Serafina and the Virtual Man - By Marie Treanor Page 0,64

fear, for Sera could feel its energy streaming away. The whirling objects had less force; most of them were doing little more than vibrating on the ground. “Enough,” Sera told it. “Go. It’s time.”

And abruptly the connection between them broke, and she staggered back against Blair.

“Got the bastard,” she crowed weakly, just as Jilly rolled across the room and sprang to her feet, staring at her, wide-eyed, a smile of pure fun dying on her face.

“Sera? Blair!” For some reason, Jilly crossed her arms over her breasts, then blinked as if surprised by the sight of her own jacket sleeves. She gave a breath of laughter. “I’m out. Adam?” She whirled around. “Adam? Adam!”

She strode around the room, more panicked than Sera had seen her in years. “He’s not here! Where did he go?”

Sera went after her. There was no green light at the trigger point. “Jilly. The poltergeist’s gone. We dispersed it.”

Jilly stared at her. “It wasn’t Adam,” she said fiercely.

“No, I don’t think it was,” Sera agreed. “But they were connected. Adam killed Killearn. Maybe Killearn’s fury was what kept Adam’s spirit here. I don’t know. But it seemed as if the poltergeist sought him out here as it was dispersing. As if still determined to take Adam with it.”

Jilly dragged her hand through her hair and tugged hard. “No,” she said in clear distress. “No.”

Sera took her by the shoulders. “Jilly, he couldn’t stay here forever. They’ve both gone where they should, where all this stuff doesn’t matter. You have to let go.”

Sera’s heart almost broke at the expression in Jilly’s eyes, and yet it vanished almost at once. Jilly was used to life kicking her in the teeth.

“I know,” she said shakily. “It was just… I was having such bloody good fun.”

Sera took her arm and led her toward Blair and the door, speaking with deliberate practicality. “Suggest we tidy up in here and claim we cornered the poltergeist in the outer study. Since we don’t have Adam to doctor the camera recordings, can you get rid of the evidence of us breaking in?”

“Maybe. But he might have already done it.” Jilly walked briskly to collect her laptop and head out to the outer office. Her shoulders drooped.

Oh Jilly, trust you! All that long buildup of emotion and you give it to a computer program… Helplessly, Sera watched her right Dale’s computer chair and sit in it before opening her laptop. Blair hefted the big desk upright and replaced the fallen monitor in the correct position. Jilly stood up and plugged it in.

“It isn’t the end,” she said intensely. “Adam killed Killearn in self-defence because someone sent Killearn to kill him. And after Adam killed Killearn instead, someone else shot and killed Adam and covered it up with a false trail to Australia. And my money’s on Dale.”

“Why?” Sera asked. “They were friends.”

“But not so close since Petra came on the scene. And Petra had a bit of a crush on Adam, according to Roxy. Plus, even though the Ewans were stinking rich, they were living beyond their means. They needed money and wanted to retire. Splitting the profit from the new system with Adam would have meant waiting. This way, Dale just needs to launch and grab, maybe even sell while things are on a high.”

Sera nodded slowly. They’d already earned their fee, and she was more than happy to collect. But it wouldn’t stop her grassing her client up. She’d rather liked the virtual Genesis Adam. And besides, it mattered so much to Jilly.

“Okay. Find the evidence. We’ll give it to Alex McGowan. Jilly?”

Jilly glanced up, hard-eyed in the way that reminded Sera too much of childhood hurts.

Sera said, “About Adam, you know it’s for the best?”

Jilly nodded and dropped her gaze back to the computer.

Sera returned to clearing up the lab. Half an hour later, there was no trace there of the poltergeist’s depredations. Sera left a little realistic mess in the outer study, and closed the sliding door. Jilly doctored the rest of the camera evidence, switched off Dale’s computer, and quietly left.

Blair went off on his own—hunting, Sera assumed, and tried not to care that he was receiving bodily gratification from some other human, no doubt a young and attractive woman, since he liked those best. He wouldn’t hurt her, whoever she was; she wouldn’t even remember him or anything he did to her. Only Sera had those kinds of memories. Only Sera slept in his bed and made love with