“There is no logic to murder.” She remembered to breathe and gave herself a moment to consider the stunningly casual way he spoke about the risks he was taking. “But in your case, there would be people who would ask questions. Your family, for example.”
“My close relatives are small-town people. They might ask questions, but they don’t have the kind of money or power it takes to go up against a man like Kelbrook.”
“At what point did it occur to you that Kelbrook’s motives were not exactly pure?”
“About two seconds after I discovered that someone had hacked my computer and was monitoring my online searches. By then, you were on your way to the Hotel of Dreams. I realized you were being set up, so I went after you.”
She swallowed hard. “You’re in danger because of me. This situation is becoming more and more unbalanced.”
“We are going to rebalance things. Ready to watch the rest of the video? There’s only another forty-three seconds.”
She took a centering breath. “Yes.”
Once again, Owen rezzed the video. The muscular man tossed a white sheet over the woman on the stretcher, leaving her face uncovered, and gripped the handles on one end.
“Ready?” His gravelly voice sounded hollow and mechanical because of the gas mask. “The vehicle’s waiting.”
The tall man hoisted the opposite end of the stretcher. “Ready.”
She clenched one hand very tight. His voice was distorted because of the mask, but she recognized it. That made it all more real, more painful.
“That is Travis Poole,” she said.
“Looks like you’re going to miss out on your wedding night,” the bulky man chuckled. “Too bad you didn’t get one last quick fuck out of this deal.”
“Trust me, the last thing I wanted to do was fuck this bitch. Even if she hadn’t been a sleepwalking robot because of the drugs, I wouldn’t have been interested. She’s got one scary talent.”
“Yeah? What kind of talent?”
“Didn’t they tell you? She can put you into a nightmare coma with just a touch. That’s why we used the sedative tonight in addition to the vapor. Insurance.”
“Fuck,” the big man muttered, evidently shocked. “She can do that just by touching you?”
“Yep. Don’t worry. She’s headed for a locked ward and a heavy dose of suppressant drugs. But even if she wasn’t one of the monsters, I wouldn’t be interested. She’s not even close to hot, not like Brooke.”
“You got a hot girlfriend, huh? Lucky you.”
“Showgirl at a big casino in Illusion Town.”
“Sweet. Think you could get her to introduce me to some of her friends?”
“Brooke will do anything I tell her to do.”
The two men carried the stretcher out of the scene. There was a finalkerchunkas the door closed behind them. The video went dark.
Alice stared at the mirror, trying to sort out her conflicting emotions. She decided she was still enraged by what Travis had done to her, but she was also overwhelmingly relieved.
“At least we didn’t have sex,” she whispered. “I’m glad I scared him.”
“So am I,” Owen said. There was a lethal edge on the words.
She frowned. “Are you absolutely certain he’s the man who jumped off that hotel roof?”
“When I took your case, the first thing I did was verify the autopsy report. There was never any doubt that the man who jumped was Travis Poole. What we know now is that someone got the time of death wrong. Poole went off that roof after he helped kidnap you.”
She pulled herself together. “This is getting more twisted by the minute. If Travis was in on the conspiracy, why did he jump? Judging by the conversation in that video, he was looking forward to seeing someone named Brooke again.”
“I think it’s safe to assume Poole did not jump.”
