Page 43 of The Shop on Hidden Lane

It dawned on him that she didn’t correct his use of the wordghosts. A dark current of despair surged through him.I screwed up again.I was too slow.Too late.This time somebody died.

He steeled himself.

“Are Deke and Bea dead?” he asked.

“There’s no sign that anyone died here.”

Cautious relief crackled through him. There was still hope.

“No signs of violence,” Sophy continued. “The shadows are very faint but something isn’t right. There’s a lot of tension. I think Bea may have used her talent.”

“You said she’s good with crystals.”

“Yes. I think something happened over there by the sculpture. There’s a lot of residual energy.” She paused. “Deke may have used some talent, too. What kind of ability does he have?”

“Deke is good with cameras.”

“That doesn’t make much sense.”

“With Deke you never know.”

“I don’t think they ever slept in that bed, Luke. I think they left this room and never returned.”

Nineteen

She came out of thetrance on a wave of energy, aware that the room lights were on. Luke was standing directly in front of her.

Casually he closed one hand over her shoulder. She remembered she was wearing her regular black-and-crystal frames, not the mirrored sunglasses. But Luke seemed oblivious to whatever he saw in her eyes. He was very focused now, but not on her.

She took a clarifying breath and forced herself to concentrate. It wasn’t easy, but the exhilarating rush was already fading.

He took his attention off the sculpture long enough to give her a quick, searching glance. “Are you okay?”

“Yes.” She felt the heat rising in her cheeks. Luke was the only person outside Bea and Chloe who knew just how rattled she was when she came out of a trance. It made for a certain awkwardness. She did not like the idea that she might look weak—especially not in front of a Wells. “Yes, I’m fine.” She raised her chin. “Thank you.”

“No problem.” He took his hand off her shoulder. “The fact that we’re in the same room that Deke and Bea checked in to can’t be a coincidence.”

“I agree, but I didn’t see any evidence of violence in this room, so if something happened to them it must have happened elsewhere. Maybe someone grabbed them. I’ll bet the front-desk clerk was in on the plot.”

“I doubt it. The kid behind the desk is about eighteen. This is a part-time job. He’s a small-town boy who can’t wait to get to the big city. Trust me, he is not a member of a criminal conspiracy. No one would be dumb enough to invite him into a criminal conspiracy, because the first thing he would do is announce it on social media.”

She narrowed her eyes in an assessing look. “What makes you so sure?”

“His high school ring told me he’s a graduating senior. He kept checking his cell phone even though there’s no service here because it’s a habit. He had a set of earbuds stashed behind the counter and I overheard him telling the attendant who met us at the entrance that he knows someone in Phoenix whose folks will be out of town for the weekend. Evidently there’s going to be a party.”

“You noticed all that while we were checking in?”

“I told you, I’m good at connecting dots.”

“Impressive. Well, here we are in the same room that Deke and Bea checked in to. As you say, that can’t be a coincidence.” Adrenaline splashed through her. Not the ice fever shivers—this was the rush that came with knowing they were making progress. “Someone knows who we are. They want to keep an eye on us.”

“Probably.”

She frowned. “Are you always this indecisive?”

“When I don’t have enough information, yes.”

“We can’t just hang out here and wait for someone to drug us and haul us away in a couple of laundry carts.”