Deception Cove

Chapter 17

“YOU GOT CAUGHT OUT IN THE OPEN WHEN THAT FOG rolled in last night?” Rachel Blake asked. She poured tea into the three cups she had placed on the table. “That must have been an absolutely horrible experience.”

Alice indicated the amber lantern sitting in the center of one of the tables. “Not nearly as bad as it would have been if Drake hadn’t realized that the boat’s emergency lantern and a nice big fire muted the effects of the fog’s energy. But I have to tell you, it was the mutant insects that made for a long night.”

Everyone at the table, with the exception of Drake, stared at her.

“Damn,” Charlotte said. “You’re not kidding, are you?”

“No,” Alice said. “It wasn’t a joking matter, believe me.”

They were gathered in the café at the back of Shadow Bay Books. It was a motley crew that had come together to figure out how to stop whatever was going on inside the Preserve, Alice thought. The weird thing was that, although she told herself she was part of the group only because she needed the job and because Drake had promised to find Fulton’s killer, she felt oddly comfortable with the others. Maybe it was because she had some genuine family history on Rainshadow. In a way, she had a right to be here; make that a responsibility to be here.

It wasn’t much in the way of family history, of course. She had not even known that Nicholas North existed until a year ago, let alone her connection to him. In addition, he had evidently been a failure at just about everything except the pirate business. She was pretty sure the only reason he had been successful in that line was because of his partner, Harry Sebastian the first, who had no doubt been the brains of the outfit. Still, North had been involved in burying the crystals that were now causing so much trouble, and Alice was his direct descendant. That linked her to the island and the situation—for better or worse. Either way, she belonged here with these people, at least for now, she thought.

Besides, she liked her new friends. They had welcomed her even though she’d had a hand in creating the problem they now faced. She wanted to help them and undo the damage she had unwittingly caused.

Rachel had prepared a special tisane for the weary travelers. Alice was amazed at how much better she felt after a few sips of the herbal brew. She could see that the tisane was also having a soothing effect on Karen Rosser, who now appeared more composed.

The two dust bunnies, high on chocolate zingers, were dashing around the floor of the bookshop. They appeared to be engaged in some version of a dust bunny game. Darwina clutched a small Amberella doll dressed in a sparkly ball gown. There were occasional crashing sounds when books or other small objects fell to the floor.

Drake picked up his cup and inhaled the aroma of the tisane with obvious appreciation. “Figured the amber lantern might be useful, but the fire worked better because with it for illumination I didn’t have to wear my glasses. That gave us an advantage when the insects came out of the Preserve. We used a couple of fire-starters modified for use inside the fence to zap the bugs.”

Charlotte shuddered. “Giant mutant insects. How much worse can things get?”

“I don’t think we want to find out,” Fletcher said.

Jasper shook his head. “Gotta say, it’s amazing that you both survived the night.”

“We spent it watching each other’s back,” Drake said. “Literally.” He looked at Alice across the table. “We maintained physical contact. That helped. And we had Houdini, who functioned as an early warning system.”

Fletcher nodded, understanding. “Sounds like the three of you made a good team.”

“Yes,” Drake said. He did not take his mirrored gaze off Alice. “We do make a good team. Nothing like spending a night zapping giant roaches to find out if you were meant for each other.”

He said it very seriously, but the crowd around the table—with the exception of Alice—laughed. The sudden rush of heat into her cheeks told her that she was blushing.

“Probably a more accurate compatibility test than those questionnaires the professional matchmakers use,” Charlotte said dryly.

“Yes,” Drake said. It was clear he took the comment very seriously. He looked at Alice. “A hell of a lot more accurate.”

Frantically, Alice searched for a way to change the conversation.

“When did the Glorious Dawn crowd arrive?” she asked quickly.

“That lot came in on the last ferry,” Rachel said. She made a face. “No one was expecting them. Slade and Harry were getting as many people off the island as possible. Not everyone was willing to leave, but most of the folks with kids did want to evacuate. Slade and Harry let the Dawn crowd stay because they needed space on the ferry for the Shadow Bay families. They figured they’d get rid of the Dawners on the last run. But there were no more runs. The ferry was never able to get back to the island. Several of the families did not make it off.”

“Thus, we got stuck with the Dawners,” Jasper explained. “And the first thing they did was head into the Preserve.” He sighed. “Slade and Harry thought it would only take a few hours to find them and pull them back out. But that was two days ago.”

No one spoke for a moment.

Rachel exchanged a look with Charlotte.

“We keep telling you, they’re okay,” Charlotte said quietly. “Trust me, Rachel and I would know if that wasn’t the case.”

Fletcher eyed Karen, who was sitting very quietly and drinking her tea.

“You said that this Dr. Zara Tucker stuck a couple of Old Earth crystals into an Alien ruin to jump-start it and now the place is overheating?”

Karen lowered her cup. “Yes. She wants to get off the island before it blows but she’s trapped, too, just like us.”

Alice cleared her throat. “I think you should all know that I’m the one who located the Keys.”

Charlotte stilled. “The Keys? You mean those three crystals?”

“I was told that’s what my great-grandfather called them in his diary,” Alice said. “Why? Does that mean something to you?”

“Nothing terribly useful,” Charlotte admitted. “But it may explain something I’ve always wondered about. My aunt Beatrix, who died and left me Looking Glass Antiques across the street, spent the last years of her life searching for something she called the Key. Singular, not plural, but she may not have realized there were three of them. I don’t think she even knew what the Key looked like or what it opened.”

“Dr. Tucker used those crystal Keys to fire up the Chamber,” Karen said. “That’s all I can tell you.”

Drake finished his tea. “Alice and Karen and I all need some food and some sleep.” He looked out the window at the unnatural dark that had fallen in the past half hour. “We need to pull together the information we’ve got and come up with a plan, but there’s nothing we can do until morning.”

“You’ve got that right,” Fletcher said. “Shadow Bay was never what you’d call a lively town after dark. We roll up the streets around nine o’clock most nights. But lately it’s gotten real quiet at night. You can move around to some extent with an amber lantern, but that fog makes people nervous as hell.”

“Folks think they see things in it,” Rachel said. “And now that we know about those mutant insects in Deception Cove, we have to take the hallucinations a little more seriously.”

“Everyone who couldn’t get off the island or who refused to leave is staying here in town,” Fletcher explained. “Jasper and I are sleeping in our shop.”

“Rachel and I are staying at the B-and-B at the end of the street,” Charlotte said. “We can squeeze Karen in there, but the place is really full. I think Burt Caster, who owns the Marina Inn and Tavern, mentioned that he had one room left. Drake, you and Alice can have it.”

Alice went very still. She did not dare look at Drake.

“That works,” Drake said.

Rachel gave Alice a commiserating smile. “I’ll bet you didn’t expect to spend your honeymoon on Rainshadow, did you?”

“Actually,” Alice said, “it’s become something of a tradition for me.”