Gift of Fire

planes of his face were illuminated by the poisonous green glow of the vision.
    “I’m not sure. I get the feeling the crystal on that desk is trying to connect with itself in real time. It’s as if it tried my earrings and they didn’t quite work. It sounds crazy, I know.” Verity shook her head. She was experiencing a disturbing sense of unreality. It was different from the feeling she usually had while in the psychic corridor.
    “Nothing about this image makes much sense,” Jonas said. “That’s what bothers me. It’s just not a normal time-corridor film clip. I’ve got to find out what the hell is going on here, Verity. I can’t leave this place until I know what this is all about.”
    “It isn’t even a scene of violence. You only pick up scenes of violence.”
    “But I tune it in by using an object associated with violence. That part is normal enough.”
    Verity edged backward a step. “It’s almost as if the violence is about to happen, but hasn’t yet taken place.”
    “Damn. Verity, I think you’re right. That’s it. That’s the answer. We’re looking at the scene an instant or two before the action took place. This guy was probably sitting at his desk when someone walked in and killed him.”
    “But why aren’t we catching the actual death scene? Why would we pick up on it a few seconds before it occurs?”
    “I don’t know, but I’ve got to find out. I can feel the sense of warning emanating from this thing. It’s as if that guy is just sitting there daring me to try to get at him.”
    “Or daring you to uncover his treasure,” Verity offered, glancing around at the barren cell. “Obviously he doesn’t realize someone else has already gotten to it.”
    Jonas walked to the chest and ran his palm along the heavily carved lid. “I’m not so sure the treasure is gone.”
    “Jonas, don’t do that,” Verity said, watching the image uneasily.
    “Don’t touch the chest? Why?”
    “I swear his eyes are following you again.”
    “Just an optical illusion,” he said absently.
    Verity bit her lip, studying the image. The chest was still there behind the man, filled with treasure. “Why wasn’t this room discovered when the villa was taken apart and shipped over here?”
    “Who knows? Digby says in his diary that his relative had huge chunks of the villa left intact and transported that way. This room is small enough that it might have been shipped as a single unit. Maybe no one was even aware there was an opening behind these walls. It could look like a solid block of stone from the outside. Or it’s possible Digby’s crazy relative did find the room and the chest, and ordered it reconstructed exactly as it was. In which case, he’s probably the one who got the treasure, although he never admitted it to anyone.
Eccentric
was a mild term for Digby’s side of the family, apparently.”
    “But the rest of the furnishings were all sold off. I can’t believe someone would have overlooked that valuable chest.”
    “Digby didn’t know about the chest. At least not until the end of his life. Then again, maybe the chest is still here because someone wanted it left alone.”
    “Who?”
    “The guy in the vision?” Jonas suggested softly. “Digby came to the conclusion that the treasure, whatever it was, might be protected with a curse. It was one of the last entries in his diary.”
    Verity closed her eyes
.
“Jonas, don’t talk like that. We’re not in the business of removing curses from haunted houses. You’re a consultant, not a ghost hunter. You authenticate things. You do nifty little articles on the historical significance of old weapons and villas, and maybe an occasional treasure. That’s it. End of job description.”
    “It’s here, Verity. I know it is.” Apparently Jonas was not paying much attention.
    “What’s here?” she demanded, scowling in the darkness. “The treasure.”
    “Are you nuts? It’s gone. The chest is empty. Someone has already been in here and scarfed up the lot. And then he casually knifed poor Digby on the way out the door.”
    “You said you knew the crystal was still around,” Jonas reminded her softly.
    Verity was still holding her warm red crystal earrings. She glanced at the crystal on the desk in the vision and it seemed to wink at her. “That’s different,” she said with great certainty.
    “No, it’s not. You know the crystal is still here in the villa and I know the treasure is still here. Whatever that guy