Page 27 of Sweetwater and the Witch

“Okay.”

Chapter Twelve

The vast ballroom of the Amber Palace glowed, thanks to walls covered in mirrors and amber. Massive crystal chandeliers lit the room in a glamorous light. There was a lot of amber and crystal jewelry in the crowded room. Much of it was tuned, infusing the atmosphere with a subtle buzz.

Ravenna surveyed the throng of expensively dressed and obviously successful business executives.

“How do you intend to hunt Taggert Spooner?” she asked. “Assuming we can find him in this crowd.”

She and Ethan were standing on the edge of the constantly shifting throng, glasses of champagne in hand. She was feeling more balanced now. Back in control. The conversation in the parking garage had gone a long way toward clarifying the nature of her relationship with Ethan. It was simple, really. They were using each other. What they had was a strategic alliance. For some obscure reason that came as a somewhat depressing realization, but it gave her what felt like a firm grip on reality.

“Spooner won’t be hard to find,” Ethan said. “He’s one of the VIPs in theroom. Very Important People like to be seen. As for what I do once I find him, the answer is, not much. I just need to get close to him for a short time.”

“Why?”

“A man in his position will be wearing signature amber, not the generic kind. It will be tuned to his unique frequency. If I get within a few feet I’ll be able to lock it into my tracker.”

“You can grab his sig amber frequency?”

“If I can get within range.”

“I didn’t realize that sort of tech was on the market,” she said.

“It’s not. I’m still testing it.”

“You invented this tech?”

“I invented the kind I’m using tonight,” Ethan said. “There are others working on similar technology. Spooner Labs, for example.”

“I see. I have to tell you I’m impressed.”

“I’m a pretty good engineer, Ravenna.” Ethan moved, setting his untouched champagne on a nearby table. “I see Spooner. He’s on the other side of the room. Time to circulate.”

“Sure.”

In spite of the bizarre way in which the evening was unfolding, she was intrigued. Rezzed. She could tell Ethan was energized as well.Probably the hunter side of him,she thought. What was her excuse? Until tonight she had not realized that a part of her missed her criminal profiling work. She did not want to return to it, at least not full-time, but she had to admit it had added a certain zest to life, a certain sense of satisfaction.

“Ravenna, dear, how nice to see you here tonight.”

Startled, Ravenna stopped and turned to see a familiar face. She smiled at the middle-aged woman.

“Ms.Avery,” she said. “It’s great to see you again. I forgot you and your husband were in the telecommunications business.”

“And I had no idea you were interested in amber technology,” Beverly Avery said.

“I’m not.” Ravenna smiled. “Well, no more so than the average person. Mr.Sweetwater here is an amber engineer, however. Ethan, this is Beverly Avery. Her daughter and her fiancé were Ottoway clients.”

“Avery Connections,” Ethan said. He smiled. “A pleasure to meet you.”

“Happy to meet you, too,” Beverly murmured. She studied Ethan with not-so-subtle curiosity. “My husband, Paul, mentioned that one of the Sweetwaters had opened a small analysis business here in town.”

“I decided to run away from home and start my own lab,” Ethan said. “You know how it is when it comes to family businesses.”

“Of course.” Beverly chuckled and patted his arm. “You can run but you can’t hide, not from family.”

“I have been reminded of that on several occasions since I arrived in town,” Ethan said. “Setting up shop here in Illusion Town may have been a strategic mistake. My relatives seem to think I can get them discounted tickets for the sold-out shows and special deals on hotel suites.”

Beverly winked. “Which you can do, of course, because the hotels and shows are always happy to do favors for locals, especially one with the last name of Sweetwater.”

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