“You know,” Gabriel said, “at some point in the future when we look back on this, we’re probably going to laugh.”
“I am not going to laugh,” Lucy said.
Veronica grinned. “I will. I can see the headlines now. ‘Famous Weather Channeler Sets Sofa on Fire While Taking Down Crazed Killer.’”
Lucy glared. “Aiden, pay attention. The headline here is ‘Guild Emergency Response Team Arrests Final Suspect in Conspiracy.’ Is that understood?”
Aiden hid a grin and took out his phone. “Yes, ma’am.”
Lucy surveyed the others. “If anyone in this apartment says one word to the media about what happened here this afternoon, there will be more lightning. I guarantee it.”
Gabriel’s eyes heated. “Never argue with a weather goddess.”
Veronica smiled. “You know, Lucy, if you ever decide to give up this weather channeling gig, I’m pretty sure you would be a success in my business.”
“I’ll keep that in mind,” Lucy said.
Gabriel saw the bottle of wine on the kitchen counter. There was a pretty green bow around it. A card dangled from the bow.
“She brought wine?” he said.
“It’s spiked with a hefty dose of the hallucinogen that the kidnappers used on me,” Lucy said. “She said there is enough of the drug in there to drive us mad or kill us. But it wouldn’t have worked.”
Joe frowned. “Why not?”
“Who could resist a bottle of good wine?” Jared asked.
“Take a look at the card,” Lucy said.
Jared went into the kitchen and checked out the card. “It says, Congratulations on recovering your professional reputation. We are so proud of you. Love, Mom and Dad.”
“I would have been suspicious as soon as I saw it,” Lucy said. “My father and stepmother have never sent me a bottle of wine in my entire adult life. We’re not a close family.”
Gabriel picked up the bottle and held it for a moment before he set it down.
“No,” he said. “We would not have opened it.”
Veronica studied him. “Bad vibe?”
“Downright crazy,” Gabriel said.
CHAPTER THIRTY-SEVEN
“How did you figure out what was going on?” Lucy asked.
They were gathered in Gabriel’s office. He was seated behind his desk. Aiden had directed Lucy to one of the two visitor chairs. He had escorted Veronica to the other one. Veronica had accepted the courtesy with regal grace, as if it was her due. She was wearing a severely tailored black jumpsuit and black high heels. Her red hair was bound up in a tight knot. She carried a black leather handbag.
It paid to have attitude, Lucy thought, and the right clothes. She was still wearing the stupid Storm Zone Adventure Tours uniform. At least she had gotten one of the chairs. Aiden, Joe, and Jared had to stand.
“I’d like to say that I solved the case using amazing psychic intuition and secret Guild technology,” Gabriel said. “But the truth is, I went back to the start and examined the police report and compared it with the report that Cassandra Keele had given you, Lucy. When I saw that she claimed to have tracked down the cabdriver, I realized there was a problem. After all, we knew the driver must have been a fraud, not a licensed cabdriver.”
Lucy groaned. “I should have tried to track him down myself.”
“Why would you?” Jared said. “Keele told you he had confirmed the police report. You had no reason to doubt her investigation.”
“And your own memories of the evening were blurry,” Veronica reminded her. “It took you weeks to recover some of them.”
“Thanks to the drugs they used on you,” Gabriel said.
“After Luxton fired Otis and me this morning, we took the shortcut through the Dead City,” Lucy said. “The energy seemed extra strong in the ruins today. It’s like that sometimes. The weather often affects the paranormal vibe. Anyhow, today the sensations stirred up some old memories. When I reached the DZ, a cab passed us. I suddenly remembered that the police were never able to find the cabdriver. Keele told me that was because they hadn’t tried very hard. But the cops told the media they had looked for him. So who was lying?”
“You decided it wasn’t the cops?” Gabriel said.
“It struck me that Keele might have had a motive to lie if she was involved in the kidnapping.”
“She must have panicked when you contacted her agency with the intention of hiring an investigator,” Jared said. “What made you choose Keele Investigations?”