Chapter Thirteen
Thirteen
“Deke has always been the impulsive type,” Angela Wells said.
Phone in hand, she got up from the leather chair and moved to stand in front of the desk.
She stabbed the speaker button on the heavily encrypted phone and set the device down on the polished surface.
“It’s that talent of his. It makes him overconfident. Reckless.”
On the other side of the study Harry looked up from his laptop, gray brows quirking.
She had been married to him for decades, long enough to know that he didn’t agree with her assessment.
Unfortunately, she didn’t agree with it, either.
Yes, their eldest son had a history of chasing adrenaline thrills, but in the immediate aftermath of his wife’s death he had plunged into a very dark place.
He had taken the most dangerous assignments from the Agency.
For over a year she had been terrified that he would not return to the surface.
She had been so grateful when he had appeared to pull back from some awful brink. In the past three or four years he had seemed more settled. Happier. More content. He had begun to concentrate more and more on his photography hobby.
But now she was afraid that the dark had reclaimed him.
“You were right,” Luke said on the other end of the connection. “Deke is in trouble.”
Angela sighed. “I was afraid of that. I thought that after he retired from the Agency he would finally settle down.”
“Hold on right there,” Sophy said. “Are you saying Deke Wells worked for an intelligence agency? Which one? CIA? FBI? NSA? DHS? Or is it some shady, off-the-books Foundation outfit?”
Angela winced. She was talking to a Harper. She had to watch every word. When Luke had called from the road a short time ago he had warned her that Sophy Harper was in the car and that the phone was on speaker, but Sophy had not said a word. Until now.
“Never mind,” Angela said smoothly. “This is Wells family business.”
“Which seems to have become Harper family business,” Sophy shot back. “Trust me, I’m not thrilled to be involved in this, but we both know that under the circumstances I don’t have any choice. It looks like your son has dragged my aunt into serious trouble.”
Angela took a grip on her temper. “Have you considered the possibility that Beatrice Harper might be the one responsible for whatever happened?” she said in her iciest tones.
“It’s difficult to believe, but from what Luke says, Deke and your aunt apparently have some sort of relationship.
Bea Harper probably seduced him. He’s been very vulnerable since he was widowed. ”
“Deke’s wife died five years ago. There’s no way you can blame my aunt for this unfortunate situation.
But I agree with you on one point: it’s hard to think of those two as a couple.
I can’t imagine what she could possibly see in an overconfident, reckless Wells, especially one who evidently worked for a clandestine government agency.
A Wells who apparently has no visible means of support, since he is now retired.
Really, who can make a living with photography, especially at his age? I doubt if he’s the social media type.”
“How dare you?”
“Maybe Deke Wells is still working for that supersecret Agency. The photography night be a cover. I wouldn’t be surprised to learn that he dragged Aunt Bea into a dangerous case and now they’re both in trouble.”
“You,” Angela said through clenched teeth, “have a very active imagination. You should try sticking to the facts. It will get you much farther.”
“Here’s a fact,” Sophy said coldly. “There’s a high probability that Deke and Bea are in trouble because of something that involves the pact between the families. Luke and I have no option but to work together to find them.”
“I doubt very much that Luke needs your assistance. He’s quite capable of conducting this investigation on his own.”
“I’m not about to let him handle this by himself, not while Aunt Bea is in danger.”
“This sort of thing is hardly in your wheelhouse. You’re just a crime scene reader and a housekeeper. You did what you were paid to do. Your services are no longer required. I’m sure Luke would be delighted if you stayed out of the way. Let him handle this.”
Luke cleared his throat. “Uh, Grandma, I don’t think you understand the situation. Sophy is committed to this project. She’s worried about her aunt and she is determined to go to Fool’s Gold Canyon. It makes sense for us to work together.”
“No, it does not,” Angela snapped. “This is a job for a trained security analyst. The Harpers have never had any abilities that would be useful in a situation like this.”
“I realize that the Wells clan thinks it’s superior to the Harpers because it controls a business empire,” Sophy said, “but we both know that empire was founded on my great-grandfather’s inventions.”
“Xavier Wells and Tobias Harper were partners. They developed those first security devices together. It’s not our fault that your great-grandfather did not have a head for business.”
“It’s a fact that Xavier Wells forced Tobias out of the company,” Sophy shot back.
“Xavier bought out Tobias. Your great-grandfather was not forced out. He wanted to pursue his own research and he needed money to do it. Xavier gave him the cash, a lot of it. Your great-grandfather blew it on weird inventions that never found a market.”
“He was a concept guy,” Sophy muttered. “A visionary.”
But now she was on the defensive. Angela moved in fast.
“Regardless of what happened in the past, both men agreed that the secrets of the Kaleidoscope weapons should not be allowed out into the world,” she said. “They made a sacred pact between the families and we are all bound to honor it.”
“Exactly,” Sophy said, very cool again. “That means Luke and I work together. Right now we need information—specifically everything your husband knows about Kaleidoscope.”
“Harry does not take orders from a Harper,” Angela snapped. “Luke, do something about her.”
“Are you kidding?” Luke said. “I might not be the smartest man in the world, but I’m not dumb enough to try to break up a cage match fight between two women.”
“Very wise,” Harry announced from the other side of the study. He closed the computer, got to his feet, and strolled toward the desk. “Maybe we should all try to focus here.”
“The Boss has a point,” Luke said.
Angela pulled herself together. “Yes, he does.”
“Sophy is right,” Luke said. “We do need information about Kaleidoscope. For our generation it’s ancient history. We know bits and pieces of the story, but neither of us has a complete picture.”
“It wasn’t contemporary history for me, either,” Harry said. “I was born after the pact was made and after Dad and Tobias Harper ended their partnership. My father never talked much about Kaleidoscope or Pandora’s box. He just emphasized that both were extremely dangerous.”
“Hold on,” Luke said. “Pandora’s box disappeared in the Fogg Lake explosion. What does it have to do with Kaleidoscope?”
“There were issues with the Kaleidoscope weapons,” Harry said.
“Right, the psychic recoil problem.”
“The crystals in Pandora’s box were developed to deal with the recoil.
But in the end Dad and Tobias Harper concluded the crystals were even more dangerous than the weapons.
To the end of his days Dad hoped the stones had been buried under tons of rock in the Fogg Lake explosion, but he always wondered if someone might have smuggled them out. ”
Sophy sniffed. “Someone named Tobias Harper, for instance?”
“Of course not,” Harry said. “When it came to Kaleidoscope and Pandora’s box, Xavier and Tobias trusted each other. They had no choice.”
“The good news is that this doesn’t involve the crystals in Pandora’s box,” Angela put in quickly. “If that were the case, Deke would have written something else on those passes. Evidently he was just worried about Kaleidoscope.”
“She’s right,” Harry said. “Look, I need to do some research in the vault. I’m going to pull the old Kaleidoscope files and see if there is anything useful in them. I’ll call you as soon as I have something.”
“Thanks,” Luke said. “We’re on our way to Santa Rosa. I ordered the company jet to meet us there. Let me know what you find out in the vault.”
“Will do,” Harry said.
He ended the call.
Angela retrieved her phone and glared at him. He was the love of her life, but she had never met a more stubborn man. Typical Wells, she thought affectionately.
He had vowed to retire that year and she had been thrilled.
They were booked on a long cruise. Plans had been made.
Until six months ago, the management transition at the top of Wells, Inc.
had been going far more smoothly than most people, including most industry watchers, had anticipated.
It was a given in the business world that succession arrangements within tightly held family firms were invariably messy.
But there had not been so much as a ripple of resentment when Harry had announced he was stepping down and would be handing the reins to Luke.
Their oldest grandson was the obvious choice, and not just because he lacked any of the psychic-grade engineering and scientific talents that ran in the bloodline.
It had been clear from the cradle that Luke’s father, Matthew, would always prefer his engineering lab to running the company, and Deke’s restless nature, which had become even more pronounced after the death of his wife, meant he would never be able to concentrate on running Wells, Inc.
Luke, on the other hand, could focus on the arcane intricacies of business the way others in the family did on research and development.
Until the disaster six months ago, he had been not only content with his future role as the head of Wells, Inc.
, but enthusiastic about it, too. Driven was not too strong a word.
Like all the Wells men, once he set a goal or took on a responsibility, he was mission-oriented.
He had been obsessed with the challenge of taking the company into the future—right up until the wrong woman had walked into his life.
Victoria Ellsworth hadn’t just broken his heart—that would have been bad enough—she had shattered his confidence in himself.
That was the damage that Angela could not forgive.
Harry was convinced that the problem was temporary, that Luke simply needed time to accept that he had made a mistake. Yes, it was a serious mistake, but catastrophe had been averted. He had learned from his error in judgment. He would soon be ready to move forward.
Angela had told herself the same thing—at first. Lately, however, she had become increasingly concerned. Luke was not bouncing back the way they all had hoped.
But right now, she, too, needed to focus.
“Sophy Harper is going to be a problem,” she announced.
“Whatever gave you that idea?” Harry said. His mouth twitched at the corner. “Judging by what I overheard, it sounds like the two of you have a few things in common.”
“That is not funny.”
“You can worry about Sophy Harper some other time. Right now we’ve got a bigger problem.”
“I know,” Angela said. “Kaleidoscope.”
Harry headed for the door. “We need to go down to the vault.”