The Hitwoman Hunts a Ghost (4 page)

“Oh,” Candace said, examining the leash. “They’re not one piece?”

I rolled my eyes. “You’re
really
not a dog person.”

“My sister is allergic,” she replied defensively.

“So where do you want to start looking?” I asked.

“Bunny!” DeeDee barked excitedly, leaping toward the hapless rabbit who’d crossed out path.

“No!” I screamed, fighting desperately to hang on to the leash
and
stay on my feet.

“Bunny!” DeeDee insisted, pulling harder.

“Stop!” I shouted. “Bad dog!”

The
bad dog
came out more like
bad mmmph
as I fell face-first onto the ground. In a last-ditch attempt to keep my nose from ending up like that of a pro boxer, I let go of the leash to protect my face.

If you’re keeping track, that means I didn’t hang on to the leash
or
stay on my feet.

The terrified rabbit took off with the excited dog following closely behind.

I just lay on the ground for a long moment, trying to catch my breath, grateful I’d landed on grass instead of concrete.

“Are you okay?”

I twisted my head to find Candace in all her pink cuteness, staring at me with a mixture of concern and horror.

“Do you want me to call an ambulance for you?”

Rolling over onto my back, I shook my head. “I’m fine.”

Crouching down beside me, she whispered, “You don’t look fine.”

A painful chuckle escaped me. My ribs felt bruised from the impact, I’d scraped my knees like a little girl, and I was sprawled out in an undignified heap.  Candace was no doubt being kind when she said I didn’t look fine.

“Give me a hand?” I asked, raising my arms like a mummy sitting up in its tomb.

Standing, Candace dropped the leash on the ground, grabbed my hands and said, “On the count of three. One. Two. Three.”

Yanking hard, she pulled me to my feet. She was surprisingly strong for a girl dressed in pink from head to toe.

“Thanks,” I muttered, bending over to brush bits of dirt and grass from my own clothes.

“Are you sure you’re okay?”

Glancing up, I saw concern and a hint of amusement sparkling in her gaze.

“Only my ego is bruised,” I told her. “I must have looked like something straight out of a cartoon.”

Bending to scoop the leash off the ground, she hid her face as she affirmed, “A bit. Yes. But in your defense, the dog really wanted that rabbit. Do you think she’ll eat it?”

I shook my head, staring off in the direction DeeDee had disappeared. “I don’t think she’ll catch it. I’m more concerned that she won’t find her way home.”

“We could look for her if you want.”

The offer, which sounded genuine, surprised me.

“I’ve got a leash.” She dangled it in front of me.

The idea of walking my seventy-five Doberman on the tiny leash made me smile. “You could walk her, if you want the practice.”

Candace shook her head. “Our target weighs ten pounds. Your beast is a monster.”

“Don’t let her hear you call her that.” I started to walk in the direction the Doberman had disappeared.

Ms. Pink Gingham fell into step beside me.

“Does our target have a name?”

“Ghost. That’s a weird name for a dog, don’t you think?”

I shrugged. DeeDee’s real name is Doomsday, so to me Ghost doesn’t seem all that odd.

Then again I talk to animals and kill people for money….so perhaps my view of the world is a bit skewed.

Candace and I didn’t find DeeDee, but we came up with a plan to track down Ghost. First thing in the morning, we’d meet up at the spot he’d last been spotted and then head out from there.

When I got home, DeeDee was engaged in a game of fetch with Aunt Susan.

“Maggie!” she barked excitedly as though the last place she ever expected to see me was where I live.

“Bad dog,” I scolded half-heartedly.

She hung her head. “Sorry,” she whined softly.

“What happened?” Aunt Susan asked.

“She saw a rabbit and took off.”

Picking up the ball Susan had thrown to her, DeeDee, not quite making eye contact, trotted over and dropped it at my feet like it was the equivalent of a sacrificial lamb.

Unable to stay angry with her when she looked so forlorn, I threw the ball for her. She bounded after it as though she’d been offered a reprieve from an angry god.

“Thank you,” Aunt Susan said, watching the progress of the dog intently.

“For letting the dog off the hook?” I asked, confused.

“For talking to Marlene. She was less surly when she came down to get a glass of milk… and she didn’t drink from the bottle. I’m sure that’s your influence.”

Swallowing a smile, I nodded. “This is hard for her too.”

“I know.” Susan took the saliva-covered ball DeeDee offered her and threw it across the yard, before wiping her palm on her pant leg.  “Have you given any more thought to Bob’s sister’s offer?”

I stared at her blankly.

“Bob’s sister. The one who offered you a job.”

“In real estate,” I said hurriedly, not wanting her to think that I’d totally forgotten the proposition her boyfriend’s sister had floated. “I keep meaning to give her a call.” That of course was a lie, what with the whole already having a job, and a side job as a sometime career as a paid assassin, and now, thanks to Ms. Whitehat’s shadowy organization, I was going to add dog catcher to my resume.

“You should call her,” Susan suggested gently. “Katie’s doing better every day and it’s only a matter of time until the doctors say she can go home. I’d imagine that the real estate schedule would be more conducive to you being a parent.”

I stared at her, horrified. I didn’t know the first thing about raising a kid. I couldn’t even walk my dog without losing her. I wanted to scream, “I’m not a parent.”

As though she could read my thoughts, Susan assured me. “You won’t be alone in this, Margaret. Chin up.”

Nodding dumbly, I stumbled toward the house. DeeDee abandoned her game to trot behind me like a well-trained dog. She sneezed.

I glanced back at her. “You really are sick, aren’t you?”

“Cold,” she sniffed.

“Hey, Sugar,” Piss purred, appearing out of nowhere to weave between my legs. “Looks like you’re having a tough time.”

Bending to scratch the spot behind the cat’s good ear, I whispered, “You have no idea.”

“Sorry DeeDee,” the dog panted.

“It’s not you,” I told the dog.

Reassured, her ears, which had been flat against her head, sprang up, signaling her usually joyful personality.

“If you walk in there without something for His Royal Highness, King Pain in the Rear, to sleep in, you’ll never hear the end of it,” Piss warned.

“Oh,” I said. A surge of relief that at least I’d done something right lightened my mood.

I grabbed the glass enclosure I’d picked up for God at the pet store, stuffed it in an oversized Insuring the Future tote bag the company handed out at every quarterly event, and headed inside with some bounce to my step.

Aunt Susan, who was still in the yard, pulling weeds that no one else would see, shouted, “Dinner in fifteen minutes. See if you can coax your sister to join us. I made orange pork chops.”

“I’ll try.” I hurried into the B&B and practically skipped down the stairs to the basement.  “Guess what I got you,” I called as the dog, pushed past me, beating me to the bottom. “You’ve got somewhere to sleep tonight.”

“That sounds intriguing,” a male voice murmured suggestively.

Startled, I almost dropped the tote bag as my heartbeat spluttered.

I probably would have screamed if DeeDee hadn’t barked, “Patrick!”

“You shouldn’t do that,” I told the handsome hitman/cop leaning in a corner, arms crossed his chest.

“Shouldn’t look for a place to sleep?”

“Save me,” God drawled in his most superior tone from whatever corner he was lurking in. “They’re back to the witty banter phase.”

The way the lizard said it made me think he didn’t think we were the slightest bit witty.

“Patrick!” DeeDee woofed, charging the redhead.

“Sit!” Patrick ordered in a voice that was barely more than a whisper, but in a tone that had the dog plopping her butt down posthaste.

“Trouble in?” DeeDee panted worriedly, cocking her head to the side to look at the man who usually came bearing food treats.

“You’re a good girl,” Patrick assured, stepping forward to rub the spot between her eyes. “I just can’t get dog hair on me.”

It was then that I realized he was wearing black pants, a crisp white dress shirt, and an emerald tie that did amazing things for his eyes.

“What’s the occasion?” I asked.

“I’m being honored as a hero cop.” He didn’t sound happy about it. “I get to have a rubber chicken dinner, shake some hands, get my picture taken, and have my face plastered all over the papers again.”

Not sure how to respond, I said weakly. “I’m sorry?”

“Thanks.” He shook his head. “I never appreciated that old saying, ‘No good deed goes unpunished’ until this fiasco. Being so recognizable is making my extra-curricular activities more challenging.”

“I actually don’t know what the good deed was,” I admitted. The first time we’d met, Armani had recognized him as the
hero cop,
but I’d had no idea who he was.

A bemused smile tugged at the corners of his lips. “I thought everyone knew.”

“I’m sort of missing a block of time around the accident.” After the car accident that killed my sister Teresa and her husband, left Katie in a coma, and resulted in my being able to talk to animals, I’d sort of lost track of the world around me for a bit.

Sympathy softened Patrick’s gaze. Sitting down on the couch, he patted the seat beside him, an invitation I was only too happy to accept.

I put the bag with the glass container down on the table and plopped down next to him. DeeDee quickly lay at our feet.

He’d recently shaved and I caught a whiff of his aftershave, something clean with a note of citrus.

He leaned into me, pressing his shoulder to mine. He felt warm and solid, and for the first time that day, I relaxed.

“Once upon a time, in a land far, far away,” he began.

“There lived a fair maiden?” I supplied helpfully.

He shook his head.

“A handsome red-headed knight on a great quest?”

“Much better.” He pressed a quick kiss to my forehead, signaling his approval. “There lived a monstrous scumbucket.”

“Oh no!” I gasped dramatically, covering my tender heart with my hand. “This is a very scary story.”

Playing along, Patrick wrapped an arm around my shoulders and pulled me closer to him.

“I’m in desperate need a barf bag,” God muttered.

Ignoring the lizard and resting my head against Patrick’s chest, I listened to the steady, reassuring beat of his heart while he continued his story.

“So the knight was dispatched—”

“Handsome knight.”

“The handsome knight was dispatched to deal with the monster. He hunted his prey carefully, knowing he’d only get one chance to slay it, but then, just when he was about to dispatch the creature, these idiot townspeople needed saving. So being a knight and all, he was forced to leap to their defense. He still could have slayed the monster, but that’s when this nosy reporter captured his heroic deeds and shared them with all the land to see.   And that’s how I became a
hero cop
.” His tone was so bitter, I flinched.

I wanted to ask him what he’d done to save the townspeople, but gauging his sour mood, I thought better of it. “But you did a good thing, the right thing,” I reminded him.

“And I’ve paid for it ever since.” He fell silent.

Not knowing what to say to make him feel better, I stayed quiet too for a long moment. Finally I said, “Delveccio is trying to get in touch with you.”

“I know.”

“Are you avoiding him?”

“For the moment.” Standing, he offered a hand to pull me to my feet with an effortless tug, moving us so that we didn’t disturb the resting dog.

Worried that perhaps he thought Delveccio was after him, I pulled away so that I could look him in the eye.

“Are you hiding from him?”

He chuckled softly, cupped my cheek with his hand, and covered my mouth with his, effectively ending the conversation. His kiss started softly, teasingly, setting off bursts of pleasure that radiated through my entire body.

I leaned closer, wanting more. He obliged, increasing the pressure, before meeting my tongue with his.

Not wanting the kiss to end, I cradled his face in my hands, delighting in all he offered. But soon his mouth wasn’t enough and my fingers traced down the column of his throat and across his shoulders before skimming down the fabric that cotton that covered his ribcage.

I would have explored lower, but pressing his palm to small of my back, he crushed me against him.

And still it wasn’t close enough.

I looped my arms around his neck, desperate to fuse our bodies together.

Dragging his mouth from mine, he nipped his way up my jawline, sending tendrils of pleasure through my entire body. Pausing to nip my earlobe, his breath, hot and wet, tickled my ear and made my knees go weak.

Gasping my pleasure, I leaned into him for support. A primitive thrill shot through me as I felt his evident desire for me.

“Mags,” he muttered thickly, his voice strained.

“More,” I murmured, trying to pull his shirt from his waistband so I could touch his flesh that was so close and yet unobtainable.

“Mags,” he groaned, grabbing my hands and pinning them behind my back. “Now isn’t the time.”

“It’s never the right time,” I protested, shifting my hips to entice him to change his mind.

“I’ve got to go.”

“Stay.”

“I’ve got this stupid dinner thing.”

“Dinner?” DeeDee barked, ruining the mood and any chances I had of convincing him to stay.

I shot her a dirty look as Patrick released my hands and half turned away from me.

“Dinner?” The mutt sniffed the air hungrily.

“Bravo, beast,” God drawled, sarcasm dripping from each syllable. “You got them to stop that disgusting mating ritual.”