Stephenson shoved him in the back of the limo, then got in after him. Alexis James, Roslyn Phillips, and the other two goons must have already been inside because there was no sign of them.
"Finn!" I screamed, running in that direction. "Finn!" Too late.
The door slammed shut. Tires screeching, the limo pulled away from the curb and disappeared into the afternoon sun.
Chapter Twenty-Seven
For a moment, I just stood there, not quite believing what had happened. That Alexis James had Finn and Roslyn Phillips. Luck, that capricious bitch, had really f**ked me over today.
Donovan Caine ran up behind me. Sometime during the commotion, the detective had drawn the gun from his ankle holster.
Then Fletcher's training took over, as it so often did. My eyes flicked back and forth.
Several limo drivers had gotten out of their cars, wondering what all the drama was about. The tuxedo-clad valets by the front door stared at me with open-mouthed shock. Once he got his breath back, Mab Monroe's giant wouldn't be far behind.
"We need to get out of here. Now," I said in a low voice.
I stalked into the parking lot. Donovan Caine holstered his weapon and followed me.
Since we didn't want to run the risk of handing a stolen car to a valet, Finn had decided against boosting another car and had instead driven his own Benz to the country club-and he still had the keys. Time to get another ride.
I hurried through several rows of vehicles until I was out of sight of the curious limo drivers and valets. After about two minutes of searching, I found a BMW that was several years old-prealarm, in other words. I used the hilt of my knife to smash the window, then hotwired the vehicle. Finn wasn't the only one who could liberate cars, although he did it with much more panache and far less mess.
I slid in behind the wheel. Donovan Caine got into the passenger's seat.
Neither one of us said a word as I hit the gas and the car roared away from the country club.
I drove about two miles, pulled into the far corner of the first gas station I saw, and stopped the car. Then I grabbed my cell phone out of my purse.
"What are you doing?" Donovan asked. "Calling Finn."
The phone rang once. Twice. Three times. Four-
"Hello?" Instead of Finn, Roslyn's voice whispered over the line. "It's Gin."
"I'm so sorry, Gin. I didn't realize-"
"It's okay, Roslyn," I said, trying to soothe her, keep her calm. "It's not your fault. It's mine, for being sloppy. Everything's going to be all right. You'll be back home with Catherine real soon. Now, put Alexis James on the line."
I hit a button, activating the speaker phone, and held the cell out toward Donovan Caine so he could hear the conversation too.
"Who is this?" a woman's voice came on the line. Cold, hard, smug.
"Hello, Alexis," I said.
Alexis James's laughter echoed out of the speaker. "So you know my voice. Good. It will make this easier." "Where's your sister?" I asked. "Where's Haley?" I'd much rather deal with Haley James. She'd seemed somewhat amenable to my proposal to walk away. But more than that, she was afraid of what I'd do if she didn't give in to my demands. Haley was afraid I'd turn the information over to Mab Monroe and let the Fire elemental deal with her and her sister. Haley didn't want to die at the Fire elemental's hands like her father, Lawrence, had.
But Alexis James wasn't like Haley. She was too power-hungry to be sensible, to be afraid of Mab. An undercurrent of insanity colored her voice, a small peal I could hear among the smugness. Alexis was high on her own magic, and she never wanted to come down from it. No wonder she thought she could take out Mab Monroe. She probably thought she was Wonder Woman too.
And now, Alexis had something I wanted, something I cared about-Finn. This was not going to end well. For any of us.
"Haley's gone," Alexis said.
My gray eyes narrowed. "What do you mean gone?"
"The bitch decided to run for it," Alexis sneered. "Told me about your so-called demands. She said things were getting too complicated and she left." That would explain why Haley had scurried out of the country club before her sister.
"And you didn't go after her?"
Alexis laughed. Again, the delicate note of madness colored her voice. Beside me, Donovan Caine cocked his head. He'd heard it too.
"Why would I? Haley's just been holding me back, always telling me to be cautious and sensible. Let her run and hide from you and Mab Monroe and all the other scary people out there. I'm better off without her." Bitterness crept into her voice. "I'm the one you're dealing with now, not her."
I didn't say anything. Faint rumbles and muffles could be heard in the background. A car horn beeped in the distance. They were still in the limo, getting farther and farther away from the country club with every second. And I had no idea what direction they'd taken, no way of tracking or following them.
"And who am I speaking with?" Alexis asked.
"You know exactly who this is. You and your boys have been hunting for me for days now." "I want to hear you say it."
I drew in a breath. "I'm the Spider, the assassin you hired, then double-crossed." Donovan Caine flinched at the words the Spider. They reminded him once again of who and what I was, even if he'd let himself forget for an hour. His face hardened, and the guilt flickered in his eyes. Caine was thinking about Cliff Ingles, his partner, and how he'd just betrayed him by f**king me-and enjoying the hell out of it.
The detective's lips, the ones that had been so hot and open against mine, pressed into a tight, closed line. Damn and double damn. Now was not the time for Caine to start hating me again and vowing to bring me to justice no matter what.
"What do you want, Alexis?" I asked.
"The flash drive and any copies you might have made of it," she said. "In return?"
"You get your friends-in more or less one piece."
A series of slap-slap-slaps sounded, followed by a low groan. Finn, getting the shit beat out of him for the second time in less than a week, probably by Captain Wayne Stephenson. A painful, dubious achievement. A final slap rang out, followed by a high-pitched, stifled scream. Roslyn. The giant had hit Roslyn hard enough for the vamp to feel it.
My free hand clenched into a tight fist. "Listen up, bitch. I don't pay for damaged goods. You tell Stephenson to quit beating up my man right f**king now. And if he or your other two goons even think about touching the woman in any way, I'll hand-deliver the flash drive to Mab Monroe myself and let her track you down. Hell, she'll probably have the mayor give me a medal for bringing you to her attention." Silence. A calculated gamble. Alexis James might not be afraid of Mab Monroe's magic, but she had to realize getting the other woman involved would only make matters worse for her. That's why Alexis had hired and double-crossed me in the first place-to smooth her path to usurping glory. Alexis still needed the flash drive to disappear, hopefully more than she wanted to hurt Finn and Roslyn or call my bluff.