Page 5 of Fortune's Favor

“How was she hurt?”he asks. Like I’m not right there in the room and he can’t ask me a direct question.

I ignore him and Jerry groans. “Ugh. She was stabbed, alright.”

Alex rears back and frowns. “Stabbing requires getting closer to your victim than just shooting them would. It sounds like he’s definitely got a personal ax to grind with you. How many people have you pissed off with your fake hocus pocus routine?”

“I don’t tell anybody anything that isn’t the truth. Nothing about me is fake….especially my predictions.”

“I find that hard to believe.”

“Enough!” The captain roars. I jump and then narrow my eyes at him. He shoots me an apologetic smile. More of a grimace really.

“You agreed to this.” He points at the asshole across from me. “You can’t back out now or I swear to god I’m going to toss your ass out of this department and blackball you everywhere on the west coast. And you,” he points at me. “You need more help than I can give you, honey. So you’re gonna cooperate and we’ll have you all taken care of in no time. And then we can spend some time together. I’ve missed you and I don’t want anything to happen to you. I want you safe.”

My heart melts and I fight those damn tears again. Nodding my head, I glare at the guy across the desk.

“Fine,” he snaps.

I don’t know how I feel about being protected by a guy that looks like he’d rather feed me to the lions but if the Chief trusts him, I guess I will too.

I really have no choice at this point. He’s all I’ve got. “Fine,” I mutter.

Chapter Four

ALEX

Why am I doing this again?Oh yeah. Because I want to be a detective.

I walk next to her, alone for the time being. “So can you tell me anything about this guy? You said you were attacked with a knife. He had to be close to you. What did you see or feel?”

Her blond brow lifts and she says, “Pain. I felt pain.”

Groaning under my breath, I mutter, “Yes, yes. But what did yousee?” Irritation fights with the urge to hug her. Which is crazy. I don’t know this woman. I don’t even like her. I mean, she’s claiming something that I know doesn’t exist except for con artists. I should hate her guts. She’s everything I loathe, thanks to my childhood.

My mother believed everything she was told by those people and kept coming back for more. Trying to talk to my dad.

After he died, she spent every damn dime we had going to so-called psychics and fortune tellers for just one minute of talking to him. She couldn’t function without him. I’d like to say she loved him so desperately but I honestly think she just wanted to yell at him for leaving her.

Their marriage was not a little slice of heaven. It was a mess. A constant litany of nagging and fighting that gave me a gooddamn reason to spend as much time as possible away from home. I found more places in this town to hide than anybody I knew.

Until I met the chief when he was investigating one of mom’s“psychic friends network”people.

I push those memories way down. I’ve had enough time to let the memories go. So if I want my career to move forward, then I need to push my innate suspicions way the hell down. And keep from popping off at Gypsy.

Gypsy? What the hell kind of name is Gypsy?

We reach the house that I own that’s very close to where I work. Nodding at it, I sigh, “Well, here we are.”

“Where are we?” She stops on the sidewalk and taps her foot, crossing her arms in front of her chest. Her head tips to the side and her hazel eyes narrow into golden-green laser beams.

“This is my place. Where you’re going to be staying for awhile.”

“Oh hell no! I’m not staying with you.”

Smirking, I say, “How exactly am I supposed to watch you twenty-four seven if you’re not staying with me?”

“I don’t know. But this doesn’t work for me at all. I’m already aware that you don’t like me and I’m supposed to give my safety up to you? But not to even get a break from your smarmy face….? I don’t like it.”

“Too bad, sweetheart. The Chief knows darn well that I’m your best chance at staying alive and finding out who the hell wants you dead. Don’t you trust him?”

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