“And if you hurt any of them, you’ll never get the stones. So I’d say that we have ourselves a good old-­fashioned standoff.”

   Silence. Tucker cleared his throat. “Well, then, if you’ll just bring the jewels up to the hotel, we can resolve this whole messy situation—”

   I laughed, cutting him off again. “So you can have Roxy, Brody, and all those giants surround and kill me? Forget it. You’ll meet me in the theme park, outside the saloon, right in the middle of Main Street. Midnight. Just you and my friends. Nobody else.”

   “Or?”

   “Or I’ll forget about the lake and flush every single one of these rocks down the first toilet I come to. Believe me when I tell you that there’s one close by.”

   “You wouldn’t do that. Not while I still have your friends.”

   I laughed again. “Oh, yes, I would. Just for spite. Especially if you hurt them in any way. But let’s be honest. That’s not a chance you’re going to take.”

   “Fine,” Tucker said. “I’ll meet you in the middle of Main Street with your friends in tow. And Blanco—don’t even think that you can double-cross me and escape. I’ve got this place surrounded. No one goes in or out—­including your friends—until I have those jewels.”

   “That’s—”

   I was going to hurl another insult at him, but the bastard beat me to the punch and hung up.

   * * *

   With the exchange set, my friends and I started getting ready for tonight.

   The first thing I did was go into the bedroom and get rid of my torturous disguise. I shimmied out of the saloon-girl dress with no problem, although I had to get Lorelei to help me unlace the corset. She snickered the whole time. I also stripped off the old-fashioned heels, blond wig, and beauty mark that I’d stuck on my face.

   Thankfully, Silvio had brought me some extra clothes, so I was able to put on my usual assassin attire—black boots, socks, jeans, turtleneck, and a vest lined with silverstone, which would stop any bullets coming my way. I fingered the edge of the vest and thought of how easily Roxy had shot me in the arm earlier today and how much her Fire-coated bullets had hurt. I’d have to invest in a silverstone jacket when I got back to Ashland.

   If I got back to Ashland.

   I still had all five of my knives, which I slid into their usual spots. I also stuffed an extra knife into one of the pockets on my vest, along with a couple of tins of Jo-Jo’s healing ointment. As a final touch, I borrowed a black leather belt from Ira and slid two guns outfitted with silencers into the attached holsters. Guns ran out of ammo far too quickly for my liking, but I’d need all the firepower I could get tonight.

   I put one final thing into my vest pocket—a black velvet bag full of jewels. Couldn’t forget that.

   Once I was ready, I smoothed the wrinkles out of Sweet Sally Sue’s dress as best I could and hung it back up on the hanger. I stared at the dress a moment, thinking, then picked up an item from my spread of supplies on the bed and slipped it into one of the dress pockets. Satisfied, I smiled, grabbed the hanger, and took the dress back out to the main room where the others were.

   “Here you go.” I handed the dress over to Ira. “I didn’t get any blood on it, which, let me tell you, is something of a miracle for me. But you should still check it later. Make sure that there aren’t any rips or tears or especially holes in the pockets.”

   He gave me a strange look, wondering why I would care so much about the dress, but he nodded and hung the garment on a knob on the wall to help the rest of the wrinkles fall out of it.

   Once that was done, Ira went over to the dining-room table, where Silvio, Phillip, and Lorelei were still looking at the park map, memorizing the locations of everything from the concession stands and food carts to the water fountains and restrooms. I joined them, studying the map as well, just as I’d studied the park when I’d been exploring with Finn, Bria, and Owen earlier today. You never knew what might be important when you were fighting for your life, and tonight I would need every advantage I could get.

   “So are you finally going to fill us in on your plan?” Phillip asked.

   I pointed at the theme-park map. “That—that’s my plan.”

   Lorelei frowned. “What do you mean?”

   Silvio realized what I was up to, and he started shaking his head. “I knew it,” he said. “I knew you were going to do something like this.”

   “Something like what?” Ira asked.

   I tapped my finger on the map. “Tucker thinks that he has me trapped in the theme park. No matter what he told me on the phone, he won’t come and face me himself, and he certainly won’t wait around until midnight to get his hands on those gems. Once the park closes for the night, and all the workers and tourists are gone, he’ll send in Roxy, Brody, and their giants, hoping that they can find and kill me and bring him the jewels.”

   That’s what I would do in his situation, and I knew that Roxy would be eager to confront me. After all, she was a hunter, and Gin Blanco was big game, baby.

   “Tucker wants those stones more than anything else,” I continued. “So he’ll probably send the majority of his giants into the theme park after me. Hopefully, he’ll only leave a few men behind to guard Finn, Bria, and Owen at the hotel. Either way, I doubt that Tucker’s realized that I’ve called for backup. So while I’m running around the theme park being the distraction, the three of you can keep an eye on the hotel. Tucker will have to bring Finn, Bria, and Owen out of that suite and down to the lobby at some point, if only to take them over to Main Street for our meeting. No matter what happens to me, I want you guys to grab the three of them the second you have the chance.”

   Silvio sighed, still not liking my plan, but he realized that there was no talking me out of it, and he nodded. So did Phillip and Lorelei.

   Ira cleared his throat. “Four. There will be four of us.” He crossed his arms over his chest, daring me to argue.