Maggie Lee (Book 16): The Hitwoman Plays Chaperone

by Lynn, JB

  “Grandpa isn’t in there,” he said, “but I know the kid will be glad to see you. I’ll let the boss know you’re here.”

  “Thanks.” I walked past him, pasting on a big grin for the room’s occupant. Little Dominic Delveccio had been in a coma longer than Katie, and I never knew what kind of condition he’d be in.

  “Maggie!” Dominic whispered hoarsely when I stepped inside. He threw the book he’d been reading down on the bed and opened his arms wide.

  Hurrying toward him, I gave him the hug he wanted. He squeezed back and my heart swelled at how much stronger he seemed.

  “Did you bring Katie?” he whispered in my ear.

  “Not this time,” I said gently, as I pulled away. “She’s really tired and needed to rest, but I did bring someone else to see you.”

  On cue, God scrambled out of my bra and up onto my shoulder.

  Dominic’s gaze glowed with excitement. “Godzilla.”

  I extended my arm so that the lizard could scamper down and climb onto the bed, right into Dominic’s lap.

  The boy giggled his excitement.

  “Just be gentle with him,” I reminded. “He’s got very sensitive skin.”

  The kid didn’t hear my sarcasm, but I knew the lizard did since he stuck his tongue out at me.

  Chuckling, I turned around to see Gino gesturing for me to exit the room.

  “I’ll be back soon,” I promised God and Dominic.

  Neither seemed to care as I left.

  “Boss offered to buy you some chocolate pudding,” Gino told me.

  “Thanks.” I made my way to the cafeteria, nodding at the familiar faces of the hospital staff who’d taken care of Katie when she’d been there.

  Anthony, or maybe it was Tony, Delveccio (their mother, an Atlantic City showgirl, hadn’t been the brightest light on the boardwalk and had essentially given her identical twin sons the same name) waved at me when I entered the cafeteria. His obscenely large diamond pinky ring glittered beneath the fluorescent lights. As usual, his shirt was unbuttoned halfway to his navel, the fabric stretched like an over-inflated balloon. The closed buttons looked like they could go flying at any moment. I kind of wished I’d worn some protective eyewear.

  He had an empty bowl of chocolate pudding in front of him, and was eating another.

  I guessed that might be contributing to his impending wardrobe malfunction.

  “How’s Katie doing?” he asked as I sat down in the seat opposite him.

  He may be the head of a criminal organization, but at heart, he’s a family guy.

  “She’s happy,” I said slowly.

  The mob boss might come across as a bit of a brute, but he’s actually quite intuitive. “And that’s a bad thing?”

  I shrugged. “I just wish I was the one who’s making her happy.”

  “But you’re not?”

  “It’s my sister, Darlene. She seems to know just what to say or do to make everything better for Katie. It’s like I don’t possess that gene or something. I have to work so hard at the parenting thing and to Darlene it’s second nature.”

  “I’m sure it’s not that bad,” Delveccio soothed.

  “Oh, it is,” I assured him. “Yesterday Katie brought her doll to Darlene.”

  The man across from me look confused.

  “To braid her hair, because the last time I tried to do it, I made her look like she’d stuck the toy in an electrical socket.” I sighed heavily at the memory of the failure.

  Delveccio squirmed in his seat, obviously uncomfortable with the direction of the conversation.

  After all, he didn’t want to hear the pity party of his second-favorite assassin.

  “So basically, Katie’s good,” I replied, self-consciously. “Dominic looks good too.”

  He nodded, relaxing a little. “Getting stronger every day. Docs are almost ready to send him home.”

  “That’s great.”

  “I might need my nephew back when that happens.”

  I winced at the thought of losing Angel, but I nodded my understanding. It only made sense that he’d leave the B&B to help out his family.

  “Your sister’s return must be complicated.” His tone was neutral, bored almost, but something flickered in the back of his eyes, signaling he was more interested than he pretended.

  “It is.” I kept my response brief since I had gotten the feeling he knew more about Darlene’s disappearance than he let on.

  “And I hear you’ve gotten yourself mixed up with the Concords.”

  There was no missing the disapproval in that statement.

  “Inadvertently,” I admitted.

  “You can’t trust them. They’re not stand-up guys.”

  I kept my expression blank despite the fact the advice came from a career criminal. “I’m just watching out for the kid.”

  He nodded. “You do have a thing for protecting kids.” A fond smile lifted the corners of his mouth. “Lucky for me.”

  I smiled back. I’d saved Dominic’s life, back when he was still in a coma, which was how I’d ended up meeting the mobster, and my willingness to do anything to save Katie had fueled our rather unusual relationship. “Is that why you wanted to see me? To warn me about the Concords?”

  He shook his head. “No. I wanted to warn you that I’ve heard that a professional hit has been put out on the boy.”

  I frowned. “I thought kids were off limits.”

  “They should be,” he replied gruffly. “But there’s no honor among scum.”

  “Any idea of who or how many it might be that I should be looking out for?”

  “There’s just one that’s been hired.”

  “That’s a relief,” I said, glad to know I only had to stop one person instead of a team of assassins. “Should make things easier.”

  Delveccio cocked his head to the side. “So you’re not going to leave the Concords to fend for their own?”

  “The kid’s innocent in all of it. Someone’s got to look out for him.”

  Delveccio stirred his remaining pudding, deep in thought. Finally he said, “All I’ve heard is the name: Scorpio.”

  Chapter Fifteen

  After my chat with the mobster, I retrieved God from Dominic’s room.

  “What does Scorpio mean to you?” I asked as soon as we were back in my car.

  “Well,” he replied, his voice slightly muffled as he burrowed deep in my bra, “it’s an astrological sign in the Zodiac. Scorpios are thought to be resourceful, secretive, and they don’t care what others think.”

  “Sounds like the perfect personality for an assassin,” I muttered, “if Delveccio’s right and that’s who’s after Alton Concord.”

  “Trouble with a capital T,” the lizard agreed. “Now what?”

  “I’ve got to go to the library to do some research to see if I can figure out who would want to kill a little boy.”

  “Excellent!” God approved.

  I was kind of surprised that he was so enthusiastic about my plan, but I kept my mouth shut.

  “It’ll be warm and quiet there,” he elaborated. “The perfect place to nap.”

  While he napped, I read up on the Concord family. And I must admit, that like the lizard, I enjoyed the almost silent atmosphere, such a difference from the buzzing chaos of home.

  Most of the articles I found were about their charitable efforts, some concerned their vast fortune, and just a few hinted that some of their business dealings might not be above board. Nothing I read gave me any idea why someone would pay to have the kid killed.

  I’d pretty much finished up my research when someone limped up to me.

  Glancing up, I found Armani staring down at me.

  “It’s getting really creepy that you keep showing up wherever I am,” I told her.

  “I keep getting signs.” She sank into the seat beside me, and rubbed her bad leg.

  The action worried me since I never saw her indicate any kind of pain or weakness despite the physical challen
ges she faced on a daily basis. “Everything okay?”

  She didn’t answer me right away, and my anxiety ratcheted higher.

  When she finally spoke, she chose her words carefully. “I got a strange phone call today.”

  Considering that she claimed to regularly communicate with the other side, I wondered what she considered strange.

  “Your sister wants me to arrange a séance.”

  “A séance?”

  Armani nodded, taking care not to make eye contact with me. “Darlene wants to talk to Teresa.”

  Something in her tone made me suspicious that that wasn’t all Darlene wanted. “Why?” My voice rose with suspicion.

  Other library patrons glanced over disapprovingly.

  Armani shook her head. “That’s not for me to get in the middle of.”

  “What aren’t you telling me?”

  She rubbed her injured hand against her leg.

  “Armani? If you’re my friend, you’ll tell me.”

  She looked at me sharply. “I am your friend, Maggie. I’m also just the messenger, so you can’t shoot me, okay?”

  I nodded tightly, holding my breath, waiting to hear what she had to say.

  Armani inhaled deeply and then blurted out, “She wants to ask Teresa which of you should have custody of Katie.”

  “Oh shit!” God exclaimed loudly from the depths of my bra.

  Everyone in the library turned in the direction of my squeaking chest. I barely registered the attention. I was in shock. Shocked by Armani’s words, shocked that Darlene would even suggest such a thing, and shocked that a tiny part of me was ready to sign up for the séance that very minute.

  “Breathe, chica,” Armani urged, leaning closer, worry straining her voice.

  “She’s right,” God whispered. “It’s not going to do you any good to pass out from a lack of oxygen.”

  Dutifully I sucked in a breath. Then another.

  “I’m really sorry to have upset you.” Armani patted my arm.

  “You surprised me is all,” I choked out.

  “I couldn’t believe she asked me to do that.”

  I nodded. “What did you tell her?”

  “Of course I told her no. I’m not going to use my gift to destroy my friend.” She hugged me tightly to prove her point.

  I considered her proclamation for a long moment. “Maybe you should,” I said quietly.

  Gasping, she released me and leaned away so that she could see my face. “You want me to destroy you?”

  I shook my head. “But maybe we should ask Teresa what she wants. After all, she is Katie’s mother.”

  My friend frowned. “Are you sure?”

  I nodded. “It may not be what’s best for me, but I want what’s best for Katie. No matter what that is and to be honest, the more time I spend watching Darlene and Katie interact, I can understand why Teresa would want them together.”

  Tears welled in Armani’s eyes. “If you’re sure…”

  I nodded.

  “Okay then,” she said with false cheer. “Let’s see what the kid’s mom has to say.” She glanced around, as if noticing for the first time we were in the middle of a library. “What are you doing here?”

  “Trying to figure out what Scorpio means.”

  “It makes no sense to me either,” she said with a dismissive shrug. “Maybe your letter pull was bad.”

  “Maybe,” I replied to soothe her, even though I knew that wasn’t the case.

  “I’ve got some stuff to do,” Armani said. “You’ll be okay here?”

  “Among the scary library patrons?” I joked.

  “The Dewey Decimal System is deadly,” she replied with a wink. Tossing her hair, she stood up and limped away.

  “I’m proud of you,” God whispered once she was out of earshot. “Putting Katie’s interests ahead of your own is admirable.”

  “I’ve always put her interests ahead of my own,” I reminded him. “Otherwise I’d have never become a contract killer. In fact…” I trailed off as a familiar face caught my eye. “What the hell is he doing here?”

  “Who?” the lizard asked.

  “Who is he indeed?” I responded as the man in question walked toward me.

  Chapter Sixteen

  I made no effort to hide my trepidation as the man approached, sat down in the seat opposite me, and offered a lukewarm excuse for a smile.

  “You’re a hard woman to track down, Maggie.”

  “Why would you even be looking for me?” I countered with more bravado than I felt.

  His gaze narrowed slightly. “I thought I should introduce myself.” He extended his hand. “Thaddeus Berkin.”

  I let his hand hang there in midair. “You seem to already know who I am.”

  His expression hardened, deepening the cleft of his chin, as he realized I wasn’t going to shake his hand and he looked like a fool having it dangle between us. “Indeed.” Putting his hand by his side he studied me.

  “And I know you’re the Concords’ business manager,” I said coolly.

  His eyes widened at my knowledge.

  I bit back a triumphant grin, glad that some of my research had proven useful. “I’m curious though, why were you chaperoning Alton’s school trip?”

  “I wasn’t chaperoning it.” Revulsion dripped from his tone as though I’d suggested he’d cleaned out a garbage dump by hand. “I was supervising.”

  “Supervising what?”

  “The security team.”

  “You did a bang up job with that,” I mocked.

  God sniggered.

  A muscle in Berkin’s cheek twitched as he clenched his teeth. “Regardless, that—”

  “Regardless?” I interrupted loudly.

  Every eye in the place glared at me. I was pretty sure that they were going to revoke my library card. Not that I had one, but if I did, I’m pretty sure they would have cut it into tiny bits right in front of me.

  “If I hadn’t been there, the boy would have died,” I reminded him.

  “Regardless,” he repeated. “That has no bearing on why I’m here.”

  “And why is that?” I asked, not liking his superior tone one bit.

  “I understand that Edith made a misguided attempt to convince you to try to protect Alton at the planetarium fundraiser. I’m here to tell you that your presence won’t be required.”

  I rocked back in my chair, crossed my arms over my chest, and met his gaze steadily. “One. Considering what a crappy job you did protecting him, I don’t think she was misguided. Two. She didn’t attempt to convince me, she did. Three. I won’t just try to protect him, I will.”

  “Big promises from a woman whose father is a career criminal,” Berkin taunted.

  I made a point to yawn in his face before saying, “I’m not my father,” while thinking to myself, “I’m way more badass.”

  “Your name has been removed from the guest list of the fundraiser,” Berkin informed me coolly, “so unless you astral project yourself inside, you won’t be a part of this.”

  I pressed my lips together to keep from blurting out, “We’ll see about that.” There was no point in tipping my hand early. He didn’t need to know that Patrick Mulligan was my secret ticket in.

  “I can’t say it’s been a pleasure,” Berkin said as he got to his feet.

  “Me either,” I retorted, watching him leave.

  “That’s my girl,” God whispered proudly. “I’d fist bump you if I wasn’t in hiding.”

  “Please don’t ever do that,” I murmured. “I think I need to do more research on Berkin. There’s something I don’t like about the guy.”

  “You weren’t terribly subtle about that,” God chuckled. “But I’m proud of you.”

  He went back to sleep, while I researched the Concords’ business manager. On paper the guy ticked all the right boxes. He had the right degree. He supported the right charities. He gave great sound bites.

  Yet something told me there was something very wrong
with him.

  Deciding to go back to the B&B to check on Katie, I headed out to my car, when what to my wondering eyes did appear, but a giant pink RV.