He grinned and signaled one of the clerks to ring it all up for him.

Owen walked over and tipped his gray Stetson at me. "Ma'am," he rumbled, "do you like it?"

I reached up and tipped the hat back on his forehead. "Wear it for me tonight, and you'll see just how much I like it, cowboy."

He laughed and went to get in line with Finn to check out.

The Silver Spur was busy, and it took twenty minutes for the clerk to wrap up Finn's new duds, along with Owen's hat, and for us to finally leave the shop. I glanced up and down the sidewalks, but I didn't see anyone obviously watching us. I knew they were there, though. I could feel their gazes on me and my friends. We needed to get out of the theme park and back to the hotel, up in our suites where I could tell the others what was going on, and we could plot our next move.

But once again, Finn had other ideas. "Come on. Let's get some hot chocolate."

He set off down the sidewalk, and Bria, Owen, and I had no choice but to follow him. Finn strolled over to a food cart sitting at the entrance to one of the alleys, where he bought hot chocolates for all four of us, before leading us over to two iron benches that were set close together, facing each other. Finn and Bria took one bench, with Owen and me sitting across from them on the other one.

Finn took a sip of his hot chocolate, then glanced around and leaned forward, staring at me with sharp, knowing eyes. "What's going on, Gin?"

"Why do you think something's going on?"

"Because normally you would have mocked me mercilessly for buying rhinestone-studded, white leather chaps. As well you should have. But you said that they looked great. That's not the snarky, sa.s.sy Gin Blanco that I know and love." He paused to take another sip of his hot chocolate. "Plus, there's a cowboy who's been following us from store to store, texting on his phone the whole time. He's behind me now, leaning against a post and trying to look casual."

My gaze slid past Finn, and sure enough, that cowboy was right where he said. I should have realized that Finn would have clocked someone watching him. He might not be a bona fide a.s.sa.s.sin like me, but Fletcher had trained his son just as well as he had me.

"Plus, you were gone a really long time," Finn added. "Normally, I would have said that you had to stop, kill someone, and hide their body, but there isn't any blood on your clothes." He gave me another stern look. "So spill it, Gin. What kind of trouble did you get into?"

I sighed, realizing that it was confession time. "Well, you're right. I didn't actually kill anyone, although I certainly wanted to. . . ."

While we sipped our hot chocolates, I told my friends everything that Roxy and Brody had said about working for Tucker and the vampire wanting us to find the hidden jewels for him.

When I finished, Owen looked at me. "So that's what was going on in the lobby earlier when you ran into that luggage cart. You thought you saw Tucker and were going to chase after him."

I nodded. "Guilty as charged, but he disappeared before I could get to him. But he's around here somewhere. He has to be."

The four of us fell silent, clutching our empty cups. To the casual observer, it looked like we were just taking a break from the festivities, sitting on the benches, having a warm snack, and people-watching. Oh, we were people-watching all right.

"The cowboy's gone, but there's a giant miner in his place, glancing over at us every minute or so," Owen said.

"The saloon girl working that popcorn cart is checking us out too," Finn added.

"And I see a gambler up on one of the second-story balconies, looking right at us and texting," Bria said.

I nodded. "I don't know how many folks work for Roxy and Brody directly, but we have to a.s.sume that any of the resort staff could be on their payroll and a potential threat. Not to mention Tucker lurking around, and any men that he might have hiding in the shadows with him." I looked at my friends. "The way I see it, we have two options. We can hightail it out of here, head back to Ashland, and regroup."

"Or?" Finn asked, even though he knew as well as I did what the second choice was.

"Or we can stay and search for the jewels. According to Roxy, Tucker thinks that Deirdre gave you some clue about where she hid them, or that I can somehow find them with my Stone magic. Maybe he's right about that."

I kept my voice neutral, even though I burned to stay here. I didn't care about the gems and how valuable they were. Not in the slightest. For me, this was all about Hugh Tucker. The vampire had been three steps ahead of me for weeks now, and I wanted to turn the tables and beat him at his own game. I wanted to take away something that he cared about, for a change. But most of all, I wanted to have him at my mercy-or lack thereof-so I could finally carve some answers out of him about my mother and the Circle.

But staying at the resort would be dangerous-maybe even deadly. Nothing that we hadn't faced before, of course, but we'd come down here to relax and take a break from the constant danger in Ashland. Not get ourselves into even more trouble.

Oh, I'd be happy to take on Roxy, Brody, and every other person here if it meant getting closer to discovering the members of the Circle, but this wasn't my choice to make. Not really. Because Tucker had lured Finn down here, had sent him the resort deed, and had gotten his hopes up about learning more about Deirdre. So he should be the one to decide.

I looked at Finn. "So what do you want to do? This is your weekend and your resort, so it's your call. Right, guys?"

Bria and Owen both nodded, and the three of us stared at him.

My foster brother tapped his finger against the side of his cup, staring down into the dregs of his hot chocolate as though they were tea leaves that would somehow reveal the future. After several seconds, his finger stilled, and he raised his head, staring at Bria and Owen, and then finally at me.

So many emotions flashed in Finn's eyes. Worry about the danger we were in, hurt that Tucker had manipulated him again, disappointment that he hadn't learned anything new about Deirdre yet. But all of that melted away, hardening into a stubborn determination that I knew all too well-the same determination that Fletcher had instilled in me, as well as his son. In that moment, Finn seemed more like his old self than he had in weeks.

"f.u.c.k it," Finn said, a grin spreading across his face. "Let's find those rocks and shove them down Tucker's throat."

I grinned back at him. "I was hoping you'd say that."

12.

We left Main Street behind, walked back to the hotel, and rode the elevator up to the seventh and top floor where our suites were, like everything was normal.

Then again, my friends and I being in mortal danger with enemies all around was perfectly normal. Vacation. Heh.

All the while, we kept an eye out, but the theme park and hotel workers just watched us. Roxy and Brody must have told their minions to leave us alone for the time being. At least, until we found the jewels for them.

The elevator opened, revealing a long hallway with only a few doors set into the walls. We stepped forward. The elevator doors closed behind us with a whisper, and the only sound was our soft footsteps on the thick gray carpet.

"This floor is all penthouse suites," Finn said. "Our rooms are over there." He swept his hand out to the left, indicating a couple of doors on that side of the hallway.

"And according to the room number on that key Ira Morris gave me, Deirdre's suite is there." This time, he pointed to the right, where a single door was set into the wall.

Of course there was only one door and one suite on that side. Deirdre wouldn't have wanted to share a single inch of s.p.a.ce with anyone.

Finn stared at that closed door for a moment, then turned away, pulled a plastic key card out of his pants pocket, and opened the door to his suite. We all trooped inside, and Finn and Owen put their packages down on a table by the door.

Actually, it was two suites in one, with each area featuring its own s.p.a.cious living room, bedroom, and bathroom, with connecting double doors in the middle. Our luggage was sitting in the foyer in Finn and Bria's suite, although both living rooms had a table featuring an enormous fruit basket, along with platters of chocolate-dipped strawberries and other gourmet treats.

"Here's to your stay and our great new partnership, Roxy," Bria said, reading the note on the fruit basket in her and Finn's suite.

She tossed the note back onto the table and opened her mouth, but I held my finger up to my lips in warning, and Bria bit back the rest of her snarky words.

"Well, then," I said, "let's get settled and see if Roxy left us any other . . . surprises."

The others nodded, picking up on my real meaning, and we all went to work, discreetly checking our respective suitcases and suites for hidden cameras, listening devices, and rune traps. Just in case Roxy had coated something with her Fire magic to try to kill us in our rooms.

"Anything?" Owen asked about ten minutes later.

I peered a final time into the air vent that was set low in the wall and got to my feet. "Nope. We're good."

We stepped through the open connecting doors back into Finn and Bria's suite. The two of them were sitting on one of the couches in the living room, typing away on their laptops on the coffee table in front of them.

"Any creepy crawly things in here?" I asked.

Finn shook his head. "No cameras or listening devices. The room's clean."

"So is ours," I said. "Roxy knows that the jewels aren't in here, so she didn't bother to bug our rooms. She must have just told her people to watch us when we're out in the hotel and theme park."

Bria hit some more keys on her laptop. "Did you know that the resort has its own webpage devoted to the treasure hunt? There's even a place where people can post about all the places they've looked in the theme park. There are hundreds of comments here and just as many pictures."

Finn shook his head again. "Forget about the theme park. Deirdre wouldn't be caught dead in a place like that. More important, she wouldn't have stashed those jewels anywhere she couldn't get her hands on them in a matter of minutes."

Owen crossed his arms over his chest. "You think they're here in the hotel somewhere?"

Finn nodded, never taking his eyes off his laptop screen. "They have to be."

"Well, if that's the case, wouldn't Deirdre have kept them in her own suite?" Owen said.

"And no doubt that's the first place Roxy and Brody searched and came up empty," I said. "But we haven't looked there yet. Maybe we'll find something they missed."

"Which is why I'm pulling up the hotel schematics right now," Finn said. "I want to make sure that Deirdre didn't have any false walls added to her suite or anywhere else in the hotel."

This suite had its own printer, and Finn asked Owen to help him hook his laptop up to it. Bria kept surfing, scribbling down all the places that folks had already looked for the jewels, concentrating on the hotel locations.

While the others worked, I pulled my phone out of my pocket and called Silvio. He answered on the second ring. In the background, I could hear him typing away as fast and furiously as ever, even though I had no clue as to what he could be working on since I wasn't even in Ashland right now.

"I thought that you were going to have a nice, relaxing weekend while I was gone."

"And I thought that you were going to do the same. In trouble already?" Silvio countered in a dry, knowing voice.

"Is that any way to talk to your boss?"

"It certainly is when that boss is you. What's going on?"

I huffed at his tone, but I told him everything that had happened, including our search for Sweet Sally Sue's jewels.

"So let me get this straight," Silvio said when I finished. "You've only been at the resort for, what, three hours now? And you've already got people trying to kidnap and kill you? I think that's a new record even for you, Gin."

"Roxy and Brody want to torture and murder us after we find the gems," I corrected. "It doesn't make any sense for them to kill us before then."

For a moment, Silvio stopped typing, and there was complete silence. "Your optimism never ceases to amaze me."

I didn't think that it was optimism so much as it was fatalism, but I didn't argue with him. In the background, the typing noises started up again, with every rapid-fire keystroke sounding like a tiny gun going off in my ear.

"Hmm," Silvio murmured. "I've pulled up the hotel website. Looks like the four of you have a lot of ground to cover. Do you need me to come down there? It might not hurt for you to have some backup."

He was right. My friends and I were severely outnumbered, and it certainly wouldn't hurt to have Silvio waiting in the wings. Still, I hesitated. I didn't want to endanger another of my friends. And I really had wanted the vampire to have a nice, relaxing weekend, free from all the blood, bodies, destruction, and drama that went along with working for me.

"I thought that you had plans," I said, trying to talk him out of coming down here. "You know, finally having coffee with that cute younger gentleman you've been flirting with for the last few weeks at the Pork Pit?"

Silvio huffed. "I'm too old to flirt with anyone. That cute younger gentleman and I just happen to share some of the same interests."

"Uh-huh."

"Besides, he can wait. I can be down there in a few hours. Just give me the word, and I'll load my electronics into the car."

I would load up the car with knives, guns, and other a.s.sorted weapons, but then again, I supposed that electronics were Silvio's weapons of choice. So I decided to let him do some damage with them. "Actually, I need you to stay put for the moment. I want everything you can dig up on Roxy Wyatt and Brody Dalton. Criminal histories, credit reports, where they went to elementary school. I want to know every little detail about them. They work for Tucker, but I'm guessing that they haven't been nearly as careful as the vampire."

"You think that they've left a trail behind that you can follow back to Tucker and the Circle," Silvio said, picking up on my train of thought.

"Maybe. At the very least, it sounded like they'd dropped several bodies for Tucker. I want to know who's been on the vampire's. .h.i.t list. It might give me some clue about him or the other members of the Circle or at least what their business interests are."

"Done. I'll have an update for you tonight, or first thing in the morning at the very latest. And I'll go ahead and load up the car anyway. Just in case."

"You don't have to do that. I can take care of myself, you know. I am an a.s.sa.s.sin after all. People actually fear me and stuff." I sighed. "Normal, sane people, anyway."

"Uh-huh. Talk to you soon, Gin."

Silvio hung up on me. I thought about calling him back and ordering him to stay put in Ashland, but I knew that he wouldn't answer. Not when he was hot on the trail of Roxy and Brody. Even if he did pick up, I could talk until I was blue in the face and he'd just ignore my protests.

Sometimes I thought that Silvio Sanchez was more the boss of me than the other way around.

Finn finished surveying the hotel schematics, but he didn't find any obvious hiding places where Deirdre might have stashed the jewels. So we decided to check out her suite for ourselves.

The four of us walked down the hallway to Deirdre's door. Finn slowly hefted the skeleton key in his hand, as though it were as heavy as a brick. After a moment, he curled his fingers around it, slid the key into the lock, and turned it.

"Here goes nothing," he said, opening the door and stepping through to the other side.

The suite was ma.s.sive, even larger than Deirdre's penthouse at the Peach Blossom apartment building back in Ashland. We moved through the foyer and stepped down into a sunken living room that featured white leather couches and chairs, gla.s.s-and-chrome tables, and black-and-white Persian rugs. No cowboy or Western decor was in sight, although a ten-foot-tall white Christmas tree stood in the corner, with a couple of open plastic boxes filled with decorations scattered around it. Floor-to-ceiling windows lined the back wall of the suite, showing off a lovely view of the surrounding trees and ridges and Bullet Pointe Lake in the distance.

A large kitchen lay off to one side of the main s.p.a.ce, although it was immaculate, and all the white marble countertops and chrome appliances gleamed, as though no one had ever cooked anything in there. Deirdre certainly hadn't. When I'd been spying on her in Ashland, she'd ordered room service for every single meal. I hadn't seen her make so much as a sandwich in all the time I'd watched her.

"I never thought that I would admire Deirdre's decorating style, but I gotta say that I'm glad there are no boots or la.s.sos in here," Bria said.

"It looks exactly like her other apartment." Finn paced from one side of the living room to the other and back again, looking over everything. "There's nothing here. Nothing. I don't even see a magazine."

Bria looked at me, and I shrugged back at her. My sister stepped in front of Finn, cutting off his rapid pacing. "You don't know that yet. Let's take a look around. Maybe you know something or will see something that Tucker and the others missed. Okay?"

"Okay," Finn muttered.

So the four of us went through the suite, opening and closing the coffee-table drawers, looking under the couch cushions, and even rifling through the empty pots and pans in the kitchen cabinets. I also kept an eye out for any hidden cameras, listening devices, and rune traps, but there was nothing in the front two rooms, so we walked down a hallway to the master bedroom and bathroom in the back, where things finally got a little more interesting.

Apparently, Deirdre had spent far more time here than she'd led Finn to believe because the bedroom was br.i.m.m.i.n.g with her stuff. Pantsuits, c.o.c.ktail dresses, and ball gowns filled one side of the enormous walk-in closet, all neatly hung on racks and organized according to color, from lightest to darkest. The other side of the closet featured shelves full of hats, purses, and stilettos-more stiletto heels, pumps, and boots than any one woman could possibly wear in a lifetime.