It was not at all surprising that Emmett looked a little rough around the edges today, she thought. Her young neighbor, Zane Hoyt, and his pals were all budding dissonance-energy para-resonators from a part of town where good male role models were decidedly scarce. The boys in the neighborhood were growing up fast with more psi power than any of them knew how to handle. It was a recipe for disaster. They desperately needed guidance and a firm hand.

The Guild-sponsored Hunter-Scout troops were a useful community resource for boys in Cadence but there had been none in the section of the city where Lydia and Zane lived. Emmett had taken care of the problem a couple of weeks ago when he had quietly prodded the Guild into establishing a troop in the neighborhood. He had even gone so far as to take an active interest in the newly formed group.

All of the boys, Zane included, idolized Emmett. He was, after all, one of the most powerful para-rezes in the city. Young males, Lydia had discovered, were very impressed with raw power.

"Got in around three o'clock this morning," Emmett said. "Dropped the boys off at their homes and went to my place to crash. Didn't want to wake you up. The phone rang just as I was walking in the door." Absently he rubbed his jaw. "I haven't been to bed yet."

Sirens wailed in the distance. About time, Lydia thought.

"Who called you?" she asked. "Why didn't you get to bed?"

"It's a long story. I'll explain later." He eyed her closely. "Meanwhile, please tell me this dead guy doesn't have anything to do with your new consulting job?"

"Oh, no, things are going great with the Hepscott project," she said, relieved to be able to give a positive, upbeat answer for once. She cast an uneasy glance at Maltby. "This was a, uh, private matter."

"Yeah, I was afraid of that." Emmett's expression hardened a little more. "This is connected to those questions you've been asking along Ruin Row for the past couple of weeks, isn't it? The ones about your so-called Lost Weekend?"