Hannah leaned slightly out of the car. “Did you put Rafe and me in your log tonight?”
“Honey, I took down the license plate, make, and model of every car in this lot when it arrived, and that includes friends as well as suspects. Got to keep the record accurate.”
“Something to be said for accuracy,” Hannah agreed.
“I also noted the number of people in each vehicle and, where possible, the identities.” Arizona scowled. “Got to admit, I don’t always recognize everyone these days. Every year more strangers show up for meetings and parties here at the institute. In the old days I knew just about everyone who came and went. But not anymore. The web is widening daily.”
Rafe eyed the logbook. “Are you going to write down the time that we leave?”
“You bet. It’s the details that make the difference, you know. When the truth finally comes out, it will be the accumulation of a lot of tiny facts in these logs that will show how the phantom project operated undetected for so long.”
Hannah wrinkled her nose. “You don’t really think that Rafe and I are involved in the conspiracy, do you?”
Arizona snorted. “ ’Course not. You’re just a couple of naïve, innocent dupes like most everyone else around here. But I gotta put you in my logs because I gotta have a complete record of all comings and goings. If I start skipping a couple of cars here and there, the government lawyers might try to claim that the logs are incomplete or inaccurate. Can’t give ’em any room to squirm when the truth comes out.”
Rafe inclined his head in sober acknowledgment of that logic. “Makes sense.”
“You better believe it. I’ve monitored every reception, every meeting, every special event held here at the institute since the day the place opened.” She held her log aloft again. “All part of the record.”
Rafe glanced at his watch. “Well, you can log us out at precisely ten-forty-three. We’re on our way home now.”
Arizona’s head jerked up and down once in acknowledgment. “Got it.” She clicked a black pen and opened her notebook. “You two drive carefully.”
“We will.” Rafe started to close the passenger door.
“Say, Rafe.” Arizona glanced up sharply. “Why don’t you stop by the café when you get a chance? About time we updated that menu you worked out when you used to cook for me. The college crowd seems happy enough, but after all these years I’m getting a little tired of fixing the same stuff day in and day out.”
“All right, I’ll drop by soon,” Rafe said.
“Appreciate it.” Arizona aimed the pen at Hannah. “You come with him. Always did like the notion of you two gettin’ together. Told Isabel so.”
Hannah braced one hand against the door to keep Rafe from closing it. “My aunt discussed her intention to leave the house to us with you?”
“Well, sure.” Arizona’s beefy shoulders rose and fell beneath the black sweatshirt. “Me and Isabel went back a long way. She talked to me about her plans for Dreamscape because she knew that everyone else would think she was crazy for trying to end the feud.”
“But not you,” Hannah murmured.
“Nope, not me. I told her to go for it. Always knew the feud had been caused by the sonsabitches who opened the institute. The bastards probably wanted to break up Harte-Madison because they knew the company would try to block their plans to establish this damned think tank.” Arizona sighed. “Unfortunately, their scheme worked all too well.”
“Good night, A.Z.” Rafe closed the car door very firmly.
Hannah watched Arizona disappear back into the shadows. Rafe circled around the tail of the Porsche and got in behind the wheel.
“You think we’re a couple of naïve, innocent dupes?” Hannah asked.
“Sure, but what the hell.” Rafe turned the key in the ignition and put the car in gear. “I’d rather be a happy, carefree dupe who gets to go home at ten-forty-three than an ever-vigilant guardian who has to spend nights running around in black sweats recording license plates.”
Hannah glanced at the rows of parked cars as Rafe drove out of the lot. “Still, it’s hard to believe anyone could get a lot of satisfaction out of writing down license plate numbers. Just think, she’s been doing it for years.”
“She’s dedicated to the cause of ultimately exposing the secret government conspiracy operating here at the institute. As hobbies go, it probably beats watching television.”
Hannah contemplated that as she gazed at the scene spread out below the hillside. There was no fog tonight—at least, there wasn’t any yet. The bay was a sweep of midnight velvet ringed and studded with the lights of the town and the pier.
She could make out the neon sign that marked the Total Eclipse Bar and Grill. On the opposite side of the street, the town’s single gas station was closed for the night. Near the pier was a row of darkened shops that featured rustic antiques, inexpensive beach souvenirs, and seascapes. The neighboring marina was largely unlit. The boats sheltered there were invisible against the dark expanse of the water.
“Arizona Snow is a nice person in a lot of ways, and she’s definitely interesting,” Hannah said after a while. “But she’s not what anyone would call normal.”
“The older I get,” Rafe said, shifting gears to negotiate the curving road that led down from the institute, “the more I’m convinced that the only good, working definition of ‘normal’ is the fact that you’re still walking around outside and not locked up in a padded cell.”
“Okay, I’ll buy that definition. It’s as good as any other I’ve ever heard.”
“Thanks. You know, for a guy who never made it through his second year of college, I say some smart stuff sometimes.”
She smiled wryly. “And so modest, too.”
He shot her a quick glance. “What’s with the sudden depression here? Losing the glow of victory so soon?”
“You know the old saying, all glory is fleeting.”
“Damn.” He accelerated at the foot of the hill. “You have lost the sparkle.”
“I hate when that happens.”
“Me, too. Victory over the jerk should buy you more than a moment of exuberance. But don’t worry, I’ve got a surefire cure for what ails you.”
She turned her head on the back of the seat and studied his hard profile from beneath lowered lashes. It felt good to be here with him in the intimate confines of the powerful car. She wondered what her family would say if they knew where she was tonight.