“Why do you say that?” Abby asked.
“My equipment and my crystals are in the shed in back of the house I’m renting,” Grady said. “Lease is up next month. I don’t care about my furniture and clothes, but as soon as the rent comes due, the landlord will clean the place out. He’ll probably put my crystals and lab instruments into a yard sale. All my stuff will be gone.”
“I know exactly how it feels to have someone else mess with your stuff,” Abby said. She sat forward. “If you like, Sam and I can pack up your rocks and your lab equipment and store it for you.”
Grady looked startled. “You’d do that for me after I pointed a gun at you?”
“Yes, because I don’t think you ever really meant to point that gun at me. By the way, Sam is not just a crystal expert, he is also a security expert.”
“Yeah?” Grady was curious now.
“He’s investigating what happened to you and me at the Vaughn house,” Abby explained. “He’s been working for me for a few days, and as of now he’s working for you, too. Isn’t that right, Sam?”
Sam looked at her, brows elevated. “Well.”
Abby turned back to Grady. “Consider yourself one of Sam’s clients.”
Grady processed the new data. For a few seconds, he looked hopeful. Then his eyes went flat. “I can’t afford to hire a private investigator.”
“Lucky for you I work cheap,” Sam said. “Like Abby said, consider yourself a client.”
“Yeah?” Grady started to look hopeful again. “Just like that?”
“Just like that,” Sam said.
“And you’ll pack up my lab stuff before the landlord sells it?” Grady asked urgently.
“Don’t worry,” Abby said. “We’ll take care of your stuff.”
“All part of the service,” Sam said. He got to his feet. “I don’t suppose you still have the key to your house?”
“No key,” Grady said. “They took that away, too. But the lock on the porch door is nothing special. You shouldn’t have any trouble getting inside the house. The hard part will be getting into the shed out back. I installed my own door and security system, mostly to keep my landlord out.”
“Give me the code,” Sam said.
“See, that’s the tricky part,” Grady said. “It’s not an off-the-shelf system. It’s PEC-based.”
“Yeah?” Sam looked intrigued.
Grady glanced around the room and then lowered his voice. “You’ll need a crystal to work it.”
“What kind of crystal?”
“Doesn’t matter. You just have to be able to generate a little energy through it. Find a resonating frequency, and the lock will open.”
Sam moved his hand, calling subtle attention to the fire crystal in his ring. “Will this do?”
Grady studied the copper stone. Abby felt energy hum briefly in the atmosphere.
“Sure, that will work,” Grady said. “Nice stone. I don’t recognize it.”
“Synthetic,” Sam said easily. “It was grown in one of the Coppersmith labs.”
“Awesome.”
Abby rose before Grady could ask any more questions. “We’ll report back as soon as we have some information.”
“That would be cool,” Grady said, brightening. “I don’t get many visitors. In fact, you’re the only ones I’ve had.”
