I rolled Kara over, got her phone out of her pocket, and scrolled down to “Boss Man.”

“Tell him you were waiting for us here, and that when we got here, you coached me on looking into the strait. Then hand the phone to me, and I’ll tell him what I saw.”

I hit “send” and handed him the phone.

Pale and shaking, he put it to his ear. When Cordus answered, though, Graham’s voice was steady. I watched, a little nauseated, as he smoothly constructed a version of events in which he’d done no wrong. He mentioned the green man, as though he’d seen my photo and made the connection himself. Then he brought up Justine. Clearly he’d been thinking along the same lines Williams and Kara had — bounty-hunter shows up in town, local woman disappears, bingo. All that stuff about checking with his contacts had been bullshit. He’d never believed Williams was the kidnapper.

When he was done, Graham handed the phone to me without meeting my eyes.

“Elizabeth Joy Ryder,” a super-sexy voice murmured in my ear.

My pulse went through the roof.

“I am most impressed. You seem to have found a way to turn Mr. Ryzik’s talent against him.”

Huh. Cordus had a pretty good bullshit meter.

“I will give Mr. Ryzik a second chance, but only because your strategy has obligated me to do so,” he said. “I must ask you not to thus obligate me again. The consequences of such an action would not please you. In addition, I directed you not to approach Mr. Ryzik, and yet there you are, within arm’s reach of him. Reliability is as important to me as results, Miss Ryder. Do you understand?”

I squeezed a “yes sir” past the lump in my throat.

“Now,” he said, “please describe to me exactly what you saw.”

I gave him a detailed account of the place I had seen in the flame. I also described the guy in the lawn chair. I added that Williams said the strait was closed.

He absorbed what I said in silence, then asked, “You heard the sound of the volcano and felt its heat. Is that correct?”

“Yes, especially toward the end. The experience seemed to be getting … I don’t know. Richer. Closer. Also, the guy there saw me. I’m not sure how, exactly, but he knew I was there.”

“Did he speak to you?”

“No. He seemed surprised, though. He burned up his book.”

“Most interesting,” Cordus said softly.

“Miss Ryder,” he said after a few moments, “Mr. Ryzik’s identification of the green man’s quarry is likely correct.”

“Oh,” I said, shocked to my depths. “So it’s true? She really might be … one of you?”

“In the sense you intend, yes.”

He paused. He certainly had a measured, careful approach to conversation.

Finally he asked, “Has Mrs. McCallister received any premonitions regarding Mrs. Ryder’s status or location?”

Mrs. McCallister? That was news to me.