Silence, although I could almost hear the gears grinding in Tucker’s mind as he debated whether I was telling the truth.

   “You’re bluffing. My people have been searching for weeks now and haven’t seen any trace of the jewels. There’s no way you’ve found them in a single afternoon.”

   “Oh, sugar. I never bluff.”

   He snorted.

   “Besides, the very reason that you lured me and my friends down here was so we could find those shiny stones for you. And now you’re saying that I haven’t delivered?” I clucked my tongue. “You can’t have it both ways, Tuck.”

   “I still don’t believe you.”

   “Well, I could take a picture and send that to you, but you probably wouldn’t believe that either. You’d just claim that I had a handful of fakes. So why don’t you go ask the giants you have guarding my friends about the dashing saloon girl in the bloodred dress who moseyed into Deirdre’s suite a little while ago.”

   “What—”

   “Don’t worry,” I said, cutting him off. “I’m in a generous mood, so I’ll give you some time to confirm everything. I’ll call the main hotel line again in ten minutes. If I were you, I’d tell the clerk to put me right on through. Better get a move on now, ya hear?”

   “Wait—”

   I hung up on him.

   “You enjoyed that,” Lorelei said.

   I grinned. “It’s the small things that make life truly worth living.”

   By this point, she and Silvio had cleared the papers and photography equipment off Ira’s dining-room table, pulled all the supplies out of the steamer trunk, and had laid the gear on the surface. Guns, ammo, knives, tins of Jo-Jo’s healing ointment. All the usual suspects.

   Silvio had also gotten a map of the theme park, which he spread out on top of the weapons, and he went into full-fledged assistant mode, comparing the paper map to some aerial photos he called up on his tablet.

   “This place is like a maze,” he said. “Look at all those paths circling around and around and going nowhere.”

   I nodded. “I know. And that’s what’s going to give me the advantage.”

   Silvio looked at me out of the corner of his eye, clearly wondering what kind of advantage I was talking about.

   The ten minutes went by quickly, although I waited five more, just to make Tucker sweat a little bit. He’d gone to a lot of trouble to set this whole thing up, and I knew that he would do whatever it took to get those gems back, even wait on my call. I wondered just how much pressure the other members of his precious Circle had put on him to recoup at least some of their money that Deirdre had squandered. It must have been a considerable amount, since it seemed like he was more afraid of them than he was of me.

   Tucker was a fool that way.

   Finally, I dialed the main number for the hotel again. As soon as I told the clerk my name, she sputtered and put me on hold. Tucker picked up less than thirty seconds later.

   “What do you want?” he growled.

   “So you believe me now. Excellent,” I purred. “And I want what I’ve always wanted—the safe return of my friends. Them for the jewels. A simple swap. Even you can do that math, Tuck. Of course, I want to talk to them first. Make sure that they’re still alive. So why don’t you get this call transferred up to Finn’s suite. Don’t worry. I’ll wait.”

   “You don’t give the orders around here, Blanco—”

   I cut him off. “Or I could always mosey on down to the lake, get into a boat, and drop this lovely bag of sparkling stones in the middle of the water. Your choice, Tuck.”

   “Fine,” the vampire growled again. “Hold on.”

   Phillip was still standing by the windows, keeping watch, but he glanced at me, respect shining in his eyes. “Making him run around and do your bidding? That’s got to be driving Tucker crazy.”

   I grinned again. “That’s the point.”

   While we waited for Tucker to come back on the line, Silvio pulled a red highlighter out of the pocket of his red plaid shirt and started marking all the park entrances.

   “I don’t like this,” he said, shaking his head. “I don’t like this at all.”

   “I don’t like it either,” I replied. “But it is what it is. We have to make the best of it—for Finn, Bria, and Owen’s sake.”

   Silvio nodded, but his face pinched tight with worry.

   Finally, my phone clicked, and a faint buzz sounded, telling me that someone was on the line. I waited, my fingers curling tight around the phone, and my breath caught in my throat.

   “Gin?” Finn’s voice finally sounded.

   My entire body sagged, and I held the phone away from my face so that no one on the other end would hear my sigh of relief. Then I brought the device back up to my lips again. “How are you?”

   “A little groggy.” His words slurred a bit. “You found the jewels?”

   “I found them, and I’m going to get you guys out of there. Just hold on. Okay?”

   “Okay.” Finn paused. “And watch out for the June bugs. They’re everywhere this time of year. I can see them now, flying around in here. . . .”

   His voice drifted off, and he let out a little giggle, as though he were still under the influence of that sedative. But June bugs was a code phrase that Fletcher had coined for us long ago, and I recognized the words as the warning they were. Finn was telling me that whatever meeting Tucker set would be a trap and that the vampire had lots of men with him. I already knew all of that, but my heart still lifted at the fact that Finn was in good enough shape to try to help me.

   “Are you satisfied now?” Tucker snapped, coming back on the line. “All your precious little friends are still alive. But they won’t stay that way for long unless you give me those jewels.”