Maggie Lee | Book 31 | The Hitwoman's Getaway Read online

  THE HITWOMAN’S GETAWAY

  BOOK 31

  JB LYNN

  Copyright © Jennifer Baum THE HITWOMAN’S GETAWAY

  All rights reserved. Except as permitted by US copyright act of 1976, no part of this publication may be reproduced distributed or transmitted in any form or by any means, or stored in any database or retrieval system, without prior permission of the author.

  The scanning, uploading, and distribution of this book via the Internet or via other means without the permission of the publisher is illegal and punishable by law. Please purchase only authorized electronic editions and do not participate in or encourage electronic piracy of copyrighted materials.

  This book is a work of fiction. Names, characters, establishments, or organizations, and incidents are either products of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously to give a sense of authenticity. Any resemblance to actual persons living or dead, events, or locales is entirely coincidental. The Hitwoman’s Getaway is intended for 18+ older and for mature audiences only.

  © 2022 Jennifer Baum

  Editor: Parisa Zolfaghari

  Cover designer: Hot Damn Designs

  Proofreader: Proof Before You Publish

  Formatting: Leiha Mann

  CONTENTS

  A note

  Chapter 1

  Chapter 2

  Chapter 3

  Chapter 4

  Chapter 5

  Chapter 6

  Chapter 7

  Chapter 8

  Chapter 9

  Chapter 10

  Chapter 11

  Chapter 12

  Chapter 13

  Chapter 14

  Chapter 15

  Chapter 16

  Chapter 17

  Chapter 18

  Chapter 19

  Chapter 20

  Chapter 21

  Chapter 22

  Chapter 23

  Chapter 24

  Chapter 25

  Chapter 26

  Chapter 27

  Chapter 28

  Chapter 29

  Chapter 30

  Chapter 31

  Chapter 32

  The Hitwoman vs The Security Guard

  Author’s Note

  Cursed Chicks Club

  Psychic Consignment Mystery Series

  Also by JB Lynn

  About JB Lynn

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  1

  You just know it’s going to be a bad day when the champagne is poisoned. My name is Maggie Lee. I kill people for a living. But this time, someone was trying to kill me.

  “A romantic room, gourmet meals, free booze, couples’ massages,” my friend Armani Vasquez gushed enthusiastically. I was sitting across from her at the kitchen table, just trying to sip my coffee. It was too early in the morning to have a real discussion with words and whatnot.

  Templeton, my aunt Loretta’s former fiancé, and now an unofficial member of the family, was standing at the stove, cooking. “I think it sounds wonderful,” he enthused.

  I shot his back a dirty look. Obviously, he couldn’t see it, and he didn’t fall silent.

  “One-on-one time is very important for a relationship,” he continued.

  “See?” Armani banged on the table with her good hand for emphasis.

  I bit my tongue to refrain from saying that neither of them was in a relationship, so perhaps their theories and advice weren’t worth much.

  “See what?” my aunt Susan demanded to know as she strolled into the kitchen. She poured herself a cup of coffee as Armani explained about the hotel and meals and booze and couples’ massages.

  “I think it’s just what Maggie needs,” Armani concluded.

  “It’s not,” I protested, feeling my stomach knot at the thought of it all.

  Aunt Susan joined us at the table, putting her cup down before sitting. “I think it sounds like an excellent idea.”

  Realizing that both she and Armani were intent on my going away on this romantic getaway, I felt the knot in my stomach get bigger, and more churn-y. “You don’t even like Gino,” I reminded her.

  “I like him a lot,” my aunt rebutted.

  My head jerked back, surprised by her reaction. “You told me that things aren’t going to work out well between us.”

  She tilted her head from side to side. “Perhaps. But that’s before I saw what a gentleman he can be. And a hero.”

  I nodded slowly. Things were starting to make sense. Gino had wormed his way into my aunt’s heart, with his good manners and saving her life. I decided to try another tact. “Well, he can’t get the time off,” I lied smoothly.

  “I’ll talk to his boss,” Susan said.

  I sputtered and choked on my coffee. I’m pretty sure that I heard Templeton gasp at the stove.

  Gino’s boss, Delveccio, was a mob boss. He wasn’t the kind of person that someone went to with a complaint. Especially someone like my aunt, with whom he shares a rather contentious history.

  “We’re educating his grandson,” Aunt Susan said haughtily. “The least he can do for us is to allow his man to take some time off to make my niece happy.” She leaned across the table and patted my cheek.

  I watched over her shoulder as Templeton’s shoulders rose and fell in silent laughter.

  “I never said I wanted to go,” I protested weakly.

  “Why wouldn’t you want to? Armani is right,” Susan said. “You need some time off. Take some time away from the family. Nourish your relationship.”

  I squinted at her suspiciously. “Who are you?”

  She let out a pained sigh. “I’m someone who wants you to be happy, Margaret. You’ve seemed rather stressed lately.”

  I couldn’t come up with a response for that that wouldn’t land me in jail.

  I tried yet another way of getting out of it. “I can’t leave the animals here alone,” I said.

  Piss, who was sitting in the corner, having finished the bowl of cream that Templeton had poured for her, purred, “Sure you can, Sugar.”

  “That’s the best part,” Armani crowed victoriously. “The place I found you is pet friendly. You can take them with you.”

  “So much for peace and quiet,” God, the anole lizard who was curled up in my bra, muttered.

  “It’s settled, then,” Aunt Susan said, raising her coffee mug in a toast to Armani. “She’s off for a romantic getaway.”

  I was still shaking my head, but she got up and left the kitchen. The knot was starting to feel more like a tumor. Maybe I had a medical emergency. I couldn’t go away if I had a medical emergency. I glared at my friend over the table. “What have you done?”

  Armani blinked at me. “You don’t have to be so hostile.”

  “I just want to be there when Susan talks to Delveccio,” Templeton said softly from where he stood by the stove. “A fly on the wall.”

  “He might put a kibosh on the whole thing,” I said, feeling slightly more hopeful.

  Templeton glanced over his shoulder at me and shot me a disbelieving look. “Have you ever won an argument with your aunt?”

  Annoyed, I took my coffee and stalked out of the house, making a beeline for the barn. Piss followed on my heels. “Relax, Sugar,” she urged. “There’s been a lot of worse situations you’ve been in.”

  “What’s wrong, toots?” a voice cawed from above. Glancing up, I saw Mike, the crow, circling over me.

  “They’re trying to send me on a romantic getaway.”

  “Oh,” he said, excitedly. “You’ll need something s
hiny for that.” Beating his wings, he flew away.

  “I don’t need anything shiny,” I muttered under my breath. “I just need to stay home.”

  DeeDee, my Doberman pinscher, raced up to me. “Maggie!”

  “What?” I snapped back.

  The dog lowered her head, stung by my tone.

  “I’m sorry,” I apologized immediately. “It’s not you that I’m mad at.”

  “Mad who are at you?” she panted curiously.

  “Armani,” I told her.

  “Maggie is annoyed that her friend is trying to arrange a romantic getaway for her and Gino,” God explained, having pulled himself up onto my shoulder.

  “Gino!” DeeDee barked excitedly.

  “He feeds her more than Patrick does,” God grumbled. “No wonder she likes him.”

  “I thought you like him,” I reminded the lizard.

  “I do,” he admitted. “I’m all for this idea.”

  “I can’t go,” I protested. “Both Delveccio and Ms. Whitehat have said that Ian is in trouble. I have to figure out what happened and how to protect him.”

  “But nothing’s happened to him,” God reminded me.

  “Yet,” I said forcefully. “Yet.”

  Before we could argue any more, the girls came running out toward the barn. I bent down so that I could hug both of my nieces, taking care not to slosh my coffee on either of them.

  Katie declared excitedly, “It’s science day!”

  “Great,” I said, pecking her on the cheek. “Go be a great scientist.”

  She ran off to the schoolroom in the barn, leaving her cousin Alicia behind. I smiled gently at the more reserved girl. “You don’t like science day?”

  “I like it,” she said grudgingly.

  “But something’s bothering you?” I guessed.

  She nodded and stared down at the ground.

  “Would you like to tell me what it is?” I prodded gently.

  She shrugged.

  “It’s okay,” I reassured her. “Whatever it is, you can tell me.”

  She lifted her head, and I saw her eyes were brimming with unshed tears. “Katie always gets to go first.”

  I blinked, surprised. “What?”

  “Katie always gets to go first,” Alicia complained. “She rides Irma first every day.”

  I bit back a smile, realizing that while it sounded silly, her pain was real. “I will talk to Miss Lassalan about that,” I promised her. “You guys should alternate who gets to go first.”

  “And Dominic should get to go first sometimes, too,” Alicia said, stamping her foot.

  I smiled at her sense of fair play. “You’re absolutely right,” I told her. “I’ll take care of it.”

  She impulsively threw her hands around my neck and squeezed tightly. “Thank you, Aunt Maggie.” Then, she ran into the school room.

  I stood slowly. “That’s why I can’t leave,” I told God. “I have important things to take care of here.”

  “Yeah,” God snarked. “About an ass.”

  “Hey,” I said, shaking my head. “Who rides the donkey first is apparently very important to her.”

  Drinking my coffee as I moved toward the barn, I saw my aunt Leslie emerging from it. “Good morning, Maggie,” she called.

  “Morning,” I replied.

  “I’m taking Lorraine to meet with Mary after school. Would you like to go with us?”

  I blinked, surprised. “You are?”

  Leslie nodded. “I told her so much about Lorraine when we were at the museum gala, and she really wants to meet her.”

  “That’s great,” I said with a smile.

  “So, do you want to go?”

  I shook my head. I really had no desire to go visit my mother in the nuthouse where she resided, even if she was having a better, more lucid time. A flash of disappointment passed over my aunt’s face, but before she could comment further, a dark sedan drove down the driveway.

  2

  The car stopped in front of the barn. Aunt Leslie hurried back toward the house, and I waited for the passengers to emerge.

  The back door opened and Delveccio, the mob boss, stepped out. His grandson, Dominic, scrambled out behind him.

  “Hi, Maggie,” he said with a big smile and an even larger wave. I grinned. It was good to see the boy enthusiastic about something.

  “It’s science day,” I told him.

  “I know,” he said with excitement. Without saying anything to his grandfather, he rushed off toward the school room.

  Delveccio watched him go, an amused expression softening his usually harsh features. Turning back to look at me, he said, “You were right about this. He’s happy here.”

  “It wasn’t my idea,” I reminded him. “It was Katie’s.”

  “She takes after her aunt,” Delveccio said with a chuckle.

  “A word, Mr. Delveccio?” Aunt Susan called from the front porch.

  Surprised, he glanced in her direction, then looked back at me. “Is this about your mother?”

  I shook my head. “No. Definitely not about Mom.”

  While we spoke, a man I’d never seen before emerged from the car. “This is going to be the guy who looks over my grandson,” Delveccio explained.

  I looked the stranger over quickly, relieved that he didn’t give off the negative vibes the boy’s previous protector had. “Hello.”

  He gave me a slight nod of acknowledgment. “I won’t let anything happen to those kids,” he pledged.

  I nodded slowly. I was glad that Fred hadn’t returned to watch over Dominic, but I was curious as to where Gino was. Delveccio didn’t seem to go anywhere without his own bodyguard. The new man moved toward the school room, and Delveccio, hooking his thumbs into the pockets of his pants, strutted toward Susan, as though he was expecting to be challenged to a gun duel or something. I held my breath as the two began to speak.

  “You might as well pack your bags,” Templeton said, coming up behind me.

  “He’s not going to go for it,” I told him. “Susan’s the last person he wants to take orders from.”

  “He respects her,” Templeton said. “He doesn’t like her because she’s often a thorn in his side, but he respects her.”

  “This is a bad idea,” I muttered. The last thing I needed was time alone with Gino. Things were already complicated between us. Without the distraction of a job, things could get messy, fast. What if spending more time with me made him realize I’m not the catch he seems to think I am? What if I got jealous of whoever he decided to trade me in for and killed her? I mean, I did contribute to the death of the woman Patrick left me for.

  I shook my head, hating how unsure I felt.

  “Susan wants you to be happy,” Templeton pointed out, interrupting my thoughts.

  I flicked a sideways glance at him. “We both know who Gino is and what he does,” I said. “I don’t understand why anybody thinks going away with him is a good idea. Besides, you’d think she’d have learned her lesson after encouraging my relationship with Paul.”

  To say that my romance with the cop had ended badly, was putting it mildly. The man had tried to kill me and would have succeeded if it hadn’t been for Templeton and DeeDee.

  Templeton chuckled softly. “Sometimes, what looks wrong on paper is right for hearts.” He winked at me as Delveccio turned back to head toward his car.

  “It’s an excellent idea,” Delveccio called out to me. “I’ll let Gino know.”

  I frowned. This was not the outcome I’d been expecting. Or wanting.

  He drove off, and Susan flashed me a thumbs-up.

  Templeton grinned. “It’s been decided for you,” he muttered, patting me on the shoulder and taking away my empty coffee cup.

  As Templeton disappeared inside, retired U.S. Marshal Lawrence Griswald stepped out onto the porch and kissed his wife on the cheek. After a brief chat, Susan turned to go into the house and Griswald headed toward me. I felt a surge of hope. Maybe he had a job for me.
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  “I hear you’re going away,” he said as greeting.

  “I can’t,” I told him. “We have work to do.”

  “No,” he said, shaking his head. “We don’t have a job right now.”

  “But a job could come up at any moment,” I said, hoping that he’d be the one to get me out of this.

  “And cross my wife?” he said with a laugh. “No way. You’re going, Maggie.”

  He strolled away, leaving me there to fume.

  “I don’t understand why this is bothering you so much, Sugar,” Piss purred, winding her way through my legs.

  “I just don’t think it’s a good idea,” I said defensively.

  “Then, she’d have to define her relationship with Gino,” God pointed out.

  I winced as he voiced the truth. My relationship with the mobster’s bodyguard was complicated, and even though I liked Gino, I really couldn’t see much of a future in it. I hadn’t disagreed with Aunt Susan when she had predicted that the relationship would end badly. It had to. An assassin and a mobster, that could never work out. Could it?

  Mike swooped back, landing in front of my feet and depositing a piece of aluminum foil. “You could give this to him,” he squawked proudly.

  Not wanting to offend him, I bent down and picked it up. “Thank you.”

  “She doesn’t want to go,” God told the bird.

  “One shouldn’t pass up the chance at love,” the crow squawked indignantly. “What are you thinking, Maggie?”

  I blinked, taken aback. “I never said it was love.”