Gift of Fire

alive and killed Hazelhurst,” Jonas said forcefully. “Forget it.”
    “All right, if that’s an impossibility, what does it leave us with?”
    Jonas ate the last of his mushrooms. “It leaves us,” he stated slowly, “with the possibility that Hazelhurst and somebody else found the treasure, or at least the ruby ring, and the guy with the stiletto didn’t want to go halvesies.”
    Verity put down her fork and stared at Jonas. “Good grief, you’re right. That’s a perfectly plausible explanation. That ring alone is probably worth killing for, which means that two years ago Hazelhurst involved someone else in the treasure hunt. But Maggie said that he never had any luck getting his academic buddies to help.”
    “She also mentioned a guy who claimed he was a grad student in Renaissance history showing up a few months before Hazelhurst disappeared.”
    Verity nodded. “But she said Hazelhurst didn’t work with him long. Claimed the man wasn’t a real student, just a treasure hunter.”
    “It’s possible the guy sneaked back into the villa after he was kicked out. If he was reasonably discreet, he could wander around a long time in that pile of rocks before anyone caught him.”
    “But maybe Hazelhurst did catch him. Maybe he ran into him in that hidden passage. And maybe one of them had found that ring along with a few others items, like the old stiletto.”
    “And maybe there was an argument. A fight.” Jonas nodded thoughtfully. “It’s possible.”
    “Which means that whoever was hanging around two and a half years ago has long since taken the treasure and vanished.”
    “Also possible. Probable, in fact.”
    “Which means we’re wasting our time,” Verity concluded with a sigh. “The treasure’s gone.”
    “Not necessarily.”
    She looked at him in surprise. “What’s that supposed to mean?”
    Jonas shook his head. “I don’t think the real treasure was found. Or if it was, I don’t think the thief got away with it.”
    “Why not?”
    Jonas looked at her, his eyes shadowed. “Because the treasure, whatever it is, will be very well guarded, Verity. No casual treasure hunter could have stolen it, not easily. Precautions were taken. I felt the echoes of them.”
    “Booby traps, you mean? But they might all have rusted by now, like the one that guarded the crystal.”
    “I’m not sure that all the traps are mechanical.” Jonas became very busy buttering a chunk of sourdough bread.
    “Jonas, for crying out loud, what are you trying to tell me?”
    He hesitated, then said quietly, “I don’t know. But I got a strong sense of warning, a feeling of real threat from the room where the crystal was found. I got an even heavier dose of it from that vision of the man seated at the desk. I’ve felt a lot of things in that psychic corridor, but what I felt this last time was different.”
    “Different how?”
    “If I understood that part, I’d have this case solved.” Jonas bit off a large piece of the chewy bread. “There’s just this faint sense of impending action or violence. Like something’s waiting to happen.”
    “I don’t like the sound of this.” Verity had been hungry, but she was rapidly losing her appetite. “Do you think we should drop the whole thing and go home?”
    “Are you kidding? I wouldn’t leave now if you paid me.”
    “Dammit, Jonas, you just said it was dangerous.”
    “I’ll be careful.” He grew thoughtful. “I could try exploring the passageway alone. You can stay behind in the bedroom. Apparently the link between us is strong enough now to permit some distance. I can get hold of you mentally if I need you.”
    “Now you listen to me, Jonas Quarrel. You are not going to go off merrily exploring that hidden passage on your own while I sit and wait in the bedroom. You take me with you, or you don’t go at all.”
    “Now, Verity,” he began soothingly.
    “Don’t even try to talk me out of it. You don’t know what you’re getting into. You don’t know how strong the link between us would be in a real emergency if we were separated by a long distance. This whole consulting job was my idea, remember? I’m the one who got you the project, and the agreement was that I go along as part of the package. If you stay, I stay. And if you go into that secret passage again, I go with you.”
    “You are one stubborn woman, Verity Ames.”
    “It’s part of my charm.”
    “I’ll try to keep that in mind.”
    “Jonas,” Verity said