“She knows the Seattle market?” North asked.

“Yes.” Lucas glanced through the file. “Currently she’s an agent for the Vault, a business that handles transport and delivery of artifacts. According to Ambrose Jones, she’s good. Very good.”

“Ambrose Jones?” North asked.

“Jones owns and operates the Vault,” Victor said. “We’ve worked with him before. He has always been reliable. He told us to ignore Ms. Raines’s somewhat checkered job history, specifically what happened at her previous place of employment.”

North raised his brows. “What, exactly, did happen?”

“Until a few months ago she worked for one of the big auction houses, Ecclestone’s,” Lucas said. “She was let go amid rumors that Ecclestone’s was peddling fraudulent antiques. And before you ask, no, we don’t know if she was guilty. What we know is that she is now working as a go-between in the paranormal market in Seattle—specifically the deep end of that market.”

“I see.” North took the file. “And is Ms. Raines still selling fakes?”

Victor’s jaw tightened. “Jones says we can trust her. It’s not like we’ve got a lot of choice here.”

Just as you don’t have a lot of choice when it comes to investigators, North thought. You’re stuck with me. And it looks like I’m stuck with Sierra Raines.

“You want me to team up with a shady go-between who may or may not be dealing in fraudulent artifacts?” he said.

“I think it’s safe to assume she won’t try to con someone from the Foundation,” Victor said. “Not with Jones looking over her shoulder.”

“I’ll take your word for that.”

North flipped open the file. There was a small glossy photo of a woman who appeared to be about thirty years old. Her whiskey-brown hair was pulled back in an elegantly stern knot at the back of her nicely shaped head. She gazed out of the photo with brown-and-gold eyes that somehow managed to project a mix of wide-eyed innocence and bone-deep watchfulness.

Sierra Raines was attractive, but not Las Vegas beautiful. Nevertheless, in a town that boasted a lot of spectacular, long-legged women, she would stand out. At least, she would stand out to him. Somehow he knew that if she walked past him on the crowded Strip he would notice her.

What she had was an edgy, intriguing quality that came through even in a photograph. He was very sure those deep eyes concealed secrets and mysteries.

He made himself focus on the two pages of data. There was a very long list of very short-term jobs, ranging from interior decorator at a firm named Psychic Designs to bookseller at a shop called Paranormal Readings. In between, Sierra Raines had done stints as a psychic therapist, dream interpreter and meditation guide.

He scanned the list and then studied the last entry. Previous Employer: Ecclestone’s Auction House. Reason for Termination of Employment: Suspected of fraud.

He looked up. “Sierra Raines looks like a flake as well as a con artist.”

Lucas smiled. “She does seem to be having some trouble settling into the right job, but as far as the fraud goes, we are convinced she was set up to take the fall at Ecclestone’s.”