Free Maggie Lee (Book 11): The Hitwoman Hires a Manny by JB Lynn Page B

a resounding ‘yes’. Wouldn’t you agree?”
     
    “You should use my dating service. You’d be the perfect candidate since you already believe in my powers.”
     
    I winced. I wasn’t an ardent believer in her “powers” but she’d said too many things that were semi-accurate predictions for me to ignore what she had to say.
     
    “I’d give you the friend’s discount,” she continued.
     
    I shook my head, refusing the offer.
     
    “Okay, I’ll do it gratis.” She flashed a magnanimous smile.
     
    “No thanks.”
     
    Her smile turned upside down. “Why not? Do you want to be an old maid? No life left in you? Dried up like a corn husk?”
     
    The corn husk analogy made me chuckle.
     
    She wasn’t amused.
     
    “I’m serious, Maggie. You haven’t been out on a date since that Paul guy.”
     
    “He tried to kill me,” I reminded her.
     
    She shrugged. “You win some. You lose some.”
     
    I bit my tongue to prevent myself from mentioning that her last relationship had resulted in her being kidnapped by a ring of deadly criminals.
     
    “We should at least go out for a drink before you’re saddled with the kid full time,” she declared.
     
    “I’m not going to be saddled.”
     
    She rolled her eyes. “You. Me. Fruity drinks, some cute guys and a good time.”
     
    I shook my head. “I can’t. I’ve got too much going on.”
     
    Armani narrowed her gaze. “You’re turning down a cute guy?”
     
    “You make it sound like I’m addicted to dating and am doing something out of character.”
     
    “Who said anything about dating?” She winked at me. “That’s so old-fashioned.”
     
    I shook my head and pantomimed that I was zipping my mouth closed, effectively ending the discussion.
     
    Realizing she wasn’t going to win the argument, she returned to the original subject. “About that warning.”
     
    I waited, trying to ignore the dread that pooled in the pit of my stomach.
     
    “It’s going to sound weird,” my PMS friend warned.
     
    I rolled my eyes. Her messages were always weird.
     
    She looked away as though maintaining eye contact was suddenly too difficult to bear. “Don’t shoot the messenger.”
     
    “Just tell me.”
     
    “It’s about your niece…” she began.
     
    My entire body went cold. The thought of something happening to Katie paralyzed me.
     
    Armani hung her head and whispered, “Don’t let her near the ocean. I keep seeing her drowning.”
     
    I let out a shaky sigh of relief. “She’s nowhere near the ocean. She’s safe.”
     
    Armani nodded slowly.
     
    I jumped up. “She’s fine. She won’t be near the ocean any time soon.”
     
    Armani didn’t say anything.
     
    “I’ve really got to go,” I told her, moving away.
     
    She made no move to stop me so I hurried inside the office and filled out the paperwork.
     
    Armani didn’t make an appearance while I was inside, and she wasn’t in sight when I left. I wasn’t sure if she was giving me space or avoiding me, but I was grateful.
     
    I did my best to push Armani’s warning from my head as I went to the library. I had more important things to worry about. Namely what Arnold Rivgali looked like and who Kevin Belgard was.
     
    It was unfortunate that I had to do my research at the public library, something that seemed to fly in the face of Patrick’s assassin rule number one: Don’t get caught, but since he was out of town for who knew how long and that I’d never gotten around to replacing the computer I’d lost when my old apartment was blown to smithereens, I didn’t have many other options.
     
    I certainly couldn’t ask my aunts if I could use their machines for this kind of work.  Their questions alone would make me nuts.
     
    So I found the most isolated available computer in the library, pulled up a page about what changes in a cat’s eating habits could mean (I hadn’t forgotten about the strange demands of Piss) that I could switch over to in case any