“No. He’s dead. The consensus of opinion is that he planned to eat some of those mushrooms that Spode ingested, but he didn’t last that long. Before he went into the maze he told the Foundation team that Spode had been making the serum based on Aurora Winston’s formula but that the plants had changed because of the intense radiation leaking out of Vortex all these years. The serum had become too strong. On top of that, the Vortex machine had become unstable. The enhancement treatments that had kept Spode and Barrow alive were slowly killing them, but they couldn’t stop because they would have died even more quickly. They were two very desperate men.”

“They had so much information to work with because Spode was the son of the assassin who had been assigned to murder everyone connected to Vortex.”

“It’s amazing that he was able to keep the location of Vortex a secret as long as he did,” Catalina said.

“Hiding in plain sight.” Olivia shifted position. “I was exposed to a lot of radiation when I went into that chamber, Cat. I think the camera protected me but I can’t be sure—”

“Relax. North checked your aura vitals. You’re fine.”

“Good to know.” Olivia hesitated a moment. “Spode murdered my mother.”

“Yes. And now he’s dead.”

“I think I understand how some of our clients feel when we get answers for them even though the answers aren’t happy.”

“Closure?” Catalina asked.

“I’m not sure what to call it. Feels like an ending of some kind. Time to move on in a different direction.”

“That’s what smart people do,” Catalina said. “And you’re a very smart woman.”

Olivia was quiet for a while, letting it all sink in.

“I found him, Cat.”

“Who?”

“The man who is willing to walk into hell to find me.”

Catalina smiled. “I know.”

CHAPTER 48

Harlan studied the body on the basement floor. “The first raider didn’t make it, but the ones who came after him cleaned out the place.”

He turned away from the dead thief and examined the space. There was still a lot of residual energy shivering in the downstairs salesroom of Swan Antiques, but the display cases had been emptied.

“It’s amazing how fast the rumors of a hot collection of artifacts left unprotected spread in the underground market,” he said. “Makes you wonder if the raiders have some version of a psychic Internet.”

Lucas Pine studied the empty basement and shook his head. “I’m still trying to figure out how we screwed up so badly. The Foundation has been dealing with Swan Antiques for years. Never had a clue that Gwendolyn Swan and her sister were searching for Vortex, let alone that they had a family connection to that lab.”