Page 37 of The Hitman and the Psychic

“That’s a bummer.” I snickered, unable to resist the stupid joke.

She smacked my arm. “That’s not funny.”

“Sorry… it’s not fun to be the butt of a joke.”

Groaning, she held out her hand. “Tylenol. Now.”

“Yes, ma’am.” I opened the cabinet doors over the sink. Rummaging around, I found the bottle and handed it to her.

“Ma’am? Really” She took a couple out, filled a glass with water, and swallowed them down.

“Would you rather I addressed you as sir?”

She rolled her eyes. “No. Thanks for the pills.” She set the glass in the sink and leaned her elbows against the counter. “What’s the plan for tomorrow?”

“It’s nearly two in the morning. Why don’t we start at nine? That would give us a few hours of sleep.”

“Sure.”

She straightened, but I wasn’t ready to let her go. “Hey… do you think Cash was in the trailer when it blew?”

“Yeah… from my vision, I’m pretty sure of it. Plus… there’s something else—”

She lowered her head and wouldn’t look at me.

“What?”

Taking a breath, she glanced up at me, and her mouth twisted. “You’ll never believe this, but I heard a Johnny Cash song when I touched the doorknob.”

“What? No way! Which one?”

She shook her head. “Theburn, burn, burn… that ring of fireone.”

I nearly choked. “Holy hell!”

“Yeah… pretty crazy, huh?”

“Damn. So, I guess they’re connected then.”

“That’s what I’d say.”

“Shit… then I guess talking to Cash about Johnny is a dead end.”

She squeezed her eyes shut, but her lips quirked up. “You’re just full of puns tonight, aren’t you?”

I shrugged, not admitting that last one had been unintentional. “I guess so.” A chuckle burst out of me, and I couldn’t stop laughing. “I’m gonna be singing that song all night, now.”

She chuckled and shook her head as well. “I know… me too!”

We mused together in comfortable silence for a minute before Serenity sighed and met my gaze. “Okay… well, I’m going to bed. I sure hope we can figure this out by tomorrow.”

Really? Was she that ready to get away from me? I raised a brow to hide my disappointment. “Me too. I’m kind of tired of dodging bombs.”

“No kidding.” She rolled her neck to work out the kinks. “It’s got to be someone who wants revenge pretty bad, because they’re going to a lot of trouble to kill you.”Sighing, she moved her hand toward my chest, like she was going to pat me, but caught herself and pulled back. “Uh… goodnight. I’ll see you in the morning.”

My heart twisted, and I shook my head as she limped away as fast as she could. I opened my mouth to ask her if she wanted some company, but her door shut before I could. It was probably for the best.

A woman like her wanted different things than I did. And, since I was a cold hearted bastard, I didn’t want to hurt her. Besides that, nearly getting blown up twice in one day was tiring. Plus… I wanted her to enjoy my company, and she couldn’t do that with a burn on her butt. I grinned before downing a couple of pills, and turned out the lights.

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