Page 6 of Wicked Little Tricks

A debt? What in the hells was he talking about? Night runners weren’t used to collect debts. “Look, man, I’m just a glorified messenger, not a mercenary. If you want a bounty hunter, you’re going to want someone a little more intimidating.” I gestured to what he could see of my small frame above the table.

I instantly regretted the action as his gaze lingered a little too long on the undone buttons at the top of my green blouse. His eyes lifted to my face again with a slight smile. “Most bounty hunters cannot cross the boundaries. I need a night runner. I needyou.”

“I don’t work with devils,” I repeated, lowering my chin and daring him to try compelling me again. This time I would be ready for it, and I would break free easily. I hoped.

“I’ll give you time to think about it.”

I stood. “Don’t come here again. We may have been on your turf last night, but your little tricks won’t be welcome in this neighborhood.”

I turned away, waited for Braxton to stand, then headed for the door.

I felt better once we were out in the sunlight. Wanting to get away from the coffee shop, I started walking.

Braxton fell into step at my side, his disposable coffee cup in hand. “What did he want?”

I had expected him to hear every word with his werewolf hearing. “You mean you couldn’t hear us?”

“No,” Braxton said, and not like he was happy about it.

The devil must have done some little trick to give us privacy. I let out a long sigh. “He wanted me to collect a debt for him. I told him to go to hell.”

“You told a devil to go to hell?” he laughed.

“No,” I admitted. “I didn’t want to tempt him to bring me along for the ride.”

Braxton clapped my shoulder, tugging me out of the way as a woman in a pantsuit hurried past us toward the coffee shop. He lowered his voice for my ears alone. “With a devil looking like that, you might enjoy it.”

I snorted. “I’m not into devils. An elf on the other hand...” I let my eyes wander far away.

Braxton chuckled. “You ladies and your elves. They may be pretty, but how can you stand to hear them talk?”

I turned as I walked to waggle my eyebrows at him. “Who said anything about talking?”

We reached the intersection where we had already planned to part ways. I had somewhere else to be. I started to walk off with a wave, but Braxton stopped me.

“Hey Eva, how did that devil know where you’d be?”

I winced. I had been hoping he wouldn’t put it together that I had inadvertently led a devil to our home.

He cringed. “Yeah, thought so. Watch your back.”

I gave him a little salute, then continued on my way. I was a night runner, and he was a mercenary. Watching our backs was just part of life. And we had known each other long enough that we would always watch each other’s too.

Here was hoping the devil would leave me alone, and Braxton along with me.

The dingy officesmelled like stale tobacco, wrinkling my nose every time I stepped foot on the cracked linoleum floors. I had an appointment, but Monroe was always at least five minutes late. Even though I knew I’d be waiting, I was never late myself.

Monroe’s secretary had let me into the office to wait on the other side of his cherrywood desk. The desk was the only nice item in the building, making it look out of place. How Monroe afforded a secretary but not a nicer space was beyond me. Of course, I was paying himenough to afford the secretary, so he probably just didn’t care about the space. I had always assumed the desk had been a gift. It just didn’t seem like his taste.

I turned in my seat as he finally shuffled through the open office door. He was only a few inches taller than me, maybe 5’8”, with curly gray hair and a deeply lined face. He wasn’t that old, but the cigarettes constantly dangling from his lips had taken their toll. His wrinkled tweed suit made it look like he had just rolled out of bed.

He probably had.

He sat down across from me, making a slow grunting show of it, as if he really was as old as he looked. Once he was settled, he gave me his best winning smile. “It’s good to see you, Eva. How have you been since you left the agency?”

I leaned against my seat cushion, tilting my head back with a heavy sigh. “You haven’t found anything.”

“I’ve told you a hundred times, Eva, she’s probably dead. I’ll keep looking, but you’re wasting your money.“