“You partied a little too hard and you got in over your head,” Gabriel said gently. “It happens. But the experience didn’t drive you crazy.”
“I did not party too hard,” Lucy said through set teeth. “I was drugged and kidnapped.”
Gabriel regarded her in silence for a moment. His jaw tightened.
“I was told that after I left, the Illusion Town police conducted an investigation,” he said, speaking quietly. “There was no evidence to support your version of events.”
“The police couldn’t even find the driver of the cab that took me away from the hotel that night. Talk about incompetent.” Lucy drummed her fingers on the steering wheel. “I went a step further.”
“A step further?”
“Hired my own private investigator. Cost me a fortune, but I wanted the best, and that’s what I got. Keele Investigations is the go-to agency for the biggest casinos and corporations. They’ve even handled jobs for Coppersmith Mining. They use the latest and greatest technology, and they’ve got connections with the Federal Bureau of Psi Investigation.”
Gabriel’s eyes tightened at the corners. “I wasn’t aware that a private investigation agency had looked into your case.”
“I kept it quiet, because nothing good came of it. Unlike the local police, the Keele agency was able to track down the cabdriver. Turns out he left town right after I was grabbed. Evidently, he ran because he had been driving without the proper license. That’s a major offense in this town. He was terrified of being drawn into a missing persons investigation. He knew that if I turned up dead, he would have been the last person to see me alive. He wouldn’t have been able to prove his innocence.”
“What did he tell the Keele investigator?”
“Nothing useful.” Lucy exhaled slowly. “He confirmed the theory the police and everyone else believed—I got into his cab drunk or high, he wasn’t sure which. I said something about a party. I insisted on getting out of the cab when we were near the Storm Zone Wall. The last thing he saw was me running into the fog. The Keele report says there was no evidence of foul play. The investigator concluded that I had become disoriented by the paranormal radiation or the drugs—or both. Even my own father and his wife think I hallucinated the story. That night after you dumped me, I was locked up in a para-psych clinic.”
“I didn’t dump you. I handed you off to the medics and your father.”
She gave him her iciest smile. “From my perspective it sure looked like I was dumped. I guess you had to be there.”
Gabriel’s jaw clenched, but he did not lose his temper. You had to give him credit for control.
“There seems to be some confusion about what happened at the clinic,” he said in an excruciatingly neutral tone of voice. “Apparently you walked out against the doctor’s recommendation.”
“I didn’t walk out,” Lucy said. “I escaped. Big difference.”
She waited for Gabriel to question that story, too, but he let it go.
“Are you fully recovered now?” he asked.
“Yep. Not that anyone believes me.”
“I do. I would like to hire you for the Ghost City job.”
“Thank you. That is very nice of you.”
Gabriel narrowed his eyes. “Nice?”
“Kind? Generous? Whatever, I appreciate it. Really. Sorry I can’t project more enthusiasm and gratitude. It’s been a tough couple of months.”
“I’m beginning to understand that. Okay, you’re welcome. Now, if we could get back to my offer of a contract—”
She shook her head. “I was serious when I said you won’t be able to put together a team that will trust me. Stuff happened after they took me away in that ambulance.”
“I heard you suffered some kind of post-traumatic psychic stress trauma.”
“Oh, there was trauma,” Lucy said evenly. “I was shot full of more hallucinogenic drugs, Mr. Jones. It took me a while to figure out what was going on. If it hadn’t been for Otis, I would have no memories left of what happened. Those I do have are still blurry, although things are getting clearer.”
“Are you telling me they gave you more of the hallucinogen at the clinic?”
“Someone tried to make me forget everything. I guess whoever it was decided killing me to make sure I didn’t talk might be a little too risky.” She paused. “It might have made people, including a certain Guild hunter, suspicious.”