Elemental Assassin 01 - Spider's Bite

would be a disastrous plan at best, deadly at worse.
    In the backseat, Donovan Caine kept looking back and forth between the two of us.
    After about thirty seconds, Finn sighed and let go of the steering wheel. “No. I don’t want that to be us.”
    I reached over and squeezed his hand. “Smart man. Don’t worry. We’ll take care of her, Finn. I’ll take care of her. Just not tonight.”
    “Promise?” His voice dropped to a whisper.
    I squeezed his hand again. “Promise. Now, let’s go. Before the bitch realizes we’re still here and watching her.” 

16
    Finn waited until the wind died down and the Air elemental had swept into the cabin before he started the engine and did a U-turn in the middle of the wide street. Headlights off, Finn eased the vehicle toward the end of the block. He coasted over another street before he flipped on the lights and picked up speed.
    “Where to?” Finn asked.
    He gave me a sidelong glance. Such a simple question, but I knew what he was really asking—if I was going to take Donovan Caine back to my apartment. No other choice. Finn’s place was out, and I needed to keep the detective close to make sure he wouldn’t do something stupid—like go off on a righteous mission and get us all killed.
    “Home,” I said.
    “Home?” Donovan Caine echoed. “You live in Ashland?”
    “Born and bred, detective.”
    The light turned red. Finn stopped and used the pause to stare in the rearview mirror at the detective’s bruised features.
    “We’re not going to the, ah, salon first?” Finn asked. “To take care of some things?”
    I knew what he was asking. If we were going to swing by Jo-Jo’s, so the dwarf could slap Donovan Caine with some of her healing Air elemental magic. Taking the detective back to my anonymous apartment was one thing. I could always move after this was over with. Planned on it already.
    But I wasn’t going to haul the detective over to Jo-Jo’s and ask her to heal him, especially since his injuries weren’t life-threatening. The dwarf had been entrenched in her house since before the Civil War. She wouldn’t move or disappear no matter what happened. Donovan Caine didn’t need to know about my connection to Jo-Jo Deveraux and her body-disposing sister, Sophia. Besides, if things went all to hell, Jo-Jo’s was one of our safe houses, a place where Finn and I could crash for a few hours or days. I wasn’t risking that.
    “No,” I replied. “I got some supplies at the salon last night. We’re good, so it’s straight to the apartment.”
    Finn nodded and made the appropriate turn. In the backseat, Donovan Caine said nothing. I clicked on the radio, and the soft strains of music filled the car. “Margaritaville” by Jimmy Buffett. The cheery song made me think of the easy, breezy Key West vacation I’d told Fletcher I was taking after the Gordon Giles hit. Fletcher would never get the chance to see the sun set over Mallory Square again. I wondered if I would share his fate.
    “Well, you’ve rounded up your band of merry men and saved them from the wicked witch. Now what?” Finn asked, cutting into my dark thoughts.
    The detective snorted at the illusion.
    “You’re mixing up your stories. Besides, aren’t you too old to be talking in fairy tales?” I sniped.
    “Maybe. But we still need a plan, Gin. We can’t keep skirting around the elemental and her men. One time she’ll get lucky instead of us. Be there ahead of us. Outthink us.”
    “I know. Believe me, I know.” I rubbed my head. Dried blood flaked off my hands and face, dotting the front of my clothes like crimson snowflakes. Making me that much dirtier. For the second time tonight, I felt old and tired and used up.
    “We’ll go to my apartment.” I leaned my head back against the seat. “Get settled for the night. Tomorrow, we’ll start getting to the bottom of this.”
    “Original,” Finn said.
    Donovan Caine remained silent in the backseat.
    “Do you have a better idea?” I asked.
    Finn lifted his shoulders. “No. I’m just the driver, remember, Miss Daisy? I don’t know nothing ’bout coming up with no plans.”
    “Then shut up, Mamie,” I snapped. “Before I throw you out of the car.”
    After taking the usual circuitous route, we reached my building thirty minutes later. Finn waited in the emergency stairwell with Donovan Caine while I made sure no one was hiding inside my apartment. I brushed my fingers over the rough stone around the door frame.