Amaryllis

'No, of course not.' Amaryllis was shocked. 'Gifford would never kill anyone.'

'From what Gracie says, Osterley is the kind of guy who has a price. Pay it and you get his services. A man like that might kill to protect his business interests.'

'Gifford may be unethical but he is no murderer. Perhaps that note on Landreth's calendar wasn't a scheduled appointment. Maybe the professor simply intended to call Gifford at three o'clock to discuss matters.'

'And never made the call?'

'Or Gifford refused to take the call,' Amaryllis said. 'Clementine, it's all getting so complicated. I don't know what's going on, but I feel that something is very wrong.'

'Look, no one respects a prism's intuition more than I do,' Clementine said. 'But, frankly, I think you're going off the deep end here. I'll admit that Unique Prisms may be operating on the shady side of the street, but I doubt that Osterley is actually doing anything illegal.'

'I agree.'

'Got to admit, I wish we had Osterley's client list. From what Gracie says, it includes a nice selection of the movers and shakers in the city. We're lucky Trent didn't go to Unique Prisms in the first place.'

'Lucas told me that he chose Psynergy, Inc. because he wanted to deal with a reputable agency,' Amaryllis said.

'Good for him.' Clementine grinned. 'Wonder what he'll say when he finds out that you went to see your old flame today.'

'What do you mean? Lucas knew I intended to speak to Gifford.'

'Men are kind of weird about stuff like that.'

'How would you know?'

'Because women are kind of weird about it, too.'

'You're talking about jealousy,' Amaryllis said quietly. 'Trust me, Lucas is highly unlikely to feel that emotion.'

'Yeah?' Clementine pushed herself to her feet. 'What makes you think that?'

'He's not the type.'

'Bat-snake shit.'

Amaryllis composed herself. 'Furthermore, he's in the middle of a marriage agency registration, just as I am. Neither one of us has any reason to become jealous in a relationship that we both know has no future.'

'You're sure about the no future part?'

Amaryllis wrinkled her nose. 'Believe me, even if we weren't high-class talent and full-spectrum prism, we still wouldn't be a good match. Lucas and I have almost nothing in common.'

Clementine looked thoughtful. 'Gracie and I said that the first time we met each other. Couldn't imagine why the agency had matched us.'

He had no right to be feeling this way, Lucas thought as he climbed Amaryllis's front steps that evening. Jealousy was not a logical response to the situation. His relationship with Amaryllis was nothing more than a short- term affair. No strings attached. They were both just killing some time in a mutually pleasurable relationship until they were ready to meet their respective agency dates.

He had turned in the completed Synergistic Connections questionnaire this afternoon. Hobart Batt would be calling any day to schedule the next phase of the process.

Lucas determined to play it cool. He was the Iceman. He would not allow his emotions to get in the way of his common sense. He'd done that once before on the occasion of his first marriage, and the results had not been good.

He took a deep breath and knocked on the door.

Amaryllis's footsteps sounded on the tile floor of the hall as she hurried toward the door. Light, quick, eager. It sounded as if she was flying down the hall to throw herself into his arms.

Without warning, Lucas's mind conjured up an illusion that needed no prism to bring it into focus. It was all too painfully clear. As though he stood in a long gallery lined with endless mirrors, he looked into the future.

He saw a lifetime of greetings from a wife he did not yet know. Simultaneously, he saw Amaryllis hurting herself over and over again into the arms of the stranger who would be her husband. The icy pool inside him grew deeper and colder.

The door in front of him opened.

'Lucas? Is something wrong?'

He came back to the present with a jolt. Amaryllis was smiling at him, her eyes quizzical. The aroma of something delicious cooking on the stove wafted toward him from the kitchen. He would pretend that everything was normal. This was just a short-term thing. No future.

'You went to see Ostertey today.' So much for being the Iceman.

'Yes, I did.' Amaryllis stood on tiptoe and brushed her mouth lightly against his. She stepped back before he could respond. 'I told you that I had to speak to him about that appointment.'

'So?' Lucas stalked into the hall. 'What did he have to say?'

'He claims he knew nothing about it.' Amaryllis took his jacket and hung it in a closet. 'He said he would never have made an appointment with Landreth. He pointed out that he and Landreth had not parted on good terms.'

'Why didn't you call me first?' Think Iceman, Lucas told himself as he went down the hall toward the kitchen. Cold, calm. No emotion. No jealousy. No future. 'I thought we were partners in this thing.'

'Partners?' Amaryllis hurried after him. 'I hadn't actually thought of our association as a partnership.'

'Is that right? I figure that under the circumstances the least I deserve is partnership status.' Lucas stalked into the kitchen and started to open cupboards in a methodical fashion. 'We've been through a lot together during the past few days, you and 1.'

'That's very true.' She frowned as he yanked open another cupboard door. 'Lucas, what are you looking for?'

'Something drinkable.' He got lucky on the fourth cupboard. 'I thought I remembered seeing that bottle in here.'

'Help yourself.' Amaryllis came around the edge of the counter and lifted the lid of a pot that was sitting on the stove. 'Are you always this moody and difficult when you're annoyed?'

'I am never moody and difficult.' Lucas jerked open a drawer, scanned the contents, and seized a corkscrew. 'But I do occasionally get irritated. And I am definitely irritated at the moment.'

'I'm sorry if you feel that I slighted you today, but I honestly thought I could handle Gifford better if I talked to him alone.'

A sinking feeling hit Lucas. 'Handle him?'

'I thought I could get the truth from him.'

'Because the two of you have a history?' Lucas snapped the opener into position and began to pull the cork with a rough, efficient twisting movement.

'We were friends once. Colleagues.'

'Not lovers.' Lucas jerked out the cork. 'Never lovers.'

'No.' Amaryllis concentrated on stirring the contents of the pot. 'He's changed.'

'Is that a fact?'

'Clementine said you might be jealous,' Amaryllis said softly. 'I told her she was wrong.'

Lucas stilled, one hand resting on the bottle. He met Amaryllis's eyes. 'Jealousy has nothing to do with this.'

'That's what I said.'

'But speaking as your partner, 'Lucas said very carefully, 'and as your lover, I feel that I have some cause for concern. If Gifford Osterley is connected to Landreth's death, he might be tempted to drag you into the mess.'

'I understand,' Amaryllis said in a subdued tone. 'But as I told Clementine, I can't bring myself to believe that Gifford is a murderer.'

'Don't rely too much on your prism intuition.'

'Funny you should say that.' She gave him a strangely shuttered look. 'I keep giving myself the same