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appear we have a problem on our hands.”
    She widened her eyes. “We?”
    “If Fenwick has really disappeared, Miss Spring, I assure you, I want to find him far more than you do.”
    She searched his face for a few tense seconds. Then she exhaled slowly and leaned back in her chair. She drummed her fingers on the arms.
    “Damn.” She sounded morosely resigned to the inevitable. “I think I believe you.”
    “I can’t tell you what that means to me. Perhaps now we can move forward. But before we do, I have a question for you.”
    She cocked a brow. “What is it?”
    He watched closely. “You said you don’t mind working with matrix-talents.”
    “No. Their psychic energy is different, not quite like the energy of other talents, but what the heck, I’m a little different, too.”
    He frowned. “You said you were a prism.”
    “I am. Full-spectrum, in fact. But for some reason, I can only focus well with matrix-talents. Creating a prism for any other kind of talent is extremely stressful for me and I can’t hold the focus for long.”
    “I see.”
    “Look, I didn’t come here to discuss my part-time job. We need to concentrate on poor Morris. If you didn’t grab him, who did?”
    He considered that for the first time. “Assuming anyone grabbed him as you put it, the next suspect in line would seem to be the mysterious other client. The one he was using to drive up the journal’s price. Did he mention the name of the other bidder?”
    “No. Matrix-talents are so bloody secretive.” She narrowed her eyes. “But even if I knew the name of your competitor, I don’t think I’d tell you. I’m not sure I trust you completely, Mr. Chastain. I’m going to have to think about this for a while.”
    “Is that so? Well, think about this, Miss Spring. I did not kidnap Morris Fenwick. And since I had nothing to do with his disappearance and since he’s got my journal, it’s only logical that I’ve got the strongest motive for finding him.”
    “I suppose you do have a vested interest.”
    He could not believe that he was allowing her to annoy him. He shoved himself away from the desk and walked around to stand behind it. It was time to take control of the matrix.
    “You can relax, Miss Spring. I’ll locate Fenwick for you.”
    “Hold on here, Mr. Chastain.” Zinnia got swiftly to her feet. “I’m not at all sure I want your help in this.”
    “That’s unfortunate because you’re going to get it. I want the journal and Fenwick is apparently the only one who knows where it is. I intend to find him.”
    “I came here tonight because I thought you had snatched poor Morris. But if you say you haven’t got him—”
    He looked at her. “I not only said it, I gave you my word on it.”
    She blinked and took a step back. Then her chin came up. “Well, that’s that. There’s nothing more you can do.” She slung the strap of her purse over her shoulder. “I’ll be on my way. Sorry to have bothered you, Mr. Chastain.”
    “You’re suddenly very eager to leave, Miss Spring.”
    “I’ve got things to do and places to go,” she said with breezy disdain.
    “At one o’clock in the morning? You must have an interesting personal life.”
    “My private life is none of your business.” She reached the door and turned. “The important thing now is to make certain that Morris is safe. I’m going to contact the police.”
    Nick silently ran through the possibilities and probabilities of such a move. He had a reasonably good relationship with the cops in New Seattle, but he definitely did not want them involved in the search for the journal. “You’ll have to wait awhile before you contact the police.”
    Renewed suspicion flared in her eyes. “Why?”
    “For one thing, they won’t take a missing-persons report on an adult, especially a matrix-talent adult, for at least forty-eight hours. You won’t get any action out of them until the day after tomorrow. Second, if Fenwick is in trouble, going to