She grinned. “I know, but I always wanted to say a cheesy line like that, and it seemed like the perfect time.”
She requested a strawberry shake, and I started fixing it. Whatever info Jade had, it was enough to make her grin from ear to ear. That alone told me that she had the goods about where Pike was hiding. Some of the tension in my chest eased. I’d waited all day long for someone to bring me Pike’s head on platter, and it looked like she was finally going to deliver.
“So,” Jade said, after she’d taken a long, appreciative sip of her milkshake, “I hear that you’re looking for someone else now. A guy named Raymond Pike.”
“Yep.”
“What do you want with him?”
“Nothing good.”
She flinched at the venom in my voice. Her smile faded, and she pushed her milkshake aside.
“Well, I don’t know anything about anyone named Raymond Pike,” she said, picking up her phone from the counter. “But this guy is staying at the Peach Blossom. He’s in a penthouse suite that’s rented out to some private investment group.”
The Peach Blossom was one of Ashland’s many luxury apartment buildings, down the street from the Delta Queen.
Jade pulled up an image on her phone, then turned the screen around so I could see it. Black hair, blue eyes, smug smirk. The photo was grainy, as if it had been taken with another, cheaper phone, but it was still sharp enough to let me make out Pike sitting at a table, eating breakfast and reading a newspaper, as if he hadn’t murdered three people last night and almost succeeded in doing the same to Owen.
“That’s my guy. How did you find him?”
“One of my guys works as a doorman at the Peach Blossom,” she said. “Cleaning, delivering food, and the like. After I got Silvio’s message last night, I passed it along to all my folks and told them to keep their eyes peeled. My guy served this man a late breakfast about ninety minutes ago.”
“Does your guy have access to the apartment building’s security footage? Who comes and goes?” I wasn’t satisfied with just getting Pike. Not after what he’d done to Owen. Now I was going to take down everyone who’d helped him.
“Of course,” Jade said. “What are you looking for?”
“A right-hand man.”
She frowned, not understanding my cryptic words. “Okay . . . but I’m telling you the truth. Your guy is there.”
“Oh, I believe you, but there are a few other things I need to confirm. Looking at the security footage for the past few days will help me with that. So can you get it for me or not?” I asked.
“Sure. I can have my guy send it to your phone.”
“Do it.”
I waved Silvio over, and Jade stopped texting long enough to show him the photo of Pike. The vampire nodded, then told the cluster of folks still waiting that the person in question had been found and the reward had been claimed. Disappointed groans rose from the crowd, making some of the customers stare curiously in that direction, but everyone gave me curt nods and left the restaurant in a somewhat orderly and almost respectful fashion.
“Congratulations,” I said. “You’ve just earned yourself one million smackeroos.”
Jade beamed at me for several seconds, but her expression quickly melted into a wary look. “Just like that? You’re actually going to honor the deal just based on my word and a cell-phone photo?”
“Sure.” I shrugged. “Of course, if I were to find out that you or your guy were lying to me, well, that wouldn’t work out so well for the two of you.”
She flinched again.
“But you’re much too smart for that,” I continued in a soft, silky voice. “Aren’t you, Jade?”
She nodded, her expression tense. “You’d better fucking believe it.”
“Good. Then Silvio will see about getting you your money.”
I slid off my stool and untied the strings of my blue work apron, pulling it up and over my head. I hung it on a hook sticking out from the back wall, then pulled out my phone and texted Lorelei, telling her that I knew where Pike was and asking if it was time to put our plan into motion.
She hit me back a second later. All set on my end. Come on over.
I slid the phone back into my pocket, more than ready to rock ’n’ roll.
“What are you going to do?” Jade asked, eyeing the long sleeves of my black T-shirt like she expected me to flash one of my knives at her.
I grinned. “Nothing much. Just making sure that Raymond Pike has everything he needs for his last night in Ashland.”
* * *
“Are you sure this is a good idea?” Jack Corbin asked. “Leaving town like this? So . . . suddenly?”
It was an hour later, and I was in the library in Lorelei’s mansion, watching her pack up a laptop, a tablet, and some other gear. Mallory was off in another room, gathering up her own things, which consisted of boxes filled with all sorts of jewelry, most of it crusted with impressive diamonds. At least she was consistent that way.
“I mean, what happened last night was horrible,” Corbin continued. “The guards dying, Pike storming into the mansion, him attacking me and you and Mallory. But I can hire more guards, increase your security. He won’t get past me again, Lorelei. I promise you that.”
After we’d rushed Owen to Jo-Jo’s last night, Bria and Xavier had returned to the mansion. They’d taken Corbin to an Air elemental the police had on call, and the healer had fished all of Pike’s nails out of Corbin’s back and stitched up his wounds. Corbin had been lucky—very lucky—that the nails hadn’t hit anything vital.
Then again, I didn’t believe in such good luck.
Lorelei slipped her laptop into a bag, careful not to look at him. “I appreciate your concern, Jack. Really, I do. But there’s no stopping Raymond or his metal magic. I always knew that it would come to this. That Raymond would find me one day and that I would have to run. Besides, Gin thinks this is for the best. Right, Gin?”
“Right,” I drawled.
Corbin ran a hand through his dark brown hair, then started pacing back and forth in front of Lorelei’s desk. “But why do you have to leave today? You haven’t given me any time to prepare. If I’d known this was what you wanted, I would have made the arrangements for you and Mallory.”
“That’s why I’ve taken care of everything,” I cut in, annoyed by the whining tone creeping into his voice. “I’ve already hired the moving vans, and my friends are coming over later to help Lorelei and Mallory pack up some more of their things. Lorelei will ride in the front van with me, and we’ll make Mallory comfortable in the back of another van.”
Lorelei zipped up her laptop bag, then moved over and started pulling books off one of the shelves along the wall. “Mallory wants to stop by the botanical gardens before we leave for good. She and my mom spent a lot of time there when Mom was younger. And so have Mallory and I over the years.”
“I suppose we have time for one last nostalgia stop before we get you out of town,” I said. “We’ll take Huckleberry Road. It runs right by the gardens, and there’s never a lot of traffic on it. We’ll stop, let Mallory say her good-byes, and be on our way. By the time Pike realizes that you’re gone, you and Mallory will be in another state, with new identities, and he’ll never be able to find you again.”
Lorelei nodded and kept pulling books off the shelves. I eyed the titles. Lots of fantasy and spy books, along with a sprinkling of Southern literature. I approved of her reading choices, especially since I spotted a copy of Where the Red Fern Grows. My heart squeezed as I thought of Fletcher. The old man would have been happy that I was here, helping Lorelei. And so was I.
Corbin looked back and forth between us. “It sounds like you’ve thought of everything.”
I turned away so he wouldn’t see my sly smile. “Yeah, I think we have.”
“Well, if you’re sure that there’s nothing I can do
. . .” Corbin’s voice trailed off.
“I’m sure,” Lorelei said.
She stopped her packing, walked over, and laid her hand on Corbin’s shoulder. “You’ve been a big help already, Jack. Don’t think that I haven’t noticed—or that I don’t appreciate all your hard work for me.”
She reached out and hugged him. I was facing Lorelei, and I arched my eyebrows at her sweet, syrupy words. Lorelei rolled her eyes before her face smoothed out into a neutral expression. She drew back and stared at Corbin.
“I’ve arranged for you to receive a nice bonus. One that should tide you over until you can join someone else’s crew. I’ll also put in a good word for you with the folks I know.”
“Thanks, boss,” Corbin said. “Well, if you don’t need me for anything, I guess I’ll leave you to it, then.”
Corbin smiled at Lorelei, nodded at me, then left the office and shut the door behind him. Lorelei opened her mouth, but I held up a finger in warning. I hadn’t heard Corbin walk away.
“Let me help you with those books,” I said. “They look heavy.”
“Sure.”
Lorelei and I moved around the office, lugging books from one side to the other. After about a minute, a floorboard creaked, and I heard soft footsteps retreating down the hall.
I dropped the books I’d been holding onto a nearby sofa and cracked open the office door. Corbin was gone, and the hallway was deserted. Good.
Closing the door, I turned to face Lorelei, who’d dumped her own armful of books onto her desk.
“Do you think he bought it?” I asked. “That we weren’t too obvious?”
Lorelei snorted. “I didn’t hire him for his brains. He bought it, all right. Hook, line, and sinker.”
I grinned. “Well, then, let’s see what our bait catches us.”
27
At six o’clock that evening, I was sitting shotgun next to Bria in a white moving van, watching the world pass by. We were in Northtown, on Huckleberry Road, driving by the lush landscape of the botanical gardens, although the setting sun was already turning the thick clusters of plants more gray than green. Iron streetlights had already sputtered to life along this narrow, curvy stretch of road, their golden glow highlighting the growing shadows.
“Are you sure this is going to work, Gin?” Bria asked. “It seems like a big risk to take.”
“This is our best option. Trust me.”
“But what if Pike does something unexpected?” Bria pressed, worry creasing her face. “What if things go wrong?”
“Pike has been fairly predictable up to this point. I don’t expect him to deviate too much from his standard plan of attack. Even if he does exactly what I think he will, things will still undoubtedly go wrong. That’s just how my bad luck rolls. But that’s why we’re doing it this way. To minimize the risk to everyone.”
I glanced in the side mirror. Two vans identical to ours cruised down the road behind us. Finn was driving the second vehicle, Xavier riding shotgun, while Sophia was steering the last one, with Owen and Silvio as her wingmen. Despite the fact that he’d almost died last night, Owen had insisted on coming. I loved him for it, but it also made my stomach churn with worry, just like it did for the rest of my friends. Because as long as Pike was alive, they were all in danger, especially being here with me.
Bria didn’t say anything else, but she alternated between looking at me, at the road ahead, and in the rearview mirror. One of her hands wrapped around the steering wheel, while the other crept up to fiddle with her wig—a dark brown ponytail. I thought it went rather well with the head-to-toe black clothes she was wearing.
“You’re going to mess up your hair if you keep pulling on it like that.”
Bria dropped her hand from the wig. “Sorry.”
“Don’t worry about it. These things itch like crazy.”
I reached up and patted my own wig—a black one that had been styled into a French braid—before tugging down my leather jacket, the royal-blue color bright enough to see clearly through the windshield.
I hadn’t exactly told Corbin the truth about what I was up to tonight.
Bria drove on, and the road straightened out, with a four-way stop up ahead. Directly across from us, a black sedan was already sitting at the intersection, another identical sedan idling behind it. Bria slowed the van and stopped at the appropriate spot. We looked at each other, then focused on the other cars.
The first black sedan cruised forward, passing us.
Thunk.
The sound of metal sticking to metal cut through the air. At the same time, the driver of the sedan gunned his engine, tires squealing as he zoomed away from us.
“What was that?” Bria glanced in her side mirror. “Hey, there’s some sort of box stuck to the side of our van—”
Boom!
An explosion rocked the van. The two back tires lifted off the ground, and I thought the vehicle was going to flip. But instead, gravity took over, and the tires crashed back onto the road. That jolting motion sent the van skittering sideways, taking Bria and me for a very wild and bumpy ride. For a second, all I could see was a swirling mix of greens, grays, blacks, and browns as the vehicle careened off the road and spun around and around through the grass, churning up thick wads of dirt.
But just as quickly as it had started, the ride ended, and the van abruptly jerked to a halt.
The violent, sudden stop would have thrown Bria and me through the now-cracked windshield if we hadn’t been wearing our seat belts. Even as it was, I felt as if my head was trying to wrench itself away from the rest of my body.
Thick, black smoke boiled into the van, and the stench of burned rubber filled the air, sinking deep into my lungs.
I coughed and looked at Bria. “Are you okay?”
She blinked, her eyes a bit unfocused, and she reached up and patted her brown ponytail again. “I’m okay. How about you?”
I didn’t see any blood on my clothes, although my chest ached from where the seat belt had caught me. Like Bria, I also reached up and patted my hair, making sure the black braid was still where it was supposed to be.
“Yeah,” I croaked out. “Just a few bruises—”
Screech!
My door was wrenched open, and a knife flashed in front of my face. I tensed and lashed out at the hand, but I must have been more dazed than I’d realized, because I completely missed and ended up slapping the dashboard instead.
Zip-zip.
While I flailed around, the knife made two quick, neat cuts through my seat belt. Then a hand reached inside, grabbed me, and yanked me out of the van. I tumbled out and landed facedown in the grass.
“Hey!” Bria yelled. “Leave her alone!”
She cursed, trying to get free of her own seat belt, but it was too late.
A hand fisted in the back of my jacket and hauled me to my feet, making my brain spin around in my skull again.
“Come along quietly, and you’ll get to live a few minutes longer,” Raymond Pike hissed in my ear.
A hand clamped down on my left shoulder, and something pricked my side, drawing blood and making me hiss with pain. I glanced down. Pike had the spikes on the ball of his mace pressed up against my left kidney. If he stabbed me there, I was done for.
“You’ve caused me enough problems already. I won’t hesitate to end you at the slightest sign of trouble. Do you understand?” he hissed again, his fingers digging into my shoulder with a tight, bruising grip.
I nodded, not trusting myself to speak right now.
“Good. Now, let’s get out of here and go somewhere a little more private.”
Somewhere he could get on with the business of killing me, but I wasn’t exactly in a position to quibble right now.
But my friends weren’t about to let him just march me off to my death.
Engines roared, a
nd tires squealed as Finn and Sophia raced their vans up the road to our position, then screeched to a stop. Doors snapped open, and their loud, worried shouts drifted over to me.
“Hey!”
“There he is!”
“He’s got her!”
Inside the first van, Bria was still trying to get free of her seat belt, although she kept cursing and shouting at Pike to leave me alone.
Screech.
The second black sedan fishtailed to a stop in the middle of the street, forming a roadblock with the first car and cutting Bria and me off from the rest of our friends. Five giants with guns spilled out of the vehicle. Three of the men hunkered down behind the car, using it as a shield, but the other two raced in our direction.
Pike took his hand off my shoulder long enough to stab his finger at the giants, then over at the other two vans still on the road. “What am I paying you fools for?” he snapped. “Kill them! Now!”
The two giants raised their guns and started firing at my friends. So did the men still stationed behind the second sedan on the road.
Crack!
Crack! Crack!
Crack!
“Take cover!” Finn yelled.
He ducked behind his open van door, then raised his gun and fired back at the giants. Xavier was out of their vehicle too, returning fire, and I saw Sophia, Owen, and Silvio open the doors of the third van and raise their own guns.
“Get him!” Owen roared over the crack-crack-crack of bullets. “Get Pike before he gets away with her!”
Pike cursed, realizing that he couldn’t get back to his sedan and that the giants wouldn’t be able to hold off my friends forever. He spun me toward the trees.
“Move!” he yelled. “Now! Before I kill you where you stand!”
I nodded, telling him that I would do exactly what he wanted.
Then he grabbed my shoulder, shoved the mace spikes into my side again, and forced me into the woods.
* * *
Pike’s fingers dug into my shoulder socket like he wanted to rip off my arm, but I kept my head down and concentrated on moving forward and not doing anything to further enrage him. There was no use trying to escape. Not when he had those spikes pressed up against my side, ready to ram them through me if I put up any kind of struggle.
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