Web of Lies (Page 33)

Just before Jake hit me, I got to my feet, grabbed my plate off the table, stepped forward, and slammed the whole thing into his face as hard as I could.

Food splattered into Jake’s eyes, and the cumin, red pepper, and other spices in the barbecue sauce caused him to scream. He stumbled back, flipped over a chair, and landed on his ass – hard. Jake cursed and tried to claw the mess off his face. He was too busy doing that to hold on to his magic, and the flames dancing on his fists snuffed out.

I turned back to Jonah McAllister and the two giant guards. Waiting.

Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Sophia come out from around the counter. The dwarf held a metal spoon in her hand. With her strength, it might as well have been a baseball bat. Sophia would back me up just like she had the other night. That’s what family did.

Jonah McAllister saw her too and realized the odds had slipped to four on two. He looked through the storefront windows. People moved back and forth on the street outside, going out to lunch and back to work. More than one glanced inside the Pork Pit as they passed. A few slowed down long enough to get a good long gawk.

I could see the wheels turning in the lawyer’s mind, as he considered the benefits of ordering his giant bodyguards to kill us now versus the possibility of folks witnessing it and more people potentially causing problems for him. His boss, Mab Monroe, might run Ashland, but I imagined she liked her flunkies to take care of their own business without involving her or being implicated in something unseemly themselves.

Jake threw aside a glop of coleslaw and scrambled to his feet. But before the Fire elemental could charge me again, Jonah McAllister shook his head. One of the giants stepped forward and put a restraining hand on Jake’s shoulder, holding him in place. His neck almost snapped from the abrupt stop. The skin around his eyes was red and irritated from the spicy food, but it didn’t compare to the sparks of hot magic that flickered in his hate-filled gaze.

"C’mon, Dad," Jake said, looking around the giant’s arm and pleading with his father. "Let’s do the bitch. She’s not going to play ball with us."

Jonah McAllister looked at his son, then at me. He got to his feet and buttoned his suit jacket. "What have I told you about ruining people, Jake?"

"That it’s more fun to do it slowly," Jake muttered.

Jonah nodded. "That’s right. We’ll see how Ms. Blanco feels in a few more days when she hasn’t gotten any customers, and she has bills to pay. Until then, Ms. Blanco."

So Jonah McAllister had decided to stick to his specialty – squeezing people through somewhat legal means.

"Until then, Mr. McAllister." My eyes cut to Jake. "Just because you’ve gotten your daddy involved doesn’t negate my threat. You come near me or my restaurant again, and I’ll break more than just your wrist. You understand me?"

Jake surged against the giant. "You’re dead, bitch! Dead! Do you hear me? Do you hear me? Dead!"

Jonah gave his son a disgusted look and swept out of the Pork Pit. The giants flanked the still-struggling Jake, picked him up by his arms, and hauled him outside.

His hoarse screams reverberated all the way down the street – and so did his threats. The other night, I’d just insulted Jake by getting the upper hand. Now, I’d humiliated him in front of his father. The Fire elemental couldn’t allow that to slide. Not if he wanted the old man to at least pretend to respect him.

Daddy’s orders or not, Jake McAllister was going to come for me, sooner rather than later, with all his Fire elemental-fueled rage.

And when he did, I’d gut the bastard – once and for all. No matter how many problems it might cause me.

Chapter Fourteen

Once Jake McAllister’s screams faded away, I glanced over my shoulder at Sophia. "Was it good for you too?"

"Hmph." The dwarf gave me her usual grunt and headed toward the mop and bucket in the far corner.

"Leave the food where it is," I said. "It’s my mess. I’ll clean it up later. Besides, we’re not going to have any more customers today. Go home, Sophia. Get some rest. You’ve earned it."

Sophia’s black eyes met mine. She grunted again and got the mop anyway. I sighed. Brick was more talkative and responsive than the Goth dwarf. So I got on my knees and picked up the broken dish and smashed bits of food. I’d just thrown everything away and washed my hands in the sink when the bell over the front door chimed again. I turned, a silverstone knife already sliding into my hand.

But this time it was just Finn.

His green eyes went to Sophia and the mess she was mopping up. "Did I miss something?"

"Yeah," I replied. "Jake McAllister just dropped by –  and he had his daddy with him."

Finn blinked. "Jonah McAllister came to the restaurant? What did he want? What did he say?"

I shrugged. "Drop the charges against his son or else. It went downhill from there. Attempted bribery, threats of violence, the promise of my own murder. The Ashland special."

Finn sighed. "And let me guess; you told the McAllisters exactly what they could do with their threats."

I grinned. "You know me."

Finn shook his head. "Gin, do you really want to start a family feud with the McAllisters? I thought you wanted to enjoy your retirement, live a nice, clean, simple life."

"No, I don’t want to start a war with the McAllisters."

Finn raised his eyebrows in disbelief. "C’mon, Gin. Just admit it. You like thumbing your nose at bad guys and showing everyone exactly how strong and capable you are. You always have. That’s why you pushed the McAllisters so hard today."

"All right, all right," I muttered. "So maybe my retirement’s been a little more boring than I thought it would be. So maybe it felt good to knock Jake’s nose out of joint when he made the stupid mistake of trying to rob me. Maybe it felt even better to do the same to his old man. But if I’d let Jake go that night, I’d have a dozen Jake McAllisters in here today, all thinking they could knock over my joint for a quick wad of cash. You know it. Ashland’s all about survival of the toughest. It always has been. Word gets out you’re weak or an easy mark, and you’re finished, no matter what business you’re in."

Finn shrugged his agreement.

"Besides, if I give in to the McAllisters now, they’ll think they own me, that they actually frightened me today.

Jake would start coming in here all the time, just to lord it over me. He’d think the restaurant was his own personal little fiefdom, take my money, and terrorize my customers.

And I just couldn’t stand that. Not in Fletcher’s restaurant.

Not when he worked so hard for so long to keep from paying protection money to anyone." I sighed. "Besides, it’s too late for all that now anyway. I pissed off Jake McAllister again, embarrassed him in front of his father. He’s not going to forget that. He’s going to kill me – or at least try. He has to, or he’ll never have his father’s respect again. What little of it there was to start with."