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.