But I wasn't bluffing. I'd do exactly what I promised-except I'd find a way to get to Alexis James long before Mab Monroe did.
"Agreed." A reluctant promise, wrapped in uncertainty. "Where do you want to make the exchange?" I asked.
"The old rock quarry on the outskirts of town. Do you know it?"
I closed my eyes. Memories and images flashed through my mind. Playing there with Bria as a child. Cowering underneath the rocky outcroppings after the Fire elemental had murdered my family. Jo-Jo sitting with me among the rocks, showing me how to master my elemental magic. Fletcher hunched on a seatlike slab of stone reading a book while I ran lap after lap around the quarry, circling my way from the bottom to the top and back down again.
"I know it."
"Two hours. Be there with the flash drive, or your friends die. Slowly." Alexis hung up. I hit a button, doing the same, then stared at Donovan Caine. The detective looked back at me, his hard cop stare tightening the planes of his face.
I sighed. "Go ahead and say it."
"This is your fault. Alexis James has hostages because of you." His eyes frosted over.
"Because you were too busy f**king me to watch her."
"There was no way of knowing Roslyn would call out to Finn, and that Alexis would grab them both," I said.
"I'll admit leaving Finn at the bar was a miscalculation on my part." Disgust filled Donovan's amber eyes. "A miscalculation?"
His disgust, his anger, knifed into me, piercing my heart. But I pushed the feeling aside. Now was not the time for emotion. Now was the time to be as cold and hard as the Ice and Stone magic that flowed through my veins.
"You're not angry about Finn and Roslyn. You know that was a fluke, something that would only happen one time out of a hundred," I snapped. "No, you're angry because you didn't push me away in that closet. Face it. You were a willing participant, detective, and you thoroughly enjoyed yourself. So don't place all the blame for this mishap on me."
Caine's hands clenched into fists. He looked like he wanted to punch something-me.
"You can blame me and hate me and call me all the nasty names you want-later," I said. "Finn and Roslyn are in danger. You saw that photo of my handler, what Alexis James did to him. She'll torture the two of them exactly the same way. You can help me save them, or you can stay the hell out of my way. Your choice, detective." Donovan Caine stared at me, hate and disgust shimmering like gold fire in his eyes.
"I'll help you-for Roslyn's sake. Because she has a niece she loves. Because she's the type of person I've sworn to protect. But I'm not doing this for Finn and sure as hell not for you. I couldn't care less about you. Are we clear?"
His words ripped into me, but I kept my face neutral. Impassive. Hard. Cold.
"Crystal," I replied. "Now let's move."
Using a circuitous route, I drove the car back to my apartment. I glanced in the rearview mirror, but no one appeared to be following us. One less thing to deal with.
Then again, Alexis James had no reason to follow me now. She already had her leverage.
Donovan Caine stared straight ahead, eyes fixed, body tense. He didn't say anything on the drive over, but I could feel the self-loathing and rage seething off him. If he got any hotter under the collar, he'd spontaneously combust.
Fifteen minutes later, we hit the downtown district. I parked the car in a garage three blocks away from my apartment building. We walked the rest of the way. I got out of the elevator before the detective and went to my apartment door. While I fiddled with the key, I let my fingers touch the stone. The same low, steady murmur sounded back to me. Finn hadn't given up the location of my apartment. I smiled. Good for him. Too bad for Alexis James. Because part of me had wanted someone to be waiting inside. I would have enjoyed taking the edge off my anger by killing some of Alexis James's minions.
I opened the door and went into my bedroom, not bothering to wait for Donovan Caine to follow me inside. I stripped off my dress and stilettos, and put on my usual assassin clothes. Black pants, long-sleeved T-shirt, socks, boots. I crumpled up the fancy cocktail dress and ripped panties and threw them in the trash can beside the bed. They both smelled like Donovan, and I didn't need any distractions right now.
Not with Finn and Roslyn's lives hanging in the balance.
I went over to my dresser and opened the top drawer. A thin vest lay inside, not unlike the ones I usually wore on assignments. I put it on, then opened the second drawer down. A row of knives encased in black foam glinted up at me. I stuffed two in my boots. Two more went up my sleeves. A fifth knife got tucked against the small of my back. I was already wearing the silver watch with the garrote wire inside, so I double-checked it, making sure the wire could be easily pulled out of the timepiece. I could do more damage with the knives, but if the opportunity presented itself, I'd strangle Alexis James with the wire.
Oh, I wanted her to suffer for what she'd done to Fletcher, for how her men had beaten Finn and Donovan Caine, for daring to frame me in the first place. But the most important thing now was rescuing Finn and Roslyn. I had a better chance of doing that if I killed Alexis the first chance I got. Dead was dead. As long as everyone else was still breathing and she wasn't in the end, well, I'd just have to be happy with that. Fletcher would understand. He'd rather Finn be alive than his murderer tortured.
Because Alexis James wouldn't be content to trade Finn and Roslyn for the flash drive. No, she'd see this as an opportunity to take care of us once and for all. She'd double-crossed me before, and she'd do it again without hesitating. But this time, I knew it was coming and I was planning accordingly.
When I was ready, I went back out into the den, where Donovan Caine was gearing up. The detective had taken off the suit he'd borrowed from Finn. Now he wore jeans, hiking boots, a black T-shirt, and a leather jacket. Caine bent over and clipped a holster and a snub-nosed revolver to his ankle. When that was done, the detective straightened. He took a gun from the small of his back, ejected the clip, and checked it. Satisfied everything was working, he pushed the clip back into the gun.
But he didn't put it away. Instead, Caine lowered the weapon to his side, his finger not quite on the trigger. He didn't look in my direction, but I knew what he was thinking. That I'd caused him enough problems. That he should just kill me now.
Avenge the murder of his partner. Go after Finn, Roslyn, and Alexis James by himself.
And end this attraction he felt for me. Several birds, one stone, as Finn would say.
"Are you going to shoot me, detective?" I asked in a soft voice. My fingers rubbed the hilt of the knife I'd already palmed. Nothing was going to keep me from getting to Finn. Not even Donovan Caine and what I felt for him.