(Elemental Assassin 01) Spider's Bite (27 page)

“Come in,” Roslyn said. “We were just finishing up lunch.”

She ushered us inside, then closed and locked the door behind us—with all three deadbolts. Roslyn Phillips didn’t take chances with her safety. Smart woman.

Roslyn crooked her finger and led us through several rooms filled with heavy, wooden tables, Tiffany lamps, and old-fashioned settees lined with velvet. The antique furniture was in sharp contrast to the toys, books, and other childish doodads stacked on the tables, piled in the corners, and spread over the settees. Around me, the stone of the house alternated between low worry and carefree glee, given the varying emotions of its occupants.

We stepped onto a stone patio that overlooked a heart-shaped pool that had been covered up for the winter. A little girl who bore a striking resemblance to Roslyn sat in a princess-themed, pink castle planted in the backyard and pushed a blue dump truck through the grass. Every once in a while, she’d quit making
vroom-vroom
sounds long enough to nibble on the tomato sandwich clutched in her tiny fist.

Roslyn gestured at a table surrounded by wicker chairs with thick, flowered cushions. The remains of a Cobb salad littered a plate on the table, along with a frosted mug half-full of blood, a cup of chocolate milk, a pitcher of lemonade, and several glasses.

Finn sat in the chair opposite Roslyn’s. Donovan Caine dropped into the seat beside him, while I took the last chair. I pulled it out from the table and angled it so I could see the little girl.

Roslyn held up the pitcher. Ice cubes clinked against the side of the glass. “Lemonade?”

Seems I wasn’t the only gracious hostess around. We all accepted, and Roslyn dispensed the cold drink. I sipped the liquid. Tart and sweet at the same time, just the way I liked it. Mmm.

Roslyn fixed her eyes on Finn. “To what do I owe the pleasure, Finn? I thought we weren’t supposed to meet until later this week at the benefit for the battered-women’s shelter.”

“Unfortunately, I’m probably not going to be able to make it to that,” he said. “So I thought I’d see you today.”

Roslyn tilted her head down and looked over the tops of her glasses at him. “Really? Is that why you came all the way out here? To tell me we aren’t meeting later? I don’t think so. You want something, Finn. Just tell me what it is. You know how much I hate it when someone bullshits me. It’s bad enough when I have to do it to my clients.”

He nodded. “All right. I’m interested in learning more about someone who frequents your nightclub and wanted to clear it with you first in case anything … unpleasant happens tonight when we have a little chat with him.”

Roslyn’s eyes cut to me before snapping back to Finn. “Who?”

Finn drew in a breath. “Charles Carlyle. Calls himself—”

“Chuckie C.,” Roslyn finished in a flat voice. “I know him.”

Roslyn didn’t ask Finn any of the obvious questions, like why we were interested in Carlyle, what he’d done, or more importantly, what we were going to do to him. The vampire had been a Southtown hooker for a long time before she’d moved up into management. She knew asking questions was a quick way to get dead.

Donovan Caine leaned forward. “What can you tell us about him?”

Roslyn took a delicate sip of her blood and smiled. Her fangs were a crimson stain in her mouth. “My clients like their anonymity. My club wouldn’t last long if I squealed to everybody who came knocking on my front door. Especially a cop like you. I know you used to work vice. I remember seeing you at Northern Aggression more than once.”

Caine frowned and opened his mouth, but I cut in.

“He’s with us,” I said. “Detective Caine isn’t going to bust you for anything. And if he ever dares to hassle you, I’ll deal with him myself. Finn takes good care of his friends, Roslyn. You know that.”

Roslyn took another sip of blood, then pushed her glass aside. “Fine, I’ll play along, but only because it’s Finn. What do you want to know about Carlyle?”

“Everything,” Finn said. “What he likes, who he hangs out with, what the girls say about him.”

Roslyn shrugged. “Not much to tell. He’s a vamp who fancies himself to be a player and a great fuck, despite his tiny dick. Comes in almost every night and gets a private room in the back. Likes girls that look like they’re twelve. Occasionally gets rougher than what we allow at the club. And he’s always bragging to the girls about what a hotshot he is. How he’s putting together his own crew and making his move in the underworld. Macho bullshit like that. A small fish, although he’s been flashing a lot of cash lately. More drinks, more girls, a party for anybody he’s friends with.”

So Chuckie C. had cash to burn. More proof he was working for the Air elemental. She’d ponied up half my fee up front. Made sense she’d spread the embezzled wealth around to her underlings, too.

Finn reached into his jacket and fished out the headshot of Gordon Giles from Fletcher’s file. “What about this guy? Was he one of Carlyle’s friends?”

Roslyn tapped a manicured nail on Giles’s nose. “Gordon? Yeah, the two of them used to hang out a lot and party with the girls. Not so much recently.”

Hmm. Sounded like Gordon Giles had dumped Carlyle around the same time he’d approached Donovan Caine about the embezzlement at Halo Industries. Maybe Giles had realized he was in over his head—or maybe he’d grown a conscience.

“So what do you really need?” Roslyn asked. “You said you wanted to talk to Carlyle at the club.”

“Yeah,” Finn said. “The private room he reserves … any way we could see and hear what’s going on inside?”

Roslyn sat back in her chair and crossed her arms over her chest. “Perhaps. But like I said before, my clients enjoy their anonymity. They trust me with their secrets—
all
their secrets. I wouldn’t last long if word got out I’d breached that trust.”

Finn put on his most charming smile. “Surely you could make an exception just this once. For me.”

Roslyn laughed, a light, pealing sound at odds with the hard set of her features. “You’re a charmer, Finn, and I enjoy your company. You make me laugh, which is hard to do. But I’m not risking my business, my livelihood, so you can settle some vendetta with Carlyle.”

Fletcher’s ruined face flashed before my eyes. Vendetta? Oh no, this was much more than that. Since the vampire was going to be difficult about things, I decided to remind her exactly how good a friend Finn had been to her.

“Catherine’s gotten so big since the last time I saw her,” I said in a soft voice. “When you brought her home from the hospital after her surgery.”

Roslyn’s dark eyes went to the little girl playing in the castle, then snapped up to meet mine. Her gaze hardened, and her fangs poked out through her lips. Warning me to back the fuck off. Donovan Caine gave me a hard look, wondering what the hell I was doing. Finn just sighed.

“Looks like she’s really enjoying that princess castle Finn gave her as a welcome home gift,” I continued. “Tell me, how’s Lisa, your sister? I haven’t seen her in a while.”

Vroom-vroom
.
Vroom-vroom
. Catherine pushed her dump truck back and forth on the grass.

“She’s fine,” Roslyn said in a tight voice. “I keep Catherine during the day while Lisa goes to school. She’s finishing up her business degree at Ashland Community College.”

I gave her a soft, easy smile, like we were just two gals shooting the breeze. “Nice to hear they’re doing so well—now.”

Roslyn’s mouth flattened into a thin line as she considered the meaning behind my casual words. Her fingers tapped on the table. After a few seconds, her hand stilled. “Yeah, they’re doing much better—now.”

The vampire stared at me. “There’s a passageway that runs through the back of the club. Has eyes and ears in all the private rooms. We use it to look out for the girls and make sure they’re being treated right. You could watch Carlyle from there. But he leaves the club in one piece—understand? I can’t have people disappearing from the private rooms.”

We could always grab Carlyle outside after we saw who he liked to party with. Easier that way anyhow. I nodded my acceptance to her terms. She relaxed the slightest bit.

“You’re a peach, Roslyn.” Finn leaned over and kissed her cheek. “A real peach.”

Her face softened, and a genuine smile curved her lips. “You say that to all the girls.”

“Maybe, but with you, I really mean it.”

Roslyn patted Finn’s cheek. He caught her hand and pressed a kiss to the inside of her palm. I cleared my throat before they could move on to other things.

Finn sighed. “Sorry, darling. Duty calls. We’ll be at the club tonight. Perhaps we can meet later in the week after some of my present … difficulties resolve themselves.”

“Of course. Call me when you get free.”

And so business was concluded. I got to my feet. Donovan Caine rose as well. Finn sighed again, then did the same.

“Come on, Finn. I’m sure Roslyn wants to go see how Catherine’s doing.” I smiled at the vampire again. “Give our best to Lisa.”

Her dark eyes met mine. “I will,” she murmured. “I will.” 

19

Roslyn showed us out, then went back inside to put Catherine down for a nap. As soon as the vampire locked the door behind us, Donovan Caine turned to me.

“What the hell was that about? Threatening her niece like that?” His eyes blazed gold with anger. “The little girl was sitting right there.”

“And was far too involved in her own imaginary world to pay attention to us,” I replied. “It wasn’t a threat. I was merely reminding Roslyn how Finn had taken care of something for her and that she owed him. It was business, nothing else, and Roslyn knew it. That’s why she agreed to let us spy on Carlyle. Now she knows we’re even again.”

Caine kept his hard gaze on my face. “And if she hadn’t agreed? What would you have done? Pulled one of your knives on the little girl?”

“Oh boy,” Finn muttered and stepped back.

I tilted my head and approached the detective until I stood right in front of him. Donovan Caine didn’t move away. More balls than common sense.

“I might be an assassin, detective, but I’m not a monster. I don’t kill kids—ever. But if you ever dare to insult me like that again, I’ll be more than happy to slit your throat.” I palmed one of my knives, flashed it at him, brought it up to his throat, and tucked it back up my sleeve in one smooth, quick motion.

His face hardened with fury. “Just like you did Cliff Ingles?”

“Just like I did Cliff Ingles,” I snapped. “But I’ll give you the courtesy of leaving your balls attached to the rest of your body.”

We stood there glaring at each other. Part of me wanted to punch Donovan Caine, smash my fist into his nose, and feel his hot blood spurt out onto my fingers. Another part of me wanted to pull him toward me, plant my lips on his, and melt the gold anger in his eyes into liquid passion.

Finn cleared his throat. “If you two are done with your little spat, we should go. Things to do and all that.”

Donovan Caine glared at me a moment longer, then stalked over to the car, got in the back, and slammed the door shut. Finn and I followed him.

“By the way, good call on the castle, Gin,” Finn said as he reached for the wires to start the car. “You were right. Much better than the stuffed dog I wanted to buy.”

“You picked that out?” Caine asked. “That pink, plastic toy?”

I turned to look at him. “I happen to have been a little girl, once upon a time, detective. I know what they like. Every little girl wants to be a princess.”

A thoughtful frown overcame the angry tension on Caine’s rugged face. “And what happens when they grow up?”

I thought of my mother and sisters and all the horrors that had happened the day they’d died. A bitter laugh escaped from my tight lips. “Then they just want to be little girls again.”

Using all the usual precautions, we went back to my apartment. Finn headed to his computer to see if his contacts had found out anything more about Captain Wayne Stephenson. Donovan Caine sat on the sofa and turned on the television. The detective didn’t speak to or look at me, and Finn was too engrossed in his e-mails to engage in substantial conversation. I took a nap, resting up for what was sure to be a long night.