Free The Assassin and the Girl From the Coffee Shop by Terry Towers Page B

he held her in place with her back to him. "But, I'm sure I did."
    "No, you didn't. You barely scratched him." He chuckled softly. "You must have closed your eyes again. I took care of him when I went outside to see if you'd hit him. So don't worry, you had nothing to do with his death."
    She wanted to believe him, but deep down she knew he was lying to her. She was responsible for the death of someone. Instead of arguing with him about it, she pretended to accept his explanation, hoping that, as time passed, maybe she'd be able to convince herself that it was true; that she'd just grazed him and that it was Scott who had actually caused his demise.
    "I figure we have about a day before more men are sent after us. So I've made arrangements for you to be taken to a safe place."
    Alarmed, Lily turned in his arms to face him. The day was surrendering to the night, so there was barely enough light filtering through the dark curtains on the single window of the room to see the outline of his features. "Just like that? You're leaving me with strangers?"
    "They'll keep coming until I put a stop to the root of the problem, Lily."
    "And then what?" She couldn't help the panic rushing through her. She knew that whatever was going on between them was a limited time deal, but now that the time had run out she was scared to go back to being alone, to being without him. Not only scared of being attacked, but she'd already grown to care for him and she knew he was feeling the same things for her.
    "And then you live the life you were supposed to and hopefully the nightmare I've put you through these past few days will fade." He ran his fingers through her hair as he looked down at her. "If things were different, if I were a different man, a better man, then I'd do whatever it took to be with you."
    Damn him, she could feel the tears threatening to spill out onto her cheeks. Damn him for making her feel that way. Damn him for making her care.
    "What I wouldn't give to be able to take you on just an average, typical kind of date. Show up at your place with a bouquet of red roses, and take you to an overpriced restaurant where the waiters are snooty and the food pretentious."
    She chewed at her bottom lip, if only things were different...
    "I'm so sorry to have dragged you into this, Lily. You have no idea how sorry." He touched her face and caressed her cheek with his thumb. "So sorry," he whispered, kissing her forehead.
    Not saying another word, she buried her face in his neck and held tight to him, pressing the length of her body in close against his and savouring the feel of him next to her. Part of her hoped he was right that she'd forget about everything that had happened as time went on, but the other part knew she would never be able to forget.

Chapter 8

    Three Months Later

    As Lily stepped out onto her front porch and picked up the morning newspaper she could feel their eyes on her. She didn't know who they were - the people that watched her - but she did know that they were associates of Scott's. She hadn't heard a word from Scott since the morning he'd put her into a car with a couple of strangers and sent her on her way.
    The people Scott had entrusted her with had given her a key to a safety deposit box at the American National Bank, and told her the contents of the box were hers to do with as she pleased. When she arrived at the bank to receive the contents of the box, she was shocked to find half a million dollars in it.
    With the money she bought herself a house, a small house in the suburbs and a brand new Ford Shelby Mustang. The mustang was her pride and joy. Instead of going back to work, she decided to go to college; she figured with the house bought and paid for, if she lived frugally, she could pay the tuition in full for the entirety of the program and live without having to work while she attended school.
    Life should have been good now. But it wasn't.
    Every night since leaving the cabin she’d had nightmares of