Elemental Assassin 01 - Spider's Bite

necklace in the photo. Oh, the slender white cord that encircled her throat still had pearls on it, but there was a large pendant set in the middle of necklace.
    A tooth—a large, triangular-shaped tooth done in polished jet.
    The tooth was the same as the jet symbol the guy at Finn’s place had worn on a chain around his neck. The same symbol the man at Caine’s cabin had tattooed on his wrist. The Air elemental’s symbol. Her mark. Her calling card. I recognized the rune immediately—and what it really was.
    “Son of a bitch,” I said. “A shark’s tooth. The rune is a fucking shark’s tooth.”
    Haley James wasn’t the Air elemental. Her sister was. Alexis was the one who’d tortured Fletcher, who’d been on her way to do the same thing to Donovan Caine. Alexis James was the one who’d been pulling the strings of Charles Carlyle and Wayne Stephenson. She was the bitch who’d set up this whole thing.
    “What are you muttering about?” Finn asked. “Some of us are trying to concentrate.”
    I slapped the photo down on the table and tapped my finger on the necklace. “This—this is what I’m muttering about.”
    Both men leaned forward to stare at the picture. They spotted it at the same time.
    “Is that—” Finn started.
    “That looks like—” Donovan Caine chimed in.
    “You bet it is,” I snarled, cutting them both off. “That’s the tooth. The Air elemental’s precious rune. Alexis James is the one running the show, not her sister, Haley.”
    We sat there digesting the information. The cold knot of rage in my chest started beating like a clock, a slow, steady countdown to Alexis James’s death. Tick-fucking-tock .
    “But what about the files? The ones that implicate Haley James?” Donovan Caine asked.
    We both looked at Finn.
    “Alexis could be using her sister’s log-in information,” Finn said. “Wouldn’t be hard for her to do.”
    “Or Haley could be handling the money, while Alexis does the dirty work,” Donovan replied. “Alexis could even be making her steal, threatening her with magic.”
    “Doesn’t matter to me either way,” I said. “They’re both going to die.”
    Donovan Caine shook his head. “No. You can’t kill Haley James, not if she’s innocent.”
    “Her sister’s running around town using her magic to torture people. How innocent do you think Haley is?” I snapped.
    The detective’s eyes burned into mine. “Haley James could be as up to her neck in it as Finn is with you. Or she could be as innocent as that little girl playing in her princess castle while her madam of an aunt looked on. Until we know for sure, you can’t touch her. Remember our agreement? No innocent people. This isn’t negotiable, Gin. Not this time.”
    “Why? Because she’s not a lowlife hood you’ve busted before?”
    “Something like that.”
    The detective and I stared at each other. His eyes blazed gold with determination. Cold fury grayed mine out. Neither one of us looked away, and neither one of us was willing to give an inch. Still, despite myself, I liked sparring with the detective. Liked pushing him, liked him pushing back at me. Strength, conviction, and passion were traits I’d always admired, no matter how misguided they were in this case.
    “There are other things to consider,” Finn said in a cautious voice.
    “Like what?” the detective asked, his eyes still locked on mine.
    “Like that photo and bounty on Gin that’s still floating around,” Finn replied. “The fact the elemental wants you dead, detective. And your esteemed police captain, Wayne Stephenson.”
    “Stephenson’s mine,” Donovan Caine snapped, his gaze flicking to the other man. “I’ll deal with him myself.”
    “How? By turning him in to internal affairs? That’s the most crooked department on the whole force. He’ll just bribe his way out of whatever charge they might bring against him,” Finn replied.
    Donovan’s jaw tightened. “I don’t know how yet, but I’ll find a way.”
    I sighed. Bickering among ourselves wasn’t getting us anywhere, but I knew from the tone of his voice Finn had something in mind. “What are you proposing?”
    Finn smiled and put his arms behind his head. “Leverage.”
    “Leverage? How is that going to help us?” the detective asked.
    Finn pulled the flash drive out of his laptop and held it up. “Because we’ve got this, and Alexis James doesn’t. Now, Alexis might not be afraid of us, but there is one person she