Chapter
30
AT NINE THIRTY THAT
NIGHT SLADE LOUNGED ON Charlotte’s sofa, phone in one hand, a beer
in the other. He propped his ankles on a hassock and watched the
flames leap on the hearth while he gave Marlowe Jones a summary of
events.
“Brody and Mack
Duncan were living under fake IDs,” he said. “Took a while to find
out their real names. They were picked up by the Frequency City
cops this afternoon and booked on a number of charges. They’re
ratting out dear old Mom as fast as they can. Thelma Duncan is in a
locked ward in the para-psych wing of Frequency Memorial Hospital.
Looks like she had a stroke. She’s confused and disoriented and no
one thinks she’ll make a full recovery.”
“There is a
detective in the Frequency Police Department who is Arcane,”
Marlowe said. “He’s keeping an eye on things for me. He says that
as far as the authorities are concerned, the Duncan boys and their
mother were operating a small-time burglary ring that specialized
in antiques.”
“All true as far as
it goes,” Slade said. He caught Charlotte’s eye.
“I called the museum
lab people and warned them that in addition to the Sylvester
curiosity they’ll have two more hot objects to transport, the
Quicksilver Mirror and the Bridewell Engine. They’re very
excited.”
Slade watched Rex
hop up onto the coffee table. Rex opened the clutch purse and
removed the shiny, crystal-encrusted lady’s compact that Charlotte
had convinced him to exchange for the gold watch. He started
playing with the compact. He had not yet figured out how to open it
but that did not seem to bother him. He clearly considered the
project a game.
“There’s a fourth
object,” Slade said. “A gold watch that seems to be able to de-rez
the automaton.”
“I’ll tell the
transport team.”
“That’s it for now,”
Slade said. “Time to eat here.”
“Dinner? It’s nearly
ten o’clock.”
“It’s been busy here
on Rainshadow, what with the problem of Thelma and her boys and the
poststorm cleanup. I’ll talk to you tomorrow.”
“Wait, don’t hang
up. Now that your talent has, uh, stabilized, will you be going
back to work for the Bureau?”
“No,” Slade said. He
watched Charlotte set a plate of cheese and pickle sandwiches on
the coffee table. “I won’t be going back to my old
job.”
“Well, in that
case,” Marlowe said smoothly, “would you be interested in working
as a contract agent for Jones & Jones? I’m getting more work
now since Adam and I got all that publicity a while back. I could
really use someone with your professional background.” She paused a
beat. “And your talent.”
Charlotte sat down
next to Slade and propped her slipper-clad feet on the table. He
put his arm around her and allowed himself to relax into her warm,
bright energy.
“I’ll be staying
here on Rainshadow,” he said. “Nice little town. I like the job. It
suits me. So if I can do you any favors from here, let me
know.”
“Thanks, I’ll do
that,” Marlowe said. “But are you sure you want to stay on that
hunk of rock there in the Amber Sea?”
Slade thought about
the deep certainty that had been coalescing inside him ever since
he had arrived on the island.
“I’m sure,” he said.
“Good night, Marlowe.”
“See you at the
wedding,” she said.
“I’ll be bringing a
date.”
“Good,” Marlowe
said. She sounded like she meant it. “That’s
wonderful.”
He closed the phone
and reached for a sandwich.
Charlotte watched
him closely. “You told her you would be staying on
Rainshadow.”
“I did, yes.” He
took a large bite out of the sandwich.
“I’m glad,”
Charlotte said. “The island needs you.”
He swallowed the
bite of sandwich and looked at her. “Think so?”
“We both know now
that there is something stirring out there in the Preserve. Someone
needs to keep an eye on the situation. Who better than a former
special agent of the FBPI?”
“I didn’t make the
decision to stay on the island because of the Preserve.” He put the
uneaten portion of the sandwich back on the plate. “I made it
because of you.”
Charlotte went very
still. “Are you certain?”
“I’ve never been
more certain of anything in my life. The day I walked off the ferry
and found you waiting for me I knew it in my bones. It was as if
I’d spent the past fifteen years trying to get back to you. If you
leave the island, I’ll leave with you. But as long as you’re
staying here, I’m staying, too. You’re my future. I love
you.”
Her smile and her
eyes were suddenly luminous. “Oh, Slade.”
“For most of my
life, home was always where I happened to be at any given time. But
when I saw you at the ferry dock last week, I knew that home is
where you are. The trouble was that I had nothing to offer you. I
thought I was going psi-blind. The last thing I wanted from you was
pity. So I tried to tell myself that I could handle a brief affair
and then walk away before you realized what was happening to me.”
He took a deep breath. “But I don’t know if I could have done
that.”
She touched the side
of his jaw with gentle fingertips. “You would have because you
would have told yourself that it was the best thing for me. And
then I would have had to chase after you, which would have been
very embarrassing.”
“But you would have
come after me?”
“In a heartbeat,”
she said. “I love you. I knew that we were meant for each other the
day I watched you walk off the ferry. Actually, I knew it fifteen
years ago but I told myself that it was just a teenage crush. Now I
know better. It was the real thing.”
A strange, heady
sensation unfurled inside him. It took him a heartbeat to recognize
it because he had kept it locked away in the deepest part of his
being for so long. But now that he could set it free he could give
it a name. Joy.
“You were always
there in the back of my mind,” he said. “That was why I kept the
pocketknife that you gave me the morning I left town. It’s the only
thing I’ve ever hung on to in my life. And now I’m going to hang on
to you. I’ll never let go.”
“And I’ll never let
go of you,” she vowed.
He drew her close
and kissed her. The warm, bright, abiding energy of love shimmered
in the atmosphere around them.