I was mildly surprised that she hadn't let Dixon go ahead and shoot Finn for mouthing off, but at this point, she probably wanted to keep everyone calm for as long as possible. As long as folks thought they had a chance of going free, they'd behave like good little boys and girls and play by her rules.
Oh, I could see some of the underworld figures staring at the giants, trying to figure out how to overpower them. Beauregard Benson coldly eyed a giant's throat like he wanted to rip it open with his bare hands. But nobody wanted to be the first - or only - person to make a move against the guards. Even though they all knew that everyone here was most likely marked for death.
If this had just been a simple sting, Clementine and her crew would have all been wearing masks, not walking around with their faces exposed for everyone to see. There were a lot of heavy hitters at the gala, a lot of folks with a lot of money and power who wouldn't take too kindly to being robbed. The sort of folks who would expend a lot of time, energy, effort, and resources tracking down every single one of the robbers and horrifically executing them.
Clementine was smart and sly, which meant that she knew the score as well as I did. But she'd boldly announced herself and her intentions to all of the hostages. There were only a couple of reasons I could think of for her to do that.
The first, and most obvious, was that she wasn't planning on leaving any survivors around to identify her after the fact. A bloody option but effective in the end.
The second was that she really thought that she and her squad of giants could handle any repercussions or reprisals from tonight. That she could take control of the underworld. That her little uprising would actually take. A pie-in-the-sky hope, at best.
And the third was that she'd already made arrangements to leave Ashland far, far behind and that, despite her talk of running the town, she'd already set herself up somewhere she thought no one would ever find her. But that was still a big risk to take. Nobody could hold a grudge like the folks in Ashland - nobody. The Hatfields and McCoys had nothing on us.
Still, it didn't much matter what Clementine Barker had planned - because I was going to make sure that she didn't live through the night.
"Now," Clementine said, after everyone had taken a good, long look at my supposed corpse and the whispers had died down once more, "I suggest that everyone sit down and start taking off their valuables. The sooner we rob you, the sooner we can leave."
She let out another loud howl of laughter, one that had all the hostages hurrying to plant themselves on the marble floor just as quickly as they could.
I stayed in my position on the balcony and watched as the three giants with the trash bags moved through the crowd, collecting everyone's rings, watches, necklaces, and cell phones. Once everything was gathered up, the giants handed the bags off to Opal, then rejoined the other guards ringing the hostages. Clementine stepped forward once more, a bright smile on her face.
"Now, that wasn't so bad, was it?" she said in that same deceptively friendly voice. "And don't worry. We'll keep the jewels, but y'all can have your cell phones back after we're done. We wouldn't want to put y'all out any more than we already have by making you get new phones."
Clementine chuckled, turned, and murmured something to Opal. The younger giant put the trash bags down on the floor and started sorting through all of the items inside. Opal carefully set all of the jewelry and watches off to one side while tossing the cell phones into a haphazard pile. Meanwhile, several other giants started moving through the rotunda, some roughly plucking the paintings off the walls while the others carefully took them out of their frames, rolled them up, and slipped them into long, slender tubes. More than a dozen additional giants holstered their guns and trooped out of the rotunda, probably to start looting the other rooms. Plenty of guards remained behind to watch the hostages.
"And now I'm afraid that I have to leave y'all for a little while," Clementine said. "Things to do and all that. But don't you worry. My girl, Opal, and the rest of my boys will take good care of y'all while I'm gone."
She laughed yet again, and the dark sound made more than a few folks shiver.
"Actually, I need one of you to come with me," Clementine continued. "And help me with a very special art project."
I frowned. Special project? What was she talking about? As far as I knew, all of Mab's art was in here, making it the most valuable room in the whole museum. Sure, there were plenty of other pricey paintings and sculptures throughout Briartop, but most of them were just wired to the walls or housed under glass. Nothing a giant's strength and a few well-placed punches couldn't take care of. Since I hadn't heard any alarms blaring, Clementine and her crew must have already taken care of the real guards and the security system; they wouldn't be worried about clipping wires or smashing through any glass case they wanted. So what else could they be after? What could they possibly need help with?
The partygoers looked around, wondering what she was talking about. Suspicion filled their faces as they eyed one another. They were thinking the same thing I was - that someone here was working with Clementine and her crew.
"You see, there's a particular bit of metal that I need help dealing with," Clementine said. "And there's someone here with just the right kind of magic to help me and my boys handle it."
As soon as she said the word metal, my heart clenched in my chest. I knew exactly what kind of magic she was talking about - and exactly who had it.
"Owen Grayson," Clementine called out in a booming voice. "Come on down."
Chapter 9
For a moment, I closed my eyes again. The night just kept getting better and better. First, Jillian had been murdered, then Clementine and her crew had taken everyone hostage, and now this.
Murmurs rippled through the crowd, and folks turned to stare at Owen, who was just as shocked by the giant's announcement as everyone else. But Owen's surprise quickly turned to wariness. He glanced at Phillip and Finn, but the other two men shrugged, their own faces tight with concern. They didn't know what Clementine wanted with him any more than I did, but we all knew it couldn't be anything good.
"Ah, come on, now, Mr. Grayson," Clementine said. "I see you over there. Don't be shy. Get to your feet and step up on here."
She grinned and pointed her gun at the woman sitting closest to her. "Or I'll shoot this pretty lady in the face."
The woman gasped and ducked her head, as if that would somehow help her magically melt into the floor and get away from the giant and her gun.