Finn saw me exit the Cake Walk and eased the black SUV in my direction. I listened for the sound of the bell over the front door. Even though I'd admitted to killing his partner, Donovan Caine wasn't charging after me, gun drawn and screaming-yet.
Neither of the two men tailing him looked in my direction. The first man was deep into the sports section of the newspaper, while his buddy had stopped hitting on the coeds long enough to buy a pretzel from a vendor. I eyed the second man, committing his features to memory. A short guy, with thinning black hair, a thick neck, and a strong, stocky body. He grinned at the pretzel vendor, showing off a set of fangs. A vampire. One who wasn't very big on personal hygiene, judging from the yellow tint to his teeth.
My gaze cut to the coeds. Still slurping on their mochas. They wouldn't go anywhere for a few minutes. Good. Finn pulled the black SUV up to the curb beside me. I opened the passenger's side door and hopped inside. Finn pulled away from the sidewalk, not so fast as to make the tires squeal, but quick enough to mean business. He cut in front of a trophy wife with TBH-Tennessee big hair-in a red Lexus, and she beeped her horn in displeasure. Finn stuck his finger out the window.
"Classy," I murmured. "Very classy. "
We reached the stoplight at the end of the block, and I glanced in the side mirror.
Donovan Caine stood on the sidewalk. His head swiveled around to the two men, who were busy pretending to eat and read the newspaper. He frowned, looked at our SUV, and scribbled down something on a notepad. Then Caine turned and walked in the opposite direction, probably heading back toward the police station. After about thirty seconds, his watchers followed him.
Finn saw the detective too. "Good thing I boosted this last night. Because unless I'm mistaken, the good detective just copied down our license plate number. He's probably on his way to headquarters right now to turn it in. "
I snorted. "Typical. Try to do somebody a favor, and he sics the traffic cops on you. "
"You do kill people," Finn pointed out. "It's only natural he'd be cautious. "
"Let's hope he's not too cautious to take my deal. Now, go down a couple of blocks, then circle back around to the Cake Walk. "
"Want to tell me why?" "You'll see. "
Finn did as I asked, and five minutes later, he parked in the same spot he'd started from. Once I made sure Donovan Caine and his watchers were gone, I got out of the car and walked over to the trio of coeds the vampire had been chatting up. I dug into my jeans pocket and pulled out all the cash I had on me-three hundred bucks and change. Should be more than enough for what I had in mind.
I stopped in front of the girls and flashed the money at them. "Ladies, can I have a moment of your time? I'll make it worth your while. "
The girls looked at each other, then at me.
"Sorry," said one of them, a petite black woman in her early twenties. "We're not hookers. "
"I'm not looking for a hooker," I said. "That guy who was talking to you earlier. The vampire with the receding hairline. He gave you something. I'm thinking a business card?"
The second girl, a pretty brunette, snorted. "Yeah, he gave us his card. Said he was a talent scout and asked us if we'd ever done any modeling. Like we all haven't heard that line before. "
The three women shared a harsh, knowing laugh. So young and already so jaded. I liked them.
I fanned the money at them. "Well, there's a hundred here for each of you if you give me that card. "
The third woman, a chubby blonde, frowned. "Why would you want that creep's number? We were going to toss it with our coffee cups. "
I gave her a wide smile. "I'm tailing the bastard for his wife. She thinks he's cheating on her. Every little thing I can get him for is another nail in his coffin, and more alimony in her pocket. Want to help a sister out?"
The three women glanced at each other, then at the money in my hand.
The brunette shrugged, reached into her jeans pocket, and plucked out a crumpled slip of paper. "For three hundred bucks, it's yours. "
I swapped my C-notes for the card and gave them another winning smile. "Pleasure doing business with you, ladies. "
I left the coeds to their mochas and jogged back to Finn.
"You looking for some girl-on-girl action or something?" Finn asked after I'd slipped into the passenger's seat. "Only in your dreams, Finn. "
I glanced at the wrinkled card in my hand. Charles Carlyle. A cell phone number squatted underneath the blocky script, but my eyes settled on the symbol printed on the card-a triangular shaped tooth with sawlike edges done in black ink. The mysterious Air elemental's rune.
"So what was this little detour all about then?" Finn asked.
My thumb rubbed over the rune. "Putting a name with a face. Now, let's get out of here, before Donovan Caine sends the po-po back this way. "
Finn dumped the SUV in the first parking garage we came to and liberated a similar one-another late-model Cadillac. He drove through the streets, circling around the downtown district twice before taking a swing through the suburbs to make sure we were clear of anyone who might have an unhealthy interest in us.