"Alexis James is still going to die for what she did to my handler. There will be no argument about that. No threats and no hunting me down after the fact," I said. "Can you live with that, detective? If so, I can live with the rest of what Finn's proposing.
The bounty on me goes away, you bounce Stephenson out of the department, and we all get on with our lives. "
Donovan Caine's hazel gaze darkened, and he stared into my gray eyes. After a moment, he nodded his head. "I can live with that. The question is how are we going to do it?"
"Easy," Finn said. "We sidle up to Alexis in a public place, drop the bomb on her, and wait for her to give in to our demands. "
I shook my head. "Not Alexis, Haley. We go through Haley James. " Donovan frowned.
"Why?"
"Because if she is involved, I get to add her to my list of things to do," I said. "And if she's not, well, she can start ducking for cover. That's what you let innocent people do, right?"
The detective didn't answer.
"So now all we have to do is find out where the sisters are going to be," Finn said.
"One step ahead of you. " I pulled out my cell phone and hit another one of the speed dial numbers. The phone rang four times before she picked it up.
"Do y'all know what time it is?" Jo-Jo Deveraux muttered in my ear, although her slow, syrupy drawl took some of the bite out of her words.
I glanced at the clock on the wall. "It's Gin, and it's 3:07. I need some information and possibly a couple of invitations. Think you can handle it?"
Jo-Jo laughed. "For you, darling? Anything. "
Chapter Twenty-Four
At four o'clock the next afternoon, I found myself in the elegant confines of Five Oaks, the snobbiest, most exclusive, and most highfalutin country club in Ashland.
Jo-Jo Deveraux had called earlier in the day with the info I'd needed-the next event on the James sisters' social calendar. Haley and Alexis, along with five hundred other invited guests, were due to attend an afternoon fund- raiser for a battered-women's shelter that was being held at the country club. Jo-Jo had pulled a few of her drama mama strings and managed to secure invitations for Donovan Caine and me. Finn had already been invited, given the fact he moved money around for most of those in attendance.
Now I stood in the club's spacious main ballroom, watching the flow of people and waiting for the James sisters to arrive. Five Oaks was a massive complex of five circular buildings, and the ballroom was in keeping with the grand scale of things.
The round room itself was several thousand feet wide and soared four stories into the air. A glass dome formed the ceiling, letting natural light stream down onto the club's members. Multiple sets of stairs led up to the upper levels, each of which featured a balcony that ringed the entire ballroom.
Floor-to-ceiling glass windows lined the curve of the back wall, along with two large doors that led out onto a wide stone patio. The impressive view showed off the club's smaller outbuildings, a series of acorn-shaped pools, tennis courts, and the smooth, green expanse, beige sand traps, and tall, colorful flags of the golf course.
People, clustered in small groups, talked, laughed, and sipped mint juleps on the main floor. Some had wandered up to have more private conversations on the second floor balcony. Others had taken their drinks and planted themselves at tables covered with pale peach linens. The country club's rune-an acorn-was stitched in gold thread in the center of each tablecloth. The event was going to feature a sit-down dinner later, but the booze and bullshit were already flowing.
I spotted several prominent vampires, elementals, dwarves, and giants in the crowd, each one doing their best to make their importance known to everyone else in attendance. But no one shone brighter than Mab Monroe. The Fire elemental looked polished and glamorous in a floor-length canary yellow gown. A fringed shawl covered her bare arms, and the ruby in her sunburst rune necklace flashed against her cleavage. Mab had planted herself in the exact center of the ballroom. People stood three deep around her, jockeying to get a moment of her attention. But Mab's giant guards for the evening kept the unwanted commoners from getting too close.
The other two members of the triangle of trouble were in attendance as well-Mab's lawyer, Jonah McAllister, and her enforcer, Elliot Slater. With his silver hair, snazzy suit, and capped teeth, McAllister looked every bit like the smooth talker he was.
Slater's seven-foot figure loomed large over the crowd. A diamond bigger than an eye winked on the giant's pinkie.
I stood near the back wall, just on the fringes of a group of businessmen dressed in dark suits. A few of them shot me appreciative looks, but the frigid chill in my gray eyes kept them from approaching me. At least until they'd had a few more drinks.
To blend in with the rich folks, I'd donned a simple but elegant black wrap dress Jo-Jo had given me for Christmas last year. The garment was made of a loose-knit material and featured long, billowing sleeves that hid my knives. The material fell to my knees, allowing me to strap two more blades to my thighs. My purse held another knife. Black stilettos covered my feet, and I'd twisted my hair into a high ponytail, complete with two razor-sharp chopsticks.
My cell phone rang, and I plucked it out of my purse. One of the businessmen eyed me.
"My husband," I said in a pleasant voice. "The giant. Such a protective man. Likes to know where I am all the time-and who I'm with. "
He gulped and turned his attention back to his drink. Evidently I didn't look fuckable enough to risk tangling with a jealous giant.
I stepped a few feet away from the group of men and opened my phone. "Any sign of them?" "Not yet," Donovan Caine replied. "Although Finn seems to be enjoying himself at the bar. "
I looked across the ballroom. After we'd entered the country club, we'd split up.