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I looked over the storefront a final ti Checking out the Pit was soiven all the folks ould love to seethem as their personal or business syic and get those symbols to flare to life and performe in the process It would be far too easy for a Fire eleht, pause a moment, and trace an incendiary rune into the wooden doorframe that would erupt in fla

So far, no one had tried that particular trick, but it was only a ht of it - and I planned to be ready when they did That hy I checked the restaurant, and it hy I kept an eye on all the diners who scarfed down the thi

ck, hearty, barbecue sandwiches and other greasy Southern treats Sophia and I served up at the Pit

Satisfied that no one had laid any traps for n on the door over to Open andfor the day

Given the war for folks to leave their offices, head outside, and flock to the restaurant in search of an early lunch Catalina Vasquez and the rest of the waitstaff seated everyone and took their orders, before bustling back over with their drinks a few minutes later Meanwhile, Sophia and I manned the ovens, the stoves, and the french fryers I also mixed up a batch of Fletcher's secret barbecue sauce and set that pot on one of the back burners to si how the sauce's spicy cumin kick mixed with all the other rich, dense flavors in the air

In between cooking and dishing up food, aze went from one diner to the next, but they were all focused on their iving lances out of the corners of their eyes when they thought I wasn't looking After all, I was rumored to be the Spider, the assassin who'd killed the supposedly unkillable Mab Monroe The whispers werethe underworld denizens, but they were slowly starting to circulate a of a tourist attraction in Ashland these days, and people calimpse of me, sit in my restaurant, and eat my food I'd even heard ru T-shirts with the slogan I ate at the Pork Pitand lived! eh to wear one inside the restaurant

I gazed around the storefront once more, but none of the current crop of customers looked like the type who'd come here to cause trouble or try toMaybe today would be a calm day I hoped so I needed some tiht reallyup what I had with Owen

But it wasn't to be - because Phillip Kincaid strolled into the restaurant around two o'clock

Kincaid had sandy blond hair that was slicked back into a low ponytail and strong, pronounced cheekbones a model would have been envious of He wore a dark blue suit that showed off the strength of his tall, thick body, and he looked alood in the expensive threads as Finn did in one of his designer duds Kincaid wasn'tabout hiht your eye andin the easy, confident way he carried himself, and the coldness in his vivid blue eyes

Despite his striking looks, Kincaid was on my radar for another, less pleasant reason: he happened to be one of Ashland's top underworld sharks, with a network of giant enforcers and other rough types orked for him Kincaid had been one of the few heavy hitters who'd dared to go toe-to-toe with Mab when she'd been alive Now that the Fire elemental was dead, Kincaid had evenup so them into his own operations

The last time I'd seen Kincaid had been on his luxe riverboat casino, the Delta Queen, back in the fall I'd gone to one of his parties to kill Elliot Slater, a giant as stalking and terrorizing a friend of mine I'd never spoken to or had any real interaction with Kincaid, other than watching him smile at me at Mab's funeral, but we both kneho the other was

I expected to see a giant bodyguard or two step into the restaurant behind Kincaid, but the door swung shut behind hiin joint all by his lonesoh, I didn't think he was here for the food, no ood it was

Sophia heard the bell over the front door chime when Kincaid opened it, and she looked up fronized hi out into a thin, hard line

"Trouble?" the dwarf asked, her fingers tightening around the bread knife in her hand

"We'll see," I murmured "Stand by for now "