"And do you know why she's come back? Why now, after all these years? Why did she even leave town in the first place if this was her home?"
"Apparently, Salina's determined to start up her father's business again," he said.
"Who's her father?"
"Benedict Dubois. "
I frowned. "Why does that name sound so familiar?"
Kincaid hesitated. "Benedict Dubois ran most of the gambling operations and bookies in Ashland for years. At least, until Mab decided those operations should belong to her. Benedict thought he could take her on and win, but I'm sure you can imagine how that turned out for him. "
"Not well. "
He nodded. "Salina . . . left town after his . . . death. "
I looked at him. "But with Mab gone, you now run all the gambling operations in town. So you're telling me that Salina wants you dead because you're standing in the way of her re-creating her daddy's empire?"
He shrugged. "Something like that. "
Kincaid wasn't telling me everything. Hell, he wasn't telling me a fraction of what I wanted to know. His answers were much too vague for that. Oh, I could believe Salina desired him dead because they were old enemies and she wanted to take over his business interests. That was par for course in the Ashland underworld. I couldn't even fault her for it, not really, not considering all the people I'd killed for money.
But that still didn't explain why Kincaid had asked me to cater the fund-raiser tonight. And the most telling thing, the big red elephant in the room, was Eva. Kincaid hadn't mentioned her at all, much less explained why Eva seemed to be as familiar with Salina's water magic as he was, or why he'd taken the time to comfort a girl he shouldn't have even known in the first place.
Before I could voice my suspicions and demand he tell me everything, one of the phones on his desk rang. Kincaid raised his eyebrows in a silent question, and I gestured for him to go ahead.
He walked over and picked it up. "What?" he growled into the phone.
A voice murmured something indistinct on the other end.
"Tell them I'll be right there. " Kincaid hung up and looked at me. "Apparently, the police are here and want to talk to me. "
He looked as thrilled by the prospect as I felt. As a semiretired assassin, I didn't exactly count the members of the po-po among my best friends. But I supposed I didn't have anything to hide tonight, since I hadn't actually murdered anyone on the riverboat. Why, I hadn't so much as gotten my clothes good and bloody. Definitely a slow night for the Spider.
We left Kincaid's office, walked back up the stairs to the ballroom, and stepped out onto the main deck. While I'd been gone, Sophia, Violet, and Eva had packed up the catering supplies - what was left of them. All the pots, pans, and utensils had been knocked to the deck and trampled during the stampede, along with the tins of food. More than a few had been kicked overboard and had disappeared into the murky depths of the river. But that was the least of my problems right now.
I looked over the railing at the new arrivals on the scene. A couple of cop cars sat in a parking lot next to the boardwalk, their blue and white lights flashing over the students and giants still milling around down there. As I watched, a dark sedan pulled in behind the other vehicles. The doors opened, and two familiar figures got out. One of the cops was a giant roughly seven feet tall with a shaved head, a thick, muscular body, and ebony hair, skin, and eyes. The other cop was a woman about my size, with a shaggy mane of blond hair, rosy skin, and cornflower-blue eyes.
I smiled. Well, at least one thing was going to go right tonight.
The two cops stopped to talk to one of the uniformed officers who was taking witness statements. He pointed at the riverboat, so the two of them walked up the gangplank. One of Kincaid's giants stopped them at the top, but the female cop showed him her badge and he let them board. She stood by the railing, scanning the deck, the people on it, and the body lying in the middle of everything.
Her gaze landed on Sophia, and she did a double take before her eyes met mine. Her lips quirked up into sort of a rueful smile, but her expression was warm as she walked over to me.
"Gin," she said. "I didn't expect to find you here tonight. "
"You know me, baby sister," I drawled. "Always in the thick of things. "
Detective Bria Coolidge scoffed a little at that; then she turned and called out to her partner. "Xavier, look who we have here. "
The giant was talking to one of Kincaid's men, and he waved at Bria, letting her know that he'd seen me and Sophia. He also gave me a wink, which I returned. Xavier was more than just Bria's partner on the force - he was a friend and part of my extended family.
"Was the dead guy gunning for you?" Bria asked in a soft voice, nodding at the body.
I shook my head. "Nope, this is someone else's handiwork tonight. You know I don't like to stick around after the fact - or leave behind any bodies for the cops to find. "
A grimace crossed her face before she was able to hide it. Despite the fact that Bria knew I was an assassin, she was still a cop at heart - one of the few good, honest ones in Ashland. She spent most of her days chasing after all the bad folks who called the city home. Having one of them for a sister was hard on her sometimes, especially these days, when most everyone walking in the shady side of Ashland life suspected who I was.
"Tell me what happened. "