower wall.'
'I see.' They really were complete opposites, Amaryllis thought. Amazing. Just as all the synpsychs who studied powerful prisms and talents claimed.
'Does this happen a lot?' Lucas watched her with faintly narrowed eyes.
'What do you mean?' Amaryllis busied herself with her new coff-tea machine. She was very proud of the gloaming black appliance, which was trimmed with a great many impressive red buttons. It had been one of the first purchases she had made after taking the high-paying job at Psynergy, Inc.
'Do you invite all the losers in for coff-tea and pity?'
She looked up from the act of spooning the fragrant ground coff-tea into the machine. 'I have no idea what you're talking about, Mr. Trent.'
His expression darkened. 'I don't need your damned sympathy, you know.'
'Okay. Right. No problem. You won't get any sympathy out of me. Still want the coff-tea?'
He scowled. 'Yeah.'
'How do you want it?'
'Make it a triple. Straight up. No cream, no sugar, no spice.'
'Triple strength?' Amaryllis raised her brows. 'You don't have to prove anything to me. I know you're the big, tough Iceman.'
He had the grace to flush. 'I learned to drink my coff-tea in the Western Islands. We like it on the strong side.'
'You got it. Strong it shall be.' Amaryllis adjusted the buttons on the machine. The comforting aroma of the brewing coff-tea filled the cozy room.
'I don't have this kind of problem a lot, you know,' Lucas said. 'I'm usually careful. But when I screw up, I generally do a hell of a job of it.'
'Are we talking about coff-tea or personal relationships?'
'I'm careful who I trust.'
Amaryllis nodded. 'Personal relationships. Got it. Who says a full-spectrum prism can't carry on a meaningful conversation with a high-class talent? You mustn't blame yourself, Lucas. We all make occasional mistakes when it comes to trusting the right people.'
'All these years Miranda has believed that I deliberately set Jackson up to be killed because I wanted to get rid of him.' Lucas shook his head. 'I knew the Ryes held me responsible in a way for Jackson's death, but even they never accused me of arranging for him to be murdered.'
Amaryllis removed the pot of freshly made coff-tea and poured the golden brown brew into two mugs. 'The news accounts called Jackson Rye a hero. They said he was killed at the beginning of the invasion.'
'I was away on one of the neighboring islands when it happened. Jackson told people at company headquarters in Port LeConner that he wanted to take a break. He said he was going up into the mountains with a friend.'
Amaryllis put a mug on the counter in front of him. 'What about the pirates?'
'No one knew the bastards were on the island at that point. Jackson and--' Lucas hesitated a beat, as if searching for the right word. 'Jackson and his companion went to an abandoned company camp. They planned to stay in one of the old cabins and do some fishing. And a few other things.'
'What happened?'
'When I got back to headquarters, I realized something was wrong. I went up to the old mountain camp to look for Jackson and his, ah, friend. I found the bodies.' Lucas pulled the mug closer and gazed into the murky depths of the coff-tea. 'At first it appeared that the pirates had happened onto the camp by chance, discovered Jackson and his companion, and killed both of them so that they couldn't give a warning.'
Amaryllis shuddered. 'How ghastly.'
'Later I learned that the situation was somewhat different.'
'What happened?'
Lucas looked up, his eyes bleak. 'The leader of the raiders was reasonably well organized. When it was all over, I searched his ship's cabin. He had extensive files. All sorts of records, notes, and plans. I discovered that it wasn't just bad luck that Jackson had gone to that old camp on that particular day. He was in league with the pirates.'
Amaryllis nearly spilled her coff-tea. She stared at Lucas from the other side of the counter. 'He was working with them?'
Lucas wrapped both hands around his mug. 'Anyone who wants to take control of the Western Islands has to deal with Lodestar Exploration.'
'Yes, of course.' Amaryllis frowned. 'It's no secret that Lodestar virtually runs the Western Islands.'
'The company doesn't have much choice. The amenities of civilization are a little short out there. The only reason anyone even lives in the islands is because of the jelly-ice.'
