The Hitwoman's Charity Case: A Comical Crime Caper Book 36 in the Confessions of a Slightly Neurotic Hitwoman series

THE HITWOMAN'S CHARITY CASE A COMICAL CRIME CAPER CONFESSIONS OF A SLIGHTLY NEUROTIC HITWOMAN BOOK 36 JB LYNN Copyright © Jennifer Baum THE HITWOMAN’S CHARITY CASE All rights reserved. Except as permitted by US copyright act of 1976, no part of this publication may be reproduced distributed or transmitted in any form or by any means, or stored in any database or retrieval system, without prior permission of the author. The scanning, uploading, and distribution of this book via the Internet or via other means without the permission of the publisher is illegal and punishable by law. Please purchase only authorized electronic editions and do not participate in or encourage electronic piracy of copyrighted materials. This book is a work of fiction. Names, characters, establishments, or organizations, and incidents are either products of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously to give a sense of authenticity. Any resemblance to actual persons living or dead, events, or locales is entirely coincidental. The Hitwoman’s Charity Case is intended for 18+ older and for mature audiences only. ©2023 Jennifer Baum Editor: Parisa Zolfaghari Cover designer: AM Design Studios Proofreader: Proof Before You Publish Formatting: Leiha Mann CONTENTS A note Chapter 1 Chapter 2 Chapter 3 Chapter 4 Chapter 5 Chapter 6 Chapter 7 Chapter 8 Chapter 9 Chapter 10 Chapter 11 Chapter 12 Chapter 13 Chapter 14 Chapter 15 Chapter 16 Chapter 17 Chapter 18 Chapter 19 Chapter 20 Chapter 21 Chapter 22 Chapter 23 Chapter 24 Chapter 25 Chapter 26 Chapter 27 Chapter 28 Chapter 29 Chapter 30 Chapter 31 Chapter 32 Chapter 33 Chapter 34 The Hitwoman's Egg Hunt Author’s Note Kiki Long Mysteries Cursed Chicks Club Psychic Consignment Mystery Series Also by JB Lynn About JB Lynn Don't forget to follow me on BookBub for news about new releases and special deals. And sign up for my newsletter for exclusive content and giveaways! 1 You just know it’s going to be a bad day when you’re staring at an empty bed. “He’s not there,” I whispered. “What do you mean, he’s not there?” God, the anole lizard currently curled up in my bra, demanded. I could feel him clambering his way up my bra strap, as though he didn’t trust my observation and wanted to see for himself. “The room is empty,” I said. I glanced around the sterile hospital room, with its drab walls and drop-tile ceiling. It smelled faintly of antiseptic and was five degrees cooler than I was comfortable with. I shivered. God, having reached my shoulder, confirmed, “He’s not here.” He managed to sound surprised. “Excuse me,” a voice said from behind me. Whirling around, I plastered a smile on my face. It drooped when I saw a middle-aged nurse in purple scrubs staring at me. “The patient that was in this room,” I said quickly. “Where is he?” “Gino?” she asked. I nodded, fighting to keep my smile in place. I’m not sure how I felt about her referring to my boyfriend with such familiarity. “He left in the middle of the night,” she said, putting her hands on her hips and shaking her head disapprovingly. “Against doctor’s orders.” Alarm filled me. “What do you mean he left?” I still wasn’t sure exactly what was wrong with Gino. He’d ended up in the hospital a couple of days after getting banged up in a fight trying to protect his boss, the mobster, Delveccio. She shrugged. “Can’t help you, honey. He’s just gone.” I frowned, took one more glance around the empty room, and stalked out. “Where could he have gone?” I muttered. “Maybe home,” God suggested. “Maybe,” I said doubtfully. Even though it was a logical guess, I doubted that Gino was doing anything so predictable. Still, it was worth a shot. I left the hospital and drove directly to Gino’s house. I banged on the door and got no answer. “Why don’t you just go inside and look,” God asked. I shook my head. Gino and I had been in a strange place ever since his crazy ex-fiancée had kidnapped and tried to kill him. I didn’t think he’d appreciate me invading his private space, especially if I had to break a window to do it. “I’ll go see if I can catch Delveccio at the compound,” I said, sprinting for my car. The lizard let out a startled yelp as my sudden movement almost sent him flying. “And what will you do if you don’t catch him?” he asked breathlessly as I dove behind the steering wheel. “Then, I’ll go to Delveccio’s house, and I’ll bang down his door until he tells me where Gino is.” “You do know that you’re talking about threatening the head of a powerful crime syndicate, don’t you?” God asked. “He owes me.” “And you owe him,” God reminded me. “I don’t think it’s a good idea for you to be going off half-cocked. It’s not Delveccio’s fault that Gino is acting…strangely.” I knew that the lizard was right, but I didn’t respond to his comment. We drove the rest of the way back to the family compound in silence. When I’d gotten halfway down the driveway, Alejandro, the llama, came barreling out. I slammed on the brakes, already knowing what he was going to tell me, but I rolled down my window anyway. “The boy child is being picked up,” he said in his Peruvian accent. “Thank you,” I replied. “Anything else I should know about?” “Only that I am on patrol and will keep everyone safe,” the llama promised. “Great.” I flashed him a thumbs up and continued down the driveway, knowing I’d soon be having the same conversation with the blind peacock, Percival. To my surprise, the colorful bird didn’t stop me. I reached the barn, where the kids’ classroom was, without being accosted by another animal. The rear door of the black sedan beside the barn opened the moment I slid to a stop in front of the building. Delveccio, the mob boss, climbed