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“Very kind of you. Please stay and enjoy the party.”
He followed me out of the office, and the door clicked when he shut it behind us. Locked?
My heart went into double time. I would find out soon enough.
Chapter Ten
ERIN
The party was pretty much what I’d expected — lots of schmoozing rich folks who didn’t seem to know one another yet pretended they did. By seven o’clock, a line of fancy cars stretched down the side of the road, sleek SUVs alternating with classy sedans and a handful of sports cars. Conversations focused on mutual funds, real estate deals, and how thin/not thin so-and-so looked. Fancy finger food and drinks were served amid the soothing background music of a professional pianist with an impressively long name that made her sound like the great-great-granddaughter of Rachmaninoff, give or take a few syllables.
No magic on display, or even hidden magic, from what I could tell after studying each guest. Only Harlon, who charmed his way around the room.
I endured an hour of mingling and rich people jokes along the lines of “…and then he called my Rocket Espresso a coffee machine!”
Finally, Harlon was pulled aside by two balding businessmen — my chance to sneak upstairs.
I made my way up slowly, pretending to admire the artwork. The door to Harlon’s office opened onto the mezzanine that anyone could see from below, but that side door I’d noticed…
I tiptoed down the hallway, knocked softly, opened the door…and bingo. A marble-lined bathroom opened onto the hallway as well as the room on the other side.
Office, here I come.
With one last, furtive look around, I slipped through the bathroom and into the office, locking both doors behind me.
Let the snooping commence.
My heart was in my throat the whole time, and every few seconds, I swore I would only stay a few more. Because, shit. Ireallydidn’t want to be caught here.
I pictured the dead birds lying beneath the windows. Would I end up among them with my neck brutally twisted to one side? Or did Harlon have another place to dispose of burglars?
By then, the sun had set, and enough moonlight filtered into the room to see. I started at the table with the brochures and map. Using a pen to move things gently around — that’s how burglars avoided leaving fingerprints, right? — I exposed more of the map. There wasn’t anything as damning as a red circle around my property, but the map had been folded back to focus on that area, which was bad enough.
Then I tried the folders. It took me three tries to flip the first one open, only to find brochures with the usual tourist spiel about crystals, Jeep tours, and vortexes. A second folder held a welcome packet from the Sedona Chamber of Commerce. The third…
My breath caught.
The seal of the county assessor’s office graced the top of the first page. Below that was a full report on Painted Rock Ranch, with all previous owners, estimated value, tax assessments, sales history…
The fact that those details were a matter of public record didn’t ease my fears.
Laughter filtered in from downstairs. I looked up, then hurried over to check Harlan’s desk.
Using the pen to pull open drawer after drawer, all I found was stationery and office supplies. Then I flipped the book on Native American rock art open to a page marked with a Post-it note. Then the next and the next. All showed black-and-white photos of rock art, and while each shot contained several adjoining symbols, the common denominator in each was a spiral.
I skimmed the text beneath a close-up from the V-Bar-V Ranch Heritage Site.
Early interpretations of the spiral symbol identified it as a snake, though others interpret it as the path of the sun. Another theory is that such spirals mark water holes, while still others suggest energy fields or even portals to another world.
My arm twitched at the memory of being pushed back by an invisible force. I doubted the portal theory, butenergy fieldcertainly fit.
An energy field that could do…what, exactly?
I flipped the book shut and considered Harlon’s laptop. Did I dare?
Just as I let my hand hover near it, a shadow fell over the moonlight behind me.
I whirled to face the windows. A man was hauling himself over the rail of the balcony. Slowly, I backed up. Had he seen me? Could I get away?
