Page 4 of It takes a Psychic

“It might not have been intended as such, but when it comes to Alien artifacts, who knows? Even something as simple as a child’s toy could prove lethal to humans.”

“True.” With a small sigh of regret, he turned away from the artifact and moved toward her. “Evidently neither one of us is here to take possession of that object. We both have other priorities tonight. We should get back to the ballroom.”

“I’m not arguing.”

Neither one of us is here to take possession of that object? The obvious inference was that he was here to grab one of the other artifacts. That settled it. Rancourt was definitely not security. He was an antiquities thief.

She whisked through the doorway, the skirts of her gown sweeping around her ankles. Oliver followed her out into the hall, pausing long enough to close the door. She heard the automatic lock click. They both de-rezzed their flashlights.

“The security in this place is very, very good,” Oliver said quietly as they made their way through the shadowed gallery. “I’m impressed that you were able to get into that lab without rezzing alarms. I had no idea lock picking was being taught in para-archaeology classes these days.”

“It isn’t. I was homeschooled in that particular skill. My moms believed in giving their daughters a well-rounded education.”

“Your mothers being the proprietors of Griffin Investigations.”

“You have done your research.”

“You’ve been in the news a lot recently.”

“Who knew that getting abducted by pirates and forced to work an illegal archaeological site would make so many headlines?”

“Are you kidding?” Oliver was clearly amused. “The story had it all. Drama. Danger. Alien archaeology. Artifacts of unknown power. It even had pirates and a heroic dust bunny.”

She smiled at that. “Pretty sure it was the dust bunny that brought in the big headlines at the end.”

“Everyone loves dust bunnies.”

“Except creeps who use them to test Alien artifacts.”

“Creeps like the members of the Society,” Oliver concluded.

“Trust me, I’m going to make sure Bullinger knows what I saw in that lab. The endowment fund and the board will have to sever their connections to the Society.”

“Are you always this optimistic?”

“It’s not a question of optimism. It’s a matter of professional ethics.”

“Uh-huh.”

There was a suspicious note of cynical amusement in his voice. She glanced at him over her shoulder.

“You don’t think the university will act?” she asked.

“Let’s just say I wouldn’t hold my breath.”

She was about to deliver a short lecture on the rules and regulations that governed endowment funds, but they had reached the door that opened onto the hallway that led to the ballroom. She stopped.

“Why don’t you go first?” she said. “It would probably be best if we aren’t seen coming out of the gallery together.”

“Don’t worry, no one will notice us.”

Before she could ask him what made him so certain of that, she felt his hand wrap around her arm, strong and firm. She sensed a subtle shift of energy in the atmosphere and knew that he had just rezzed his paranormal senses.

He opened the door and steered her down the hallway and into the crowded ballroom.

Not a single head turned. No one appeared to notice them. She was fascinated. Oliver was powerful enough to envelop her in the cloak of his energy field. For all intents and purposes, they might as well have been invisible.

“That,” she said quietly, “is a very useful talent, given your line of work.”

---