"Whatever. I don't need this stupid club anyway," Stuart said. "Chicks love me. Love me, I tell you!"
A few snickers sounded from the folks standing in line. Stuart turned his angry gaze to them, and suddenly, everyone was very interested in their phones, cigarettes, and conversations once more.
Stuart started muttering to himself, but he headed toward the parking lot, moving parallel to where Phillip and I were standing.
Phillip started to follow him, but I grabbed his arm.
"Wait," I said. "There's another guy with him."
Sure enough, a minute later, Richie ambled out of the club, his hands stuck in the front pockets of his khakis like he was just out for an innocent stroll. The dwarf must have somehow sneaked past Xavier inside, or maybe he'd realized that Stuart was about to get tossed out. Either way, it didn't matter, because he was outside now - where I could deal with him.
Richie looked left and right. He spotted Stuart marching through the parking lot and headed in that direction, still keeping his slow, steady pace, as if he wasn't on his way to murder a woman.
Phillip let out a low whistle. "That's who's after Gin? No wonder you were worried."
"Why? Do you know him?"
He nodded. "Oh, yeah. That's Richie Richardson. He's a nasty bit of work. Basically, a pair of fists for hire. Strong, even for a dwarf, and he doesn't mind getting his hands dirty. He rather enjoys it, actually."
I thought of how chillingly empty Richie's eyes had been when he'd been talking about killing Gin. "Yeah, I can see that. Does he have any elemental magic?"
Phillip shook his head. "None that I know of, but that doesn't mean much."
No, it didn't. Some elementals almost constantly gave off waves of power that other elementals around them could sense - gusts of Air, hot, invisible sparks of Fire, and the like. But there were others, like Gin, whose power was completely self-contained, and you didn't realize that they had Ice or Stone magic until they frosted or buried you with it.
I tightened my grip on my hammer. "Come on," I said. "Let's see where they're headed."
* * *
Richie trailed after Stuart, and Phillip and I followed both of them. Stuart walked all the way to the end of the parking lot and kept going, heading down one of the streets that ran past the nightclub. Finally, he stopped in front of an Aston Martin with the license plate FINNSTOY. So Gin and Bria had driven here in one of Finn's vehicles after all.
I should have known that Gin would park way out here instead of in a closer lot. That way, if someone did jump her, there was less chance of anyone hearing them scream when she took them out with her knives or some innocent bystander becoming collateral damage in the heat of the fight. Not to mention that the trees lining the street cast dark shadows and that there were a couple of Dumpsters in a nearby alley that would be the perfect place to hide a body or two.
Gin might be an assassin, but she had her own set of rules, ones that I admired. She was the most dangerous person I'd ever known, but she was also one of the most honest, decent, and fair. She didn't go out of her way to hurt people - not unless they hurt her first.
Stuart finally stopped in front of Finn's car and started pacing back and forth. Richie ambled over to him. Phillip and I crouched down behind another car a little farther up the street so they wouldn't spot us.
Stuart realized that Richie had finally caught up to him. He turned to face the dwarf and threw his hands up into the air. "What the hell was that? Why didn't you help me with that stupid bouncer? We could have taken him out together."
Richie leaned back against the hood of Finn's car. "And drawn even more attention to ourselves? I don't think so, you idiot. I can't believe that you didn't tell me that you weren't supposed to even be in the club to begin with. You almost ruined everything. You're lucky that Blanco is so dangerous, or I'd kill you where you stand for jeopardizing my payday like this."
The dwarf's voice was calm, but Stuart heard the promise of violence in Richie's words as well as I did.
The giant held up his hands in a placating gesture. "Hey, hey, hey. Let's not talk crazy, now. You need me, remember? That's why you called and asked me to come back from Cypress Mountain for this gig."
Richie gave him a flat look. "I seriously doubt that, but since you're here, I might as well use you."
Stuart tried to smile at the other man, but he couldn't quite pull it off. "Yep. 'Cause that's what I'm here for, to help you kill the Spider so we can both get paid. Now, how do you want to do this?"
"We stick to the plan," Richie said. "You confront her and get her attention. Then I'll come up on her blind side and finish her off."
Stuart nodded and started swinging his arms back and forth in preparation, his movements so exaggerated that he looked like he was auditioning for some cheesy workout video. All he needed was a sweaty headband to match his T-shirt.
Richie shook his head, pushed away from the car, and disappeared behind one of the Dumpsters in the alley.
"That idiot," Phillip murmured, staring at the giant. "Gin will have her knife stuck in his gut before he realizes what's happening."
"Yeah, which will leave Richie free to attack her while she's distracted. He might just succeed too. If Gin kills Stuart, and Richie kills Gin, well, then he doesn't have to share his payment, now, does he?"
Phillip grinned. "You gotta admit that it's not a bad plan."
"No, but we're going to stop it all the same."
His grin widened. "What did you have in mind?"
"I say we use their own plan against them. You go over and talk to Stuart. When Richie comes out to send you on your way, we'll take them both out. It'll be just like when we were kids, taking on someone bigger and stronger than us."
He sighed. "But why do I have to be the bait? I was always the bait."
"Because you're so very good at it," I said, grinning.
Phillip grumbled a little, but he got to his feet. He held his hammer down and behind his right leg, mostly out of sight, and walked toward Stuart.
The giant was peering at his reflection in the car's side mirror instead of keeping an eye out for Gin. Apparently, Xavier had mussed up his hair when he'd thrown him out of the club, because Stuart was carefully combing his locks back into place once more. But he put the comb away and jerked up to his full height at the sight of Phillip coming toward him.
Stuart eyed Phillip with suspicion - and jealousy. Phillip was another pretty boy, only with the mettle to back up his easy swagger. Phillip stopped in front of the giant, still holding the hammer down by his side. Stuart was too busy eyeing Phillip's perfect golden ponytail to notice the weapon.