In this eerily lit environment, human auras could be more easily perceived. The hot energy flaring in the shadows between two parked cars confirmed what she had already sensed. Someone waited in the darkness.

The senses-dazzling energy exploded out of nowhere. It was as if someone had lobbed a paranormal grenade directly in front of the SUV that protected them. Abby instinctively shut her eyes, but that did little to reduce the terrible glare. The explosion of searing ultralight affected her para-senses far more than it did her normal vision.

“Don’t waste your time and energy trying to fight it, Coppersmith.”The dark voice came out of the shadows. It was masculine but strangely distorted. “My little flash-bang is crystal-powered. It generates more energy than any human can. It will soon overwhelm your senses. My advice is to shut down your talent before you burn out.”

“Too late with the flash-bang gadget,” Sam said. “I’ve already got the fix on it.”

“It won’t do you any good. But go ahead and try to overcome it if you like. When you’re satisfied that the device is stronger than you are, we can get down to business. Assuming you’re still awake, that is. I’m sure you are aware of the downside of a serious psi-burn.”

“I’ll try to stay up late tonight,” Sam said.

Abby sensed another rush of hot energy in his aura and knew that he had done something with the mirrored quartz. She realized that he was pushing an enormous amount of energy through the stone.

There was a reverberating clang as an object struck the concrete floor. The ultrawhite-hot glare that had filled the space abruptly winked out of existence. When her dazzled senses cleared, Abby realized that the garage had returned to normal.

“Shit.” The epithet was accompanied by a harsh gasp of pain.

The stranger’s voice was no longer distorted. It was, however, clearly annoyed. “You’re a real son of a bitch, Coppersmith. How the hell did you do that?”

“A tuned crystal can generate more steady-state energy than a person, but it takes a human mind to activate it. I didn’t take the fix on your flash-bang device. I took it on you.” There was a short pause before Sam added politely, “I got it while you were chatting about the cutting-edge wonderfulness of your gadget.”

“Fortunately, I brought backup.”

“A real gun?” Sam said. “Good thinking.”

“I assume you have one, too?”

“What do you think?”

“That you’ve got one.” There was resignation and irritation in the stranger’s voice. “You destroyed my flash-bang. It was a prototype, the first and so far the only version that actually worked.”

“PEC technology?”

“Sure. Do you have any idea how long it will take me to produce another? It requires months to grow a single crystal large enough to power the damn thing, and that’s assuming nothing goes wrong in the process. You know how delicate para-crystals are.”

“What kind of seed crystal did you use?” Sam asked.

“I might give you that information if you tell me what you’re using to power that weapon you brought to the party.”

It dawned on Abby that the conversation had veered off in the wrong direction.

“For Pete’s sake,” she hissed. “This is no time to get into a technical discussion.”

“She’s got a point,” Sam said.

“Yes, she does. I hate to admit it, but I may have underestimated you, Coppersmith. My own fault. I was warned that you might be a problem.”

“I try hard,” Sam said. “Sometimes I succeed.”

“So I see. The thing is, I need Miss Radwell. I give you my word she will not be hurt.”

“Then why are you trying to take her by force?” Sam asked.

“Because, unfortunately, you are in possession of her at the moment, and I doubt that you’ll give her up without a fight.”

“Good guess.”

“All right, then, let’s try this in a businesslike fashion. Name your price for her. I’ll top it.”

“She’s not for sale,” Sam said.

Abby wanted to throttle both of them. “Stop talking about me as if I was a rare book up for auction, do you hear me?”

“In my own defense, I would like to point out that I did try to go about the business in a civilized way, Miss Radwell,” the stranger said. “I heard rumors of your unusual talent, but it was made clear that you only work by personal referral. I was unable to approach you in the usual manner, because I’m not closely acquainted with any of your other clients and Thaddeus Webber declined to recommend me. So I tried an indirect approach.”

“The herbal,” Abby said. “You sent it to me.”

“It was a gift intended to assure you that I was qualified to become a client. But you never responded.”

“I’ve been a little busy lately.”

“I understand. I tried hiring my own freelancer to find the book. He’s good at his job, but he can’t break codes. I decided I would try to hire you to handle the encryption after the book was in my possession. But this afternoon I got a message from the freelancer saying that he was resigning. I can only assume he was put off by the recent murders. I concluded I had no choice but to take drastic measures.”

“Yes, well, as you can see, your drastic measures aren’t going to work,” Abby said.

“Out of curiosity, did Coppersmith come to you with a proper referral?”

“Yes, he did,” Abby said coldly. “And by the way, he is not only a client. I hired him to protect me while I look for a certain book.”

“The forty-year-old lab notebook that is coming up for auction. Yes, I know. Your choice of a bodyguard is an odd one, to say the least. Rather like hiring the wolf to watch the sheep, isn’t it?”

“Sam and I have an agreement.”

“I will double whatever he is paying you.”

“Sorry, I have to consider my reputation in the business,” Abby said.

“I give you my word that you will be in no danger from me.”

“Right,” Sam said. “That’s why we’re standing around this garage in the middle of the night, holding a conversation that includes a couple of para-weapons.”

“It would appear we have a standoff this evening,” the other man said.

“Who are you?” Abby demanded.

“I think we’ll wait on the formal introductions. Maybe we can do business together some other time.”

Anger flashed through Abby. “You’re the one who invaded my condo and contaminated it, aren’t you? Just so you know, I will never, ever forgive you for that. And I definitely won’t work for a bastard who would do that to a person’s personal space. I’m going to have you arrested.”

“Calm down, Miss Radwell. I admit that I took a quick look around your condo earlier this evening, but it was obvious that someone else had been there first. Either that or you are a very poor housekeeper.”

“Why should I believe you?”

“If I had searched your condo, Miss Radwell, I would have been far more discreet about the process. I would not have left any obvious indications of my presence.”

Sam shifted slightly in the shadows. “Any idea who did go through the condo tonight?”

“No, but it looked like whoever did it was in a tearing rage, probably mentally unbalanced. For Miss Radwell’s sake, I suggest you assume that the intruder is the same person who murdered Webber and Sparrow. You do know that both men are dead, don’t you?”

“Yes,” Abby said. “Are you going to tell us that you’re not responsible for those two killings?”

“Yes, that’s exactly what I’m telling you.”

“Both deaths were by paranormal means,” Abby said. “It looks like you have the talent for designing the kind of gadgets that could be lethal.”

“So does your bodyguard. While we’re on the subject, Coppersmith, I don’t suppose you would care to tell me what you used to destroy my flash-bang?”

“Sure. Right after you tell me what you used to turn this garage into a dreamscape.”

“Sorry, proprietary secrets. You know how it is in the business world. Cutthroat. You can’t trust anyone. To return to the subject of Sparrow and Webber, any idea who killed them?”