shopping or collect her mail.
'Sorry, Whistler. I was expecting someone else. What have you got for me?'
'Nothing's happening here but, y'know those guys you asked about? An illusion-talent and prism team who might do odd jobs if the money was right?'
'Did you find them?'
'Maybe. There's a talent-prism magic act working at a low-rent club in Founders' Square. They use knives in the show. Word is, the talent is pretty good with them. The special effects aren't all illusions, if you see what I mean.'
'What about the odd jobs?'
'I hear that, for a price, you can hire them to do some rough work. A man I know says he thinks they've been working off the books a lot lately.'
'Did your associate tell you who hired them?'
'He doesn't know who the employer is. Fact is, he didn't know much of anything. Whatever is going on, it's real hush-hush.'
'What's the name of the club?'
'Place is called the Icy Dicey Casino.' Whistler lowered his voice. 'I'm not sure if these are your guys, but I can't turn up any other talent-prism team that fits the description you gave me.'
'This sounds promising.' Rafe heard a car in the drive. He got to his feet. 'I'll check it out. Thanks, Whistler.'
'What about my money?'
'The usual arrangements. You'll have it tomorrow morning. In the meantime, stay with Lambert.'
'You got it.'
Rafe slammed down the phone and went to stand in the door of the study. He would remain calm, he promised himself. Poised. Serene. Casual. He would not demand explanations for the fact that she was twenty minutes late. She would get nervous if he leaped down her throat every time she walked through the front door. The last thing he wanted to do was make her nervous.
The door opened. Orchid stepped across the threshold. She smiled wanly when she saw him.
'Hello, Rafe.'
'Where the hell have you been?' He winced at the sound of his own harsh voice. So much for serene and casual.
'Charming greeting.' She tossed her purse down on a side table. 'Good thing we're business associates, not an engaged couple or else I might be tempted to walk back out the door.'
The tension shimmered like an aura around her. He started forward. 'What happened?'
'Nothing.'
'Don't give me that. I know something happened. What was it?'
'Take it easy, Rafe. I had a short, informative conversation with your cousin, that's all.'
He wasn't sure he had heard correctly. 'No.'
'No?'
'Selby wouldn't have dared.' But he could see in her eyes that he had dared. 'Sonovabitch. What did he say?'
'Among other things he said he doubted that you and I were a high-probability match. In fact, he's not altogether sure we're even a legitimate agency match. Can you imagine? Oh, yes, he also warned me against the risks of marriage to a strat-talent. And then he tried to buy me off.'
Rafe was startled by the wildfire heat of his own anger. 'Bastard.' He did not realize he had lost control of his talent until he felt the familiar slight disorientation that occurred whenever he initiated a quest for a prism. His instincts revved to full throttle.
'Calm down, Rafe.' Orchid watched him. She did not offer him a prism.
Rafe felt the uncomfortable heat rise in his face. Instantly he clamped down on his unquiet psychic energy. Until Orchid had entered his life, he had never had these problems. He had always been in full control of himself and his talent.
'I'll talk to Selby,' he vowed. 'He won't bother you again.'
'He didn't actually bother me. He made me very curious, however. He's obviously as determined to wreck Stonebraker as you are to save it.' She folded her arms and leaned back against the table. 'Mind telling me what actually did happen to his father back when Selby was a kid?'
Rafe gripped the edge of the door. 'He told you that old story about how my grandfather is responsible for his father's death?'
'He wouldn't give me the entire tale. Just enough to, shall we say, pique my interest.'
Rafe felt as if the floor had fallen away beneath his feet. 'You didn't believe him, did you?'
'I don't know what to believe. That's why I'm asking you for the truth.'
Rafe watched her. 'You're serious, aren't you?'
'I'm assuming there's a logical explanation here. I'd like to have it.'
He stilled. 'It's a family thing.'
She gave him a humorless smile. 'Yes, of course. It always is, isn't it? And I'm not family.'
'It's not that.' He broke off. 'Okay, it is that.'
'If you want my help on this family thing, you'd better tell me the whole story.'
He hesitated and then made an executive decision. 'I don't know the whole story, myself. My grandfather has never talked about it. But a few years ago, I got curious. I did some checking.'
'What did you discover?'
Rafe shoved a hand through his hair, turned, and walked into the library. He heard Orchid's footsteps behind him. When he stopped and glanced back at her he saw that she was watching him very closely. Too closely.
It occurred to him that she had no real reason to trust him on this or anything else. He was surprised by how restless the knowledge made him. He had no claim on her loyalty, he reminded himself. As far as she was concerned, he was only a business associate and a temporary lover.
Depressed by that thought, he sank into one of the deep chairs in front of the cold hearth.
'Selby's father was named Perry Culverthorpe. The Culverthorpes are cousins on my grandmother's side.'
'I figured that much out for myself.' Orchid took the seat across from him. 'Go on.'
'At one time the Culverthorpes were a lot more powerful than the Stonebrakers. But things changed. Perry Culverthorpe never really accepted the reversal of fortunes that gave the Stonebrakers the more prominent role in the New Seattle shipping business. He felt he'd been somehow cheated of his rightful heritage.'
'What happened?'
Rafe met her eyes. 'My grandfather put him in charge of the New Vancouver office. There were some problems. A series of thefts occurred. It became obvious that someone was bypassing the jelly-ice seals on the cargo containers. The only one who had the code was Perry Culverthorpe.'
'Did your grandfather accuse him of stealing valuable freight?'
'Not exactly. From what I was able to discover, Alfred G. went to New Vancouver to find out what the hell was going on. Perry was furious. He felt he'd been humiliated by my grandfather's lack of trust. He and Alfred G. had a major blow-up. Alfred G. removed Perry from his position as head of the New Vancouver office.'
'Perry must have been enraged.'
'Yes. In an effort to prove that he was innocent of the thefts, he set a trap for the thieves. He succeeded in surprising them, but he was killed in the process.'
'How awful.'
'When it was all over, the real thieves were caught, but Perry's wife never forgave my grandfather. She blamed him for Perry's death.'
'And she taught Selby to blame him, too.'
Rafe shrugged. 'She taught him to blame all the men on my side of the family. Aunt Elizabeth was very ill for a long tune. It affected her mind. By the time she died, she had convinced herself that if Perry had lived, he would have taken my grandfather's place at the helm of Stonebraker Shipping and Selby, ultimately, would have followed in his father's footsteps. Selby grew up believing that.'
