Page 14 of The Hitman and the Psychic

His tone lacked conviction, and I hated disappointing him. Stone strode to the street, and I followed, more discouraged than I liked to admit. For the first time, I began to doubt myself. What if my abilities weren’t enough to figure this out? Stone didn’t seem impressed with me, and now I wondered if I’d over-sold myself.

Stopping at the bike, Stone pulled out his phone. “You’re sure you want to meet theShadow Serpents?”

I almost smirked at his emphasis on their name, but resisted. “Yes. It’s our only real lead.”

His lips twisted, but he gave me a nod. “Then I’ll need to let Razor know that I’m on my way.” He sent a text, and, a few seconds later, his phone chirped. He read it and nodded. “He’s at the shop, so we can talk to him.”

“Great.” I got my helmet on, but still couldn’t figure out the strap. I was going to leave it undone, but Stone noticed and snapped it for me. I thought he muttered something under his breath but I couldn’t make it out. Had he just compared me to a two-year-old? “Did you say something?”

He met my gaze, his eyes wide and innocent. “Me?No. Not at all.” As he turned away, a smile tugged at the corners of his mouth. I chose to ignore it and waited for him to climb onto the bike.

Squashing my frustration, I stepped onto the peg, grabbed his shoulders, and swung my leg over the seat. I started to sit down, got a cramp in my leg, and jerked back up. Could this get any more embarrassing?

His head twisted toward me. “You okay?”

“Uh… yeah… just give me a second.” The painful cramp finally went away, and I slowly sat down. Grateful it didn’t come back, I slipped my arms around him, and he started up the bike.

Not sure where we were going, I relaxed into the seat and let myself enjoy the ride. We ended up driving to the other side of town, and I realized that riding the motorcycle was perfect. It saved me from the awkwardness of making small talk with a guy who, for all intents and purposes, was forced to be with me and hated my guts. Probably.

It reminded me of my ex and his penchant for ruining my life. His stupid accusation that I owed him for mental abuse was bad enough, but now he was dragging his feet and wouldn’t agree to anything. How stupid was that? At least with this job, I’d have enough money to pay my lawyer’s fees.

Stone glanced down at my hand, and I realized I’d grabbed hold of his jacket and was clenching it in my fist. I quickly let go and tried to smooth the jacket out, which left me rubbing his side and stomach. I froze, hoping he wouldn’t get the wrong message.

A few minutes later, we pulled into a run-down auto-repair shop, where we continued around the lot to the back of the building. Stone slowed the bike in front of a double garage-door opening, where two men were tinkering on a car, and pulled to a stop.

They both glanced up at us, and one of them hurried inside the garage. The other guy crossed his arms and leaned against the side of the car. He wore his long hair in dreadlocks, and a black bandanna was tied around his forehead. His sleeveless tee showed off the tattoos that covered the dark skin on his muscled arms.

Stone held out his hand for me, so I did my best to climb off the bike without falling over. He got off right after I did and pulled his helmet off. After setting it down on the seat, he stepped toward the muscled man. “Hey, Joint, Razor tell you I was coming?”

“Yeah. He’ll be ready in a minute.” Joint glanced my way and his lips twisted. “Look like your woman needs somehelp.”

Stone glanced over his shoulder to find me struggling with my stupid strap. I’d tried everything to get it unsnapped, but nothing worked. I’d just about given up when Joint nodded at me. Had he just called me Stone’s woman? Heat flooded my cheeks. Maybe I should just leave the helmet on.

Stone pursed his lips and stepped my way, tugging on the strap and popping it open. I managed to pull the helmet off, but my hair flopped forward into my face, and I had to shove it back. Damn. This could get worse.

Wanting to be careful about what I touched in this dirty place, I pulled my leather gloves from my purse and put them on. I glanced up and found Stone watching me, a frown on his face. “What?”

“Nothing.” He shook his head. “But it seems like you’re not doing your job with those on.”

“I don’t want to pick up every little thing, so I have to protect myself.”

Stone shrugged. “Whatever.” He turned back to Joint. “So… how’s business these days?”

“We keepin’ busy.”

“Good to hear.”

The man who’d run off came back out, stopping beside us. “Razor says to come to his office.”

Stone nodded, but his shoulders tensed. He glanced my way, looking at my hands, and spoke under his breath. “Maybe you’d better wait here.”

My brows rose. I wasn’t about to let him go in there without me. I had a contract to uphold. “I’m sticking with you. Remember? Twenty-four seven? I can take these off anytime, you know.”

Stone’s mouth twisted, but he didn’t argue, so I followed him inside. The garage smelled of oil and grease, and we passed a couple of cars that were on lifts, with men working on them.

Continuing down a hall, Joint led us to a large office, where a man wearing a black tee with several holes in it sat behind a desk. His long, dark hair was tied back and a bushy beard covered his lower face. He held a rag in his hands, and wiped off his dirty fingers.

With our arrival, he motioned toward the chairs in front of his desk. “Hey, Stone. Good to see you in one piece.” He looked my way before glancing back to Stone. “What can I do for you?”

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