ass in his lifetime. It wasn’t a new experience. But to his knowledge, most of them weren’t old enough to be his great-grandmother.
Still, the lady was kind. She’d made more than a few meals for him and Alex once she figured out neither of them could do anything more complicated than pizza, burgers and fries, or macaroni and cheese or hot dogs. If she had her way, she would have taught them both to cook.
But Gus was intent on keeping his distance. Very intent. Letting a sweet old lady teach him or the kid how to cook wasn’t the way to keep a cool distance. It wouldn’t help either him or the kid, and, in the long run, it could harm her. He had enough blood on his hands.
“I’ll come by later tonight,” he said. “Although I don’t know if I can fix it tonight. I may need to go to the store for the drain cleaner.”
“Well, that can wait. I wasn’t calling about that, Gus. We have a new neighbor moving in . . . did you see?”
The skin on the back of his neck prickled.
Lifting his head, he looked to the front of the house. “A neighbor, huh?”
“Yes. A pretty girl. I was thinking about inviting her for dinner . . . maybe you and the boy can join us?”
He relaxed only a tiny bit. They were less likely to send a woman after him. But still, he had to see her. Would have to let Alex see her—shit. And it had to be done tonight.
“I don’t think dinner will work, Elsie,” he said. “I’m pretty worn out at the end of the day and I’m lousy company. But I’ll be sure to introduce myself when I see her.”
“Well . . . now is a good time.” He could almost hear the smile in her voice. “She’s out front unloading boxes, Gus. Alone. I’d go help her, but . . .”
The wheedling in her voice was anything but subtle.
If anybody would recognize trouble, it would be the boy. There wouldn’t be immediate danger, either. Nobody would want to risk the kid being hurt. They’d try to take Alex alive and Alex would know from a mile away if there was any sort of threat. A fact that, sadly, Gus knew from experience.
He hated it, but he already knew the best course of action. It wasn’t a good defense, but a good offense. They had problems looking for them and if they’d found them, it was best to know now, so they could leave.
Alex looked up at him, his eyes solemn.
“It’s okay,” the boy said softly.
“We need to make sure.”
The boy’s hand shook as he stirred the mac and cheese. But then he nodded.
* * *
It should be a damn crime to look that good.
Vaughnne almost swallowed her tongue when she caught her first good look at her target. Well, one of them.
Wow.
Her libido, dormant for the past couple of years, suddenly rumbled to life and as she stared at the man coming across the street, she couldn’t help but think . . . Come to mama, pretty boy . . . pretty, pretty, pretty boy . . .
According to the information Jones had given her, he was going by the name Gus Hernandez.
It wasn’t his real name, though. She’d almost bet her life on it.
Leaning back on the porch, she braced her hands on the concrete behind her and pretended to be absorbed in the study of her flip-flops. One thing about this job . . . she could work in flip-flops and shorts. Much better than the skirts and heels, or slacks and heels, she generally wore when she was in D.C. Not that she spent a lot of time in the office, but she wasn’t exactly running at full speed just yet and she knew it.
Office work would be her mainstay for the next few weeks if she wasn’t doing the babysitting job. Until she could focus her gift for longer than five minutes without a splitting headache, she was useless in the field.
This, though, this was doable. She didn’t need to actively use her telepathy to use her instincts and that was a lot easier on the gray matter. And even though she hated Orlando, the uniform here was a lot better.
So she’d just enjoy the uniform, and enjoy the view . . . and pretend she was somewhere else.
The view was fine. Damn fine. Excellent shoulders. Long, loose-hipped gait. Behind her sunglasses, she studied