"Who put the hit out on me?"
"I don't know," Edward said.
"What do you mean, you don't know? You have to know so you can get paid."
"I go through intermediaries most of the time. Keeps down the chance that the next client is a cop."
"How do you find wayward clients if they piss you off?"
"I can find them, but it takes time. Anita, if you've got a really good hitter on your tail, time is something you won't have."
"Oh, that was comforting."
"It wasn't supposed to be comforting," he said, "Can you think of anyone who hates you so badly and has this kind of money?"
I thought about that for a minute. "No. Most of the people that would fit the bill are dead."
"The only good enemy is a dead enemy," Edward said.
"Yeah."
"I heard a rumor that you're dating the master of the city. Is that true?"
I hesitated. I realized I was embarrassed to admit the truth to Edward. "Yeah, it's true."
"I had to hear you say it." I could almost hear him shake his head over the phone. "Damn, Anita, you know better than that."
"I know," I said.
"Did you dump Richard?"
"No."
"Which monster are you with tonight, bloodsucker or flesh-eater?"
"None of your damn business," I said.
"Fine. Pick the monster of your choice tonight, Anita, have a good time. Tomorrow we start trying to keep you alive." He hung up. If it had been anybody else, I'd have said he was angry about me dating a vampire. Or maybe disappointed would be a better word.
I hung up the phone and sat there for a few minutes, letting it all sink in. Someone was trying to kill me. Nothing new there, but this someone was hiring expert help. That was new. I'd never had an assassin after my butt before. I waited to feel fear wash over me, but it didn't. Oh, in a vague sort of way, I was afraid, but not like I should have been. It wasn't that I didn't believe it could happen. I did believe. It was more that so much else had happened in the last year that I couldn't get too excited yet. If the assassin jumped out and started shooting, I'd deal with it. Maybe later I'd even have an attack of nerves. But I didn't get many attacks of nerves anymore. Part of me was numbing out like a combat veteran. There was just too much to take in, so you stop taking it in. I almost wished I had been scared. Fear will keep you alive; indifference won't.
Somewhere out there, by tomorrow, someone would have my name on a to-do list. Pick up dry cleaning, buy groceries, kill Anita Blake.
3
I stepped back into the living room and caught Richard's eye. I was sort of ready to go home. Somehow, knowing an assassin was out there, or would be soon, had put a damper on the evening.
"What's wrong?" Richard asked.
"Nothing," I said. I know, I know, I had to tell him, but how do you tell your sweetie that people are trying to kill you? Not in a room full of people. Maybe in the car.
"Yes, there is. You've got that tension between your eyebrows that means you're trying not to frown."
"No, I'm not."
He smoothed his finger between my eyes. "Yes, you are."
I glared at him. "Am not."