Nothing obvious had jumped out of the file, so we'd decided to tail the giant to see if we could spot any potential weaknesses. A bar he liked to frequent, a bookie he did business with, a mistress tucked away somewhere. It was one thing to just walk up to Slater and stab him to death. I could do that easily enough. It would be quite another to make his death look like a random bit of violence on the mean streets of Ashland and not have it traced back to me or Roslyn Phillips.
After Finn had worked his computer magic, we'd swung by Fletcher's house to pick up some supplies for the evening. More silverstone knives for me, an extra laptop battery for Finn, and ski masks and dark, anonymous clothes for both of us. Normally I didn't care if my targets saw my face before they died. It wasn't like they were going to blab about my real identity where they were going. But I wasn't taking any chances with Elliot Slater. Especially since he already knew me as Gin Blanco. It would be just my bad luck to get interrupted before he died and then have him point the finger back at me before he took his last, blood-soaked breath.
I closed the file, placed it on the floor, and leaned my head back against the seat.
"Speaking of files," Finn said. "Did you ever look at that info on Bria that I compiled for you?"
"No. "
Finn stared at me with his bright green eyes. "Why not? I thought you'd be eager to see what your long-lost baby sister has been up to the past seventeen years. "
I sighed. "Part of me is. But part of me wonders if I should even bother. "
"Why?"
"Because Bria's a cop, Finn," I replied. "A real straight arrow, just like Donovan Caine was. I don't think she'd be too thrilled to learn that her big sister has killed more people than the common cold. "
Finn looked at me for a moment. "Once again, you underestimate yourself. If Bria can't understand why you've done the things you've done, then she doesn't deserve to know you. Just like Donovan Caine didn't deserve you. "
I tried to smile, but I don't think it came off very well. "Sweet of you to say, but we both know that's not true, don't we? I can't blame Donovan for leaving, not really. It's one thing for a guy to want to sleep with me. But hanging around long-term with a former assassin? That's not the kind of thing that makes a man rest easier at night, especially when he's in bed next to me and I've got a knife tucked under my pillow and another one on top of the nightstand. "
Finn opened his mouth, probably to argue with me some more, but a movement across the street caught my eye. One of the valets hurried to open the door, and Mab Monroe strolled out into the dark night. The Fire elemental wore a stylish black trench coat, and her coppery hair glistened like wet blood against the dark fabric. Jonah McAllister exited next, followed by Elliot Slater. Both men wore suits, somber ties, and wingtips. I could see the gleam of their shoes even across the street.
Elliot Slater jerked his thumb at the two valets on duty. The kids paled, then hurried around the corner to retrieve someone's car. Slater rejoined Mab and Jonah McAllister, and the Three Musketeers, as Finn had dubbed them, stood on the sidewalk talking. Finn rolled down his window to see if we could hear any of their conversation.
". . . don't care about the consequences. Just get it done," Mab snapped to the other two.
"Perhaps you're being a bit hasty. . . " McAllister began in a fainter voice. He turned around to watch Mab pace back and forth on the sidewalk, and the rest of his words were lost to me.
Mab whirled around on her heel and glared at the silver-haired attorney. "I'm never hasty, Jonah. Elliot and his men need to take care of it. Tonight. Am I understood?"
McAllister nodded his head. So did Slater.
A limo pulled to a stop at the curb in front of them. Mab said something else to her two flunkies, but the rumble of the engine drowned out her voice. The Fire elemental slid into the back of the limo, and a moment later it sped away into the night. One of the valets brought another car around, a late-model Mercedes. Jonah McAllister slipped into the driver's seat, whipped a U-turn, and raced away in the opposite direction.
That left just Elliot Slater standing on the sidewalk. The giant pulled a slim cigar case out of his jacket pocket and lit up a Cuban with the help of a heavy silver lighter. Slater leaned against the brick of the restaurant and puffed away. The giant enjoyed two more cigars in rapid succession, but he made no move to leave.
"What is he waiting for?" I murmured. "Christmas?"
"I don't know," Finn replied.
We sat there and watched Slater smoke. About five minutes later, a black Hummer stopped in front of the restaurant. Slater crushed out his cigar and climbed into the back of the vehicle. Finn and I slid lower in our seats as the Hummer roared down the street past us.
Finn let the driver get a block away before sitting up and cranking the Aston's engine. He turned to me and grinned. "Care to follow the white rabbit down his hole?"
"Sure," I replied. "Let's see what kind of late-night errand the giant is doing for Mab Monroe-and how we can fuck it up. "
* * *
Finn hung back at a discreet distance, and we followed the Hummer through the downtown district. The vehicle took one of the on ramps to the interstate, so Finn was able to blend in with the rest of the evening's traffic.
"Looks like they're headed for Northtown," Finn murmured.
Ashland might sprawl over the mountainous region where Tennessee, Virginia, and North Carolina met, but the city was really divided into two sections-Northtown and Southtown. The Pork Pit and Ashland Community College lay close to Southtown, which was home to the disenfranchised, down-on-their-luck, and dregs of society. Junkies, vampire hookers, and homeless bums wandered the Southtown streets, along with menial, blue collar workers barely eking out a living.
Northtown was a different story with its cutesy subdivisions, cookie-cutter homes, and sprawling estates. That was the part of the city that the white-collar yuppies and moneyed, social, and magical elite called home. But that didn't make that part of Ashland any less dangerous. I'd rather face down a dozen junkies than have to put up with a self-important yuppie snob who thought he was better than me just because he had little logos on his polo shirts and chinos.
"It's not terribly surprising that Slater's headed to Northtown," I told Finn. "Northtown folks are the only ones rich and dumb enough to make trouble for Mab Monroe. "