Unraveled

by Jennifer Estep

  I followed a waitress back into the kitchen, not only because I wanted to blend in with the rest of the staff, but also because I wanted to eavesdrop on the workers. One of them had to know where Tucker was holding Finn, Bria, and Owen. So I pushed through the double doors, stepped into the kitchen, and immediately regretted my decision.

  Roxy was here.

  She was wearing the same cowgirl costume as before, complete with her red hat and sparkling rhinestone belt buckle. Her hands were clasped behind her back, and she was pacing up and down in front of a line of cooks, cowboy waiters, and saloon-girl waitresses. The waitress in front of me scurried to get in line with everyone else, and I had no choice but to follow her.

  Roxy finally stopped pacing and raised her hand, clutching another stack of my Wanted posters. How many of those things had they printed up in the last two hours? I hid a grin. I was starting to like this whole wanted-­outlaw thing.

  “This woman is somewhere on the resort grounds, and we are going to find her,” Roxy barked out like a drill sergeant. “From this moment on, you will examine every single guest you serve and compare them to this woman. If you spot her, then you text me immediately with her location. Do you understand me?”

  No one said anything, so she increased the volume of her bellow. “Do you understand me?”

  “Yes, ma’am!” we all shouted in unison.

  She went down the line of us, shoving a Wanted poster into every person’s hands. Not only that, but she looked over each and every worker in turn, eyeing everything from their hats to their costumes to their boots. I started sweating, and not from the heat of the stoves.

  If she recognized me, I was dead.

  I couldn’t fight my way through all the people in this cramped, crowded space, much less get past Roxy herself before she pumped me full of Fire-coated bullets. The workers would all pile on top of me, drag me down to the floor, and hold me there until Roxy could summon Tucker to deal with me. Then I’d either be trussed up and tortured alongside my friends or be killed outright.

  But I couldn’t run away. Not now when she was shoving a poster into my hands. Roxy started to turn away, then stopped and peered at me with sharp, critical eyes. My free hand slid into my dress pocket, reaching for my knife again. I’d only have one chance to take her down, and I had to make it count—

  Roxy stepped forward, took hold of my dress, and actually yanked it down, showing off more of my cleavage. My spider rune necklace shifted inside the corset, swimming up toward the top, and I immediately quit breathing, not wanting the necklace to pop out and give me away.

  “You can afford to show a little more skin,” Roxy snapped. “That’s what gets you—and me—better tips. Do you understand?”

  “Yes, ma’am,” I squeaked out in a high voice, still trying not to breathe.

  She eyed me as if she thought that I was mocking her, but I lowered my head, as if I were too scared not to give in to her demands. After several long seconds, she finally nodded and moved away from me, barking out more orders to the staff.

  I sucked in a breath and discreetly stuffed my necklace back down where it had been before.

  Roxy kept bellowing out commands, and all the waitstaff had to line up again, fill our trays with champagne glasses, and circulate them through the lobby to the guests. I was all too happy to step up, put the glasses on my tray, and skedaddle out of the kitchen.

  Carrying my tray of drinks, I hurried out of the kitchen as fast as I could without actually running. I thought about setting the tray down on the first table that I passed and just walking away, but I glanced over my shoulder. Sure enough, Roxy was now standing by the bar, her arms crossed over her chest, watching the staff, including me, just to make sure that we were up to her pimpish standards.

  So I smiled and sashayed over to a group of guys sitting in the rocking chairs in front of the fireplace. I even leaned over, giving them a good, long look at my cleavage, once again hoping that my spider rune necklace wouldn’t pop out and land in one of their laps. The men all grinned, their gazes locked on my chest, even as they reached for the champagne flutes. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Roxy nod her head in approval, thinking that I was sufficiently cowed, and turn her attention to another waitress.

  I handed out all the drinks on my tray, went back into the kitchen, and got another round. By the time I stepped back out into the lobby, Roxy had decided that the staff was up to snuff and was standing off by herself beside some of the decorated Christmas trees.

  I glanced around, but I didn’t see Brody or any of the other giants. If not for all the tourists, this would be the perfect moment to pull my knife out of my dress pocket, sidle over to Roxy, and stab the bitch in the back. Despite the potential witnesses and collateral damage, I still seriously considered it, wanting to eliminate at least one dangerous enemy, and I even went so far as to take a step in her direction—

  A man walked in front of me, making me pull up short to keep from spilling all the drinks on my tray. Even then, the glasses wobbled dangerously, making the champagne inside fizz and froth up.

  I opened my mouth to snap at the guy to watch where he was going, but he glanced at me, and I realized that it was Hugh Tucker. So I quickly turned to my side, angling my face away from him, as though I were still trying to get my tray of wobbling drinks under control.

  Out of the corner of my eye, I could see Tucker staring at me, but my disguise worked, and the vampire dismissed me as unimportant because he continued over to where Roxy was standing. I waited a few seconds, then moved in their direction, handing drinks out to all the guests that I passed, until I was close enough to eavesdrop on their conversation.

  “. . . no trace of Blanco yet,” Roxy said. “But I’ve doubled the number of giants posted at all the hotel and theme-park exits. We’ve got her trapped in here. She can’t escape, and we’ll find her sooner or later.”

  Tucker crossed his arms over his chest, staring down at his henchwoman. “And I can’t believe that you were careless enough to let her slip through your fingers in the first place. You told me that the sedative you gave Blanco and her friends was foolproof. Seems like it turned out to be snake oil instead, since Blanco is still out there.”

  “I’m sorry, sir.” Roxy whipped off her hat and ducked her head in apology. “Don’t worry. We’ll find Blanco. I promise you that.”

  “And you’d better deliver,” he replied in a smooth, silky voice. “I do not like failure. Deirdre Shaw could tell you that, if she were still alive.”

  “Yes, sir. Of course not, sir.”

  Tucker eyed Roxy a moment longer, making sure that the quiet threat in his words had fully sunk in, then glanced at his watch. “How much longer will Lane and the others be out?”

  My breath caught in my throat, and my hands jerked, shaking the remaining glasses on my tray, but the two of them didn’t notice me or my surprise.

  “They’re all still out cold in Lane’s room, but it shouldn’t be too much longer before they start coming around,” Roxy said.

  So Finn, Bria, and Owen were in Finn’s suite on the top floor, no doubt under a heavy guard. Smart of Tucker to keep them so close and so isolated, especially when I was still free and could cause plenty of trouble.

  “Let me know the second they wake up,” Tucker said. “I want to start questioning them immediately about the jewels. And have my usual tools brought up to the suite for the interrogations.”

  My stomach twisted, and bile rose in my throat. Just as I feared, he was going to torture the answers out of my friends—answers that none of them had.

  “But what about Blanco?” Roxy asked. “Don’t you want her found first?”

  Tucker shrugged. “She doesn’t matter in the big picture. Not really. Finding those gems is the most important thing. And if we can’t find them, well, I’ll content myself with executing Lane and the others.”

>   I couldn’t help but suck in a breath at the casual way Tucker talked about murdering my friends. Cold rage flooded my body, and I itched to reach for one of my knives, charge at the vampire, and slit his fucking throat. I seriously, seriously considered it, just as I had with Roxy a few moments before.

  But I pushed my rage aside and held my position. Given Tucker’s lightning-fast speed, it was fifty-fifty whether I could kill him before he killed me. Add Roxy and her trusty revolvers to the mix, and the odds weren’t in my favor. Not to mention all the innocent bystanders who could get shot—or worse—in the potential cross fire. No, as much as I wanted to end Tucker and Roxy, I couldn’t take them on. Not here. Not now.

  But soon—very, very soon.

  Tucker and Roxy kept talking, but a guy sitting in a rocking chair waved me over, eager for a glass of free champagne and a look at my corseted bosom, so I screwed on a smile and headed in his direction, still thinking about my next move.

  Silvio was right. The jewels were the only potential leverage I had and the only thing that would keep my friends alive.

  I knew where the jewels were. Now all I had to do was get to them.

  Like everything else in my life, that was easier said than done.

  20

  I gave the guy in the rocking chair the peep show he wanted and moved away before he started drooling on me. I still had two glasses of champagne left on my tray, but instead of handing them out, I crossed the lobby and got into one of the elevators. As the car rose, I worked out the details of my hasty plan.

  There was really only one—don’t get dead.

  The elevator stopped at various floors to let people on and off, until I was the last person in the car. I watched the numbers slowly light up, and I rode it all the way up to the top floor, where Finn’s suite was.

  The elevator doors pinged open, and I drew in a breath, plastered a smile on my face, and strutted out into the hallway.

  Just as I expected, three giants dressed like outlaws were standing guard in front of the door leading into Finn’s suite, and I was willing to bet that even more guards were stationed inside, as well as in Owen’s and my suite next door. Far too many guards for me to fight my way through without getting injured, especially since Finn, Bria, and Owen were still unconscious and couldn’t help me. Even if I did manage to kill all the guards, I couldn’t have gotten all three of them out of the suite to safety. So as much as I hated to leave my friends at Tucker’s mercy—or lack thereof—it was my only option right now.

  The three guards outside the door jerked to attention at the sight of me coming toward them, their hands dropping to the guns belted to their waists. I wondered if Roxy had outfitted them all with her charming Fire-coated bullets. I would have, but I was betting that she kept them all to herself. She wouldn’t want to let anyone else use her special bullets, much less have the fun of shooting me with them.

  But instead of whipping out a knife and charging at the giants, I sashayed right on by, nodding my head politely at them. All three of them leered at my cleavage, but I kept going down the hallway until I reached the door on the opposite side.

  The one that led into Deirdre’s suite.

  I stopped in front of the door and reached for my Ice and Stone magic, using it to make my hand as cold, hard, and strong as possible. Then I knocked politely on the door. “Room service,” I called out in a cheery voice.

  Knocking on Deirdre’s door was a risk, but I was willing to bet that Roxy had told the giants to guard only Finn’s door and not the suite across from his. I was also betting that the giants didn’t realize that the suite was empty.

  I glanced at the guards out of the corner of my eye, but they kept right on leering, and none of them broke away from his buddies to approach me.

  So I knocked a second time. “Room service,” I called out in a louder voice.

  I turned to the side, so that my poofy dress was blocking the giants’ view of the door, wrapped my hand around the knob, and blasted it with my Ice magic, driving the cold shards of my power through the keyhole and into the lock. Once I was sure that it was frozen solid, I sent out another blast of Ice magic, cracking all those shards away, even as I used my Stone-hardened hand to wrench the knob. It took some effort, but the lock broke, and the door opened with an audible screech.

  I plastered a smile on my face and stared straight ahead, as though I were greeting the guest inside.

  “Hello, ma’am,” I called out for the guards’ benefit. “I have that champagne you ordered. Where would you like me to set it up?”

  I stepped inside the suite, shut the door behind me, and put the serving tray and glasses on a nearby table. I glanced around, but everything was the same as before. It didn’t look like Tucker, Roxy, or Brody had come in here and searched Deirdre’s suite again. But there was only one way to know for sure, so I hurried over to the white Christmas tree in the corner, my breath in my throat, my heart pounding, my palms itching with anticipation.

  The tree looked just as I remembered it, right down to the three cheesy Bullet Pointe snow globes that I’d lined up on the floor in front of it—snow globes that didn’t match the rest of Deirdre’s fancy designer ornaments.

  I dropped to my knees in front of the tree, grabbed the globe that featured the Main Street scene, and held it up to the light streaming in through the floor-to-ceiling windows. I shook the globe, and a few more clear stones dropped out of the letters in the Bullet Pointe sign, sparkling as they sailed through the water.

  “Hello, diamonds,” I whispered.

  I picked up the other two globes, staring at them in turn. Sapphires made up the lake scene in one, while rubies and emeralds glittered as the holiday decorations on the snow-covered hotel in the other one. And still more gemstones gleamed here and there in all three of the globes. I didn’t know if all of Sweet Sally Sue’s jewels were here, but it looked like Deirdre had stuffed the majority of them into the three globes. Then she’d stashed the globes with the rest of her Christmas decorations, as though they were just bits of glass and glitter, hiding the gems in plain sight all along, one of the oldest and best tricks around.

  “Clever,” I whispered again. “Very, very clever, Mama Dee.”

  I thought back to that memory I’d had of Deirdre in my mother’s office, shaking all those snow globes while Tucker had threatened Eira. I wondered if that’s where Deirdre had gotten the idea for her hiding place. I wondered what other tricks she might have learned from my mother, although I doubted I would ever know. But for right now, it was enough that I’d found the jewels.

  I brought the Main Street globe up to my ear and reached out with my Stone magic. The thick glass and water muted the sounds, but I still could make out the gems’ proud trills about their own beauty. I should have noticed the murmurs before, the second I’d picked up the globes when we’d first come in here yesterday, but I’d been too lost in my memories of my mother to pay attention to them.

  Well, I was here now, and these babies were coming with me.

  I fished the two knives out of the pockets of my saloon-­girl dress and slid them into my garters with my other three weapons. Then I stuffed all three of the snow globes down into my dress pockets, since I didn’t have time to open them and pluck out the gems right now. For once, I was grateful that my silk and crinoline skirts were so poofy, since they helped hide the round bulges of glass.

  By this point, I’d been in the suite for almost five minutes, which was pushing it when it came to room service. So I hustled back over and grabbed my silver tray. I started toward the door, then stopped and cursed, realizing that I had to get rid of the two glasses before I stepped out into the hallway, since delivering the champagne was ostensibly my reason for being in here. So I set the glasses down on the table.

  I headed toward the door again, but another thought occurred to me, a way that I could be just as clever as Deirdre ha
d been when it came to the jewels.

  So I set my tray down on the table, picked up my skirts, and ran into Deirdre’s bedroom. I darted around the messy, towering piles of clothes, shoes, and purses that my friends and I had made when we’d been searching in here yesterday and headed into her closest, going straight to the jewelry wall in the very back. My gaze roamed over all the rings, necklaces, and bracelets resting on the shelves, before focusing on the boxes and other items that Deirdre had used to store and transport her jewelry from this lavish suite to all the other ones she stayed in around the country.

  There—that would do nicely.

  I grabbed a black velvet bag from one of the shelves and shook it to make sure that it was empty. Just what I wanted.

  I grabbed another empty bag as well as several more items from the wall. Then I stuffed everything into my dress pockets, left the closet, and sprinted back out into the main part of the suite. I’d been in here almost ten minutes now. Time to leave before the giants outside got any more suspicious than they probably already were.

  I reached for the doorknob again, stopped, and cursed, realizing that this time I’d forgotten the stupid serving tray. So I grabbed the empty platter, then drew in a breath and slowly let it out, trying to calm my racing heart, and plastered a benign smile on my face. I pulled on the doorknob, which was still frozen solid from my Ice magic, and backed out into the hallway, as though I were still talking to someone inside the suite.

  “No, ma’am, thank you for such a generous tip and such a lovely conversation,” I called out for the benefit of the guards. “Please let me know if you need anything else. I’ll be happy to assist you in any way that I can.”

  Was I laying it on thick? Oh, yeah. But I wanted the giants to focus on my words, not my movements. I closed the door and turned to the side, once again using my poofy skirts to block the giants’ view. I held on to the knob, reached for my Ice magic again, and forced more cold shards into the keyhole and doorframe all around the knob, hoping that they would be enough to anchor the door in place long enough for me to get out of here. Only one way to find out.