Page 114 of The Hitman and the Psychic

“Oh… she’ll be alive.”

I heard rustling before Johnny came on the line, his voice low and menacing. “But first you have to come out and play. For old time’s sake.”

“Give me that!” Aubree took the phone, and I held my breath, hearing a muffled argument between her and Johnny. Finally, she came back on the line.

“I’ll text you the address. Be there in one hour, or she’s dead.” The phone disconnected, and a text came through with an address I wasn’t familiar with.

“Are they leaving?”

“Yes. We’re too late to stop them now, but she sent me the address.” I shook my head. “I think we can beat them to it.”

“Nice. Let’s roll.”

My stomach knotted. This was too easy. “Wait a sec. Johnny’s sent me into too many traps to believe this isn’t one of them. He doesn’t know how close we are, so we might be better off if we follow them.”

“Okay. Your call.” Ricky shook his head. “I just hope you’re right.”

“So do I.”

Chapter 27

Serenity

Aubree forced me into the back seat of her car, so I was sitting beside Brandon. For the first time, he seemed to realize this was serious, and he might not make it out alive.

“What the hell are you into?” he hissed.

“I told you to leave.” I arched my brow at him. “Were you really going to kill me?”

He shook his head. “I should have just waited and let them do it.”

I sniffed. “Yeah… right. You’re just having a bad day, all the way around.”

“Shut up.”

Not about to do that, I continued. “But why kill me? That makes no sense. You’d get nothing.”

“You’re wrong about that. I took out a hefty life-insurance policy when we got married.Once you’re dead, I’ll be set for life. But it has to be sickness, murder, or an accident. And the accidents don’t seem to work.”

“Oh, so you were going to make it look like murder?”

Aubree and Johnny got into the car, and Brandon clamped his lips together. Johnny drove, and Aubree glanced back at us. “Having a little spat, are we?”

“I want her dead,” Brandon began. “Like I said, we’re on the same side. I don’t care how you do it, just let me go, and I won’t breathe a word of this to anyone.”

“We’ll see.” Aubree faced forward again. “If you cooperate, we might let you go.”

“I’ll do whatever you want.”

She glanced over her shoulder, and a satisfied smile twisted her lips. “That’s just what I wanted to hear. I think we can work something out.”

Brandon let out a breath. “Thank God.”

I shook my head. Didn’t he see how ridiculous this was? What an idiot. “What happened to you? A life-insurance policy? That’s what this is all about?”

“Of course not. But you changed into this… this… freak.”

Aubree glanced my way, then at Brandon. “What are you talking about?”

---