Page 144 of Pucker Factor

My head snapped up, but I didn’t turn around. I couldn’t be sure it was real. That voice, so soft and gentle, reminded me of a woman that touched my heart like no other woman had. I swallowed hard, wondering if it was really her.

I glanced down at my bloodstained clothes and grimaced. This was no way for me to see her. What would she think of me?

“Fox, I need you to look at me.”

For just a moment, I was ashamed that she had to see me like this. At least it wasn’t Anna. She would understand a little too much. I closed my eyes and resigned myself to the fact that I had to look at her. But every time I saw her, it was like looking at her mother with that radiant smile that made me feel at home. I’d known her for only a few short months, but she changed my life, made me feel like I had family again. And then she was gone.

I slowly spun on my hell, shoving my knife in the pocket at my hip. Her eyes watched me carefully as I did my best to school my features.

“Done?”

I slid my gaze slowly over the man on the table and nodded. She held her hand out to me.

“It’s time to come home.”

“I’m not sure that’s a good idea.”

“But I have a very important job for you,” she beamed. “It’s time for you to come home and be a godfather again.”

My head snapped up and a wide grin split my lips. “You’re gonna have another baby?”

“Yeah, what?” Red asked, stomping out of the shadows.

“I just found out,” she grinned.

“And you want me to be the godfather again? I know I screwed it up last time with the holy water. I thought you were supposed to drink it,” I said honestly.

“Why is he finding outagainthat you’re pregnant before I do?” Red snapped.

“We have baby names to discuss and a nursery to paint,” Zoe continued. “And I have an idea this time it’s a boy.”

My eyes widened in awe. “A boy. We could name him Neal.”

“Maybe,” she laughed.

“Or we could name him after me,” Red growled.

“Nobody wants to name their kid after a tree,” I scoffed. I sighed, finally feeling content and ready to go home. “Another baby.”

“You have your own kids,” Red argued. “Go fawn over them.”

I picked up a rag and wiped off my hands, then tossed it on top of the man that had now expired. “I just love babies. They’re a sign of life. And look! I just took one life, and you’re replacing him with one so much better!”

“Well, I prefer not to think of this when I deliver my kid,” Zoe laughed, “but I like the sentiment of taking someone bad out of this world.”

“Again, not that you care at all about my opinion, but maybe we couldnotlink a murder to our baby. It’s gotta be bad juju or something,” Red added as we walked out the door.

Cash jerked his head at me. “Feel better?”

I looked up at the sky and sighed. “New babies always make me feel better. Should we go home?”

“What about the body?” Red muttered.

I waved my hand at him. “Don’t worry about it. I have it covered.”

“Of course you do,” he grunted.

“You know, I get the feeling you’re not happy about this baby,” I said, wrapping my arm around Zoe and drawing her closer.

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