Page 18 of The Hitman and the Psychic

A surge of frustration pulsed through me, and I opened my mouth to argue, but snapped it shut before I said anything. To be fair to him, the evidence wasn’t on my side, and, aside from seeing Stone’s near miss on his bike, nothing else had panned out. So where did that leave me?

Stone glanced sideways at me. “Let’s be realistic, Serenity. I don’t think this is going to work out.” My gaze jumped to his, but he glanced away, his lips thinning. “I’m sure it’s not your fault, but I don’t want to waste time with this. How about we make a deal? Since Vanetti’s convinced that I need your help, you can act the part while I figure this outon my own.

“You can stay in my apartment, or my office, and do whatever you want. Once I know who it is, you can collect your money, and we’ll go our separate ways. Sound good?”

My breath caught. Did he really think I was that useless? “No. That does not sound good. I can’t believe you’d even suggest it. Vanetti trusts me, and even if you don’t, it doesn’t mean I can’t figure it out.”

“Sure, but finding a missing letter is a lot easier than tracking down a murderer. Touching things isn’t getting us very far. In fact.” He finally faced me. “Concentrating on that is probably taking us away from making real progress. Face it, I can do this a lot easier on my own.”

Anger burned through my chest. “No way. I made a deal with Vanetti, and I’m earning every bit of that money. If that means I’m sticking by your side every minute of the day, then you’ll just have to get used to it.”

“If that’s the way you want it, then fine.” He sneered. “Go ahead and touch all the things you want, but I’m going to focus onactualdetective work.”

I shook my head and glared at him. Jerk. “Oh, so you get to do your job, but I don’t get to do mine? How the hell am I supposed to help you if you won’t let me?”

His lips twisted. “That’s not really my problem. I can see that you’re trying really hard, and that’s great, but I don’t see the point in continuing to do something that’s not working.”

“Not working? We’ve barely begun. It’s been what? Two hours? And now you’re giving up? I didn’t think you were such a quitter.”

His eyes narrowed. “You don’t know me, lady. I’m perfectly capable of handling this on my own. I don’t know what the hell Vanetti was thinking, but I don’t need your help. If anything, you’re a distraction, and it’s making this—” He cut off, rubbing the back of his neck.

“A distraction? What’s that supposed to mean? I’m just as dedicated to finding this guy as you are.”

He stepped closer to me, and his nostrils flared. “I work better alone.” Pausing, his gaze raked over me, and my heart sped up. His voice rumbled. “You’re just too damn—”

The doors slid open, and we glanced up to find Vanetti standing there. Stone stepped away from me, and I straightened, automatically putting a pleasant smile on my face. “Hey there.”

Vanetti’s brows rose. “You two getting along, okay?”

“Of course. Going down?”

“I was, but since you’re both here, I need to talk to you first. Let’s go to my office.”

Stone motioned for me to go first, and I followed Vanetti through the reception area and down the hall to his office. What was Stone about to say? I’m too damn… what? I wanted to think it was stupid so I could keep arguing with him, but the way his voice had gone all rumbly… and how he’d looked at me. That’s not the way you look at someone you think is stupid. Unless it is? No, definitely not.

Vanetti sat behind his desk, and we took the chairs in front. Clasping his hands on his desktop, he gazed between us. “So… are you two having any luck?”

“No,” Stone said.

“Yes,” I said.

Vanetti’s brows rose. “So which is it?”

“We didn’t find much at the office where the explosion took place,” I spoke up before Stone could answer. “But we found a lead with Razor and his gang. One of the gang members knows something, but he took off before we could question him.” I shrugged, leaving out the part where I’d messed up. “But I picked up a name at his trailer house, so we’re going to look into that.”

Stone glowered at me, but I ignored him. My job wasn’t his problem? We’d see about that.

“What’s the name?”

“Johnny. Do you know someone with that name who might want to kill Stone?” I raised a brow at Stone. “Because he can’t think of anyone.”

Again, he glared back, but didn’t try to stop me.

Vanetti’s brows rose and he shook his head, so I went on. “Also, tonight we’re supposed to meet with some of the newest gang members, and the bad guy could be one of them. If he is, we’ll wrap it up tonight.”

“Hmm. You think it will be that easy?” Vanetti glanced at Stone for confirmation, but Stone just shrugged, his lips flat.

“Anything is possible.” I shrugged. “But we won’t know until tonight.”

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