Page 76 of It takes a Psychic

He had known she would not be happy with his decision. Convincing her that he was right was going to take some work. He had two options—logical persuasion or brute force. He decided to try logic first.

“Calm down and listen to me,” he said. “I realize this situation has rezzed a lot of strong emotions and you’ve still got questions, but—”

“Got news for you, Rancourt. Starting a conversation with the wordscalm downwas your first mistake. You might as well forget the rest of whatever you were going to say.”

“Let’s face it,” he said, determined to plow on. “We walked into a situation that is a lot bigger and a lot more dangerous than we assumed at the start. Right?”

“So?”

“Our team consists of one museum curator, one unemployed para-archaeologist, and one dust bunny. We’re in over our heads. We don’t have the resources to continue this investigation, but we’ve gathered more than enough information to get the attention of the FBPI and the Guild. Unlike us, theydohave the resources to finish this job. They can tear this town apart and they can go into that cave Starkey told us about. They can follow the trail into the Underworld if necessary.”

“The authorities will want to confiscate the pyramid crystal. If I give it to them, odds are it will disappear into an FBPI vault and I’ll never see it again. I can’t let that happen, not until I get answers.”

“I can guarantee you it won’t end up in an FBPI vault.”

“What makes you so sure of that?”

“The Foundation has some strings it can pull.”

“What if those strings don’t work?”

“You need to trust me, Leona.”

She sighed. “I know you mean well and I appreciate your good intentions.”

“My good intentions?”

“But the bottom line is that you’re the director of a small museum run by a foundation that no one seems to have heard of. I seriously doubt you or the organization you represent have the clout to override the Federal Bureau of Psi Investigation.”

“Trust me, Leona. I’ll make sure you get that damned crystal.”

She did not respond until they reached the emergency exit door at the back of the inn.

“All right,” she said.

He breathed a sigh of relief. “Thanks.”

“If you want to thank me, just make sure I get that pyramid crystal when this is over.”

“You have my word.”

She opened the door before he could do it for her and went into the poorly lit stairwell, Roxy tucked under one arm. He followed, climbing the stairs behind her. The tension charging the atmosphere around her made him want to reach out and pull her into his arms so that he could comfort her. But something told him she would not welcome his touch at that particular moment.

Call me the sensitive type.

When they reached the second floor they went down the silent hallway and stopped in front of their rooms. It occurred to him that he had been assuming he would sleep in her bed again tonight. Now that the moment of decision had arrived, he wasn’t sure how to ask the question.

“Uh, Leona—”

“No,” she said. “I’m not in the mood. I’m sulking.”

Before he could come up with a way to deal with that statement, she disappeared inside her room with Roxy. The door closed. Firmly. He heard the bolt slide home.

“This day just gets better and better,” he muttered.

He rezzed the lock of his door and let himself into the shadowed room. Closing and locking the door, he walked toward the small desk, stripping off his jacket as he went.

The only warning he got was a glimpse of the small Alien artifact, a simple crystal bowl no larger than a soup bowl, sitting on the bed. The energy in the object was hot—dangerously hot.

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