The Hitwoman and the Chubby Cherub (2 page)

“Loretta wants Templeton to rearrange her furniture,” I explained, pulling the vacuum cleaner from the closet.

“It sounds like he’s destroying it,” God declared.

I carried the vacuum toward the trash can. “Angel’s helping him, so it won’t last too long.” I stopped short, staring at the spot where the pile of shiny stuff should have been. All I could see were a few stray flecks. “What the--?”

“She ate it,” God crowed excitedly. “I told her not to, but the silly thing refused to listen.”

“DeeDee!” I shouted, whirling around searching for the dog.

She cowered in the far corner.

“Did you eat it?” I asked, marching toward her, vacuum in hand. “After I specifically told you not to go near it?”

The dog pressed herself against the wall, her gaze darting from my face to the vacuum cleaner. “Me,” she panted nervously. “Me not not.”

“I don’t think--” God began.

Ignoring him, I put the vacuum down so that I could put my hands on my hips and glower at the dog properly. “What did you do?”

She lowered her head guiltily, her chin almost scraping against the floor.

“Were you a bad dog?” I shook my finger at her and she trembled.

“Leave her alone, sugar,” Piss meowed quietly.

I glanced over at the furniture she hid under. “She disobeyed me.”

The one-eyed, one-eared cat peeked out from beneath the couch. Her whiskers glistened with red and pink.

I stared at her incredulously. “You?”

She sat up proudly, her one eye squinting at me defiantly, and licked her paw, revealing that her tongue was glittering too.

“Cats,” God sighed dramatically. “There’s a reason their curiosity kills them.”

I glared at him. “You said--”

“I
said,
”
he interrupted, “that I told her not to eat it, but she refused to listen. That’s what cats do you know.”

I looked at DeeDee who was still cowering against the wall. “And what did you do?”

“Nothing,” she whined softly.

“Then why were you hiding?”

“Mad Maggie.”

She sounded both scared and sad when she panted that. It made something in my chest ache.

“She has a point,” the lizard agreed quietly. “You have been quite angry lately.”

I let out a puff of air and held out my hand, palm upward to the dog. “I’m sorry.”

“Not that you don’t have reason to be upset, sugar,” Piss purred.

I frowned at her. “Maybe you shouldn’t be the one making that point right now.”

She turned her back on me and slunk back under the sofa.

DeeDee sniffed my hand and then let me rub the top of her head. “I’m sorry I’ve been on edge.”

She licked my hand, offering forgiveness. If only all relationships could be repaired so easily.

"The feline does have a point," God said. "Between taking care of Katie, working at The Corset, playing detective trying to discover what happened to Darlene, and the fact that your father is on the loose, it's understandable you're stressed."

"I'm fine. Thanks for the recap though," I snapped.

"We are worried about you," God said quietly.

The sincerity in his voice startled me. I let some of my natural defensiveness drop.

"You don't have to be," I assured him.

"A being can only take so much," the lizard replied. "Something has got to give."

"But it won't be me," I said stubbornly. Sure, I had a lot going on, but I had a lot of people depending on me. I couldn't afford to let anyone down. I just needed to manage my time and emotions better.

I picked up the envelope that had contained the glitter and carefully removed its paper contents.

"Is what?" DeeDee asked curiously as I stared at the front of the heart-covered card.

"It's a Valentine," I replied, confused. Somehow I couldn't imagine my lover/murder-mentor, Patrick Mulligan, sending me a Valentine.

"Open it," God urged.

I did so slowly, shuddering with revulsion, as even more glitter went flying. I frowned as I read the contents.

"Mad Maggie?" the dog panted nervously.

I shook my head. "Not mad. It's an invitation to join the committee that's hosting the Valentine's Day party for Katie's class."

"RSVP with a resounding ‘hell no’, sugar," the cat offered from beneath the couch.

"I concur." The lizard twitched his tail to make his point. "You have enough going on."

I kept staring at the invitation.

"She's considering it," God groaned.

"Why?" DeeDee asked.

I looked down into her trusting dark eyes and found myself confessing, "My mother never did any of this stuff for me, or any of my sisters. She was never involved."

"Wise woman," God opined. "You don't need any more commitments."

I slowly folded the invitation closed, unsure of what I would do. A knock on the door at the top of the stairs saved me from having to discuss it any further.

"Come in," I called.

Opening the door, Angel stuck his head inside. "Just wanted to let you know that Operation Feng Shui is complete. Do you mind if I come down?"

"Do so at your own discretion," I warned. "A glitter bomb exploded here."

"I've faced worse." Angel marched down the stairs, two glasses filled with a pinkish liquid in his hands.

"Hungry," DeeDee panted.

"I brought you something too," Angel told the dog as though he'd understood what she was saying. He handed me one of the glasses. It was cold. I sniffed it suspiciously as he pulled a dog biscuit from his pocket and tossed it to the mutt.

"What is it?" I asked rather ungraciously.

"A smoothie.” He walked over to God's terrarium and peered down at him. "How's it going, big guy?"

"It doesn't go unnoticed that you didn't bring me an offering of food," God told him.

Angel glanced over at me, an amused smile playing at his lips. "He sure talks a lot."

"You have no idea."

"I'll second that," Piss meowed from beneath the couch.

"Where's the cat?" Angel asked looking around.

"Hiding," I said dryly. "She ate a bunch of the glitter."

"Probably more efficient than a vacuum cleaner," Angel said pointing to the device I’d abandoned.

I sipped the pink stuff. It wasn’t bad, but it wasn't as sweet as I'd anticipated. "What's in it?"

"Milk, frozen berries, some flavored protein powder." He grinned and winked at me. "It’s my secret to maintaining my girlish figure."

Considering he looked like an 80s action hero, I found that hard to believe. Without thinking, I blurted out, "Well, whatever you're doing is working for you."

Angel’s grin grew larger. "Nice to know you notice."

I blinked at him. It was hard not to notice the gorgeous man living under the same roof as me. "What are the dark flecks in it?" I asked awkwardly, desperate to change the topic of conversation.

He chuckled softly, making it clear he knew exactly what I was doing. "Spinach."

I frowned. "Why would you want to ruin a perfectly good smoothie by adding spinach?"

"Can you taste it?"

I sipped it again. "No," I admitted.

"No harm, no foul," he said lightly. "Besides, it's good for you."

"Thanks." I mock toasted him with the glass.

"I have a message for you from my uncle," Angel said. "He invited you to come down to the hospital. Said he'd buy you some chocolate pudding. I figured that if he’s plying you with sugary treats, I should at least offset it by giving you the occasional vegetable."

I concentrated on keeping my expression neutral. I knew that his mobster uncle wasn't really interested in feeding me. We usually discussed assassination jobs over bowls of chocolaty goodness in the hospital cafeteria.

"Okay," I said lightly. "I'll go see him."

Angel nodded. "He seems very fond of you."

I shrugged. "I saved his grandson's life. Plus, for a while, we were going through the same thing, waiting for Katie and Dominic to wake up from their comas."

"That must have been hard on you both. It makes sense you would've bonded."

I nodded. "Katie and Dominic seemed to really hit it off too."

"You want me to pick her up from school?"

I glanced at the clock hanging on the wall. It was almost time to go get her. "No, I have time today."

"Are you sure? You're looking awfully tired."

"This will perk me right up," I said lifting the glass to my mouth.

"I'm just worried about you," Angel said softly, his gaze roving over my face.

"You're not alone, buddy," God said.

I watched as Angel turned toward the squeaking, wondering what he was thinking, if he could tell God agreed with him.

"I'm fine,” I told them both.

But I wasn’t sure I convinced anyone. Including myself.

Chapter Three

Before heading over to the hospital to meet with Delveccio, I picked up Katie from school.

Because she was still recovering from her injuries, she only attended for half days. She was brought in right after school began, so that she wouldn’t be trampled by the herds of kids rushing to class, and she was picked up right after lunch so that she’d have a chance to socialize.

To say the process hadn’t gone smoothly was an understatement. The paperwork to get her enrolled had been confusing, the meetings with teachers and school administrators had been challenging, and the other students had been less than welcoming. Not only was Katie the new kid, she was “weird” what with her balance issues and strange schedule.

Most days Katie cried in the car before I dropped her off, but to her credit, she wiped away her tears before I walked her into the building and down the long hallway to her classroom.

Every morning I’d kneel down, hand over her backpack, which was too heavy for her to carry the whole way, kiss her cheek, and whisper, “Have a good day, baby girl.”

Then I’d open the door for her and watch her totter in, bag clutched to her chest, the other kids snickering as she made her way to her desk.

And every day I’d return to the car and cry my own tears as my heart broke for her.

Doctor Donna repeatedly assured me that we were doing the right thing forcing her to go to school, and logically I knew she was right, but part of me still worried that it was torture for Katie and I was doing more harm than good in insisting she attend.