The Hot Zone (A Rainshadow Novel Book 3) Read online

  “Yes. It seems to me the least you could do is to attend the festivities.”

  “Why in the world would I want to do that?”

  Margaret cleared her throat. “When they were unable to get hold of you, the lawyers contacted us. Your mother’s family.”

  “Yes, Margaret, I am aware of who the Callahans are. But I still don’t understand why the Snows would want to get in touch.”

  “It’s very simple. It seems that your grandfather has inserted you into his will.”

  “Really . . .” Sedona smiled. “I can see it now. Paragraph Five, Clause Number Seventeen: To my illegitimate granddaughter, one dollar. How exciting. Of course I’ll travel all the way to Crystal City to thank Granddad for acknowledging me as blood. Who wouldn’t?”

  “Your juvenile sarcasm is unwarranted,” Margaret said. “The lawyers informed me that your grandfather has provided quite generously for you in his will. In addition, he has set up what I’m told is a substantial trust fund. You may begin drawing on it immediately. All he asks in return is that you do him the courtesy of showing up at his birthday party.”

  “Is this some sort of sick joke?”

  “I don’t go in for jokes of this sort,” Margaret said. She sounded grim and determined, now. “I have been assured that your grandfather is serious. I believe he wants to make up for everything that happened all those years ago when his son seduced your mother and convinced her to humiliate herself and embarrass the entire family by running off with him.”

  Sedona thought about that for a few seconds.

  “I don’t believe it,” she said finally. “Not for a minute.”

  “I beg your pardon?”

  “Maybe I’d buy that story if I were Bob Snow’s only surviving descendant and he was panicked because I was the only one left to carry on the bloodline. But that’s not the case. He’s got two legitimate sons who have both started to produce lots of legitimate grandsons and granddaughters. Bobby Snow doesn’t need me.”

  “Obviously Robert Snow has had a change of heart.”

  “Unlikely.”

  “People change, Sedona.”

  “Not much,” Sedona said. “At least not in my experience.”

  “The least you can do is give your grandfather the chance to show you that he regrets the way things were handled in the past.”

  “Why?”

  “Why?” For the first time Margaret loosened the tight rein she had been keeping on her temper. “Because like it or not, you’re family. Who do you think paid for that expensive boarding school you attended?”

  “I thought that the costs of keeping me tucked away out of sight until I turned eighteen were split fifty-fifty between the Callahans and the Snows.”

  There was another short pause.

  “It was agreed that boarding school would be best for you,” Margaret finally said. “But the Callahans could not afford to pay the fees. The Snows offered to handle that end of things.”

  Sedona heard distant chimes clashing.

  “Oh, wow,” she said. “You pressured the Snows into paying those fees on the grounds that you all wanted me out of the way and boarding school was the most effective way to pretend I didn’t exist. Nice work, Margaret. Not a lot of folks can say they got the better of Robert J. Snow in a business deal.”

  Margaret chose to ignore that. “There is a considerable amount of money at stake. It is not only the compassionate thing to do but also in your best interests to attend your grandfather’s birthday celebration.”

  “Gosh, I don’t know. It will be pretty expensive. I’d have to take time off from work. Then there’s roundtrip airfare, a rental car, the price of a hotel room. Oh, and I’ll need a nice dress.”

  “I have been told that your expenses will be covered,” Margaret said, her cool tones plunging well below zero. “Obviously I did not state the question correctly. I should have said, what will it cost your family to make sure you show this small degree of respect to your grandfather?”

  Sedona held the phone away from her ear and stared at it for a few seconds, trying to make sense of the call.

  “Sedona?” Margaret’s voice was tinny.

  Sedona put the phone back to her ear.

  “Forget the money,” she said. “What I want to know is why you have decided that I should attend this shindig.”

  “I told you, whether you appreciate it or not, you are a Snow. Your grandfather clearly regrets the animosity of the past. He realizes that your parents’ actions were not your fault.”

  “Gee. That’s real broad-minded of him. What about the Callahans? Should I look forward to an invitation to Grandmother Callahan’s birthday party? Or, hey, yours, Aunt Meg?”

  “I am trying to be patient, Sedona. It’s not surprising that you still harbor some immature resentment toward both sides of your family. But you need to understand that what your father and mother did all those years ago was a terrible shock to both the Callahans and the Snows. A lot of people were hurt.”

  “Including me.”

  “Yes,” Margaret said quietly, “including you. Now Robert Snow is attempting to make amends. The least you can do is be gracious enough to accept this invitation. As I said, it’s in your own best interests.”

  “I’m guessing it must be in your best interests as well or you would not have made this call,” Sedona said

  “I have no idea what you’re talking about,” Margaret said.

  “Right. Sorry, I’ve got to go now. I’ve got a new job, not to mention there have been some recent complications in my life.”

  “Complications?”

  “Nothing out of the ordinary. Awhile back I was kidnapped by a mad scientist who took me to a secret lab and used me in some bizarre experiments. Last night some twit set a psi-trap for me, which I barely survived, and now everyone on Rainshadow seems to think that I’m sleeping with the local Guild boss. Just the usual. Don’t worry, nothing I can’t handle.”

  There was a horrified pause on the other end of the connection.

  “Sedona, are you . . . having para-psych issues?” Margaret finally asked tentatively.

  “Nah. I feel great. I don’t suppose you happened to notice that almost two months ago I went missing for about three weeks?”

  “Missing?”

  “Like I said, it’s complicated. But I appreciate the call, Margaret. I think you have cleared up a few questions for me.”

  “You will go to your grandfather’s reception? It will mean so much to him.”

  “You haven’t told me exactly how much this call was worth to old Bob,” Sedona said.

  “You are the one who will benefit. I thought I made it clear, not only is Snow putting you back into his will, there is a generous trust fund that you can access immediately.”

  “I’m not talking about what’s in it for me,” Sedona said. “I’m asking what’s in it for you. How much did old Bob’s lawyers pay you to make this call? A quarter of a million? Half? Oh, and let’s not forget that you plan to squeeze me for more money if I do start drawing on that trust fund. After all, I’m family, right, Margaret? And the Callahans have another generation to put through college, right?”

  Margaret made an outraged sound that was not quite a hiss. “You are the most ungrateful little bitch I have ever met in my life.”

  Sedona was suddenly exhausted by the skirmish. “Does Ethel know you’re making this call?”

  “Yes.”

  “Did she approve of it?”

  “Like everyone else in the family, your grandmother thinks it is in your own best interests,” Margaret said very steadily.

  “Why would she care about my best interests? She hates me.”

  “Ethel has some unresolved anger and resentment issues,” Margaret allowed in stiff accents.

  “There’s nothing unresolved about Ethe
l. She’s resolved to hate me because she thinks that if I hadn’t come along Mom would never have run off with Dad.”

  “Don’t you understand?” Margaret snapped. “This is about family, Sedona. You are being handed a golden opportunity to put some closure on the past and reunite with your blood kin. It is up to you to do the right thing. You know what that is.”

  “You had to pull the take-the-higher-path card, didn’t you?” Sedona said. “Here’s what I will do. I will consider attending Bob Snow’s birthday celebration but I’m not making any commitments. Is that understood?”

  “Yes, absolutely.” Margaret sounded almost pathetically relieved. “As I told you, all expenses will be covered. I’ll have your uncle Mark’s administrative assistant make all the travel arrangements for you.”

  “Don’t bother. If I decide to attend I’ll make my own travel arrangements. I really do have to go now. Good-bye, Margaret.”

  “Sedona—”

  “What?”

  “Thanks for at least considering this invitation,” Margaret said. “I know how hard it must be for you.”

  “I don’t think so. Good-bye, Margaret.”

  Sedona ended the connection and looked at Rachel.

  “My life has just gotten even more complicated,” Sedona said.

  “Anyone can tell you that when it comes to complicating a person’s life, there is nothing like family,” Rachel said.

  Chapter 13

  “This morning a few folks who live out near the fence reported hearing what may have been some very large critters deep inside the Preserve last night,” Slade Attridge said. “The sound was described as a muffled roar. Could have been thunder, but given that we’ve found a couple of large carcasses in the past few weeks, I think we’d better assume there was another kill last night.”

  “I’ll put a Foundation team together this morning and see if we can find the new carcass.” Harry Sebastian looked up from the maps. “I’ve got to tell you that our research people are loving this stuff. They’re like kids with big bags of Halloween candy.”

  “I know,” Cyrus said. “I had a chat with Dr. Knutson this morning. He says the two carcasses you’ve found thus far match descriptions of fossils that date back a few million years. He’s beyond thrilled with the possibility that the Aliens may have managed to reverse-engineer some living dinosaurs.”

  “Knutson isn’t the one in charge of containing those critters,” Harry said.

  “Or the one in charge of making sure they don’t decide to stampede down the Main Street of Shadow Bay,” Slade added.

  “No,” Cyrus said. “That would be us.”

  The three of them were in the makeshift office that had been set up for Guild operations. The furnishings were spare. They consisted of a battered desk and a couple of folding chairs. Maps of the island and charts of the surrounding seas—some dating back to the Colonial Era—were stacked on the top of the desk.

  The most prominent feature on each map of Rainshadow was the large swath of the island that was designated as the Rainshadow Preserve. The powerful psi-fence that surrounded the mysterious region was indicated with a forbidding red line on the newer maps. The thickly wooded interior behind the fence was labeled UNCHARTED, and Cyrus figured that it was likely to remain that way for some time. The heavy paranormal forces that swirled like the tides and currents of an invisible ocean inside the fence rendered even the most basic navigation and charting equipment useless. Aerial photographs were always wildly distorted by the clouds of psi that covered the interior of the island.

  HERE THERE BE MONSTERS was clearly printed in large, bold letters on all of the historic maps of Rainshadow. The newer maps took the legal approach to discourage trespassers: PRIVATE PROPERTY. DANGER. KEEP OUT.

  Maybe they should add TRESPASSERS WILL BE EATEN, Cyrus thought.

  He was well aware that he had lucked out when it came to his counterparts among the local authorities. He had recognized kindred spirits in Slade and Harry. It wasn’t just the auras of strong talent that whispered in the atmosphere around them. He had met a lot of high-rez talents in his time—some of them very dangerous.

  He knew that Slade and Harry could be dangerous, too. He was good with that. When you went monster hunting, you needed folks who could deal with monsters. As soon as he had shaken hands with Sebastian and Attridge, he had understood that he could not only work well with them—he could also rely on them to have his back if there was real trouble. You didn’t meet a lot of people like that in a lifetime, he thought. He was fortunate to find two of them on Rainshadow.

  He put down the pen he had been using to make notes. “The monsters may be the big problem but the more immediate concerns are treasure hunters and thrill seekers. Saw a couple of them come out of the graveyard entrance site last night. I’m going to station a guard there starting this evening.”

  Harry shook his head. “We installed the latest in security fencing but no barrier is perfect.”

  “Keep Out signs are magnets,” Cyrus said. He leaned back in the chair. “You know, other new Guild bosses get territories that contain lucrative amber mining operations and Alien ruins,” he observed. “Their clients are big government agencies, corporate R-and-D divisions, and academic exploration teams with unlimited budgets. I get a territory with dinosaurs and one client—the Foundation.”

  “Don’t forget the crystal pyramid down below,” Harry said. “My brother, Drake, says it’s some kind of ancient Alien storehouse of knowledge—a paranormal library. The value is incalculable.”

  “Right,” Cyrus said. “And it’s already been claimed by your family firm.”

  “Look on the bright side,” Harry said. “The research teams we send into the pyramid will be paying high fees for Guild protection.”

  Cyrus smiled. “We like to think our services are worth every penny.”

  Slade looked amused. “No one ever said that Guild bosses don’t have a talent for making the most of the business opportunities that come their way.”

  “It’s a job requirement,” Cyrus admitted. “But at the moment no one is going to be making any money down below in the catacombs—not until we get those tunnels cleared and charted.”

  “All right, looks like we’ve got something resembling a plan,” Harry said. “You’ll oversee the Underworld operations, Cyrus. I’ll control activities inside the Preserve. Slade will handle his usual police duties in Shadow Bay and try to control the thrill seekers who have been trickling into town ever since the rumors about the weirdness on the island started to leak out awhile back.”

  “I’ll take a dinosaur trotting down Main Street any day over a dumbass thrill seeker,” Slade said. “And things aren’t going to be easy this week, what with the Halloween tourism promotion the new mayor has been running. Every time a ferry docks, another bunch of strangers walks off.”

  “Which brings me to the problem that Sedona encountered last night,” Cyrus said.

  Both men looked at him with speculative expressions and some amusement.

  “There was a problem last night?” Slade asked rather blandly.

  “We had the impression that things had gotten quite cozy between you and Sedona,” Harry said.

  Cyrus ignored the innuendoes. He gave them a quick rundown of the psi-trap episode. By the time he had finished all of the male humor in the room had dissipated.

  Slade walked over to the window and looked out onto Main Street with its crowds of tourists and garish decorations.

  “A few weeks ago, after Sedona arrived on the island, she told Rachel and my wife, Charlotte, that she was afraid Blankenship might try to track her down,” he said. “I’ve had someone at the dock every time the ferry arrives. But so far we haven’t spotted anyone matching the descriptions of Blankenship or the two assistants.”

  “Rachel is watching for unstable or dangerous auras, but when you’
ve got this many strangers on the island, it’s impossible to check out everyone,” Harry added.

  Cyrus looked at him and then he switched his attention to Slade. “You believed Sedona’s story from the start?”

  “This is Rainshadow,” Slade said. “No one ends up here without a really good story. In my experience, most of those stories turn out to be true.”

  “Sedona is one of us now,” Harry said. “It’s a small town. We look out for each other.”

  “Thanks,” Cyrus said.

  Chapter 14

  Cyrus glanced at his watch and then looked at Brock Prescott. “You’ve got five minutes. What do you want?”

  “I want to know why you’re hanging around my wife,” Brock said.

  “Two points. First, she’s not your wife, not anymore. Second, regarding my relationship with her—I don’t owe you any explanations.”

  Prescott had shown up just as Cyrus was finishing a briefing with his lieutenants. Cyrus had considered ignoring him, but in the end he had concluded it made more sense to try to get a handle on what Prescott wanted. Once you knew an opponent’s priorities, you could usually predict his actions with a fair degree of accuracy. Motive was all.

  Brock’s face tightened with an expression of Serious Concern. “I’m sure you’re aware that my wife is believed to have suffered a bad psi-burn in the course of her last Guild job. She is probably in a very fragile condition.”

  “She’s not your wife,” Cyrus repeated. “You filed the papers, remember?”

  “Damn it, I thought I had no choice. The Gold Creek Guild authorities informed me she was missing and presumed dead.” Brock shoved his fingers through his hair and went to stand at the window. “It seemed clear that she was not coming back. What the hell was I supposed to do?”

  “Look for her,” Cyrus said.

  Brock spun around. “That’s easy for you to say. You’re a Guild exec. And you’re a Jones. You could afford to mount a private search-and-rescue operation.”