Amaryllis

forms.

The artifacts Lucas had uncovered had caused a great deal of interest but no serious alarm in the academic community. It was obvious that they were very, very old. Most researchers were convinced that they were not native in origin. The consensus of scientific opinion was that the relics were the remains of some ancient space faring people who had briefly established an outpost on St. Helens at some point in the distant past. It was clear that whoever they were, those other settlers had long since disappeared or departed. The human population faced no competition.

'Now, then, Mr. Trent,' Amaryllis said crisply. 'If you still wish to hire a professional, academically trained prism to assist you, let us proceed to the next question.'

Lucas grimaced at the unsubtle emphasis she gave to the words professional and trained. There were untrained, unprofessional prisms available, but it would have been dangerous for him to use one. He was already taking a risk by hiring someone from a reputable agency. Lucas would have cheerfully sold a chunk of his soul to avoid having to use a prism of any kind.

'It's not like I have a hell of a lot of choice, is it?' Lucas glanced back at her over his shoulder. He felt his jaw clench as he made a bid to keep his voice unemotional. 'Ask your damn questions.'

Amaryllis searched his face, her eyes sharp and altogether too probing. Lucas deliberately made his expression as unreadable as possible. He knew he was good at concealing his thoughts. He'd had a lot of practice.

'Very well.' Amaryllis looked down at her notes. 'You say this is a security matter?'

'Yes.'

'What sort of security issue is involved?'

'Corporate security.'

'I understand that, Mr. Trent,' she said patiently. 'I'm asking you to be more specific.'

'All right. To put it bluntly, someone I trust is selling me out. Is that specific enough for you?' It was astonishing how hard it was to say the words aloud.

Lucas closed one hand into a fist at his side. He turned back to the view of the street. A deep, gnawing pain that was almost physical unfurled inside him. He had been betrayed. It was certainly not the first time, but he never seemed to grow accustomed to the cold sensation he got inside whenever it happened.

The tally was growing, he thought wearily. His wife, Dora. His partner, Jackson Rye. And now his vice president in charge of public relations, Miranda Locking.

He'd never even wanted to establish a public relations department for Lodestar. It had been Jackson Rye's idea. Jackson had had a lot of ideas for Lodestar Exploration.

'I see.' Amaryllis sounded surprisingly subdued.

Lucas winced at the unmistakable hint of sympathy he thought he heard in her voice. He reminded himself that expert, full-spectrum prisms had a reputation for being unusually intuitive and perceptive. He would have to watch his step around Amaryllis.

'Someone on my staff is selling proprietary information to one of my competitors,' Lucas explained.

'Did you consider contacting the police?'

'I don't want to involve the police because I don't intend to prosecute.'

'I understand. A lot of our corporate clients take that approach on security matters. Few of them want the bad publicity they fear would result.'

'Right. No company needs that kind of press. Makes management look stupid for not having had better safe- guards in place.' He already knew just how stupid he had been. He didn't need to see it spelled out in the headlines or on the evening news. Nelson Buriton, the most popular news anchor on television, would have a field day with the story.

But the bad publicity was the least of Lucas's concerns. What he craved was an answer. He needed to know why Miranda had done this to him, although the truth probably wouldn't do him any good. After all, he'd figured out why his wife and partner had betrayed him, but the answers had done nothing to lessen the chill in his gut. They had only made it worse.

If he had any sense, he'd fire Miranda and forget about finding answers.

'Rest assured that Psynergy has a policy of maintaining absolute confidentiality in all of its dealings with clients,' Amaryllis said.

'It damn well better have such a policy.' Lucas glanced at her again. It occurred to him that her eyes reminded him of a very special, fern-shrouded grotto pool in the islands. Serene on the surface but unfathomably deep. He reminded himself that the lively intelligence he saw in Amaryllis's vivid features was another warning to tread warily.

She cleared her throat. Her gaze slid back to the forms in front of her. 'Yes, well, the first step will be to determine the identity of the culprit, won't it?'

'That won't be necessary. I already know who is selling Lodestar secrets.'

Amaryllis looked up swiftly. 'If you already know who is behind this, why don't you simply fire him? You just said you don't intend to prosecute.'

'It's not a man. It's a woman.' Lucas turned and walked back to his chair. 'Her name is Miranda Locking. She's a vice president at Lodestar. I'll let her go when this is finished, but there are some things I want to know first.'

'Such as?'

Lucas paused behind his chair and gripped the back of it. 'I want to know if she sold me out for money, or if there was...some other reason.'

Amaryllis's eyes went to his hands, which were clenched very tightly around the chair. 'Some other reason?'

Lucas ignored her quizzical expression. He released the back of the chair and began to pace the tiny office. 'There's a go-between involved, of course. A broker who buys the information from Miranda and then sells it to the highest bidder. I want to nail him, too.'

'You probably won't be able to prove that this go-between, as you call him, has actually broken any laws,' Amaryllis warned. 'And even if you can, you've already said you don't want to go to court. If you're not willing to press charges, I don't see how you can do anything about the person who's buying the information from Miranda Locking.'

Lucas paused at the far wall and examined the array of framed diplomas and certificates that hung there. 'Don't worry about it. I'll deal with the broker. All I need from you is a little help picking him out of a crowd.'

'I'm not sure I like the sound of this, Mr. Trent. You do realize that I can't possibly work with you if you have any intention of taking illegal action against this broker person.'

'I wouldn't dream of asking you to violate your professional ethics. Miss Lark.' Lucas did not take his eyes off the wall full of official papers. 'And you probably have a lot of them, judging by all these fancy certificates.' He leaned closer to study one of the diplomas. 'I see you graduated from the University of New Seattle with a degree in Transphysical Science and Philosophy.'

'Yes. I did my graduate work in Ethical Metaphysics in the Department of Focus Studies at the university.'

'Impressive.'

'Thank you.'

'And it says here you're qualified to work with a class-ten talent.'

'You did request a full-spectrum prism.'

'So I did.' Lucas swung around on his heel and contemplated her for a long moment. 'And it appears that's exactly what I've got.'

Amaryllis's brows rose. 'If you choose to work with me, you will have to accept my professional ethics.'

'Of course. Don't worry, I don't intend to do anything violent to this go-between, should we be lucky enough uncover his identity.' Lucas kept his voice calm and reassuring as he tied through his teeth. 'But if he's doing what I think he's doing, I will see to it that he is exposed.'

'I don't understand. What exactly do you think he's doing? Other than buying your company's secrets, that is?'

Lucas hesitated. 'I think he's a hypno-talent. I believe he may be using hypnosis to force Miranda to sell him