Dream Eyes

be a man of the Old West for the rest of his life. It was there in his voice. The drawl got thicker when he got excited. He was excited now.
    “The geode was actually sitting around in a private lab here in Wilby,” Judson said. He looked at the steel strongbox on the bench at the end of his bed. “The former owner cut it open. She was using it to power some of her lab equipment, a psi-reflecting engine made out of hot mirrors.”
    The door between his room and Gwen’s stood open. Max wandered across the threshold and vaulted up onto the big bed, landing with a heavy thud. He looked at the steel box with an attentive expression for a few seconds and then he seemed to lose interest.
    “You’re sure it’s one of the stones from the Phoenix Mine?” Elias asked.
    “There’s no way to be absolutely certain of the source,” Judson said. “Rocks are rocks. They don’t come with tidy little stamps stating the place of origin. But this rock is definitely hot just like the others in the vault. And there’s one other thing that makes me pretty sure it came from the Phoenix.”
    “What the hell is that?”
    “I recognize the energy in it. Some of the crystals are identical to the one in my ring.”
    “Son of a—” Elias broke off, thinking. “Well, wherever the hell it came from, we need to get it up here to Copper Beach and into the vault as soon as possible.”
    “I agree, but someone is going to have to come to Wilby to pick it up. I can’t leave town yet. The client insists on staying here until we find out who killed Ballinger.”
    “This would be the client who happens to be one of Abby’s two best friends?” Elias asked.
    “Gwen Frazier, right.”
    “Does she have any idea how the dead woman got hold of that rock?”
    “Gwen says Ballinger bought it online about two years ago.”
    “Damn Internet,” Elias growled. “Talk about the perfect black market. Anyone can sell anything and not leave a trace. Can’t believe Ballinger was using that rock to fuel a bunch of hot mirrors. It’s a miracle that she didn’t blow up her lab and maybe the whole town.”
    “Gwen says that Ballinger knew the rock was powerful. That’s why she kept it in a steel box. But it’s obvious she didn’t know what kind of fire she was playing with when she decided to use it as fuel for her engine.”
    “No one knows what kind of fire those rocks are capable of igniting. That’s what makes ’em so damn dangerous,” Elias muttered. He paused. “Huh.”
    “What?”
    “I’m no ace detective like you, son, but it strikes me that stone would be a mighty fine motive for murder.”
    “That thought did occur to me.”
    “Wouldn’t put it past Barrett to do whatever it took to get hold of one of the Phoenix rocks.”
    Judson suppressed a groan. He had been expecting this. His father’s long-standing feud with Hank Barrett, the owner of Helicon Stone, had achieved the status of legend, not only in the family but in the global mining business. The origins of the feud were locked in secrecy. Judson was fairly certain that his mother, Willow, knew how it had all started, but she kept Elias’s secrets.
    “I don’t think Barrett would resort to murder,” Judson said patiently.
    “Sure he would,” Elias shot back. “But it’s more likely he’d send his son to do his dirty work. Gideon Barrett is a chip off the old block, and we know that he’s a powerful talent, like you and Sam and Emma.”
    “One thing’s for sure,” Judson said. “If Ballinger was killed for the stone, the murderer failed to achieve his objective. The rock is sitting here in my room at the inn. I’m looking at the box that contains it as we speak.”
    “Don’t let it out of your sight. I’ll be there tomorrow morning.”

Sixteen
    T he storm hit just as they were finishing dinner. Gwen was very glad that Judson had insisted on driving the short distance to the restaurant. She knew that he was more concerned about security than the weather. It was easier to transport the strongbox—presently at his feet under the table—in the SUV. But when the weather turned bad in the Oregon mountains, it did so in a hurry. It would have been a very wet walk back to the inn.
    “Gonna be a bad one,” the young waiter said when he returned with the bill. “They’re sayin’ there’s another one coming in tomorrow.”
    Judson signed the credit card receipt, got to his feet and helped Gwen into her jacket. Then he picked up the strongbox.
    She