I nodded. “Now. I want this all squared away tonight. That way, I can focus on getting to Dawson.”

I looked at the two dwarves. “You two think you can stand guard duty for a few days?”

“Of course,” Jo-Jo said. “Anything you need, Gin. You know that.”

“Um-mmm.” Sophia grunted her agreement.

“What about me?” Finn asked.

I smiled at him. “Fletcher’s gone, so you’re my handler now. I want everything you’ve got on Tobias Dawson. You know what to do with it.”

Finn nodded.

And then there was one. I stared at the detective, who still wore a stricken look on his face. “What are you going to do, Donovan?”

He stared at the carpet underneath his muddy shoes.

The detective knew what I was asking—if he was going to try to stop me or worse, warn Tobias Dawson that I was coming for him.

“Nothing. I’m not going to do anything. Not a damn thing.” Donovan scrubbed his hands through his black hair and let out a bitter laugh. The detective had just sided with an assassin, with the Spider. He’d just condemned another man to death, and he knew it.

“Good,” I said. “Then let’s get to work.”

———

An hour later we were all set. While Finn slid his laptop into its leather case, Violet gave her grandfather a long, tight hug. Eva Grayson had been thrilled her best friend wanted to crash at her place a few days, and Violet had already packed a bag. Now we stood in the foyer of the house, saying our good-byes.

“You could come with me,” Violet told her grandfather.

Warren put a speckled hand on her cheek and shook his head. “You know I can’t. That’s just not me. The only way I’m leaving this land is when they cart me off in a pine box. Besides, Gin might need me for something. I want to be around if she does.”

Violet nodded and tried to smile. Tears filled her dark eyes.

“We need to get you to Eva’s,” I said in a low voice.

Violet gave her grandfather another hug and picked up her bag. Finn held open the door for her, and the two of them stepped outside.

I went over to Sophia and Jo-Jo. “If anything happens, if Tobias Dawson or his men come back, you kill first and ask questions later, understand?”

The Goth dwarf grunted at me. Jo-Jo nodded her head.

“We know, Gin,” Jo-Jo said. “This isn’t the first time Sophia and I have done this sort of thing.”

I frowned. “It’s not?”

The dwarf smiled. “No. We watched out for folks for Fletcher a time or two as well.”