Falling Awake

investigation?”
    “Talked to her a few minutes ago,” Lawson replied. “She saysthe local cops haven’t even found the damned car, let alone the driver. Hit-and-runs are tough to crack unless there’s a tip. You know that.”
    “What about Belvedere’s third mystery client?”
    “Nothing there, either.” Outrage rumbled in Lawson’s words. “Whoever this guy is, he’s as well hidden as I am. That’s why I’m so damn sure he’s fed, like me. Maybe CIA. They’ve fooled around with the psychic stuff often enough in the past. Remember that remote viewing program they ran for a while? It’s not hard to imagine them getting involved in high-end dream research.”
    Ellis took his feet off the coffee table. “Interesting.”
    “What? That he might be CIA?”
    “No, that he’s as good as you are when it comes to hiding his tracks.”
    “Hell, everything I know I learned from Beth,” Lawson said.
    “And you taught it to me.”
    “So?”
    “I wasn’t the only one you taught, Lawson.”
    Lawson groaned. “You’re back to Vincent Scargill, aren’t you?”
    “He was a fast learner. You said so yourself. In addition, he was good with computers. Remember those online games he was always playing? He knew more about the Internet than you and me put together. Probably even more than Beth does. The younger they are, the better they are with the newest technology. That’s how it works. Just ask any parent.”
    “I know,” Lawson said wearily.

    Ellis heard the irritating ping-ping-ping again and resisted the urge to grind his teeth.
    “How about you?” Lawson asked finally. “What, exactly, are you doing out there in California?”
    Ellis surveyed the mountains of old documents, notes and reports he had stacked and sorted by date around the living room. He had concluded that it would be best not to mention the six cartons of research files just yet. Once Lawson found out they existed, he wouldn’t rest until he got his hands on them.
    “I’m just doing some paperwork,” Ellis said.
    “Paperwork, huh?” Lawson sounded slightly relieved. “Call me if you get anything I can use.”
    “Sure.”
    Ellis ended the call, put the phone in his pocket and regarded Sphinx.
    “I’m on the roller coaster,” he told the cat, “and it’s too late to get off.”
    It wasn’t the great sex, he thought, although that had been very, very fine, indeed. Nevertheless, he was old enough to know that great sex was just that, great sex. It began and ended in the bedroom or some other convenient location.
    Last night had been a whole lot more than great sex. Last night he had gone to bed with the woman who walked through his dreams.

24
    i an Jarrow looked around the terrace café, taking in the clusters of instructors in their Kyler red blazers, the eager students and the large manual that sat on the table beside Isabel. He shook his head, his derision clear.
    “I can’t believe you’re going to work at a place like this,” he said.
    Isabel did her own quick sweep of her surroundings and was relieved to see there was no one sitting close enough to overhear the comment. That did not stop her from being annoyed by it, however. Farrell had worked hard to build Kyler, Inc. It had been his dream and he had made it real. No one had a right to knock someone else’s dream.
    “The Kyler Method is a very effective technique for a lot of people,” she said sharply. “Just because you’re not into motivational theory, don’t assume that it doesn’t have any value.”

    “Listen, no one is more motivated than I am today,” Ian stated. “Why the hell do you think I got into my car this morning and drove all the way here to Roxanna Beach just to talk to you?”
    “Funny you should ask.” She took a bite out of her cucumber, dill and cheese sandwich. “I’ve been wondering about that.”
    She had found him waiting for her when she emerged from a seminar room a few minutes before noon. He was pacing the lobby, glancing at his watch.
    Her first reaction was pleased surprise at seeing a familiar face. Then she noticed his anxious, impatient expression.
    “I gather you talked to Randolph Belvedere last night,” Ian said. “He offered to let you come back to your old job?”
    “It was very nice of him,” she said.
    “Nice, hell, he’s desperate to get you back. He called me right after he talked to you, gave me your new work address and more or less ordered me to come here today and convince you to go back