is causing the fog, we’re going to have to make a run for it in our boat. I could tell Mom was really scared. But Dad said we may not have any choice.”
Alice thought about the treacherous currents and the impenetrable fog that formed a paranormal moat around Rainshadow. She and Drake had barely made it through. The forces in the mist and the water had only grown stronger in the intervening time.
She looked down at the boys and remembered what it had been like to be young and scared of things over which you had no control. The terrifying part about growing up was the dawning realization that the adults who were responsible for protecting you did not always have control over the scary stuff, either. She knew that Billy and Mark did not want more soothing platitudes from her. They needed to be reassured that someone over the voting age knew what he or she was doing about the problem.
“I know you’re scared,” she said. She crouched down in front of the boys. “We all are. But I can promise you that Mr. Sebastian and the chief are still safe out there in the Preserve. They are both professionals. They know what they are doing.”
“But how do you know they’re safe?” Billy asked.
“I know they’re safe because Charlotte and Rachel know they’re safe.”
“But how can they know that?” Mark demanded.
“Because Charlotte has a psychic link with the chief. And Rachel has a similar connection with Harry Sebastian. Trust me on this, Charlotte and Rachel would know if something terrible happened to the men.”
“Huh.” Billy looked dubious. “Sounds kind of weird.”
“I dunno,” Mark said. “Mom says both the Sebastians and the chief have unusual para . . . para . . .”
“Unusual para-psych profiles?” Alice asked.
“Yeah, that’s it,” Mark said. He studied Alice. “She says you’re different, too. She says those tricks you do —making things disappear—aren’t like the tricks that real magicians do.”
“Your mother is a very wise woman,” Alice said. “She’s right. And because Harry and Drake Sebastian and Chief Attridge are a little different, they are going to take care of the bad guys. Meanwhile, we need to get you back to your parents. It’s almost time for dinner.”
“Ah, just one more game with Houdini,” Mark wheedled.
“Nope. Houdini will be wanting dinner, too. He never misses a meal or a snack.” Aware of an unusual silence, she looked around. “Where is he?”
“Hey, I’ll bet he’s figured out that he can reverse the game and hide from us,” Billy said. “He wants us to find him.”
“Houdini,” Alice called. “Game over. Seriously.” She clapped her hands lightly together in the signal they used on stage. “Come on out. Dinner time.”
There was a brief, muffled chortle in response to the word “dinner,” but Houdini did not dash out of the gloom. Alice walked through the crowded space, her unease spiking.
“Houdini,” she said. “Please, come out.”
There was a scratching noise. Houdini appeared on top of a nearby crate. He chortled at her and then scampered down off the crate and disappeared back into the gloom.
“Oh, for pity’s sake.” Alice marched toward the spot where she had last seen him. “I really do not have time for this. We need to get Billy and Mark back to their parents.”
She made her way cautiously through the warehouse, Billy and Mark at her heels. She rounded the far end of a row of neatly stacked kayaks and stopped when she saw Houdini. He was on the concrete floor and all four eyes were wide open. He was not sleeked out but he was definitely in alert mode. There was just enough of the failing gray light filtering through a dingy window to enable her to make out what had captured his interest: a bedroll composed of several ragged blankets and a well-worn khaki backpack that bore the faded emblem of the Resonance City Ghost Hunters Guild.
“That’s Egan’s stuff,” Mark said. “This is where he sleeps. We shouldn’t touch it. Everyone says he’s crazy.”
“Yeah, Dad says Egan must have got burned real bad by a ghost down in the tunnels,” Billy said. “Mom says that’s why I can’t be a ghost hunter when I grow up.”
“I agree, we are not going to touch Egan’s things,” Alice said. “But not because he might be psi-burned. We’re not going to touch them because they are his personal property. Everyone has a right to his privacy. Come on, it’s past time to leave.”
She bent down to collect Houdini. He rumbled as though in warning but he did not try to evade her. He dropped the object he had been playing with. It landed on the concrete floor with a small clink. Alice straightened, Houdini in her arms, and glanced down.
When she saw the object at her feet, everything inside her went cold.
“Oh, crap,” she whispered. “Houdini, where did you find that?”
But of course there was no answer. Nor did she need one. It didn’t matter now. The only thing that mattered was getting Billy and Mark out of the warehouse.
She picked up the object that Houdini had found, straightened, and looked at the boys.
“We’re leaving,” she said. She spoke very quietly. “Come with me. We’ll go out the back door, it’s closer.”
Something in her tone must have gotten through to Mark and Billy. They followed her out the rear door of the warehouse without asking any questions. She breathed a sigh of relief when they were safely outside and hurried them around the corner of the building.
A moment later they were on the sidewalk and no longer alone. Lanterns bobbed in the gathering dusk. They passed several people who were on their way to various places of refuge for the night.
Billy’s parents and Mark’s father appeared out of the fog.
“There you are,” Mrs. Walters said. “I was starting to worry.”
Mr. Snyder glared sternly at Mark, but his relief was palpable. “Didn’t I tell you not to wander off alone?”
“I wasn’t alone,” Mark said quickly. “Billy and I were playing with Houdini. And then Ms. North found us.”
Mrs. Walters looked at Alice, gratitude in her worried eyes. “Thanks for rounding them up.”
“No problem,” Alice said. “Almost time for dinner. I’ll see you at the tavern in a few minutes.”
“Where are you going?” Billy asked.
“To find Drake,” Alice said. “Is he still at the Kane Gallery?”
“No,” Mr. Snyder said. “I saw him a while ago. He was heading down to the police station.”
“Thanks,” Alice said.
With Houdini under one arm, the object he had discovered in her other hand, she hurried along the empty sidewalk. The windows of the unlit shops glittered darkly in the gathering dusk.
Her intuition was screaming at her now. She focused on finding Drake. The first tendrils of the mist wreathed around her like the tentacles of some monstrous sea creature rising from the depths to hunt on the shore.
She did not sense the dark shadow in the narrow alley until Houdini hissed a warning and went into full combat mode. Instinctively she pulled hard on her talent, trying to go invisible and take Houdini with her.
But it was too late. Neither she nor Houdini could move fast enough to evade the chilling radiation from the Alien weapon. Houdini went limp in her arm.
She tried to run but she could not move. Instead the icy psi-light forced her to her knees. Her heart was pounding. Consciousness was slipping away. She managed to put Houdini on the ground. His paws twitched. His hunting eyes were closed but his baby blue eyes were still partially open. She dropped the object in her other hand on the ground next to him.
“Drake.” She did not know if she said the name aloud or not. “Get Drake.”
Drake would come to this place eventually, she thought. He would retrace her steps from the warehouse and find the object. He would understand why it was important.
Egan took no notice of the small object. Perhaps he never even saw it. He was too busy focusing energy
