Free The Hitwoman and the Neurotic Witness by J. B. Lynn

sighed my contentment.
    Except when I focused on his features, I realized it wasn’t Patrick hovering over me.
    “Aaaaaah!” I screamed, shoving the man.
    Stumbling away, barely able to remain upright, he said, “Easy, Maggie. No one’s going to hurt you.”
    Struggling to sit up, I glared at him. “What the hell are you doing?”
    Zeke raised his hands defensively. “Susan asked me to wake you. I didn’t mean to scare you.”
    “Why didn’t you just knock?”
    “I did, but you were out cold.” Straightening, Zeke lowered his hands and watched me carefully.
    “Snoring,” DeeDee confirmed on a quiet whine.
    “What the hell kind of watch dog are you?” I asked.
    Cocking her head, she looked at Zeke. “Dangerous?” Jumping to her feet, she snarled softly at him.
    Poor Zeke froze.
    “No, he’s not dangerous,” I told the dog.
    Relaxing, she lay back down.
    “I’m trying to watch my program,” God yelled. “Can you keep it down?”
    Zeke turned his head in the direction of the squeaking noise.
    “It’s the lizard,” I offered as explanation.
    “Okay.” He slid a nervous gaze toward the Doberman. “I really didn’t mean to startle you. It’s just that Susan’s on a tear and she asked me to get you.”
    Rubbing the sleep from my eyes, I stood up. “What’s bothering her now?”
    “Her boyfriends don’t like each other.”
    I blinked, certain I’d heard him wrong. “Say that again.”
    “Her boyfriends aren’t playing nice.”
    “ Boyfriends ? Plural?”
    Amusement flashed in his eyes. “You haven’t noticed?”
    “I know she’s dating Bob. We met him at Alice’s wedding.”
    Zeke nodded. “The Marshal has the hots for her too.”
    The idea that two men were besotted with my uptight, overbearing aunt was too much for me. I sank back down onto the couch. “You’re kidding.”
    Zeke chuckled. “Can you think of any other reason why a man would spend an afternoon polishing silver?”
    “He told me he found it satisfying.”
    Giving the dog a wide berth, Zeke sat down beside me. “Do you remember the time when we were still in school and the local radio station was giving away Chris Isaak tickets and we stayed up all night trying to win them even though we had exams the next day?”
    I nodded slowly, the memory distant and blurry.
    “I can’t name a single Isaak song. I was just trying to win them to make you happy. I imagine Griswald was fussing with the silver for the same reason.”
    “I didn’t know.” I felt more than a twinge of guilt as I remembered that I’d always believed Zeke had been competing with me to win the tickets, not trying to win them for me.
    “And I don’t think Susan knows,” Zeke said. “She probably has no idea why the two guys are up there circling each other like caged dogs.”
    “Dogs?” DeeDee panted.
    “No offense,” Zeke quickly told the mutt.
    “What time is it?” I asked.
    “Time to get lost!” God yelled from his spot in front of the television.
    “Almost eight,” Zeke replied.
    “Armani will be here any minute,” I said, slowly getting to my feet again.
    “I like her.”
    “So does my mom,” I muttered. “Is Gypsy here?”
    Zeke’s expression grew solemn. “Why?”
    His change of mood piqued my curiosity. “What’s the deal with you two?”
    He stared at me for a long moment. “She’s got a job to do. I’m here to make sure she does her job.”
    “What kind of job?”
    He shook his head. “The kind you’re better off not knowing about.”
    “Are you in trouble, Zeke?”
    Something that looked a lot like self-doubt flickered in his eyes for the briefest of moments before he flashed his mega-watt smile. “Of course not.”
    I didn’t believe him, but I was too conscious of all the secrets that I was keeping to call him on the fib.
    “Susan left a plate of dinner for you in the fridge. You should go nuke it.”
    “Dinner?” DeeDee panted, leaping to her feet.
    Zeke jumped away from her.
    “Relax,” I told him.