Spider's Bite

"What the hell are you doing here?" she asked. "What do you want? Money?" I laughed. The harsh, mocking sound made several people turn around and stare at me.

"Money," I sneered. "Do you think you can buy me off so easily? After what your sister's done? I don't think so."

Haley raised a sculpted eyebrow. "You were perfectly willing to take money to kill Gordon Giles."

I leaned forward. "That was before your sister decided to double-cross me. That was before Alexis tortured the old man at the barbecue joint. Before she had her goons beat my friend almost to death. Before she decided to kill the police detective to avoid any loose ends."

Since her offer of money had failed, Haley decided to try another tactic. She opened her eyes a little wider, as though her brave front was finally cracking. I had to give her credit, she changed direction smoothly. "This wasn't my idea, you have to believe me. Alexis is the one behind it all. She forced me to go along with her. To go along with everything."

"Nice act," I said. "Convenient too, to blame your sister for everything. But in case you haven't noticed, I ran out of mercy a long time ago. Guilt by association works just fine for me."

Haley let her lower lip quiver. "It's not an act. Alexis threatened me. Threatened to hurt me, kill me if I didn't do exactly what she wanted."

"Really?" I asked. "Is that why your log-in and password information are linked to the embezzled accounts? Because Alexis forced you to steal all that money from your own company?"

She nodded and swiped at the corner of her eye, as though brushing away a tear.

Southern women might know a thing or two about melodrama, but Haley was laying it on thicker than frosting on a cake.

I snorted. "Sugar, you are a terrible liar. I've seen better acting from the vampire hookers on the Southtown streets."

Haley studied me a moment. Once she saw I wasn't buying her act, her face hardened once more. Back to playing the tough girl. Too bad I really was one.

"I know why you wanted Gordon Giles dead. He was going to go to the police about the embezzling, and you just couldn't have that. But there is one thing I am curious about," I said. "What's been the point of all this? Surely, you don't really think the two of you can dethrone Mab Monroe just by stealing a few million bucks?"

Haley shrugged. "That's Alexis's dream, not mine. She's the one who enjoys playing Mob queen with her Air elemental magic. Alexis thinks her magic makes her more powerful than it really does."

"So why?" I asked. "Why support her pipe dream?"

Haley's eyes flashed with hatred. "Because Mab Monroe stole our father's company, his pride and joy, bought up the stock right out from under him. But that wasn't enough for her. Daddy was fighting the takeover, fighting her, and she killed him.

She told us she did and said if we wanted to keep on breathing, we'd better go along with her. That was two years ago. And now the bitch orders us around, tells us what to do, as if we don't know our own company better than she ever could. I'm just taking back what's mine. And if Alexis does manage to kill her, well, all the better.

Maybe then our father can rest in peace."

The venom in her voice would have made most people drop dead. I imagine Mab Monroe would have only found it mildly irritating. So Alexis was the one with delusions of magical grandeur. Haley was just going along with her sister's plan so she could steal. Nice family.

"What the fuck do you want?" Haley snapped. "I assume there's a point to this meeting."

"I want you and your sister to walk away," I said. "Withdraw the reward money Halo Industries is offering for information about me. Get Alexis to call off her men, including Captain Wayne Stephenson. Finnegan Lane and Donovan Caine, the men your sister wants to torture and kill, they walk, too. We all walk away and keep breathing. And you can keep right on skimming millions off the top from your own company. I don't give a fuck about you stealing from Mab Monroe because you weren't smart enough to hang on to your own business."

She wouldn't be stealing that much longer, because I was going to put a knife in Haley's gut and cut Alexis every which way I knew how as soon as the sisters lowered their guard. I'd play the blackmail card now to get Finn and Donovan Caine free of this mess, but the bitches were going to die for what they'd done to Fletcher. Besides, they'd double-crossed me first. It was only fair.

Haley's face tightened at my insult, but she knew I wasn't finished. "Or else?" I stared at her, my gray eyes as cold and hard as ice. "Tell me, have you or Alexis heard from Charles Carlyle today?"

She didn't say anything.

I smiled. "I had the opportunity to speak with Chuck last night. He didn't say much, of course, but I did find something interesting in his possession-Gordon Giles's flash drive. Seems Chuck stumbled across it and decided to keep it for himself as insurance against Alexis turning on him. Of course, he won't be using it now, but he was nice enough to pass it on to me before he died."

For the first time, true panic sparked in Haley's blue-green eyes.

"I read through the files. That's how I knew your log-in information was the one used to steal the money." I pointed across the ballroom to where Mab Monroe was still holding court. "Now, I could just go ahead and give the information to Mab. I'm sure she'd be very interested in learning more about your embezzlement, since she's your company's major stockholder. What do you think?"

The smallest gasp escaped from Haley's tight lips. Her face paled, and her forehead gleamed with the beginnings of a nervous sweat. Her control was starting to crack. "You-you can't tell Mab anything. She'll kill us, just like she did Daddy."

"I can do whatever the hell I want, Haley. I'm the one with the flash drive. Why, I could walk over to Mab Monroe this minute." I raised my arm as if to wave to the Fire elemental. "I'm sure I could get her attention-"

"No!" Haley grabbed my arm, trying to lower it.

Haley's shout echoed through the ballroom, overpowering the din of conversation.

Several people turned to see what all the fuss was about, including Mab Monroe. The Fire elemental spotted me pointing at her and Haley clutching my arm. Mab frowned, but I just smiled and waggled my fingers at her, as though we were old friends. After a moment, Mab lifted her hand and waved back, even though she couldn't possibly know who the hell I was or why I was waving at her like a loon. Mab crooked her finger at Elliot Slater and whispered something in his ear. Slater snapped his fingers, and another one of Mab's giant guards walked over to them. Time to wrap this up.

"Think over my offer, Haley," I said. "I'm only going to make it this one time."

"You don't understand," she hissed. "Alexis is the one who wanted Gordon dead, not me. I wanted to pay him off, but she wouldn't hear of it. Said she wanted to teach him a lesson for turning on her. It was all I could do to convince her to hire an assassin, instead of doing it herself and getting caught. It would have been fine, if she'd just listened to me. But Alexis always complicates things. She had to get fancy and set you up, even though I told her it wasn't necessary, that it might backfire. But she didn't want Mab sniffing around us or the company. Not yet. Not before she's ready to make her move."

"And you're boring me with this because ..."

"Because Alexis won't take what you're offering now," Haley replied in a shaky voice.

"She won't back down, not from you, not from anybody. Before Daddy died, Alexis never threw her Air magic around. Nobody even knew she had any, except for the family. But after he died, she changed. Started using her magic for everything, started practicing with it so she could go after Mab. Her magic ... it's made her reckless, crazy. I can't reason with her anymore."

I gave her a cold look. "Then I suggest you try harder, Haley. Or you're the one who's going to be feeling Mab Monroe's wrath. I imagine she can torture you much longer than Alexis did the old man at the restaurant. Mab's had a lot more practice at that sort of thing. She could probably keep you alive for days."

Haley blanched, and her face took on a greenish hue, as though she wanted to vomit.

I plucked a business card out of my purse and held it out to her. The number for my cell phone was scribbled across it. "You have an hour to get Alexis on board, call me at this number, and agree to my demands. After that, well, who knows what will happen?"

Haley James snatched the card from my hand with trembling fingers and clutched it to her heaving chest. I gave her the hard stare another moment, then grabbed my cell phone, got to my feet, and strolled away.

Chapter Twenty-Five

I moved through the high-class crowd with ease, slinking my way past one group after another, and held the cell phone up to my ear.

"Did you hear all that, detective?"

"Yeah," Donovan Caine said in a grim tone. "I heard her."

I hadn't cut the connection with the detective because I'd wanted him to hear exactly what Haley James had to say for herself. That way, I couldn't be accused of putting words in her mouth-or compounding her guilt. Haley had made it abundantly clear she was okay with whatever Alexis wanted to do, as long as she got to keep stealing from her own company. The only time she'd shown any emotion other than haughtiness was when I'd told her I had the flash drive and that I was thinking about giving it to Mab Monroe.

Then she'd panicked. Nobody wanted to face the Fire elemental's wrath, not even someone as greedy as Haley James. She was probably running through the crowd right now, looking for Alexis, trying to think of some way to get her sister to meet my demands so she could save her own skin.

Haley wasn't the only one scurrying through the ballroom. So was one of Mab Monroe's guards.

Evidently I'd acted like too much of a loon before, and Mab wanted to know who I was-and why I'd been talking to Haley James. Her giant swept through the crowd after me like Sherman marching through Atlanta. I didn't dare turn around, but I heard the mutters of the people he bowled out of his way. I picked up my pace, darting around groups of people and shimmying around the waiters. I was quick, but the giant was bigger. It was only a matter of time before he caught up with me. Before his beefy hand clamped on my shoulder and he escorted me outside the ballroom for a little private chat-maybe even with Mab herself. A complication I didn't need right now.

"You've got a tail," Donovan's voice sounded in my ear. "No shit," I said. "Where are you?"

"Same place as before. Middle of the second floor, leaning over the railing." I glanced up. The detective was exactly where he'd said he was. He'd undone another button on his white dress shirt, and he looked sexy and rumpled in the afternoon light. Mmm. Too bad I didn't have time to enjoy the view.

"I see you," I said. "Find us someplace to hide from the giant. Empty room, supply closet, whatever. I'll be up there in a minute."

"Got it."

Caine turned and moved away from the balcony. My eyes swept over the crowd, looking for something I could use to slow down the giant. The mutters behind me grew louder. A minute, maybe less, before he'd catch me. My gaze landed on a waiter not so steadily carrying a full tray of mint juleps. Perfect.

I slowed my steps to get my timing just right. The waiter brushed past me, and I kicked his ankle as hard as I could with the point of my stiletto. He shrieked at the unexpected pain. I kept right on going, but the waiter went down like a dead man.

His tray tipped over, and alcohol showered on everyone within a three-foot radius. A few icy drops spattered against my back.

For a moment there was horrified silence. In the next second, a mob of angry people converged on the guy, screaming and berating the poor man for being so clumsy. The throng was so tight, even the giant couldn't shoulder through it. While he tried to work his way around the tables and harridans shrieking about their alcohol-soaked dresses, I climbed up a set of stairs to the second floor and walked back the way I'd just come, weaving in and out of the clusters of people on this level. Below me, Mab Monroe looked at the crush of guests and frowned. She knew something had gone wrong. She just didn't know what yet.

I lowered my head, moved away from the balcony, and kept walking, not so fast as to call attention to myself, but not dawdling either. I held the phone back up to my ear.

"Where are you?"

"Supply closet. Hang a left at the end of the hallway. Second door on your right." I made the appropriate turn. This hallway was deserted, so I opened the door, stepped inside, and shut it behind me. Caine waited inside, leaning on a metal rack full of toilet paper. I leaned against the wood and let out a long breath.

"That was close."

"Too close," Caine agreed.

"What about Haley?" I asked the detective. "What did she do after I confronted her?"

"Nothing much," Caine said. "She sat there for a moment, looking at your back; then she got up and scurried off into the crowd."

Going to find Alexis, just like I'd thought she would. "Now what?" Caine asked.

"Now we stay in here until Mab and her guard lose interest in me and Haley James calls," I said. "Neither one should take too long."

I moved past the detective. Besides the metal rack he leaned against, there wasn't much in the closet. A mop and a bucket. Several boxes of plastic gloves. A ratty love seat that had been salvaged from one of the club's salons. I dialed Finn on my cell phone. He answered on the second ring.