Death of an Adept

Amusement tugged at Ximena's lips. "Think nothing of it. I'm just happy to see you getting some color back in your face." She watched him a moment longer, then asked abruptly, "Why do you do this to yourself?"

Adam paused in the act of taking a sip of chocolate. "I beg your pardon?"

"Why do you do this to yourself?" Ximena repeated. "I mean - it can't be a very enjoyable experience, putting yourself through this kind of rigor. Even if you're not aware of what's happening to your body while your mind and spirit are occupied with higher things, sooner or later you're going to have to reckon with the physical consequences. And so I'm curious to know, Why do you do it?"

"The reasons vary," Adam said. After a brief hesitation, he added, "On this occasion, the impetus was work-related."

Ximena lifted an eyebrow. "I - see," she acknowledged. "One of those special cases you mentioned. Are we talking about a crime?"

"Not in the conventional sense," Adam said. "Not yet, at any rate." When Ximena continued to wait expectantly, he added, "I was hoping to gain some insight into the problem through meditation."

"Were you successful?"

"Up to a point. I've now been able to work out who's responsible. And I have some idea as to his motives. The challenge now will be to find him before he can attain his desired objective."

"Which is?"

"To become a law unto himself. To dictate and control the lives and fortunes of others who are weaker than he is."

"In other words," she said, "he wants more than his share of personal power. What makes this character any different from your average politician?"

"The fact that he is prepared to resort to occult means to gain what he seeks."

Ximena's reaction was incredulous. "Black magic?"

"That's as good a term for it as any," he replied, watching her carefully. "Never mind whether or not you believe in the efficacy of such things. The point is, our subject does - and behaves accordingly, and gets results."

A thoughtful silence descended momentarily while Ximena digested this, after which she asked, "Assuming that you find him, what will you do?"

"Hand him over to the proper authorities," Adam said. Which was nothing more or less than the simple truth. "At the moment," he continued, "our man probably doesn't suspect we're onto him. If we're careful, he won't realize what we're doing until it's too late to resist."

"Will he give himself up without a fight?"

"I doubt it."

"I see." There was another silence. "Am I to infer from this that there's an element of danger?"

"Some," Adam admitted. "But I don't take unnecessary chances."

"Well, that's a relief," Ximena said with a fillip of forced levity. "Am I allowed to know who this man is, or is that another secret?"

"Secret or not, his name wouldn't mean anything to you."

"His name would mean something to me, if he were to do you any harm."

"Nothing is going to happen to me," Adam said firmly. "I'm not in this alone. And the people who are with me can be trusted to look after my safety, just as I look after theirs."

Ximena gave him a narrow look, then broke it off with a shrug and a smile.

"That had the right ring of confidence," she conceded. "All right, let's not argue the point. It's getting late, and it occurs to me that we've got better things to do at this hour than sitting here debating the ethics of this branch of your profession."

Rising, she offered him her hand. As he cast off his rug and followed his wife upstairs, Adam could only hope that future events would not betray her trust.

Ximena slept in the following morning. Going downstairs alone, Adam found Philippa already at the breakfast table. His account of Graham's revelations left them both in a sober frame of mind.

"This is worse than anything I might have expected," Philippa declared, moodily poking at the grapefruit-half in front of her. "What's our next step?"

"I wish I knew," Adam said with a sigh.

McLeod and Peregrine received a similar briefing later in the day, over lunch. The news that Raeburn was almost certainly the instigator behind the Callanish affair drew predictably strong reactions.

"Raeburn? It figures," McLeod muttered. "He's like a bad penny - just keeps coming back."

"How the devil did he manage to sneak back into the country without anyone becoming aware of him?" Peregrine wondered aloud. "Aren't there all kinds of warrants out for his arrest?"

"Obviously, he still has his share of resources," Adam replied. "Those diamonds must have bought him a lot of credit in a number of circles."

"That doesn't explain why he'd want to come back to Scotland," Peregrine retorted. "Isn't that taking an awfully big risk, given his past record around here?"