Free Easy Target by Kay Thomas

Knick’s Fan went limp beneath him.

 
    Chapter Seven
    B RYAN LOOKED UP to see Sassy staring at him with a look of revulsion on her face. He wasn’t sure if it was because he was naked with blood smeared all over his face and body, or because he’d just killed a man in front of her. He hoped it was the latter. As the moment wore on, her expression changed from horror to that of distinct embarrassment. It would have been comical if the situation hadn’t been so dire.
    Without saying anything, she pulled the bedspread from the mattress and gave it to him. “Hand me your gun. I’ll call nine-­one-­one while you get dressed.”
    Bryan shook his head and bent down to cover the guy with the bedspread, though she would probably prefer he covered himself. He stood and tugged the top sheet from the bed, then wrapped it around his waist.
    “I’m keeping the Glock,” he muttered. Covering the body was no panacea for having snapped the guy’s neck in front of Sassy, but it was the best he could do for now.
    “Are you okay?” He bent to look at her as she nodded.
    Her nose was still bleeding like hell, just like his was. She might not end up with a black eye, but the red marks on her neck alongside the cut from two nights ago in the Casbah would become a large bruise. Fury and nausea roared through his veins, and the visceral reaction over what had almost happened to her took him by surprise. A week ago, he’d thought he was numb to those emotions.
    Sassy had stopped nodding her head, but she was struggling not to cry. At the same time, she was staring at the blood smeared on his chest, arms, and belly, all while backing away from him. The back of the mattress stopped her. She sat down on the fitted sheet, holding a Kleenex to her nose and vacillating between focusing on the blanket-­covered body on the floor and Bryan.
    “I’m not very good with blood,” she whispered.
    Finally she settled on staring at the closed drapes. But it was clear she wasn’t okay. Between the blood all over him and Knick’s Fan under the bedspread, Sassy the “coper” was on the verge of wigging out.
    Not that he was surprised. If anything was going to put her over the edge, it made sense that this would have done it. She’d had a helluva week. But he wasn’t going to be able to help her if the sight of him half naked and covered in blood shut her down.
    “I’m going to get cleaned up and be right back.” He hustled into the bathroom but left the door open while he climbed back into the still running shower for twenty seconds to rinse the blood off his face and chest.
    His nose stopped streaming as soon as he tilted his head back. He hurried out of the shower but didn’t dress, simply wrapping a towel around his waist before coming back to the bedroom.
    What the hell? No one knew they were here. Not even the guys at AEGIS. How had they been located, and by whom?
    Clearly talking to Knick’s Fan wasn’t going to be possible, but until he knew what was going on with the AEGIS charges, having the police investigating him for murder wasn’t an option, either. He could end up in jail, leaving no one to take care of Sassy.
    He dialed his cell phone with one hand and searched the guy’s pockets with the other. Leland answered on the first ring.
    “It’s Hollywood. We landed in New York earlier tonight and couldn’t get a flight out of town till tomorrow. We just had some company. Any idea what’s going on?”
    Speechless until now, Sassy had been watching him search Knick’s Fan’s body with wide-­eyed astonishment. “What are you doing?” she squeaked. “Aren’t you calling the police? Aren’t you going to get dressed?”
    Leland’s voice was filled with humor. “Sounds like your ‘company’ interrupted something.”
    Bryan snorted a sad laugh. If only. “Hang on a minute.”
    He didn’t muffle the receiver. “Sassy, take it easy. This guy is . . . not going to bother you again. And I’ve got to find out some