I Hear Voices Read Free Page A

Annabel still decked out like a gypsy.
    “You’re messin’ up our plan!”
    “Aldo was arrested.”
    My stomach clenched in horror. “That’s not possible.”
    “Derek recognized Aldo at the museum. He called his detective friend and told him that your uncle was the famous El Gato. They put… What is the word?”
    I rubbed my suddenly aching head. “A tail?”
    “Si, la Polizia was waiting for him when he left the penthouse.”
    “That skunk is so going down.”
    “Derek is a clever man, bambina. He will make you a good husband.”
    “Husband!? Are you nuts! I’m not his type.”
    “I do not like your tone.”
    “He’s a predator just like Uncle Dante.”
    “Derek knows how to protect his woman.”
    “I am not nor will I ever be his woman,” I hissed through gritted teeth.
    Granny Annabel gave me the evil eye. “You doubt me?”
    “Yes.”
    “Then do as you wish but fate will not be denied.” She vanished.
    Fate will not be denied? What a bunch of hooey.
    My cell phone sprang to life with a wonky ring.
    “Hello?”
    A sexy, deep timbered voice asked, “Zelda Dragos?”
    The hair on the back of my neck literally stood up. “Derek Sloan, how did you get my number?”
    He laughed a not very nice kinda laugh. “I have resources.”
    “Like your detective friend?”
    “Very good. Maybe you do have some psychic abilities.”
    The slimy, conniving Tomb Raider had investigated me? “What do you want?”
    “A meeting.”
    I laughed, genuinely amused. “Not happening.”
    There was a steely edge to his voice when he promised, “I will find you.”
    “Does your detective friend know you’re planning on robbing the museum tonight?”
    His breath hissed out. “Don’t get in my way, sweetheart. You won’t like the consequences.”
    “Neither will you.” I disconnected and hit speed dial. As soon as my favorite cousin, Sebastian, answered I quickly filled him in on the situation.
    “Don’t worry I’ll have Aldo out in an hour, luv.”
    Utter relief filled me. Sebastian could hack any computer and was an expert at making criminal records permanently vanish. His release documents were a work of art. “Thanks, I owe you one. What’s with the English accent?”
    “I’m impersonating John Seymour, the Duke of Somerset.”
    “Hasn’t he been dead for like two hundred years?”
    “My mark doesn’t know that.”
    Horns honked and brakes squealed. I shot a worried look at my rear view mirror. A half a block back a silver Hummer weaved in and out of traffic.
    I could sense an almost palpable fury emanating from Sloan. His predatory instincts had taken over and he wouldn’t stop until he had caught his prey. Me. Guess he wasn’t used to women running from him.
    I swerved around a Lexus and shot down a side street.
    The Hummer followed, barely missing a city bus. Betcha he was still pissed about the cookies. I would be.
    “I’ll call you back, Sebastian, gotta ditch a moron with a death wish.”
    “You need help? I can be there in eight hours.”
    Sebastian had a protective streak a mile wide and always treated me like his little sister. “Nah, I can handle him. Just get Uncle Aldo out of the country.”
    “Be careful, luv.”
    “I always am. Ciao.” I disconnected.
    I took a hard right, sped down an alley and squealed into a parking lot of a large shopping mall. Hiding between two oversized trucks, I opened my psychic eye. Well hell. Sloan’s Blackberry had an application used by the CIA to track cell phones. Wonder if I could borrow it?
    An image flashed across my mind and a wicked laugh broke from me. My favorite client, Deborah Kline, was at the mall and she owed me a big favor.
    I had tracked down her ex-husband and used my special effects computer to scare the living bejeesus out of him. Within two days the slimy bastard had sent her the three hundred thousand dollars he owed in back child support. Digging her business card out of my purse, I called her and asked for her help.
    “I