Page 15 of It takes a Psychic

She rezzed her senses a little to pick up the invigorating buzz of thetunnels and once again became aware of the faint trickle of energy seeping out of Oliver’s pack.

She looked at him. “Why did you help me escape the raid tonight?”

He was unfazed by the question. “Maybe I’m a nice guy?”

“It’s a possibility,” she allowed. “But there is another one.”

“Such as?”

“You knew I was going to authenticate the submissions tonight. Maybe you decided to use me as an unpaid antiquities consultant to verify the authenticity of the box before you took the risk of stealing it. Later you felt obligated to get me away from the raid.”

“That would have been a sharp move on my part. But as it happens, I didn’t need your expert opinion. I knew the box was authentic.”

“I see.” She realized she believed him. He would not have left the question of the authenticity of the box to chance, not when he had planned out so many other details of what he was pleased to call a repo job.

“Are you always this suspicious?” Oliver asked. He sounded intrigued, not wary or offended. Just curious.

Her jaw tightened. “It wouldn’t be the first time someone has used me to get what they wanted.”

“I sense bitterness.”

“The incident happened quite recently, so yes, I’m still pissed. Enough about me. You said you’re going to return the box to its rightful owner, a private museum. That means it will once again disappear into a vault, perhaps never to be seen again by the public or academics who would give a great deal to examine it.”

“The private museum is maintained by a foundation that has a long history of paranormal research. Qualified members of the staff are free to examine the collection.”

“What about qualified outsiders?”

“Like you?”

“Yes.”

“Sometimes. Under strict supervision.”

“I know how to handle artifacts like this one,” she said.

“You do realize there may be a reason it’s called Pandora’s box?”

“The story of Pandora’s box is just an ancient Old World myth. Our artifact is definitely human engineered.”

“Ourartifact?”

She flushed. “You know what I meant.”

“Why didn’t you open it tonight when you were onstage?”

“Because I was furious at the Society for imprisoning the dust bunnies and annoyed by that gallery full of illegally acquired artifacts. I had done what I was sent there to do. I had authenticated the artifacts. I saw no reason to unlock the box for the Society.”

Oliver nodded. “I thought that might be it. Understandable. Think you can unlock the box?”

“No problem. It’s pretty sophisticated, but nothing I can’t handle.”

Oliver looked at her. She knew he was remembering how she had dealt with the quartz-tech security in the Society’s lab. She got the feeling he was making a calculated decision.

“Okay, after what you’ve been through tonight, you deserve a look inside the box,” he said. “Go ahead, open it.”

She did not hesitate. Twisting around, she plucked the pack off the rear bench. The dust bunny chortled and bounced a little. She took that as encouragement.

She unzipped the pack and removed the artifact. Now that she had physical contact with the relic, she was much more aware of the energy whispering from it. She could not wait to examine the contents.

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