Web of Lies (Page 26)

Finn grinned a little wider. Nothing he loved better than being told how handsome he was.

Violet nodded at Jo-Jo. "And I’ve seen you once or twice up at the store, haven’t I?"

"You sure have, darling. Your grandfather has the best homemade honey in the city. I always stop and get some when I’m up that way," Jo-Jo said. "Now, why don’t you put that knife to good use and help yourself to some dessert while we talk?"

After a moment, Violet nodded, stepped forward, and put the knife back down on the table. Finn gently took her arm, gave her another smile, and sat her down on one of the stools. I made her a bowl of apricot bars and ice cream and passed her a spoon. Violet stared at me.

"And you," she murmured. "I talked to you at the restaurant today. And in the parking lot, after, after – "

"After I killed the man who attacked you," I said.

Violet gulped down a mouthful of air. Jo-Jo reached over, patted the girl on the hand, and shot me a pointed look. I sighed. I was a former assassin, not a babysitter.

Wasn’t my job to sugarcoat what had happened tonight – or skirt around the trouble the girl was in. But I was patient enough to let Violet Fox get through with her psuedocobbler before I started asking her questions.

Besides, there were plenty of apricot bars left. Be a shame, really, to let them go to waste.

"Why did you come into the Pork Pit today looking for the Tin Man?" I asked. "Who told you that name?"

Violet fiddled with her spoon, then pushed it and her empty bowl aside. She drew in a breath. She knew it was time to get down to business. "You’re going to think it’s stupid. Childish."

"Oh, I doubt that," I drawled.

Violet’s brows drew together in confusion at my sarcastic tone. Jo-Jo patted her hand again, encouraging her to go on with her story. Violet shook her head and continued.

"When I was a kid, my grandfather used to tell me stories about the Tin Man. He told me the Tin Man helped people who couldn’t help themselves. That he ran a barbecue restaurant called the Pork Pit and that all you had to do was go in and ask for him, and he’d make all your problems disappear. I thought it was the most wonderful story, a sort of Southern fairy tale."

Warren Fox might have been estranged from Fletcher, but he’d still thought about his childhood friend, enough to tell his granddaughter about the old man and what he did, in a roundabout way. Although I wouldn’t call assassinating folks a real help –

"Oh, yes. Fletcher helped lots of people over the years," Jo-Jo said, cutting into my musings. "He was a wonderful man that way."

I stared at the dwarf, then at Sophia, who grunted her agreement. Even Finn nodded his head in a knowing way. Over the years, I’d done a few pro bono jobs. So had Fletcher. But helping people on the sly? As a regular gig? When had the old man done that? And more importantly, why?

"So he’s real then?" Violet asked. "The Tin Man?"

"Sure, he’s real, darling," Jo-Jo said. "His name was Fletcher Lane. He was Finn’s father."

Violet’s face fell. "Was?"

Finn nodded. "He died a few months ago. But don’t worry about that right now. Tell us the rest of your story."

Violet drew in another breath. "Anyway, I hadn’t really thought about the Tin Man in years – until this morning."

"What happened this morning?" Finn gave Violet another encouraging smile.

Violet ducked her head and smiled back, as though she wasn’t used to so much male attention. Probably not.

Girls with glasses, and all that. "I’m a business major at Ashland Community College. Eva Grayson’s my best friend. She was at the Pork Pit last night. All she could talk about today was the robbery and how the woman behind the cash register stopped it."

Sophia snorted.

"Well, I did have some help," I said to appease the Goth dwarf. "So you talked to Eva, and you remembered this story your grandfather had told you about the Tin Man. Okay, I’ll buy that. But why do you even need the Tin Man’s help in the first place?"

Violet chewed on one of her fingernails. "It’s a long story."

"Good thing we’ve got nothing but time then."

I didn’t mention to the girl that she wasn’t going anywhere until I’d determined she wasn’t a threat to me, Finn, the Deveraux sisters, or the restaurant. Jake McAllister was going to make enough problems for me. I didn’t need any more.

Violet nodded. "All right. My grandfather, Warren Fox, owns a store up on Ridgeline Hollow Road called Country Daze. It’s an old-timey country store with glass soda pop bottles, barrels full of penny candy, locally made goods, that kind of thing. It’s also right next to one of the big coal mines – Dawson Number Three. It started out as an underground mine with a big seam of coal. But the coal ran out a few years ago, so the underground part has been idle since then. Now it’s just a strip mine. The owner of the mine, Tobias Dawson, has been after my grandfather to sell the store, land, and mineral rights to him for years so he can expand the mine and search for more coal. But the store and the land have been in our family for generations. Grandfather has always refused, saying he’d rather die than see any more of the mountain destroyed."

Tobias Dawson. I knew that name. Dawson was one of the biggest mine operators in Ashland, a dwarf who’d pulled coal out of the mountains for years himself as a miner before making enough money to start up his own company. He’d had nothing but success ever since. A true miner through and through who was always on the lookout for the next big seam of coal in the mountains. If Tobias Dawson wanted something, he usually got it – no matter who got dead in the process. Dawson was also deep in bed with Mab Monroe. I remembered seeing his name in the file Fletcher had compiled on the Fire elemental queen.

Hearing Dawson’s name also made me recall where I’d seen the symbol that had been tattooed on the bicep of Violet Fox’s attacker. Unless I was mistaken, a lit stick of dy***ite was Tobias Dawson’s rune for his mining company.

Violet continued with her story. "In the past, Dawson was content just to wait. He’s a dwarf, after all, just a bit over two hundred. He’s bound to outlive Grandfather and me too. But he’s not taking no for an answer anymore. He’s sent some of his men out to harass us. They’ve broken the windows in the store, threatened customers, interfered with our deliveries. You name it, they’ve done all that and more the last two months, trying to drive us out of business. Grandfather’s been able to handle Dawson’s men so far, but I worry about him. Dawson’s more or less told Grandfather that he’ll kill us both if Grandfather doesn’t sell out to him. Grandfather said no, of course."