I pulled my robe closed. "In the flesh. "
Eva's eyes narrowed, and she looked from me to her brother and back again. "A sleepover. Cozy. " Her gaze flicked to the food on the table. "I take it you're staying through breakfast then?"
I stared at Owen. "Yeah," I said. "I think I'll be here awhile. "
Three days later, just after eleven, I was back at the Pork Pit, sitting behind the cash register reading the morning edition of the Ashland Trumpet. The headline across the front page read Police still searching for vigilante. The story was yet another follow-up piece about the events that had transpired at Elliot Slater's mountain mansion.
"Well, at least they're not calling you an assassin," Finnegan Lane said, reading the headline upside down.
Finn was taking a break from his banking to have an early lunch at the Pork Pit before the usual noontime crowd hit. Sophia Deveraux had already poured Finn his second cup of chicory coffee and was brewing him another pot to take back to the bank.
I shrugged. "It's only a matter of time before it spins the other way and I'm back to being a cold-blooded killer. "
"We'll see," Finn replied. "It might take longer than you think. "
"Why do you say that?"
"I've had my ear on the underground buzz," Finn replied, taking a sip of his coffee. "Word is that Mab Monroe is looking high and low for you and that she's got all her boys and girls on red alert. But there are also a lot of other people who are interested in seeing if you can pull it off. If you can actually take down Mab and her organization. Obviously, the other power players in town are extremely interested in the outcome. Phillip Kincaid being the most vocal of those. But there are lots of little folks talking too, moms and pops that have felt Mab's heat over the years. You've got the beginnings of a major fan base out there. "
"Great," I replied in a wry tone. "Just what I need. Celebrity. "
"It can have its uses," Finn replied.
The bell over the front door chimed, and my first real customer of the day strolled in-Roslyn Phillips. Today the vamp wore an elegant lavender sweater over a pair of slim-fitting, gray wool pants. A bit of matching lipstick brightened her beautiful face, and her silver glasses flashed in the morning sunlight. You'd never know by looking at her that Roslyn had almost been beaten to death. Thanks to Jo-Jo Deveraux's healing skills, the vamp had completely recovered from her ordeal at the hands of Elliot Slater. On the outside, at least.
I knew that Roslyn would always bear the scars on the inside-raw, bloody wounds that would scab over but perhaps never fully heal. My heart still ached for the vampire and everything that she had been through because of me, and I knew that it always would. If I could have, I would have killed Elliot Slater for her all over again. And again. And again.
But Roslyn seemed to be holding her own. And Finn had told me that Sophia, of all people, had talked at length to the vamp about what had happened to her. Finn didn't know any of the details, but he said that whatever Sophia had told Roslyn, it had seemed to help the other woman. The vamp certainly looked more like her old, confident, sophisticated self today than she had the last time I'd seen her-bloody in the back of a police car while everyone gawked at her.
Whether she realized it herself or not, Roslyn Phillips was one of the strongest people that I'd ever had the pleasure to know. And one day, I hoped she would do me the honor of calling me her friend, despite the hell that I was partially responsible for inflicting on her. I hoped Roslyn could forgive me for it someday-even though I knew that I'd never forgive myself.
Roslyn came over to the counter, sat down next to Finn, and smiled at the two of us. "Gin, Finn. " The vampire leaned forward and waved her hand at Sophia.
"Hmph. " Sophia returned Roslyn's greeting with her usual grunt, but the Goth dwar
f flashed the vampire a tiny smile before turning back to the coffeepot.
"Roslyn," I said. "What can I do for you?"
"Nothing. Absolutely nothing. I'm just here to meet Xavier for lunch. "
I raised an eyebrow. "Couldn't resist my cooking?"
Another small smile tugged her lips, though it didn't quite banish the dark shadows in her eyes. "Something like that. "
We sat and chatted about nothing of consequence. We all knew that it was too soon to talk about anything else, and I didn't want to do or say anything to upset Roslyn.
So Roslyn told us that her sister Lisa and her niece Catherine had finally returned from their beach vacation now that Elliot Slater was dead and the coast was clear, so to speak. She promised to bring them by sometime. I told the vamp that any meal with her family at the Pork Pit was on the house.
About five minutes after Roslyn arrived, the bell over the front door chimed again, and Xavier walked inside. The giant headed straight for Roslyn, and the two of them smiled at each other, their feelings shining in their eyes for everyone to see.
"Excuse us," Roslyn said, following Xavier over to one of the booths by the windows.
I watched the two of them. Xavier was careful with Roslyn, not getting too close to her, putting his hand next to hers on top of the table, but not actually touching her. For her part, Roslyn made an effort, looking straight at the giant, not taking her hand off the table when he edged his a little closer to hers. It was still a work in progress, but somehow I thought they would be okay, despite the last few horrible days the two of them had been through.
Xavier hadn't come to the restaurant by himself. About two minutes later, Detective Bria Coolidge walked through the front door of the Pork Pit. My sister wore her usual long navy coat over a sweater, jeans, and boots. Her gold detective's badge glinted on the waistband of her jeans. Bria waved at Xavier and Roslyn, then sat in a booth by herself in the back of the restaurant to give the couple their privacy. Bria picked up the menu on the tabletop and began to read it.
Finn nudged me with his hand. "Go talk to her," he whispered. "You have to start somewhere with her, Gin. Or else everything we've gone through, everything we're going to do is for nothing. "