Smart. Military of some kind. Probably covert ops. Definitely not a uniform. There was nothing desk job about the woman or the way she was sizing him up. John was smiling before he even recognized what she'd said. It'd been a long time since he'd had a female agent after him. They tended to avoid the conflict of interest to send men to bring him in.
Or they had.
Until he'd been confirmed legally dead.
"Haven't you ever heard Hell doesn't need you to believe in it for it to exist?"
It was a playful comment. Easy. How long had it been since he'd had anything easy? Seventy years? A hundred? More? Time stopped mattering when every day was spent in Hell. John only knew he was tired of fighting. This woman didn't seem interested in a fight, but she did seem interested in seeing what kind of fight he could bring to the table if one broke out.
Cocking a brow at the strange creature at her feet, he stated, "Seen a lot of things in Hell, but nothing like that. Do you call it a dog? Thing's almost on the level of a hellhound. Almost."
He shrugged. It didn't matter to him much what the thing was as long as it didn't come at him. John had already figured he could snap its neck if it lunged for him. Most things died from a broken neck. They slowed down even if they didn't die. All he needed was a little time. He'd learned all about making it work over the ages in the pit.
"I will say I'm a bad drunk, but I won't turn down the chance to sit and talk. You covert ops? A member of one of the alphabet soup gang? Private practice? You're not a civilian. I know that much. I have some experience with all of those. Former Marine myself since you were wondering."
The Marine Corps hadn't taught John half of what he'd needed to get through his life. He wasn't about to tell a strange woman on the street how all the best lessons he'd ever learned had been in Hell. She didn't need to know him that well. No one needed to know him that well. John wasn't sure dropping himself into the bottom of a bottle when he'd just climbed his way out of Hell was a great idea, but he'd take it if she insisted.