Eye of the Beholder

headline in the business sections of every major newspaper in the country etched itself in invisible letters on the windshield in front of his eyes.

    AVALON RESORTS CEO VICTIM OF ART SCAM

    No question about it. An affair with Alexa Chambers would seriously complicate an already labyrinthine situation.
    He tried to analyze her motives.
    Maybe she thought she could influence the direction of his investigation into Harry's death.
    Maybe she figured that sleeping with him would be an effective way to deflect his attention from her stepfather.
    Damn. He was still half erect.
    Maybe she was right.

10

    Alexa parked the Camry in the section of the Avalon Plaza parking lot reserved for shopkeepers and their employees, got out, and checked her watch.
    There was time to pick up some tea and a muffin from Cafe Solstice before she opened Elegant Relic.
    She slung the strap of the large black leather satchel that doubled as both purse and briefcase over her shoulder and started toward the cafe.
    Avalon Plaza was a trendy architect's version of an eighteenth-century Spanish Colonial village. Vine-draped trellises shaded the terra cotta walks. Red tile roofs gleamed in the morning sun. Artistically worked wrought iron benches surrounded a sparkling yellow, blue, and white tiled fountain.
    The shops in the Plaza catered to tourists and locals who were into the metaphysical aspects of the Avalon area. It wasn't where she had envisioned Elegant Relic when she first came up with the notion for the shop, but there had not been a lot of choice in the matter.
    After making the decision to return to Avalon to lie low for a while following the debacle at McClelland, she had faced the problem of finding a suitable retail location. Business rental space had been at a premium in town due to the increased number of people moving into the vicinity and the surge in tourism.
    Lloyd had put out some feelers for her. Luckily one of his business contacts had passed along a rumor that Avalon Plaza was looking for a new tenant.
    Although not New Age or metaphysical in focus, Elegant Relic, with its gargoyles, medieval map reproductions, and imitations of ancient Egyptian jewelry, had settled in well with its neighbors.
    After all, it was only for a year or two, she reminded herself, as she did every morning when she arrived at the Plaza.
    "Peace and serenity, Alexa."
    Alexa glanced at the arched stucco doorway of Spheres Books and saw Dylan Fenn , the proprietor. He was a striking contrast to the faux-Spanish Colonial architecture of his shop. Unless, of course, short, razor-cut, platinum-tinted hair, a single gold earring, and a taste for 1960s tie-dye and platform sandals had been a fashion statement in the eighteenth-century Southwest.
    She guessed Dylan to be somewhere in his forties, although it was hard to be certain. There was a curiously androgynous air about his pale, slender frame. If he had a love life of any kind, straight or gay, she had never seen any indication of it.
    She reminded herself that she was hardly in a position to question the excitement quotient of other people's sex lives. It had been so long since she'd had one herself, that she'd almost forgotten what a sex life felt like.
    She halted on the sidewalk and smiled. "Good morning to you, too."
    Unlike half the town and all of her fellow shopkeepers, she had not picked up the habit of using the Dimensions Institute greeting, "peace and serenity."
    "What do you think of the display?" Dylan's turquoise and silver Dimensions bracelet gleamed in the sun as he swept out a hand to indicate the array of books on the other side of the shop window. "Is it a grabber?"
    Alexa studied the window arrangement. It consisted of several dozen copies of Living the
Dimensions Way
    : Building a Life Based on the Principles of Peace and Serenity. The books were artistically stacked in circles and pyramids.
    A huge picture of Webster Bell in his signature black, silver, and turquoise dominated the display. The sign beneath the photo read, Meet the Author.
    "Looks good," Alexa said. "I'm sure you'll have a line of people around the block for Bell 's autographing this time, just like you did when his last book came out."
    "I hope so. This new book is a follow -on to last year's title. It goes deeper into the metaphysical concepts relating to the Dimensions diet and exercise programs."
    "You've read it already?"
    "Sure." Dylan's sky-blue eyes shone with pride. "Webster always makes certain that I