“I don’t have all the answers,” Harlan said. “Just enough to know that I need your help.”

“Victor said he wants me to assist you in your inquiries. That’s a rather vague request. My partner, Catalina, and I have discovered the hard way that vague requests from Victor usually mean trouble. Why did you ask for me specifically?”

“I have reason to think you’re the key to Vortex.”

The faint music sounded again, closer this time.

Olivia looked around. “That’s the recorder we heard earlier.”

“Yes.”

Harlan shook off a small chill and did another survey. The tech workers had disappeared around a corner. The couple engaged in the intense conversation were in the process of climbing into a car they had apparently summoned. The homeless man was moving away.

“What’s wrong?” Olivia asked.

Harlan realized he was massaging the back of his neck. “I got that ‘someone is watching you’ vibe.”

She shoved her hands into the pockets of her coat. “Trust me, I know the feeling.”

He looked at her. “You’re getting it, too?”

“Not right now, but I’ve had the sensation off and on for months. It’s been getting worse during the past week, probably because I’m coming up on the anniversary of my mother’s . . . death.”

“You believe she was murdered. I think so, too.”

CHAPTER 6

Olivia stopped very suddenly and turned to face him. In the light of the streetlamp her expression was stark. Her eyes were shadowed pools of mystery.

“What do you know about my mother’s death?” she said, her voice quiet and cold.

“I know that she died about a year ago while hiking alone in the woods. A fall, according to the authorities.”

“My friend Catalina and I believe she was murdered, but we haven’t been able to prove it. Do you have some evidence?”

“Nothing concrete,” he admitted. “Not yet. But there is reason to believe it was connected to Vortex.”

“Is that true or are you saying that because you need my help?”

“Both. If we find Vortex, there’s a high probability we’ll find your mother’s killer, or at least get some answers about her death.”

She gave him another long look. He knew she was once again studying his aura. Whatever she saw there apparently convinced her he was telling the truth. Then again, maybe she had simply decided to take a chance on him because she had no other options.

“Deal,” she said.

She walked on in silence, determination radiating from her. She was committed now. That was good, he told himself. He needed her. But he was aware of an underlying pang of disappointment. It would have been nice if she had agreed to help him because she liked him. Instead she had struck a bargain.