Page 46 of The Hitman and the Psychic

Stone glanced my way, narrowing his gaze before turning to Grady. “That reminds me. Is Tank around? Someone’s messing with me, and I’d like to talk to him.”

Grady blew out a breath. “Look… we don’t want any trouble with Vanetti. My guys are sticking to the agreement.”

Stone shook his head. “Even Tank?”

“Especially Tank.”

A shuffling noise came from the back room, followed by the banging of a door. Stone rushed around the counter and into the back. Grady ran after him, and I chased after them both.

I followed Grady out the back door and to the left, where we found Stone holding a man by the throat against the wall. The guy was shorter than Stone, but larger around the middle, so it made sense that he was Tank. In the tussle, Tank’s phone fell out of his pocket, and I cringed to hear it crack.

“Let him go!” Grady ran toward Stone and tried to pull him off Tank.

Grady’s puny efforts didn’t make a difference, but Stone let Tank go anyway. Tank slumped and leaned over, heaving in big gulps of air. Grady patted him on the back. “Why did you run, man? I had it handled.”

Tank couldn’t answer, so while we waited for him to catch his breath, I picked up his phone to see if I could get anything from it. I closed my eyes and concentrated, but nothing happened, and I knew he wasn’t our guy.

Finally, he straightened. “I didn’t do nothing… I just panicked… okay? I didn’t plan anything. It’s not me. Okay?”

Stone raised a brow. “Then who? Who’s behind it?”

“Who’s behind what? I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

“You said it wasn’t you. What did you mean by that?”

He huffed out a big breath. “How the hell do I know? You’re the one who came after me. I figured something must have happened, and that’s why you’re here. I’m just telling you that whatever it is, I didn’t do it.”

Stone closed his eyes before glancing at me with a raised brow. “You have anything to add?”

They all glanced my way, so I sent them a small smile to put them at ease. “Do either of you know how to make a bomb?”

Grady jerked. “What the hell? No way.”

“Hell, no.” Tank’s brows drew together.

I glanced at Stone. “I don’t think it’s them.” I held up the phone and handed it back to Tank. “You dropped this.”

“Thanks.” He took it, glancing between Stone and me.

Stone heaved a sigh. “Fine.” He shook his head and stared daggers at both of the men. “But if either of you get in my way, it’ll be the last thing you ever do.”

“You got it,” Grady agreed. “Like I said before, we know better. What the hell’s going on, anyway? Why come after us?” Stone turned the full force of his intensity on Grady. He flinched, but held his ground.

“Someone’s targeting me, and I don’t like it. They’re going to pay, so if you know anything about it, now’s the time to speak up, because if you don’t, you’ll pay, too.”

“Shit, man, I don’t know a thing.” He turned to Tank. “You hear anything about this?”

“No. This is the first I’ve heard of it.”

Stone stared them down before giving in. “I believe you. But be sure to let me know if you do hear anything.”

They both nodded, and Stone motioned me back inside. As we all marched in, Grady stopped us at the register. “Wait. Don’t forget your game.”

Stone gave him a menacing stare, but Grady didn’t back down. “You wouldn’t want to let your girl down, right?”

I couldn’t stop the grin that spread across my face. While Stone paid for the game, I ran my fingers over the counter and a few of the other games, but nothing came to me. As far as I could tell, these guys had nothing to do with Stone’s problem.

“Here you go.” Grady handed me the game, and I slipped it into my purse. “Enjoy.”

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