Falling Awake

Scargill,” Ellis said. “And it worked, at least for a while. But not any longer.”
    There was a short pause.
    “How did she do when you two talked to the cops last night?” Lawson asked.

    “Relax, you’ve got nothing to worry about. She acted like a real pro. Answered all the questions truthfully but she didn’t give up anything that would have complicated your life.”
    “Glad to hear that,” Lawson said, sounding genuinely relieved. “I was afraid I might have to do some damage control this morning.”
    “No.”
    “Well, that’s one bit of good news, at least.”
    “That’s one of the things I admire most about you, Lawson. You really know how to do the glass-half-full thing.” Ellis straightened away from the railing. “Don’t worry, I’ll find out who that third client is for you.”
    “Listen up, Cutler. You can have the assignment. Hell, you’re going to go looking for Number Three, anyway. But you’re supposed to be a professional. Don’t go doing anything stupid that will end up bringing down Frey-Salter. You need this place as much as all the other Level Fives need it.”
    “I’m aware of that.”
    That seemed to appease Lawson a little. “I’ll talk to Beth and ask her to look into the circumstances surrounding Hardy’s death,” he said. “No sense in wasting your time on that front. She’s got the resources to do it discreetly. And she’s thorough.”
    “No argument there.”
    “Meanwhile, you concentrate on Isabel Wright. She may know more than she realizes or she may know someone else back at the center who can give you an angle on the identity of Client Number Three.”

    “True.”
    “Fine. Stick with Isabel Wright, then, and see what you can learn from her. She’s the best lead we’ve got.”
    “You’re trying to distract me again, Lawson. But it’s okay. I happen to agree with you. Isabel is my best hope.”

18
    a fter Tamsyn left for a class, Isabel finished her salad and pushed the empty dishes out of the way. She opened the hefty instructor’s manual to Lesson Six: “Empower Your Students.”
    She was making notes on teaching the importance of identifying and focusing on one’s personal strong points and wondering how she could possibly connect that to creative dreaming when the light shifted in a subtle fashion.
    She looked up and saw Ellis coming toward her across the terrace carrying paper cups emblazoned with the café’s logo. He wore black trousers and a khaki shirt. A narrow leather belt rode low on his waist. As usual, his eyes were concealed behind a pair of sunglasses. She was rather pleased that she happened to haveher own shades in place. Two could play the guess-what-I’m-really-thinking game, she decided.
    “Get any sleep last night?” he asked, setting the cups down on the table.
    “Not much.” She pried the lid off her cup and discovered green tea. Perfect. “What about you?”
    “Couple hours, max. He pulled out a chair, sat down and snapped the lid off his cup. “Spent a lot of time thinking and then I called Lawson.”
    “Well?” She closed the manual very quickly and shoved it out of the way. Lawson and his mysterious agency were a lot more interesting than learning how to empower students. “What did he say?”
    “He admits that Gavin Hardy’s death may be more than an amazing case of coincidence in action, but he’s skeptical. However, he has his own agenda in this situation.”
    “And that is?”
    “He desperately wants to learn the identity of Belvedere’s anonymous third client. So desperate, in fact, that he just hired me to investigate that angle.”
    His cool, uninflected tone of voice made her curious. “That’s just what you wanted, isn’t it?”
    “Sort of.”
    “What do you mean? You were planning to look into this mess anyway. Now you’ve got Lawson’s backing and resources. Not to mention you’ll get paid for your time.”
    “The thing is, the situation is what you might call delicate.”The rock-solid line of his jaw worried her. “In what way?”
    “Lawson thinks the third client is some honcho in another government agency that is engaged in the same type of Level Five dream research and is equally obsessed with secrecy.”
    She frowned slightly. “I’ve heard there can be communication problems and even major turf wars between various government agencies.”
    “After more than three decades in government work, Lawson is what you might call paranoid on the subject of his rivals,