“I did call almost every person in my company,” Simon said. “Maybe someone talked accidentally. Mentioned the ‘prank.’”
“One of your employees—”
“Would never. Besides, what would they stand to gain? A different boss?”
That was true. From what she’d seen in articles and heard by word of mouth, Simon had always led his company competently and confidently. There were no rumors of poor working conditions or dissatisfied employees. Why would anyone risk getting a new, possibly worse boss? They wouldn’t.
But the competition …
Her heart squeezed. Somebody out there wanted Simon dead, and they had no idea who. And she was the most useless witch; how could she ever protect him? For every charm she couldmake him wear, there’d be her bad luck to balance it out. And with Simon unable to get away from her, that bad luck would follow him everywhere.
They needed to break that bond. As for Chris …
“So, what do you intend to do with me?” Chris asked, as if reading her mind.
Simon paced the kitchen. “You’re not going back. Yet. Let the man think you’re still working on the job. In the meantime, you’ll help me find out who hired you.”
“But how are you going to find him?” Shanna asked.
“You heard his voice and got a glimpse of his face, yes?” Simon waited for Chris to nod. “You said he acted oddly, like he wasn’t used to this, so my guess is this is someone in an important position, not a random goon they’d hired. I’ll think of the possible candidates and show them to you. We’ll see if anyone matches.”
He continued to pace, his tone shifting to the more lively one Shanna was used to from when he talked about exciting business propositions. “Before Vegas, we were about to make a deal with InTech, but I canceled it. They could still be butthurt; that’s one candidate. Imarla—they were always jealous of us. Or it could be a disgruntled former employee of one of the companies I’d acquired. Somebody, somewhere, has got a bone to pick with me. And we’ll find him.”
“And then you’ll let me go?” Chris raised a dubious eyebrow.
Simon looked at Shanna.
“I think she’s learned her lesson,” Shanna said.
“Totes,” Chris quickly agreed. “No more taking on assassination contracts.”
Simon sighed. “Then I’ll let you go.”
Only as Shanna yawned and remembered she should get back to bed—and wondered how she’d be able to fall asleep at all—did she realize the sky outside was already turning a lighter blue. And Gran had always been an early riser.
The stairs in the hallway creaked. Gran shuffled into the kitchen and fixed on her glasses, coming to a dead stop as she noticed the company.
“Morning, Gran,” Shanna greeted her with a smile. “We got an early start today. Meet Chris. She came to kill Simon during the night.”
Chapter 6
Shanna ran to the playground, spotting Leanne’s bouncy black hair at the swing set. “Leanne, Leanne! I brought Gran’s pack of herbs, like I said I would! Now we can be witches togeth—”
Leanne punched out instinctively, sending Shanna stumbling into the sand.
Shanna blew her hair off her face. Why didn’t Leanne let her hug her? They’d been friends since Shanna could remember, and she’d only been gone for a week with Mommy and Granny.
“Go away,” Leanne said.
“But—”
“Mommy!” Leanne ran toward a group of adults. “There’s a strange girl here.” She hid behind one of the women, looking at Shanna as if she’d fallen from the sky to attack her.
Shanna drew her scratched, dusty knees up to her chest and sniffled.
Why was her best friend suddenly acting like she didn’t know her?
***
