Guild Boss (Ghost Hunters #14)(10)

“I’m aware that your reputation took a hit after the incident two months ago,” Gabriel said.

“My reputation was shot to green hell, Mr. Jones. No security team wants to work with me. I’m bad luck. I suggest you try Roxby Weather Wizards. They’re handling a lot of the Coppersmith Mining jobs these days. Big outfit. Lots of strong channelers. They look good, too. Flashy uniforms.”

Gabriel considered the empty tour bus seats and then turned back to her. “You’re working as a tour guide because of what happened two months ago?”

She gave him a steely smile. “What happened two months ago changed my life. And not in a good way.”

“Do you want me to apologize for pulling you out of the Underworld?”

“Nope. I’m well aware I owe you my life, and I am very glad to be alive. So, thanks for that.”

“But?”

“But if you’re here because you think you can do me a favor by throwing some weather work my way, forget it.”

“I’m offering you a contract,” Gabriel said evenly. “I’m here because I need your skills and your talent.”

She shook her head. “You’re wasting your time. Even if I took the job, you wouldn’t be able to find a team that would be willing to work with me. I told you, I’ve got a reputation now. I’m the channeler who got drunk at the wedding, did drugs at an after-party, and got lost in the Underworld. Had to be rescued by a Guild security agent who risked his life to haul me back to the surface. Afterward I went crazy because of the alcohol, the drugs, and the trauma of three days in a hot paranormal environment.”

“Lucy—”

“Hey, could happen to anyone, right? But no one wants to go down into the tunnels with a weather channeler who got into that kind of trouble. In my business it’s all about reputation. I don’t have one to speak of anymore.”

“You partied a little too hard and you got in over your head,” Gabriel said gently. “It happens. But the experience didn’t drive you crazy.”

“I did not party too hard,” Lucy said through set teeth. “I was drugged and kidnapped.”

Gabriel regarded her in silence for a moment. His jaw tightened.

“I was told that after I left, the Illusion Town police conducted an investigation,” he said, speaking quietly. “There was no evidence to support your version of events.”

“The police couldn’t even find the driver of the cab that took me away from the hotel that night. Talk about incompetent.” Lucy drummed her fingers on the steering wheel. “I went a step further.”

“A step further?”

“Hired my own private investigator. Cost me a fortune, but I wanted the best, and that’s what I got. Keele Investigations is the go-to agency for the biggest casinos and corporations. They’ve even handled jobs for Coppersmith Mining. They use the latest and greatest technology, and they’ve got connections with the Federal Bureau of Psi Investigation.”

Gabriel’s eyes tightened at the corners. “I wasn’t aware that a private investigation agency had looked into your case.”

“I kept it quiet, because nothing good came of it. Unlike the local police, the Keele agency was able to track down the cabdriver. Turns out he left town right after I was grabbed. Evidently, he ran because he had been driving without the proper license. That’s a major offense in this town. He was terrified of being drawn into a missing persons investigation. He knew that if I turned up dead, he would have been the last person to see me alive. He wouldn’t have been able to prove his innocence.”

“What did he tell the Keele investigator?”

“Nothing useful.” Lucy exhaled slowly. “He confirmed the theory the police and everyone else believed—I got into his cab drunk or high, he wasn’t sure which. I said something about a party. I insisted on getting out of the cab when we were near the Storm Zone Wall. The last thing he saw was me running into the fog. The Keele report says there was no evidence of foul play. The investigator concluded that I had become disoriented by the paranormal radiation or the drugs—or both. Even my own father and his wife think I hallucinated the story. That night after you dumped me, I was locked up in a para-psych clinic.”

“I didn’t dump you. I handed you off to the medics and your father.”

She gave him her iciest smile. “From my perspective it sure looked like I was dumped. I guess you had to be there.”

Gabriel’s jaw clenched, but he did not lose his temper. You had to give him credit for control.

“There seems to be some confusion about what happened at the clinic,” he said in an excruciatingly neutral tone of voice. “Apparently you walked out against the doctor’s recommendation.”

“I didn’t walk out,” Lucy said. “I escaped. Big difference.”

She waited for Gabriel to question that story, too, but he let it go.

“Are you fully recovered now?” he asked.

“Yep. Not that anyone believes me.”

“I do. I would like to hire you for the Ghost City job.”

“Thank you. That is very nice of you.”

Gabriel narrowed his eyes. “Nice?”

“Kind? Generous? Whatever, I appreciate it. Really. Sorry I can’t project more enthusiasm and gratitude. It’s been a tough couple of months.”