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"What do you want?" he asked. "The money I stole from Mab?"
I laughed in his face. Laughed and laughed. And then I laughed some more.
McAllister's lips pinched together at my hearty chuckles, and more of that murderous rage glinted in his eyes, but he didn't say anything.
"Oh, Jonah, you are entertaining, I'll give you that," I said. "But no. I don't want Mab's money. Not one single cent of it. "
"Then what? What do you want?"
I smiled at him. "Nothing - nothing at all. "
I pushed away from the bar, walked out of the office, and headed toward the front door. My steps were light, and I whistled a soft, cheery tune, idly wondering how long it would take McAllister to come after me -
Ten seconds later, footsteps smacked into the floor behind me. I glanced over my shoulder. The lawyer had left the office and stopped in the middle of the hallway.
"What are you doing?" he called out, his voice high with surprise and puzzlement.
"What does it look like?" I said. "I'm leaving. "
Silence. Then -
"You - you're just leaving? You're not going to kill me?"
I reached the front door, threw back the lock, and put my hand on the knob. I looked over my shoulder at him once again. "No, Jonah. I'm not going to kill you. Not tonight, not tomorrow, I'll even be generous and say not even this month. "
His eyes narrowed. "Why? What are you up to?"
I gave him my most innocent grin. "I'm not up to anything, Jonah. You're the one who's been plotting, scheming, and embezzling this whole time. Not me. I think we can both agree that you've been a bad, bad boy. And now you're going to be punished for it. "
His eyes narrowed some more. "What did you do?"
I shrugged. "Nothing much. Just told the cops all about your little scheme to rob the museum. Well, really just two cops, but they're good ones. Why, with all the information I gave them, I imagine that they're waiting right outside this very door, as eager as can be to come on in and arrest you. Shall we see?"
Before he could protest, I turned the knob and opened the door. Bria and Xavier stood outside. Behind them, their sedan sat in the driveway, the blue and white lights winking on and off in the darkness. I nodded at them and stepped to one side so they could enter.
"Why, look. Here they are. Right on time. "
"The police? Please. " McAllister sneered. "Do you know how many of those crooked bastards I've bribed over the years?"
"Of course I do," I replied. "So that's why I sent the information to all the local news media too. Anonymously, of course. Just for kicks. "
"But - but why would you . . . " His voice trailed off as he thought about things. After a few seconds, shock and surprise filled his eyes, along with horror.
I walked back over to him so that we were standing face-to-face. "You see, Jonah, I could have killed you easily. But sticking my knife in your gut would have been a quick death - and far too good for the likes of you. So, in the end, I decided on a different punishment. "
"And what would that be?" he asked in a wavering voice.
"To watch you suffer," I snarled. "You've spent the last few months planning how to take me out. You started back at Mab's funeral, when you hired those dwarves to try to kill me at her coffin. They failed, but you still managed to set me up as a target for every wannabe criminal in town. You painted a great big bull's-eye on my back, so I decided to return the favor and paint one on yours. What do you think will happen when all the crime bosses realize that you tried to rob them? Do you really think they'll let something like that just slide?"
I clucked my tongue in false sympathy. "Really, Jonah. You should know the answer to that as well as I do. "
"They'll come after me," he whispered. "All of them. They'll all come after me. "
I leaned forward, so he could see just how cold and wintry my gray eyes were. "Every . . . last . . . one. "
McAllister kept staring at me, that horrified expression still on his face. Such a lovely, lovely sight.
"Now you know how I've felt these past few months. But you're exactly right. All the crime bosses will come after you - or send some of their goons to do the job for them. " I paused. "Of course, this is assuming that Mab's mysterious heir doesn't get you first for cheating him or her. Either way, you're dead, Jonah. The only question is how long you can keep your head above water before one of the underworld sharks drags you under and gobbles you up. You know, it's probably a good thing you embezzled all of that money from Mab. You're going to need it. That might keep the sharks at bay, for a while. "
