9 The Hitwoman's Downward Dog (10 page)

"Aren’t you going to get that?" the lizard demanded.

"No."

"Why not?"

"Just answer it before he throws another fit," Piss urged, "and I have to kill him."

"Hunter!" God accused.

Deciding it had to be easier to deal with whatever human was calling than the bickering animals, I answered. "Hello?"

"Ike Medd is dead."

It took me a second to identify the male caller’s deep, gravelly voice.

"Are you there?"

"Jack?"

"Uh-huh. Medd’s body was fished out of the Delaware River, not far from the Pennsylvania border."

If Ike was dead, what had happened to Armani? Panic seized me in a chokehold, making it impossible for me to speak.

"I figured you’d want to know," the reporter continued. "You need to be careful."

"Okay," I choked out.

"You can’t do anything stupid or reckless," he lectured.

I didn’t answer, my mind racing. My prime suspect in Armani’s abduction was dead. Did that mean that she’d been taken along with, or taken because of her connection with Detective Joy Gilbert? Were Lucky O’Hara and his family involved like the Scrabble letters seemed to indicate? Were they holding the two women? Were they planning on killing them too?

"Maggie?" Jack’s voice, sharp with concern, cut through my swirling thoughts.

"Yeah?"

"This is serious business. Out of your league. Hell, it’s out of my league."

"Uh-huh." I’d killed killers, both amateur and professional. I wasn’t as helpless as Jack imagined in this situation. "Do they know who killed him?"

"Did I say someone killed him?" Jack countered. "Maybe he went white-water rafting and drowned."

"So that’s a no?"

There was a long pause before he admitted, "No. They don’t have a clue as far as I can tell. I’ve got feelers out to my contacts, hoping to come up with more."

"Thanks for letting me know," I said, preparing to end the call. This changed everything. Maybe Ms. Whitehat knew more than she’d let on when she’d said time was running out.

"Don’t forget your niece," Jack interjected quickly before I could disconnect him.

A surge of protective anger shot through me. "What does she have to do with this?"

"She needs you," he reminded me. "She’s already lost her parents. Don’t do anything that might take you away from her."

A twinge of guilt made me feel sick to my stomach. I’d been so focused on my immediate problems that I’d forgotten about the big picture. He was right. Katie was my highest priority.

"You there?" Jack prodded.

"I’m here," I said with a heavy sigh.

"If I discover anything else, I’ll let you know."

"Thank you."

"And if you need help, with anything, anything at all, you have my number."

"I told you I liked him," God declared as soon as I was off the phone. "He’s a stand-up fellow who is forthcoming with information."

"So it appears," I agreed grudgingly.

"Do I detect a note of cynicism in your sweet voice, Sugar?" Piss purred.

"He’s working an angle."

God jumped off the piece of driftwood he’s been resting on in his terrarium. "Of course he is. The man’s a reporter. He wants to get to the truth. It’s quite admirable really."

Piss kneaded my leg with her front paws. "Put him out of your head. You need to get some sleep. You’re exhausted."

"I’m too worried," I protested, even as I stretched out on the couch.

"Just close your eyes for ten minutes," she urged soothingly. "A cat nap will do you good."

"She just says that because she’s feline," God groused quietly.

Ignoring him, I closed my eyes.

I didn’t open them again until I awoke seven hours later.

Since the majority of my dreams had concerned Katie, I decided to visit her before continuing my search for Armani.

"I’m going to the hospital," I told God after I’d showered. "Do you want to come along?"

"Yes!" DeeDee woofed softly.

"Not this time," I told her.

"She meant me." The lizard, all three inches of him, stood up proudly.

Disappointed, the dog put her head between her paws on the floor and sighed sadly.

Wanting to make her feel better, I rashly promised, "You can come with me later."

"Where?" She panted eagerly.

"I don’t really know yet," I admitted. "Somewhere."

"Okay."

I used the cellar storm door to get out of the B&B without anyone noticing. I got in my car and buckled my seatbelt before I noticed the envelope on my windshield.

Unbuckling myself, I jumped out and snatched up the paper.

"What does it say?" God asked as I got back in the car.

I read aloud what was scrawled on the outside of the envelope. "Maggie, Working the case. Some new developments. Will let you know when I’ve got something definitive. Don’t do anything rash. B."

"I wonder if the new development is Ike Medd’s body," I said to God who’d sprawled out on the dashboard to soak up the first rays of morning son.

"You should wonder why everyone’s repeatedly telling you not to do something rash or dumb."

I shrugged. Opening the envelope I found a business card from Detective Brian Griswald. He’d written a phone number on the back. "Do you think I should call?"

"I think you should stick with the plan."

I stuck the business card into the car’s cup holder and drove over to the hospital. "Your wish is my command."

"If that was true, I’d get a lot more crickets."

Since it was much too early for official visiting hours, I did my best to avoid attracting the attention of the nurses station as I crept down the hallway, but there was still one person I had to get past in order to see Katie.

There are pluses and minuses to having your relative share a hospital room with the grandson of an alleged mob boss. On the plus side, there’s twenty-four hour security. On the minus side, you have to get past the security.

I didn’t recognize the man sitting just outside Katie’s room. It wasn’t Vinny, the bodyguard of Tony Delveccio (or maybe it was Anthony, I couldn’t tell the identical twin mobsters apart). This guy, with his suit jacket that bulged suspiciously on one side, was new.

"Don’t say a word," I whispered to God who was nestled between my breasts, using my bra like a hammock.

The hired muscle watched my approach through narrowed eyes that reminded me of a snake. I hate snakes.

Summoning my best fake smile, I greeted him cheerily. "Morning."

His only response was the slightest nod.

"I’m here to see my niece. I don’t know if Mr. Delveccio has mentioned me."

Another slight nod toward the doorway, indicating I could enter.

I held my breath, sidling past him into the room. My heart swelled as I caught sight of Katie, hand tucked under her cheek, sleeping peacefully. She looked so much better than she had after the car accident. When I’d watched her then, I’d been afraid she’d never wake up.

God scampered up my bra strap to perch on my shoulder. "Put me by the boy," he whispered.

I did as he asked, gently placing him on the pillow beside Dominic Delveccio’s head, before sitting on the chair beside Katie’s bed, taking care not to wake her.

As I watched her, I had an overwhelming urge to apologize for all the things I knew I’d do wrong with her. I wasn’t cut out for this parenting stuff.

I don’t know how long I sat there, watching her sleep, imagining everything I was going to screw up in her future, but suddenly God cut through my thoughts with a curt order. "I think you should get someone."

I glanced over at him. "Why?"

"Because I think the boy is waking up."

Jumping out of my seat, knocking it over with a clatter, I rushed to Dominic’s bedside and looked down at him. Sure enough, his eyelids were fluttering as though he was struggling to open his eyes.

"Aunt Maggie?" Katie asked sleepily, sitting up in her bed.

"It’s okay, sweetheart," I assured her. "I’m sorry I woke you."

"Godzilla!" she cried happily.

I scooped up the lizard off of Dominic’s pillow and brought him to Katie. After all, she’d been the lizard’s original owner. "Talk to him for a second," I told her hurriedly. "I have to take care of something."

Returning to look down at the boy who might be emerging from his coma, I bent down and urged, "That’s it, Dominic, open your eyes."

His hand moved restlessly against the sheet covering him.

I grabbed it and squeezed it reassuringly. "You’re doing great, sweetheart. Try to open your eyes." Without releasing him, I shouted at the top of my lungs, "Hey! Hey I need some help in here."

Delveccio’s goon stuck his head in and eyed me suspiciously.

"I think he’s waking up," I told him. "Get a nurse and call your boss."

The bodyguard ducked back outside the room.

"Dom is waking up?" Katie asked.

"I think he might be," I told her, squeezing the boy’s hand and brushing his hair off his forehead.

"That would make Mr. D. very happy," Katie declared. "Wake up, Dom! Wake up!" she cheered loudly.

"The two of you could wake the dead," God griped.

"See?" Katie grinned. "Even Godzilla is telling him to wake up."

"You should probably hide me," the lizard suggested.

Knowing that he was right, that the hospital staff wouldn’t approve of a lizard as an unapproved therapy dog, I told Katie, "Put Godzilla under your sheet."

"Why?"

"Because I could get into trouble for sneaking him in here to see you."

Nodding, Katie carefully draped her sheet over the lizard, and pressed a finger to her lips, warning him to be silent. As she did, the boy’s fingers tightened slightly around my hand.

"That’s it, Dom," I whispered, choking back tears. "You hold on and open your eyes."

A nurse hurried into the room with Delveccio’s goon trailing closely behind.

"What’s going on?" the nurse asked.

"I think he’s waking up," I told her.

She looked from the boy’s face to our intertwined hands. Something like hope flickered across her face. "I’ll get a doctor." She rushed out of the room.

The bodyguard looked at me holding the little boy’s hand for a long moment before saying, "He’s on his way."

I nodded my thanks. "Hear that? Your grandfather is on his way."

Katie slid out of bed, her steps weak and faltering. She leaned against the boy’s bed for support. "Your grandpa is here every day," she told the kid. "He loves you a lot."

Wordlessly, Delveccio’s henchman picked up the chair I’d knocked over and slid it over so Katie could sit on it, while she chatted away to the little boy, telling him the things his grandfather would do with him, like eating chocolate pudding and playing Go Fish.

I mouthed a silent "thank you" to the goon who almost cracked a smile as he gave me a thumbs-up.

The nurse hustled back in, but halted when she saw Katie perched by the boy’s head chattering away. She didn’t bother to hide her grin as she watched the miniature nursemaid tending to the other child. "The doctor will be here soon."

The bodyguard silently slipped out of the room while the nurse checked the patient’s vitals.

When she stepped away, Katie cheerfully prattled on about her favorite ice cream flavors and I kept my grip on the little boy’s frail hand as though I thought I could anchor him to this world instead of the one he’d disappeared to inside his head. After all, I’d been the one to save the boy’s life when his own father had attempted to smother him. If I hadn’t done that, I’d have never met the Delveccio twins who’d offered me the chance to earn enough money to keep Katie in this hospital, receiving the best possible care. She wouldn’t be ready to come home if I hadn’t killed the boy’s monstrous father.

"C’mon, kiddo," I urged, needing him to recover, if only to assuage some of the guilt I felt for becoming a hitwoman.

A commotion behind me had me twisting around to see who’d entered the room. Delveccio, wearing a black cashmere overcoat over crimson silk pajamas, stared incredulously at Katie chattering and me holding his grandson’s hand.

I waved him closer to the bed.

A white-coated doctor who looked very nervous followed the mobster quoting statistics and crap about not getting hopes up, glared at me as though this fiasco surrounding the boy was my fault.

"Out," the physician ordered imperiously. "I can’t examine him in the midst of bedlam."

I bent to whisper, "You’re doing great" in the kid’s ear before releasing his hand and moving away from the bed.

Katie crossed her arms over her chest and shook her head. "Nuh-uh. I’m not leaving him."

"We have to let the nice doctor do his job," I argued logically.

She fixed the man with a hard look. "He’s not nice."

The grown man blinked his shock at the insult.

The mob boss chuckled.

I picked her up and carried her out of the room despite her protests.

We were almost run over by a stampede of nurses rushing to get to the doctor’s side. If Delveccio’s goon hadn’t grabbed my elbow, I might have lost my balance and dropped Katie.

"You okay?" he grunted as we pressed our backs to the wall, waiting for the horde of scrubs and stethoscopes to pass.

"Yeah, thanks."

The silence that fell in the hallway as a hushed murmuring filled the room we’d just left was awkward.

"Where’s Vinnie?" I asked.

The guy smirked. "He’s a patient here. You wanna bring him flowers or somethin’?"

"What happened to him?"

"Juicer dropped a barbell on himself. Crushed his own throat."

I winced as I imagined the steroid-fueled Vinnie doing just that.

"You left Godzilla in there," Katie interrupted.

"He’ll be okay," I assured her, while thinking that he was
never
going to let me live down forgetting him again.

"What if someone sits on him?" Katie asked.

I shook my head, unable to come up with an answer that would appease her.

The nurses began filing out of the room. I examined their expressions and was pretty sure I spotted hope and joy on some of their faces.