Page 112 of The Hitman and the Psychic

He shook his head. “I’ve got it all set up. I say we go.”

“Look.” She motioned toward Brandon. “If we do it here, the husband can take the fall for all of them. It could be a murder-suicide-love-triangle thing. We just need to get Stone to show up.”

“We’ve waited long enough. We’re leaving.”

“But—”

He got in her face, his voice low and menacing. “I call the shots, or did you forget?”

Her breath hitched. “Fine. But I want to call Stone again.” She glanced at me. “Only this time, Serenity’s leaving him a message that he can’t ignore. If he doesn’t call back after that, we’ll do it your way.”

Chapter 26

Stone

My phone rang, and I sat back on my heels, not sure what to do. It was from Serenity, but I knew it wasn’t her. I clenched my teeth and did my best to keep it together until help came, but with Serenity in danger, it was a hard-fought battle.

After her call to warn me, I’d crossed through her backyard and into the yard behind hers. It was a huge mistake, since I’d run into trouble with a dog. The brute didn’t like me in his yard, and I’d had to run like hell to get away. He’d even managed to jump over the fence to chase me. By the time I got away, I’d run several blocks and had finally climbed into a tree-house. Of course, the dog was still there, so I couldn’t climb down.

At least the cameras in her house were up and running, so I knew what was going on. I’d barely managed to get the one in the kitchen set up before she’d called to warn me. I’dbeen too busy saving my ass to call her back, but that didn’t explain why she’d gone home.

I only knew she was there because of the cameras. Dammit. Where was my luck when I needed it? One missed phone call was all it took to screw up everything.

Then Brandon showed up with a gun. At first, I thought he meant to help Serenity, but when he lunged at her, I knew she was his target, and red-hot rage still pounded in my veins. It was all I could do not to rush in there and beat him to a bloody pulp.

Too bad I didn’t have audio along with the camera feed. I could tell they were working out a way to lure me in, and I worried that it would involve explosives. I could handle most anything, as long as they didn’t make Serenity wear an explosive vest. I wouldn’t put it past Johnny, which meant that I needed to get her out of there before they even thought about it.

A car pulled up in front of the house, and I let out a breath. I’d warned Ricky about the dog, and he had a nice juicy steak to lure the dog away. With the steak in his mouth, the dog happily trotted off, and I climbed down from my perch.

I slid inside the car, thanking Ricky for getting there so fast. Slater sat in the passenger seat and told me they’d brought guns, bullet-proof vests, and flash grenades, everything I’d asked for. Now we could get down to business.

“Where’s the house?” Ricky asked.

“Not far. A couple blocks. I have a visual of the kitchen where they’re holding Serenity and her ex.”

“Her ex?”

“Yeah. I guess he showed up to kill her.”

“What? That’s messed up.”

“Yeah, and I don’t even know why he wants her dead, so I’d like to keep him alive if possible.” I shook my head. It would be nice to kill him myself, but I didn’t think Serenity would approve unless it was self-defense. But I could totally make that happen.

Ricky motioned to the bag at my feet. “Put the vest on while we figure this out. There’s an extra gun in there. I guess you lost yours.”

I slipped off my shirt and pulled the vest around me, tightening the straps before tugging my shirt back on.

“Maybe Slater and I could draw them out while you go in and free Serenity.”

I picked up the gun and loaded it. “No. Johnny’s too smart for that. The only thing I can come up with, is surrendering like they want, and then you guys breaking us out.”

“I don’t like it.” Slater held out his hand for my phone. “Let me see what we’re dealing with.”

I passed the phone over, showing him the video feed. He studied all the angles, including the camera on the front porch. “The garage door is open. That’s a plus. Is there a door from the back?”

“There’s a patio door just outside the kitchen, right there.” I pointed to the area. “You can barely see it. Unfortunately, they’d see us coming. I think going through the front door or a bedroom window might be our best options.”

“Wait. Something’s happening.” Slater held the phone so I could see it. Aubree stepped to Serenity and held a phone to her face. My phone began to ring, but I let it go to voice mail. Serenity began to speak, but Aubree jerked the phone away and slapped Serenity across the face.

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