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“We had di
“So it hit you harder.”
“It slammed my senses straight into overdrive.” Fallon’s jaw tightened. “Never felt anything like it in my life. I went into what I thought was an enlightened state. Suddenly I could see all the mysteries of the cosmos. I was sure I could comprehend them if only I looked a little deeper.”
“What happened?”
“I was in a state of altered reality, completely disoriented. It was as if I was moving through a dream. I went out onto the balcony of Je
“What?”
“I was hallucinating,” Fallon said. “Out of my head. He tried to convince me that there was a crystal bridge that co
“I think I saw that movie.”
“So did I. According to Tucker, all I had to do was step out onto the bridge. When that didn’t work, he resorted to force. There was a struggle. In the end, I . . . killed him. He went off the balcony, instead of me.”
“Dear heaven. How on earth did you manage to save yourself when you were in such a disoriented state?”
“This is going to sound weird,” Fallon said. “Even though the magic lantern affected my talent, I think it was my talent that somehow saved me.”
“Nah, it was your willpower and self-control that saved you, not your talent.”
He looked at her. “You think so?”
“Sure. You’ve got more self-control than any talent I’ve ever met. When push came to shove, it was that ability that saved you, not your talent.” She paused. “Then again, the two are sort of linked, I suppose. The fact that you can handle such a powerful talent means that you’ve got a lot of built-in control. Chicken-and-egg thing, I guess. If you didn’t have a lot of control, you’d have gone crazy by now.”
“Thanks for that visual,” Fallon said.
“Just trying to clarify here.”
“You have a way of doing that.”
“Doing what?” she asked.
“Clarifying.”
“Oh. Okay.”
“The bottom line is that I survived and Tucker died.”
“You did what you had to do,” Isabella assured him.
“Maybe. Maybe not.”
“What do you mean?”
“I was out of my head,” Fallon said. “Who knows how I might have handled the situation if I’d been in a normal state of mind? Je
“Why was she so upset? Because of the hallucinogenic light of the lantern? Surely when she came back to her senses, she understood that you had been forced to fight for your life.”
“Tucker Austin was her brother.”
Isabella sighed. “I see. Well, that certainly explains her distraught reaction.”
“Tucker was her older brother. She idolized him. Hell, he was the golden boy of the Austin family. Je
Understanding hit her hard.
“They think you were the one ru
“Their version of events is that after J&J fired up the investigation, I decided to cut my losses, shut down the club and set Tucker up to take the fall. Literally, in this case.”
“To cover your tracks?”
“Yes,” Fallon said evenly. “They also believe that my family protected me.”
“Of course they can’t prove that because there is no proof, so they comfort themselves with their own version of history. It’s actually a pretty solid conspiracy theory, because within Arcane the Joneses wield a lot of power. It would be easy to believe they would circle the wagons around one of their own.”
Fallon’s eyes were bleak. He said nothing.
“That’s one of the hallmarks of conspiracy theories, isn’t it?” She shook her head. “As someone once said, they are the losers’ version of history.”
“Never thought about it like that.”
“Probably because you weren’t raised in a family of dedicated conspiracy freaks.” She glanced down at the ring. “So every year on the a
“Probably, although I suppose it could be Tucker’s mother or father.”
“You’ve never tracked down the sender?”
“Didn’t seem to be much point. I got the message.”
“Will the Austin family be at the Sedona conference?”
“The Austins are power brokers within Arcane. Yes, they will be in Sedona.”
“No wonder you’re not keen on attending.”
“At least this year I’ll have a date.”
21
The following morning Isabella took a break at the Sunshine with Marge. As was the custom, Violet and Patty walked over from the i
The arrival of an overnight delivery van interrupted yet another denunciation of Gordon Lasher. They all watched the vehicle roll down the street and stop in front of Jones & Jones.
“They found me,” Isabella yelped. She set down her mug and jumped to her feet. “I was so afraid that there would be a screwup and they wouldn’t be able to find Scargill Cove.”
“I’m assuming that’s the dress and the shoes?” Marge asked.
“I sure hope so,” Isabella said. She headed for the door. “Otherwise, I’m in bad shape for that business conference in Sedona.”
“Bring the clothes back here,” Violet called after her. “We want to see them.”
“Especially the shoes,” Patty said.
Isabella paused, her hand on the doorknob. “Why the shoes?”
Patty gri
Isabella frowned. “I keep telling you, this visit to Sedona is a company business trip.”
“Sure,” Marge said. She chuckled. “A business trip that involves a corporate jet, a dressy reception and high-end fund-raiser auction. Woohoo! Go get the dress and the shoes and bring them back here so we can see them.”
Isabella hurried outside. The driver of the delivery van had the rear door of the vehicle open. He removed two boxes.
Isabella rushed across the street. “Are those for me?”
He glanced at the labels. “Address says Jones & Jones.”
“That’s me. I mean, I work for Jones & Jones. I’ll take the packages.”
“Sign here.”
She scrawled her signature, took the boxes and went back inside the Sunshine. Marge was waiting with scissors. She got the first box open in a flash.
Isabella parted the packing tissue and removed a long sweep of midnight blue. There were gasps all around.
“Oh, my,” Violet said in prayerful tones. “What a beautiful dress. You’re going to look gorgeous in it.”
Isabella touched the liquid fabric. “It is nice, isn’t it? Cost a fortune, but Fallon told me to bill it to the agency.”
“Of course,” Marge said. “He’s the one who told you this was a business trip.”
“The shoes,” Patty said impatiently.
Marge used the scissors to open the second package. There was a shoe box inside. Isabella opened it and took out the pair of black evening sandals. Jet crystals gleamed discreetly on the gleaming patent leather straps.