"What- - what other things did you plan on doing?" Nicki asked, unsure if she really wanted the answer.
"I'd rather not get into it," Keith said uncomfortably, "It would have been pretty horrible."
"Would have?" Megan interjected.
"Yeah, would have. It never happened," Keith shrugged, "Seems that some things changed while I was gone."
"Like what?" Nicki arched one dark eyebrow.
"Well, like, I was dead. My galleries were closed down," Keith closed his eyes for a second as if the memory of that discovery caused him physcial pain, "My houses, the cars, my boat, everything had all been sold."
"She- - he- - I mean, you, I mean," Nicki sighed in frustration, "You know what I mean, they died?"
"Yes and no," Keith said quietly, "Carter Halloway is dead, but the woman he left everything to- - a woman I had never met before- - she was alive."
"So it was the same person?" Megan interrupted again. Keith wondered why she was so curious, but thought better of asking.
"I don't know. Maybe. All I knew was I had to know for sure," Keith gave Nicki an embrassed look and coughed, "You were a pretty handsome guy Nicki and since I was you I decided to, uh, check her out."
Hands clasped tightly together to keep from strangling Keith, Nicki looked down at the hills and valleys of her current body, made a low noise in the back of her throat, half growl, half whimper, and looked back to Keith, "Great. Good for you. So- - what happened?"
"Well, like I said. I got involved with the wrong kind of woman," Keith grinned sheepishly, hoping Nicki would understand, "We hooked up for about a month or so. It had been a long time since I had been with a woman and it gave me the chance to snoop around so, yeah."
"And you found out what exactly? Can we get to the real meat of what's going on here?" Megan said impatiently.
"Whoever she was she had the medallion," Keith sneered, remembering the moment, "or rather, her son did. They caught me going through her computer files and decided to send me back to school so to speak. I got off light all things considered."
"So where is the medallion now?" Nicki said impatiently.
"Believe it or not, right here in town," Keith made a face to indicate he could hardly believe it himself, "Which makes me think it is, in fact, my old friend in a new body. Her new name is Vanessa Banebridge. She owns a summer home down here, which her son, who currently has the medallion, is using until school starts in the fall."
"What makes you think Nicki will be able to get it for you?" Megan's eyes narrowed. She smelled a rat somewhere in all of this.
"Jasper, that's Vanessa's son, he likes to play the field. He uses fancy cars and lots of money to impress pretty young girls. It occurred to me he might have to use something more unusual to impress a girl that didn't care about things like cars and money," Keith's eyes slid from Megan over to her nubile niece, "A pretty young girl like Nicki."
"Absolutely not!" Megan exploded, "You've already done enough to poor Nicki! I'll be damned if I let you pimp her out so you can..."
"I'll do it," Nicki said it with a quiet finality that cut through Megan's rant like a knife.
"You'll what?!" Megan turned a horrified gaze upon the young woman who had become like a daughter to her.
"I'll do it. I don't care what it takes," Nicki stared at the floor as she spoke, unable to meet Megan's eyes, unwilling to look into Keith's, "I've been saving myself for the last three years now. Maybe this is what I've been saving it for."
