Elemental Assassin 02 - Web of Lies

turned his gaze to mine. Heat. Desire. Guilt. Phillips’s girls, strangely enough.”
    All that and more flashed in his eyes, but after a moment, Roslyn Phillips was the vampire madam who ran he shook his head. “I don’t think that would be a good Northern Aggression, a trendy, upscale nightclub that caidea, Gin.”
    tered to the rich folks of Ashland and serviced their every
    “Why not? A bed would certainly be more comfortneed and twisted desire. She was also one of Finn’s friends able than the backseat of your sedan.” I glanced at the with benefits. I’d killed Roslyn’s abusive brother-in-law mud we’d left everywhere in our frenzy. “Cleaner now, several months ago, after he’d almost beaten her sister and too.”
    young niece to death. Roslyn, in turn, had told one of her He shook his head again. “I’m not coming inside, girls about my services. Loose lips get people dead, and Gin.”
    Roslyn’s furtive whispers had eventually led to Fletcher
    “Why not? Is it because of what I plan to do to Tobias Lane’s murder. Something I wasn’t going to let the vamDawson?”
    pire forget—ever.
    Donovan ran his hands through his black hair. “That’s But if Caine had talked to the hooker I had in mind, part of it. I still can’t believe I’m going along with that.”
    he knew exactly why I’d killed his partner—and what
    “And the other part?”
    the bastard had done to the woman’s thirteen-year-old He blew out a breath. “Do you remember that night daughter.
    in your apartment, before we went to the rock quarry to
    “I know Cliff raped and beat that girl,” Donovan said, rescue Finn and Roslyn Phillips? Do you remember what confirming my suspicion. “I know that’s why you killed I said to you about my partner, Cliff Ingles?”
    him, so he’d never do that to another girl.”
    “I remember. You wanted to kill me for assassinating No use denying it now. “Yes. That’s why I killed him. him.”
    Because of the girl. When did you find out?”
    He nodded. “Mainly, though, I wanted to know why
    “Two weeks ago.”
    Estep_Web of Lies_1P EP.indd 246-247
    12/17/09 9:32 PM
    248 JENNIFER ESTEP
    Web of Lies 249
    Pain deepened the grooves on Donovan’s face. The deI can’t be a part of something like that again. I can barely tective reminded me of a mythological character out of live with the fact I know what you’re going to do to Dawone of my literature books, of Atlas, bearing the heavy, son and the knowledge I’m not going to do a thing to heavy burden of others’ evil, perverted actions upon his stop you from killing him.” His voice dropped again. lean shoulders.
    “And I can’t be with you. Not tonight.”
    “All that time you let me blame you for Cliff’s death,”
    “You weren’t too concerned with Tobias Dawson and Donovan said. “All that time you let me think you were a what I was going to do to him when you were fucking monster. And you weren’t.”
    me in the backseat a couple of hours ago.” My voice was I shrugged. “That’s debatable. I still killed him. And harsher than I would have liked. “or have you forgotten slicing off a guy’s balls isn’t exactly the action of a normal about that already?”
    person.”
    Donovan flinched. “No, I haven’t forgotten about it, Donovan barked out a laugh. “Do you know what none of it.”
    the funny thing is? If I’d known about Cliff, about the
    “But you’re not going to do it again. Not going to sleep hookers he was beating, about that girl he raped, I might with me again.”
    have killed him myself. But you got there first.” His voice His hands tightened around the steering wheel until dropped to a whisper. “And somehow I feel indebted to the leather creaked. “No, I’m not.”
    you, Gin. Grateful, even. Because you killed him, and I I heard the hard resolution in his voice. Donovan didn’t have to.”
    Caine had made himself a promise, and he wasn’t going
    “So that’s what this is still about. Me killing Cliff Into break it. oh, I imagined I could get him to forget gles. That’s why you don’t want to come inside. That’s about his morals, his rules, his vows. All I’d have to do why you don’t want to be with me.” I could have killed would be to crawl over and start giving him the lap dance the dirty cop all over again for pushing Donovan away of his life. A variation of the striptease I’d performed earfrom me. lier this evening in the rain.
    Donovan shook his head. “Not