Read 9 The Hitwoman's Downward Dog for Free Online

were both in the elevator. "Armani and I work together. What floor?"
    "Whichever you’re going to."
    I pushed the number for Katie’s floor. Remembering that when we’d first met, Jack had claimed to be there to visit a patient, I remarked, "Your friend will be disappointed if you don’t stop in to see him… or her."
    "Mulligan was the friend I was visiting," he answered smoothly.
    Despite the fact I was watching the numbers over the door change, I could feel him studying me as he dropped his bombshell.
    Doing my best to stay calm, I asked, "So what are you doing here?"
    "I already told you. I was looking for you." His quiet words made me glance in his direction. He leaned against the wall, seemingly relaxed, but I could practically feel the intensity coming off him in waves. " I don’t play games."
    I wondered if he’d sensed that there was more to my relationship with Patrick than he’d let on.
    The doors opened on Katie’s floor and I burst into the hallway, glad to escape the intimate space we’d shared. He followed closely behind.
    "I’d like to help you find your friend," he offered.
    "I don’t need your help," I huffed, adding as an afterthought. "I’ve been told not to interfere with their investigation."
    "So there is an investigation?"
    Angry at myself for revealing that information, I spun around and poked him in the chest with a finger. "Don’t do that."
    "Do what?" He caught my hand.
    "Don’t trick me into saying stuff I shouldn’t."
    "I wasn’t trying to trick you." He turned my hand over and stared at my palm. "You’re hurt."
    I yanked my hand free of his grasp. "It’s a scrape."
    "What happened?"
    "I fell."
    "And you didn’t stop to clean it up?"
    "There wasn’t time. I had to get here for an important meeting."
    "With who?" He watched me carefully.
    "With my niece’s doctors," I said matter-of-factly as though I didn’t realize he’d been wondering if my meeting had been with Patrick. "I’m her legal guardian, which means all her medical decisions fall to me."
    "That must be a lot of pressure."
    "I do the best I can." My voice cracked, revealing the stress I was under. Doing my best was what had gotten me into the killer-for-hire business. Sometimes all the decisions I had to make got to me.
    "I’m sure you’re doing great," he murmured sympathetically.
    "There you are," a familiar voice trilled from behind me.
    I closed my eyes, trying to wish her away.
    "No time to dilly-dally. Places to go. People to see," she called.
    I turned slowly to face my Aunt Leslie, who embraced me in a perfunctory hug. There was a time, not long ago, when she was the world’s most mellow pothead. Ever since she’d stopped doing drugs, she’d become a bit of a mini-tyrant.
    "Who are you?" she asked nosily, staring at Jack with unabashed curiosity.
    "Aunt Leslie, this is Jack. Jack, I’d like you meet my Aunt Leslie."
    "A pleasure, ma’am." Jack’s smile and nod were exceedingly polite as though he sensed that Leslie would take issue with anything else.
    Leslie eyed him suspiciously. "Haven’t I seen you before?"
    My gaze ricocheted between the two of them worriedly. Had Jack checked up on me more than I’d realized?
    "Yes, ma’am." This time Jack’s smile was icy. He stared at my aunt, a silent warning glittering in the depths of his dark eyes. "I’ve spent quite a bit of time here in the hospital."
    Leslie shrugged. "That must be it. It’s almost time for the meeting with the doctors, Maggie."
    "That’s why I’m here," I replied coolly, unwilling to let her boss me around.
    "And Mr. Delveccio wants to talk to you."
    I inwardly winced. The last thing I needed the reporter to hear was that the local mobster was looking for me.
    "Delveccio?" Jack asked immediately. "As in the crime family?"
    "His grandson is a patient," I explained quickly, hoping to nip his curiosity in the bud. "He and my niece share a room."
    "He’s really a very nice man," Leslie opined, "despite what the papers say.