Thanks to Sophia's tender loving care, business hadn't suffered at all while I was gone. By lunchtime, the Pork Pit was as busy as ever, and I was happy to be back in the thick of things-back where I belonged.
My happiness lasted until about three o'clock that afternoon.
I was wiping down the counter when the door opened, causing the bell to chime. I opened my mouth to greet my new customers and then I saw who they were-Ruth Gentry and Sydney. With my right hand, I kept on wiping the counter. With my left, I palmed one of my silver-stone knives. I still wore them, of course. One up either sleeve, one tucked against the small of my back, and two more nestled in the sides of my boots. My usual five-point arsenal, all stamped with my spider rune. I might have killed Mab, but that didn't mean that I had a license to do something as foolish as not have my knives handy.
"Sophia," I murmured. "We might have a situation here."
The dwarf, who was slicing tomatoes, grunted and looked over her shoulder. When she saw who had come to call, she moved to stand beside me, her black eyes as cold and hard as mine were.
Gentry didn't dawdle by the door. She marched over to me, with Sydney trailing along behind her. Both of them had cleaned up considerably since the last time I'd seen them. Gentry had on a new stiff pair of jeans and a spiffy pink flannel shirt with what looked like real pearl buttons. They matched the handle of the revolver that she had tucked into the new holster under her matching pink jacket. As for Sydney, she wore a pair of expensive cargo pants, along with a sweater set done in a sky blue. Her face had also filled out since the last time I'd seen her, and her eyes were clear of that wounded, hungry, desperate look they'd held before.
"Ruth Gentry," I said in a pleasant voice, mindful of the half-dozen customers who were in the restaurant with us. "What can I do for you?"
Under the counter, out of sight, my thumb traced over the hilt of my silverstone knife. Gentry didn't look as if she'd come here for trouble, but you never knew. Just yesterday, Finn had heard a nasty rumor that Jonah McAllister was trying to put a new bounty on my head-literally. The lawyer wanted someone to bring him my head-without the rest of my body attached to it. Finn's sources claimed that there were no takers so far, despite the fat wad of cash McAllister was offering. Amazing how people tended to leave you alone after you killed the most powerful woman in town.
The bounty hunter stepped up to the counter, her pale blue eyes sweeping over me. Surprise flickered in her gaze, as if she couldn't quite believe that I was still alive. Sometimes, I couldn't believe it myself.
"Gin Blanco," she said, matching my pleasant tone. "You're looking well. All things considered."
I didn't say anything. Gentry could see just how well I was, and if the bounty hunter wanted to put me to the test, I'd be more than happy to oblige her.
"I just thought that I would drop by and see how you were doing," Gentry said.
"Really?" I asked. "You didn't come here to try to collect on anything else?"
Gentry gave me a sly, shit-eating grin. "I did that a few weeks ago. Cashed in my bounty on Detective Bria Coolidge first thing. Always get the money up front."
"That sounds like something my mentor would say if he were still alive."
Gentry's eyes narrowed, as if she wasn't sure whether I was mocking her, but she didn't respond.
"You know that I should kill you," I said in a mild voice. "Just for having the balls to show up in my restaurant, in my gin joint."
Gentry nodded her head. "Maybe you should, but I had to come here today. I had to give you my thanks."
This time, my eyes narrowed. "Your thanks for what?"
"For helping me and the girl. For not killing us both that first night when you had the chance in the woods outside of Mab's estate. For showing us that little bit of mercy." Gentry looked at Sydney. "And for giving a hungry girl a hot, decent meal, even though you would have been better off kicking us both to the curb that day here in the restaurant."
I shrugged. "I know what it's like to be hungry. That's all. Don't attribute it to any real kindness on my part."
Gentry smiled. "Oh, I think you're a bit kinder than you like to imagine, Gin."
"Don't count on it. The only reason you're not dead is because my sister asked me not to kill you. You helped her that night with Mab, kept the Fire elemental from torturing her to death. I'm grateful to you for that. You should appreciate your own kindness, Gentry. Because it's the only reason that you're still breathing right now."
There was more to it than that, of course. Finn had finally dug into Ruth Gentry's past for me and what he had found had made me see her in a new light. The old woman was a bounty hunter of some repute, with a reputation for being tough, ornery, and determined. Gentry was the kind of hunter who always got her man, until two of the bad, bad men that she'd collected a bounty on had broken out of prison, tracked her back to her remote Kentucky home, and burned it to the ground while Gentry was away on business. According to Finn's file, the bounty hunter had lost everything that night, except the clothes on her back.
And so had Sydney.
The girl and her parents had lived in the next house over, and when the men got through at Gentry's place, they went next door and started in on Sydney and her family. They'd decided to hole up there and wait for Gentry to return so they could kill her.
Sydney was the one who'd actually killed the men, somehow getting hold of one of their guns, but not before they'd raped and murdered her mother and killed her father. Finn hadn't been able to tell me what the men had done to Sydney herself during the time they'd held her captive-and I wasn't sure that I wanted to know.
Gentry had come home three weeks later to find Sydney living in the ruined remains of Gentry's home and half out of her mind with grief. Despite her own heartbreak, her own loss, Gentry had taken the girl under her wing. That had been more than two months ago, and the two had been inseparable ever since. I imagined all that was why they'd come to Ashland in the first place-Gentry had needed the bounty on Bria to get back on her feet and to provide a better life for Sydney.
Gentry nodded. "Fair enough. But what about the girl? Sydney's caused you quite a few problems as well."
"I don't kill kids-ever."
Sydney straightened her spine. "I'm not a kid. I'm sixteen years old."
I gave her an amused look. "Sure you are, sweetheart. Enjoy it while it lasts."
Sydney opened her mouth to protest, but one stern look from Gentry shushed her.