Page 31 of Dark Reasons

I look past her ear at Jenny approaching with our drinks. Selena is glowering at me, but when I say, "Relax a moment," she sits back in the booth and breathes.

"Here you go," Jenny chirps, setting down my coffee then Selena's OJ. "Ready to order?"

"Not yet," I say with a gentle smile. "One more minute."

She waves her hand understandingly as she wanders away to check on the man in the other corner. Before she gets far, she gasps. "Oh, wow, that's awful!"

The television on the wall is playing without sound, but the subtitles are on. A man with umber skin and white hair is gesturing at a hotel as he talks."Body found at Red Roof Inn called a homicide. Police say the victim was Sanford Grecko, a 25 year old local who was working at the convention the same day he was believed to be killed..."

Selena makes a small noise; she's looking at the screen with me. "See how messy this can get?" I say to her quietly. "The man you're looking for is tied to a murder investigation that you're already tangled up in. Come to your senses and let me handle everything while you hide somewhere safe."

"No," she says quickly.

I narrow my eyes on Selena again. "I'm doing you a huge favor by giving you a chance to keep your hands from getting dirty. Once you pay me, there's no chance to amend the agreement."

"That's why we came here before the bank. You didn't take me here to feed me, you're giving me a way to back out. You want me to letyoukill him."

"Exactly."

"Well, too bad. I don't accept your generous offer."

Gripping my coffee, I inhale the hot steam, gathering myself. "You're extremely stubborn."

"Call it a talent."

"You're serious, then."

"Very much so."

I hesitate, then talk slower... quieter. "What if I gave you the opportunity to walk away, promising to never end your life?"

"You're still considering that?" she winces.

"I have to. It's how I protect myself. Think about it, Selena." She looks like she actually is, and I inch forward, encouraged. "You could leave and be free."

Selena turns her nose down when I sayfree. "I'll never be free until the people who hurt Valoria pay for what they did. We're stuck together, and if you don't want me mucking things up, you'll have to teach me how to be a good hit man like you." She holds up her orange juice, and before I can act, she taps it on my mug. "Cheers to our partnership."

I pinch the bridge of my nose with a groan. "We aren't partners."

"Hurry and look at the menu, I'm starving, and when I'm hungry, I'm prone to do dumb stuff like talk too loudly about murder plots."

I send her the most withering glare I can over my coffee mug. The drink burns my tongue, bitter and painful and exactly what I need right now.How can she be so set on this?The TV has moved on to talking about a different homicide. Most of the news in Los Angeles can be summed up as fires or murders.

I read the subtitles, brooding, before making sure Selena is watching me. "You know I mean it," I say seriously. "Walk out, forget the contract, don't look back. You'd be safe from me."

"You trust me not to turn you into the cops?" she asks, the tilt of her lips showing her doubt.

"I didn't say that."

"But you said—"

"I won't hunt you down. But if you betray me, you'll regret it."

"What doesthatmean?" she laughs nervously. "You won't kill me, you'd send someone else to do it?"

My shrug is brief and casual. "It's the best I can offer. You wouldn't see it coming, to be clear. That should be some comfort."

Selena turns sickly pale. "Your best offer is becoming my stalker."

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