Hannah and the Hitman

Chapter 40

40

HANNAH

My hand went to my neck. I could still feel the guy’s hands, but they were gone. The cologne scent was gone. He was gone.

No, I was gone.

I spun in a circle on my sensible shoes. I wasn’t in the library. I was in Herb’s, the local grocery store. Muzak came from overhead speakers. What the actual fuck?

An older man went by, pushing a cart loaded with canned soup and cat food. He gave me a friendly, Coal Springs smile. Not the leer of the man from the plane.

I shivered and it wasn’t from the store’s AC.

Okay, I was safe. But I was also in the grocery store, not the library. It made no sense.

I breathed, I sneezed and I… teleported?

Heading past the taco fixings, I quickly made my way toward the exit .

There were two things flying through my head. I fucking teleported to the grocery store and I was almost killed by a friend of Jack’s.

I had no idea how to know how the first happened, but I definitely knew the who’d know about the second. Jack.

I stopped by the coin return kiosk and the kiddie horse ride. Wait. If the man from the plane tried to kill me, what about Jack? Was he safe? Was the other guy, the one with the caterpillar unibrow, going after him?

I patted myself down with shaky hands. I had no phone. No keys. There was no way in hell I was going back to the library to retrieve either. Although, Mr. Cologne was probably as freaked out as I was. I doubted he had someone literally slip through his fingers and disappear like I had while he’d been attempting murder. Or anything else.

Still, I didn’t want to connect with him and ask him after his half of the experience.

I needed to get to Jack.

The sliding doors of the grocery store opened, and I stepped outside.

All was normal. The sun was shining. Birds were actually chirping. People were coming and going like they hadn’t recently been in mortal danger or bent the time/space continuum.

Brittany’s dental office was a few blocks away and I speed walked in that direction, waving to a few people I knew as I went. Five minutes later, Amanda, the receptionist, pointed me to cubicle four where Brittany was working with a patient. He was tipped back in the chair, sunglasses on, dental dam in his mouth.

“Hey,” I said, catching my breath .

Brittany and Mark, one of the hygienists, looked up. So did the patient.

“Hi, Mr. Brennaman,” I said to him. He came into the library on Tuesdays to read the latest magazines. He sat in the reading nook and took his time while his wife was at Bridge Club.

“Is everything okay?” Brittany asked, her shrewd gaze raking over me. She had on blue surgical gloves, one of those bent mirrors on a stick in one hand, a big needle in the other. This wasn’t the first time I’d been to her practice during the day, but it was a first interrupting her. I was a little shaky and a whole lot sweaty. “What happened to your neck?”

I put my hand to my throat. I could only imagine the red marks that my scoop neck tee didn’t hide.

“Can I borrow your car?” I asked.

She frowned. “Um, sure. What’s going on?”

I looked to Mark and Mr. Brennaman, who were both eyeing me and waiting to hear the latest news.

I stepped close, leaned down and whispered in her ear so only she could hear. “Someone tried to kill me in the library and to get away, I teleported to the grocery store. It seems I have another superpower. I need to go see Jack and make sure he isn’t in danger as well.”

She popped to her feet, implements raised. Her wheeled stool rolled backward in her haste. Dr. Todd walked by and she stopped him. “Can you please finish up numbing Mr. Brennaman for me?”

He was in his late thirties, reed thin, and did ultramarathons for fun. He glanced between the two of us. “Sure.”

“I’ll be right back,” she told him .

Brittany set her tools on the tray, and I followed her down the hall to her office as she ripped off her gloves and tossed them into a trash can.

She shut the door behind her and leaned against it. “What do you mean you teleported?” Her voice was a whisper, even though we were alone.

I flung up my arms. “I have no idea!” I hissed. “One second I was being strangled, the next I was in the grocery store.”

“Why the store?”

“ That’s your question? Not, why was I being strangled?”

“Good point. Are you okay? Your neck is all red. Jesus, that’s scary as hell.”

I nodded, touching the spot where the man had grabbed me. “It was one of the men traveling on the plane with Jack.”

“What?” Her eyes widened. “He wants you dead?”

“Jack?” I shook my head. “I think someone wants him dead.”

“Then why go after you?”

“He said Jack was taking too much interest in me.”

“Why does that matter?”

“I have no idea, but I need to go to Jack and warn him.”

“Are you sure? I mean, what if he sent the man? God, you could be dating a murderer!”

“I told you that all along!” I said, my voice rising. “You and Mrs. Metcalf didn’t care.”

“Right, well, clearly, we can make mistakes. But, Han, he can’t want you dead. He went to your parents’ house for dinner. He’s literally been wooing you. ”

“We had sex. Lots and lots of really good, really naughty sex.”

Her eyes lit up like I told her I was the Tooth Fairy.

“That’s my girl.” She thought for a moment. “Why would Jack do all that–and sleep with you–then want you dead? He could find someone to kill more conveniently located in Denver without all the fuss.”

“Have you heard yourself?”

She shrugged. “It’s true. If he was going to kill you, all I’m saying is he wouldn’t introduce himself to your family. And shut down a source for really great sex.”

“I got that. Now you’re saying he’s a good guy again?”

She sighed. Shrugged. “Yes. I’m Team Jack the Orgasm Giver. He put a spring in your step and a smile on your face these last few days. He’s a keeper.”

I nodded, itching to get to Jack. “Good, I have to go. Where are your keys?”

“Not so fast, Wonder Woman. What’s this with teleporting? That’s fucking insane.”

“I don’t know!”

“You went from the library to the–”

“Grocery store.”

“That’s weird. What did you do to make it happen? Did it hurt?”

“Did it hurt ? No, it didn’t hurt. The guy was strangling me. I was freaked and mad and… bam.”

“That is so fucking cool,” she said, grinning.

“It is if you’re not being strangled by a bad guy, really are a superhero and know what the heck you’re doing. Can we talk about this later? I need to go save Jack. Oh, God. Do you think the bad guy’s still in the library? ”

“Pfft.” She waved her hand. “No way does he stick around after a woman disappears from his chokehold. I bet he’s off to see his shrink right now.”

“No one’s working right now. The library’s unlocked.”

She went around her desk, pulled her purse from the drawer and grabbed her keys.

“Sweetie, it’s the library,” she said, handing them to me. “Everything is free. No one’s going to steal books.”

I exhaled. “Good point.” I could deal with an unlocked library later. “Thanks for these.”

I held up the keys and they jingled.

“Why don’t you teleport to Denver and save on gas?”

“I ended up in the grocery store. Where would I end up if I did it again? And how do I even do it again?”

“Do you want me to strangle you to find out?”

“No!”

“Hey, Han? Remember when we were drinking lots of wine last week and I said you could save yourself?”

I nodded.

“This isn’t exactly what I meant, but it’s really cool.”

Cool. I was almost murdered, and I could teleport to the grocery store. I didn’t exactly think it was cool.