Web of Lies (Page 27)

I didn’t bother asking Violet Fox if they’d gone to the police to complain about Tobias Dawson. The dwarven mine owner had more than enough money to bribe the po-po to look the other way, and he could always use his connection to Mab Monroe to get the cops in her pocket to back off and let him go about his intimidation business. The only person who might listen to the Foxes would be Donovan Caine. Even then, the detective couldn’t take on someone like Tobias Dawson by himself.

Not and live to tell about it.

"So that’s why that dwarf attacked you tonight," I murmured. "You grandfather wasn’t budging, so Dawson decided to give him some incentive to sell out – your body."

Violet shook her head. "That wouldn’t have worked, either. If anything, Grandfather would have gotten his shotgun and gone over to the mine to have it out with Dawson."

"Where Dawson could justifiably kill him in self-defense in front of any number of witnesses," Finn pointed out. "Either way, Dawson would have gotten what he wanted – you and your grandfather out of the way."

Violet shivered and hugged her arms to her chest.

Nobody said anything for the better part of a minute.

Then Jo-Jo looked at me with her pale, colorless eyes.

"Gin?"

Gin. My adopted name. Such a short, simple word.

But that single syllable was imbued with a world of meaning.

I knew what Jo-Jo was asking. If I was going to help Violet and her grandfather, Warren T. Fox. Because without someone like me on their side, someone just as cold, ruthless, and dangerous as Tobias Dawson, the Foxes weren’t long for this earth. If I hadn’t gotten curious and intervened tonight, Violet would already be raped, dead, and cold in that parking lot.

I rubbed my head. I didn’t need this right now. I was supposed to be retired, not sticking my nose into someone else’s problems. Especially not for free. Then there was Jake McAllister and his well-connected, lawyer father, Jonah. I had no doubt the younger McAllister would make good on his threat to try and kill me. And finally, there was the folder of information Fletcher Lane had left me – the one about my murdered mother and older sister.

The photo of Bria that proved she was still alive, still out there somewhere.

I needed to figure out what to do about all that. How to take care of Jake McAllister without pointing the finger back at myself. What to do about his father. How to find my baby sister, Bria. Decide whether I actually wanted to do that or not. Fletcher had left me all these questions to find the answers to. I didn’t need to go gallivanting up into the Appalachian Mountains to help an old geezer and his granddaughter take on someone as dangerous and potentially lethal as Tobias Dawson.

But my decision had already been made. It had been the moment I’d become curious enough to track down Violet Fox and see what kind of trouble she was in, see why she wanted to speak to the Tin Man. Curiosity. Definitely going to get me killed one day. Probably real, real soon.

"Sophia," I said. "I’m going to need you to watch the Pork Pit for a few days. Maybe help me out with some other things too, if the need arises."

The Goth dwarf nodded. A tiny smile softened her hard, pale face. Nothing Sophia liked better than handling the other things I sent her way.

"Finn, I need everything you can get on Tobias Dawson, his mining operation, and why he might want the Foxes’ land so badly."

Finn nodded.

"Jo-Jo, I’ll probably need some healing supplies."

The older dwarf nodded her head as well.

Violet looked back and forth between the four of us.

"I don’t understand. I thought Finn’s father, the Tin Man, was dead? How is any of this going to help me and my grandfather?"

"Because, sweetheart," I said. "I might not be the Tin Man, and I’m definitely no fairy-tale hero, but I’m the closest thing you’re going to get."

Chapter Twelve

Once my professional help was secured, Violet Fox immediately wanted to go home and make sure her grandfather was okay.

"Forget it," I said. "You’re not going home tonight. You need to stay here and rest. You’ve been through a serious trauma. Despite being magically healed, you still need some downtime to recover."

By this point, purple circles rimmed her dark eyes, and she moved slowly, like every motion was an enormous effort.

Violet Fox was about to pass out from sheer exhaustion.

I didn’t add the fact I wanted Violet to stay right where she was so Jo-Jo and Sophia Deveraux could babysit her. The dwarves would make sure Violet didn’t do anything stupid, like tell her grandfather about the attack and have him go tearing off after Tobias Dawson in a rage.

"But what if Dawson sends some men after Grandfather?"

Violet asked.

"He won’t," I replied. "You said it yourself. Your grandfather and his shotgun can handle Dawson’s men. That’s why the dwarf came after you instead. He wasn’t getting anywhere threatening your grandfather."

"But how do you know?" she persisted.

I gave her a flat look. "Because I’ve had a lot of experience with this sort of thing. Dawson’s probably waiting for his cell phone to ring, for his man to check in and tell him that you’re dead. When he realizes something went wrong, Dawson will be too busy trying to find his own man and figure out what the hell happened to him to worry about your grandfather. At least for tonight. Trust me. We’ve got time for you to get some beauty sleep."

Violet opened her mouth to argue with me some more, but I cut her off.

"You can call your grandfather and check in. See how he is, and tell him you’ll see him tomorrow. But if you want my help, you’re staying here tonight. Capisce?"

Violet Fox might be a straight-A business student, but her resistance wilted under my cold stare. "All right," she murmured. "I’ll call my grandfather."

"Good," I replied and pushed her bowl back over to her. "Now, eat some more cobbler."

Violet Fox ate some more apricot bars and vanilla ice cream, while the rest of us plotted. Jo-Jo and Sophia agreed to keep an eye on her until Finn and I showed up tomorrow. The two of us would drive Violet back home, meet with Warren T. Fox, and see what we could do to get Tobias Dawson to back off.

Jo-Jo settled Violet in one of her upstairs bedrooms, while Finn sweet-talked Sophia into going out into the rain and seeing what she could do about the blood Violet had dripped all over the backseat of his precious Aston Martin. Once Jo-Jo finished with Violet, the dwarf took me into the salon, where she gave me a plastic tub. The dwarf ‘s cloud rune decorated the top of the container. I traced my fingernail over the pale blue paint.