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Sophia let out a low, threatening growl. With her ruined, raspy voice, she sounded like a mythological Fenrir wolf about to sink its teeth into a hunk of fresh meat. Antonio froze. Sophia let out another growl, and the giant dropped his hands to his sides and stepped away from her. Smart man.
Kincaid stayed silent throughout their exchange, then made a sweeping motion with his hand. "This way. "
He led us over to the far side of the deck, the one facing out toward the Aneirin River. A large cooking station had been set up there, complete with pots, pans, utensils, a couple of burners, coolers filled with ice, and everything else we would need. Kincaid had been thorough, if nothing else. His accommodating nature only made me that much more suspicious about what he really wanted - and how many people I might have to kill to make it through the night.
"I thought we would set you up out here so you can see all of the action," he said. "Keep you right in the thick of things. "
His voice was as bland as could be, but something in his words bothered me. It almost sounded like he was expecting trouble tonight, but I couldn't imagine what problems the drunken frat boys and girls could possibly create that his giants couldn't handle.
"Like I said, let Antonio know if you need anything. "
Kincaid gave me a thin smile, then moved off into the crowd. Antonio nodded at us and walked away too, although he didn't go far, planting himself against the rail about twenty feet from the cooking station. Keeping an eye on us.
"This gets stranger by the minute," I said to Sophia.
The dwarf grunted her agreement, put down her boxes, and started unpacking them. I did the same. Whatever Kincaid was up to, there was nothing to do now but see it through to the end.
The next hour involved reheating the dishes Sophia and I had made earlier in the day, creating some last-minute ones on-site, and then serving everything up to the hungry kids.
I recognized more than a few folks and said hello to those I knew, since I was also a student at Ashland Community College. I was always taking a course or two at the college, like the literature class I'd signed up for this summer. Sophia and I had just finished feeding the first wave of students when I spotted two very familiar faces in the crowd - Eva Grayson and Violet Fox.
Eva was Owen's nineteen-year-old sister, and Violet was her best friend. The two girls were pretty much inseparable, despite how different they were. Eva looked a lot like Owen, with her blue-black hair, while Violet was all frizzy blond hair and glasses. Like everyone else, they were dressed in shorts, T-shirts, and flip-flops. In fact, Eva's T-shirt bore the name of the sorority that was hosting the fund-raiser, making me wonder if she'd been involved in the planning.
I wasn't particularly surprised to see them at a college function, but the troubling thing was that the two girls were talking to none other than Kincaid himself. The casino boss said something, causing both Eva and Violet to laugh. Eva, especially, seemed interested in what he had to say, tossing her hair over her shoulder and smiling at him - something her big brother would definitely not approve of.
Owen had a protective streak a mile wide when it came to Eva, just like I did when it came to my younger sister Bria. Owen would definitely not want Eva cozying up to a casino mobster, but that was exactly what she was doing - and Kincaid seemed to be enjoying every second of her attention.
I dished up the last of the macaroni salad in my tin pan and turned to Sophia. "Can you handle things for a while? I see something I need to take care of. "
The dwarf followed my gaze, frowned, and nodded. She didn't like the two girls being close to Kincaid any more than I did, especially since we still didn't know what he was plotting.
"Go," she rasped.
I undid my blue work apron, lifted the strings over my head, and tied them to the brass railing behind me. Then I skirted around the cooking station and headed for Kincaid. Antonio, who'd been leaning against the railing and idly ogling the pretty young girls who walked by, snapped to attention as I stalked past him.
"Down, boy," I drawled. "I just want to talk to your boss a second. I'm not going to kill him. "
Yet.
The word wasn't spoken, but the threat must have shown in my cold face, because Antonio followed me over to where Kincaid was holding court with Eva and Violet.
Violet saw me first and winced, like the jig was up. She tapped Eva on the arm, trying to get her attention, but Eva was too interested in what Kincaid had to say to pay her friend any mind. That changed, though, the second I shouldered my way in between Eva and Kincaid, not so subtly bumping the casino boss away from her and making him take several steps back.
"Why, hello, Eva," I drawled again. "I had no idea you were going to be here tonight. "
"Gin!" Eva sputtered, her blue eyes widening. "What - what are you doing here?"
"Catering. And you?"
It took her a second to recover, but when she did, she gestured at the other kids. "Overseeing the fund-raiser. "
"Really? This is your fund-raiser? I don't remember you telling me anything about it when you and Violet had lunch at the Pork Pit yesterday. I'm surprised you wouldn't mention it to me, if the cause was so very important to you. But I'm guessing you told Owen all about it, right? And where you were going tonight?"
A guilty flush stained Eva's pale cheeks. Busted. Eva realized as well as I did that Owen wouldn't want her near anyone as dangerous as Kincaid, but here she was all the same. I couldn't help but wonder why. Was the fund-raiser being held on the riverboat just a coincidence? Or was there something else going on? Something between Eva and Kincaid, as unlikely as that seemed? I didn't know, but I was going to find out.
I had to hand it to her, Eva wasn't easily intimidated, not even by the likes of me, and she raised her chin. "I needed somewhere to host the fund-raiser, somewhere cooler and more interesting than the student center, so I called Philly and asked him if we could use the riverboat. He said yes. "
"Philly?" I asked, arching an eyebrow.
