9 The Hitwoman's Downward Dog (13 page)

And it worked. I answered his kiss, needing to forgive him in order to feel as safe and special as only he could make me feel. The world heated and spun faster as I was caught up in the vortex sensation. It wasn't just enough to feel his lips; I needed to feel all of him. I pulled him closer.

"Sensitive skin!" God shrieked.

His squeaking caused Patrick to jump away.

I swayed unsteadily on my feet and the redhead offered a supportive hand on my elbow. When I could focus on something other than the sensations swirling within me, I watched as Patrick wiped his mouth with his hand and raked his fingers through his hair.

His cheeks, tinged pink, indicated that he'd been just as affected as I'd been. "Probably not the best idea," he murmured apologetically.

I nodded with his logic, unsure if I could voice anything other than a moan of frustration.

"Any luck finding out where Armani is?" His voice sounded stilted as he tried to put the conversation back on a professional track.

I thought about Wild Dog. I thought about Ike Medd's yoga magazine. I thought about Delveccio telling me the O'Haras were in the Poconos. But I didn't tell the man who'd just kissed me any of that. I just shook my head.

"I'll call you when I find something," he pledged.

I nodded.

"I should go." He watched me carefully as though he expected me to argue.

"I understand."

"We'll work this out, Mags," he promised.

I was saved from having to respond by the sound of footsteps approaching.

He cleared his throat and using his most official police voice said, "Thank you for your help, Ms. Lee."

"Hey, Red," my sister Marlene said as she entered the dining room.

"Hi, Jewel." Patrick screwed his eyes shut, flustered by his slip of the tongue. He shook his head guiltily. "Sorry. Marlene. Old habits..."

She airily waved off his apology. "To me you'll always be Red, and to you I'll always be Jewel."

I did my best to ignore the stabbing jealousy that shot through me. My sister and Patrick had known each other during the years when she'd been missing from the family and had lived as a prostitute. I wasn't sure how well they "knew" each other, but there were days when their unknown history ate at me. This was one of those times.

"Susan said you were here," Marlene continued, unaware of my tension. "I wanted to say hi."

Patrick offered her an encouraging smile. "How are things going now that you've given up the old life?"

"Good. Real good. You were right. I'm glad I listened to you."

My ears perked up. What was he right about? What had he told her?

Patrick nodded his approval. "I'm glad. I've got to go now. Working a case." He turned his attention to me. "If you think of anything else, you'll let me know?"

I nodded.

With that, he walked out.

Marlene watched me curiously. "What was that all about?"

"What do you mean?"

Marlene smirked. "What's going on between the two of you?"

"Nothing," I said too quickly.

She raised her eyebrows in disbelief.

I sank into my chair and picked up my coffee cup, using the same stalling technique I'd tried earlier. Had she seen Patrick and I kissing?

"C'mon," she pestered. "I saw the way he was looking at you." She rested a butt cheek on the table, something that would cause Aunt Susan to have a fit, but I didn't correct her. I was trying not to choke on my coffee, which suddenly tasted bitter as I realized she'd guessed our secret. My stomach did a sickening flip-flop and I almost dropped my cup.

"He looked at you like you're his prime suspect."

It took me a second to process what she'd said. She didn't know our secret. She thought Patrick was suspicious of me. She was right.

"Armani knows a victim of a case he's working," I explained, trying to put my cup down without letting it clatter, my hand shaking with relief.

"And he thinks you're looking for Armani?"

I nodded.

"Are you?"

I didn't answer her. Plausible deniability would protect her if things went south.

Apparently she didn't care all that much about what I was doing because she changed the subject. "I wanted to tell you the news."

"News?" I looked at her with what I hoped passed for interest.

"I'm meeting Doc's brother tonight."

"That's nice," I replied wanly. I had bigger issues to worry about than her love life.

"You think that's a bad idea?"

"Of course not." I liked her new boyfriend.

"You said, 'That's nice,'" she accused. "That's almost as bad as saying 'it's okay' when things aren't."

"I'm sorry," I told her, getting to my feet. "I was just distracted. I like Doc. I hope the meeting with his brother goes well."

"Me too." She chewed her lower lip nervously.

"What’s wrong?" I asked, resigned to the fact that I wouldn't escape her until she got the chance to tell me what was bothering her.

"What if..." She looked around the room, her eyes refusing to meet mine. "What if Doc told him what I used to do and he doesn't approve? Maybe I should just cancel..."

"Did he?"

"What?"

"Did he tell his brother about your... earlier life choices?"

"I don't know."

"Why don't you ask him?" I suggested. "Maybe you're getting yourself worked up over nothing."

"Maybe," she agreed, even though she clearly didn't think that was a possibility.

"Ask him," I ordered firmly. "Then decide what you want to do."

She nodded slowly as though the suggestion had never occurred to her. "Will you be here so I can talk it over with you?"

I winced internally, wishing I could stick around to help my little sister, but I knew I couldn't. Not with Armani in the clutches of the O'Hara family. I shook my head. "Sorry. Have stuff to do."

"Oh. Okay. I understand." Her disappointment felt like a million pinpricks to my hurt.

"Unless you can call him now," I offered desperately. "I should be here for another ten minutes or so."

"Great." She flashed me a smile like I'd just told her she'd won the lottery. "I'll call him right now and then find you."

I nodded my approval and she was gone in a flash.

I poured myself another cup of coffee, needing all the help I could get to face the day.

"If you ever decide to run away from it all," God suggested dryly from his hiding spot in my bra, "you should join the circus. You're a hell of a juggler."

I wasn't sure if that was meant as a compliment or an insult.

"You've got a tremendous amount of balls in the air," he continued. "It's only a matter of time until you drop one."

"I know," I confessed sadly.

"And if that happens...."

"Everything could unravel," I finished. "Of course if things continue the way they are, I might unravel," I joked weakly. "Maybe Mom will end up with a roommate."

The lizard didn't laugh. Then again, the "joke" wasn't funny.

Piss was napping on the sofa when I returned to the basement to gather my supplies for my trip to the Poconos. DeeDee was pacing nervously.

"Patrick no come me see," she whined softly.

"He couldn't, sweetheart," I told her gently.

"She's just complaining because he didn't bring her a treat," God opined with a superior drawl.

"Up shut," DeeDee growled. "I Patrick love."

"So does Maggie," Piss mewled, stretching sleepily.

"Maggie, Patrick love?" DeeDee yipped hopefully.

I shot the cat a dirty look for getting the dog's hopes up. She stared back at me with her one good eye, flicking her tail, silently challenging me to dispute the veracity of her claim.

I couldn't, so I instead busied myself gathering what I needed for the rescue attempt. Grabbing a plastic garbage bag, I stuffed it with spare sneakers, yoga pants, a T-shirt, and a six-pack of fancy bottled water that was supposed to be healthier than regular water, but that actually sort of tasted like orange-flavored powder. Then I grabbed a box of snack mix and poured it into a bowl so I could pull all the nuts out and leave all the good stuff behind.

"What do you think you're doing, Sugar?" the cat asked curiously.

"Making trail mix." I grabbed a bag of chocolate-covered raisins and shook a few in with the nuts.

"Why?" DeeDee asked.

I couldn't answer her right away because I'd poured the rest of the chocolate-covered raisins directly into my mouth.

"She's going undercover," God proclaimed, hauling himself up my bra strap so that he could perch on my shoulder.

"Where?" DeeDee barked.

"At a supposed yoga retreat," the lizard declared.

After chewing and swallowing, I asked the little guy, "How do you know that's what I'm doing?"

"Delveccio's Wild Dog." God poked my cheek to make sure he had my attention. "Do you think it was a sign?"

"A sign? Since when is Maggie superstitious?" Piss hissed.

I didn't answer. I'd never considered myself a superstitious person before. Then again I'd never had the ability to talk to animals or had a semi-psychic friend, so I wasn’t going to dismiss the possibility.

"Are you going to bring the rabbit's foot and horseshoe?" the lizard wanted to know. The talismans had been given by Armani a while before. I'd doubted their effectiveness until I used the third good luck charm she'd bestowed on me, a shark's tooth to save my life.

"Lost them when the apartment blew up," I reminded him.

"Too bad."

"What is she supposed to do with a rabbit’s foot and horseshoe anyway?" Piss wanted to know.

"Can you two cut it out?"

"DeeDee go can undercover?" The dog panted hopefully.

"I don’t think so," I replied softly.

She tilted her head and raised her ears. "Alone, Maggie, all?"

"Of course not, you grammatically-challenged nincompoop. She’ll have me with her," God declared.

"Oh yeah," Piss drawled. "Big help the two-inch reptile’s going to be."

"Me take," DeeDee demanded, pawing at the back of my leg. "Me take."

"And what are
you
going to do?" the cat demanded.

"I liked you better when you were hooked on painkillers," I muttered, lifting my finger to my lips to signal her to be quiet. "Stop upsetting the dog."

"Me Maggie protect!" the Doberman barked.

Before I could correct her, there was a sharp rap on the basement door before it flew open and Marlene barreled down the stairs.

"Guess what?"

I searched her happy face for a moment before venturing, "He didn’t tell his brother?"

"He didn’t tell his brother."

Her smile wavered.

"What?" I asked tiredly, not having the mental or emotional reserves to find the solutions to any more of her problems.

"The lizard’s on your shoulder."

I shrugged. "I know."

Marlene shook her head. "Sometimes I think you’re getting more like Mom every day."

I winced. That was
not
a compliment.

"I didn’t mean it like that," Marlene hurried to explain.

"It’s okay." I meant it. I was getting crazier by the day.

"I just meant that you’re becoming more nurturing."

I stared at her.

"Really. The way you take care of Katie. The way you take care of your pets. The way you’ve taken care of me. It’s like you’re becoming Mom during one of her best times."

I blinked, too stunned to speak.

Marlene moved closer. "We’re all lucky to have you, Maggie," she whispered, tears welling in her eyes.

An answering lump rose in my throat, making it impossible for me to respond.

"Thanks for your help." Marlene kissed my cheek, just like she used to when she was five, and ran up the basement stairs even faster than she’d run down them.

The door clicked closed behind her and I stood frozen.

"She’s right, Sugar," Piss purred, jumping off the couch to wind her body between my legs. "It’s why we’re so worried about this rescue plan of yours."

After a lot of discussion, it was decided that both God and DeeDee would accompany me to the Poconos, and if we hadn’t returned by morning, Piss would raise an unholy racket to bring the fact I was missing to my aunts’ attention.

With God on my shoulder, I studied every page of the yoga magazine I’d found at Ike Medd’s place, trying to determine where the O’Hara gang was hiding out. We found the answer in the classified ads at the back of the publication.

The Wild Dog Retreat offers a unique setting for your yoga practice.
Oh
you’ll be
Lucky
to get a reservation.

Unlike the rest of the ads, there was no website mentioned, just an address.

"Wow," I murmured, reading the ad for a third time. "Armani was right on the nose this time, both with Wild Dog and Lucky Oh."

"Perhaps, since she’s honoring her gift, her abilities are getting stronger," God suggested mildly.

"You really believe she has a gift?"

"Do you really believe you talk to animals?"

Since there was no reason to answer that question, I left the magazine on the sofa and got to my feet. "Ready to do this?"

"I feel like we should all form a circle, put our paws together and chant 'Dominate!' or something," Piss suggested.

I couldn't tell from her tone whether or not she was kidding.

"We'll be back," I promised her.

Her whiskers twitched. "Makes no never mind to me, Sugar. After all I'm just a stray. I can make do all on my own just fine."

Without asking her permission, I scooped her up. "Don't you say that." I hugged her to my chest, half-expecting her to protest with a swipe of her claws. "You're part of this family."

"Family!" DeeDee barked in agreement.

Even God reached down from his spot on my shoulder to tentatively pat the tip of the cat's nose. "Don't you dare think of leaving us."

"I didn't know you cared, scaly," the cat rumbled sarcastically, but I could hear the note of appreciation lurking at the back of her tone.