In Too Deep

fact that one of Fallon’s several times great-grandmothers was also a scientist—a botanist, as a matter of fact. Lucinda Bromley Jones lived in the Victorian era and was married to Caleb Jones.”
    “The other half of the original Jones & Jones?”
    “Right. I’m afraid that Fallon went with the assumption that if the founder of J&J had good luck marrying a scientist, it made sense for his descendant to find himself a wife with scientific inclinations.”
    “In other words, Fallon tried to apply logic to the problem of finding a wife.”
    “Typical Fallon.”
    Isabella stifled a small sigh and switched her attention to the other side of the room where Maryann Jones was chatting with a group of distinguished-looking people that included Fallon’s mother, Alexia Jones. Fallon had introduced his parents at the start of the reception. Alexia and Warner Jones had been very gracious but that was only to be expected, Isabella reminded herself. There was no way to be sure what they really thought of her. Fallon had made a point of presenting her as
my new assistant
.
    “Fallon’s aunt was checking me out, wasn’t she?” Isabella asked.
    Raine smiled. “She certainly was.”
    “Think she knows that Fallon and I have a personal relationship as well as a business relationship?”
    “I think everyone in the room is aware of that.”
    “Good grief.” Isabella tried to squelch a tiny surge of panic. “How on earth could they possibly know? And don’t you dare tell me it’s because everyone in the room is psychic.”
    “You don’t have to be clairvoyant to sense the energy in the atmosphere when the two of you are close together. The fact that you and Fallon are involved in a personal way was obvious the minute you walked into the room tonight.”
    “Ack. I think I need another canapé and a second glass of champagne.”
    “I’ll come with you to the buffet table. I need to fortify myself for another round of socializing.”
    They made their way around the fringes of the crowd, pausing occasionally so that Raine could greet someone or introduce Isabella.
    “I imagine being the wife of the Master of the Society can be somewhat demanding at times,” Isabella said as they neared the buffet table.
    “You have no idea.”
    Isabella fixed her attention on a platter of tasty-looking puff pastry canapés. “Those look good.”
    “Go for it,” Raine said. “I’m off to check out the cheese tray.”
    Isabella picked up a small dish and circled around the small group blocking the path to the puff pastries.
    “From what I hear, Fallon Jones is getting worse,” a man said in low tones. “He’s become obsessed with that conspiracy he calls Nightshade.”
    “Now, Hal, that’s just gossip,” a woman observed. “You have to agree that Nightshade represented a genuine threat.”
    “Past tense,” Hal insisted. “That’s the point, Liz. Look, I give J&J credit for breaking the back of that organization, but with Craigmore gone, there’s no way Nightshade will ever recover. With its leader dead and five of the drug labs destroyed, the organization is finished. We should be directing our resources elsewhere.”
    “Jones is convinced that Nightshade will reconstitute itself,” a younger man volunteered. “According to what I’ve heard, he believes that the scientist who re-created the formula is still out there somewhere, probably concocting another version of the drug for a new boss.”
    “Doubtful,” Hal said. “But here’s the real issue, Adrian. There’s no way to know if Jones is right or if he’s simply sunk so deep into his own fantasies that he can’t find his way back to reality. We need someone in charge of J&J who can put things into perspective. The agency should refocus on handling routine investigations for members of the Society. That’s why it was founded in the first place.”
    Adrian looked thoughtful. “I talked to Fallon earlier this evening. He’s not real great with the social chitchat thing but he didn’t strike me as a wacko.”
    “It’s in the blood,” Liz said. “Everyone knows that the men in that line who inherit a high-level version of chaos theory-talent eventually become paranoid and get lost in their conspiracy fantasies.”
    “Is that right?” Adrian asked.
    “Well, there was that old story about one of Fallon’s multiple-greatgrandfathers, Erasmus Jones,” Hal said. “A mad-scientist type who eventually committed suicide. And there were tales of