Sympathy For The Devil Read Free

other than his height and build—tall and broad. Her lips parted to say more but a revved engine and squeal of tires drew her focus to her right.
    A dark two-door car halted in the street outside of the Bar & Grill, double parking on an angle. The driver’s door swung open while the car was still rocking, engine still running and headlights cutting across the road. A man flew out of the vehicle, face violently red and she didn’t think it was from the heat.
    As Tash recognized him, she started backing for the Bar & Grill’s door.
    “You!” He thrust his finger forward as he ran toward her. He wasn’t a terribly big guy but anger had a way of making an average-sized man seem huge. “I’m gonna kill you!”
    She reached for her purse and belatedly realized she’d left it inside at Gus’s table, which was where her Beretta 92F waited in a holster. “Calm down, Gordie—”
    “You were on private property—”
    “With your wife’s permission—”
    “Invading my privacy—”
    “While you were violating your marriage vows—”
    He hadn’t slowed, still heading straight for her. Her back struck the side of the restaurant, the window behind her rattling—the door was three feet away and now Gordie Martin was too close to avoid, getting right in her face, his still-pointing finger nearly striking her throat.
    “Neighbor’s kid took a picture of you up in the tree outside my window!”
    Damn technology. It wasn’t like the good ol’ days in movies anymore—now people in her line of work were as likely to be recorded as whoever she was hired to spy on. Gordie’s wife probably could’ve hired the neighborhood kids with cell phones to film her husband and his mistress, and saved a lot of money.
    “At least any photos of me were G-rated,” Tash offered with a shrug.
    His face went redder, which she scarcely thought was possible. Gordie launched himself at her and she pulled her fist back to punch him.
    Instead another body collided with his, grasping Gordie’s wrist and jerking his arm back. The stranger twisted her attacker around and thrust him forward, slamming him on the hood of the car.
    While she didn’t have her gun, she did have her cell phone in her back pocket, which she withdrew and began dialing. “Charges of threats and attempted assault will look great for you during your divorce proceedings, I’m sure,” Tash said with a dramatic sigh. “Can’t wait ’til this info goes public.”
    Gordie muttered under his breath. When the stranger stepped back, the other man moved, shoving off the car, casting a glare at Tash, and then returning to his car.
    She kept the phone at her ear until he’d sped off and the car was out of sight. Well, that was going to go over well with her client—the woman would not be happy that she’d been made. She’d have to get the photos to her first thing in the morning— and get paid—before Gordie could explain or apologize convincingly.
    “Exciting times in Stirling Falls.” She ended the call mid-dialing and returned her phone to her back pocket, then shifted her attention to the man who had intervened.
    His back was mostly to her as he stared in the direction Gordie’s car had gone. He wore a dark jacket despite the heat, chocolate-colored hair cut short—it looked like a fresh trim. Caucasian. Little else she could make out. Tash took a step to the right, casually, angling herself to at least see his profile. His nose was well-cut and proud, jaw square and a flicker of movement suggested he ground his teeth. She couldn’t make out the color of his eyes with the shadow streetlights cast, but they were narrowed, still, on where Gordie had disappeared.
    “Thanks,” she offered as she continued to study him.
    He turned, shifting his attention away from the direction Gordie had taken. The hardness of his expression faded as his eyes settled on hers.
    A rolling heat burned under her skin, her heart fluttering with just a smoldering look. Her mouth was