by Doug Solter
Nadia stood on this side of the forest and watched the trees for movement.
“What’s going on?” Emma asked.
“We’ve trapped him. He’s in this area,” Nadia said.
Olivia’s voice called out to the woods, “Me and the girls here only want to have a chat with you. Make it easy on yourself, Mr. Petit. Drop the knife and come out.”
The trees didn’t answer.
“We know you’re in here, you twit. Don’t make us come in and get you,” Olivia yelled, losing her composure. “See anything, Miyuki?”
“No.”
“Nadia?”
“Not at all.”
“I know you think we’re just a bunch of girls,” Olivia yelled, “but we’ll sit here all flipping night if we have to, and then you’ll have to fight all four of us at daybreak. Just remember, you caught us half-asleep tonight and we still chased you out of our bedroom. Imagine how pissed we’ll be if you make us wait all night.” Olivia’s silhouette walked a few feet “You think girls are monsters on their period, love? Try keeping us from our morning coffee.”
Once again, silence echoed from the trees.
Then something ruffled the bushes near Nadia and Emma.
Nadia prepared herself. Emma remembered the gun and flipped off the safety, aiming it at the bushes, keeping her finger off the trigger until she had a target.
Something was moving. They could see a dark form moving from tree to tree, hiding behind the trunks. It moved to the tree nearest to Nadia.
Miyuki’s voice yelled, “Hey! He’s heading for—”
Bertrand lunged out of the forest, the sharp end of the knife leading the way as he charged.
Nadia swung her leg out for a strike, but Bertrand veered away and her leg missed.
Bertrand headed for Emma.
She pointed the gun and placed her finger on the trigger.
Bertrand stopped with the knife still in his hand. There was fear in his eyes.
Olivia and Miyuki ran up to them.
Bertrand lowered the knife and kept his left hand up in the air, a gesture of surrender.
“Drop the knife,” Olivia said, her voice all business.
Bertrand tossed it to the side and Nadia secured it. He brought both hands up to surrender.
“Well done, Emma,” Miyuki said.
Emma’s finger tightened on the cold trigger. The man who killed her dad and all those men. The man who tried to kill Emma and her friends…twice. He was right here. Right now. One squeeze of her finger and she could issue the justice her dad so rightly deserved.
“Said you wanted to talk, oui?” Bertrand asked. “I’m open to that.”
“Now that you’ve lost your knife?” Olivia said.
The man shrugged. “Give me a good deal and I’ll tell you what you want to know.”
“Did you kill Kenneth Rothchild?” Emma demanded.
“Look, I know you girls are working for someone. Depending on what they offer me, I could answer all your questions.”
“You’d be willing to do that?” Olivia asked.
“Here’s my offer,” Emma said. “Answer my questions or I’ll shoot you.”
“Emma, chill a second. This could be important.”
“Olivia, stay out of this.”
“He’s offering us information.”
“Did you kill my dad?” Emma screamed. She was through being calm.
Bertrand glanced at Olivia and then the other two girls.
“Answer me!” Emma yelled.
“Yes.”
A relief came over Emma. She needed to hear him say it. She needed to be sure.
“Thank you.”
Olivia stepped in front of the gun. “Put that flipping thing down, you twit.”
“Get away from him.”
“I’m not going to let you shoot him. We need him alive.”
“He killed my dad.”
“And he’ll face the consequences. Mrs. B will make sure of that.”
“This will be the consequence. Right here. Right now.”
Olivia swallowed and moved cautiously toward Emma. “Why don’t you shoot both of us, then? I know you’re not too fond of me either.”
“What?”
“Go ahead. It’ll make you feel better, right? Funny how you can’t shoot a fawn, but you love the idea of shooting people.”
“Please step away.” Emma heard her voice crack and waver. She was losing it.
Another hand touched her arm. “This not you, Emma. You’re not a killer.” Miyuki’s calming voice took Emma down a notch.
She could feel her resolve breaking into pieces.
Emma lowered the gun and Miyuki removed it from her hand and gave it to Olivia.
Miyuki brushed Emma’s cheek; only then did Emma realize she was crying.
Chapter 22
Bertrand Petit’s flashlight made circular patterns of light against the bushes and the tree trunks as the Gems made the Frenchman walk deeper into the dark forest. Emma still had two hair scrunchies in her back pocket, so Olivia used them to bind Bertrand Petit’s hands and legs together so the gun wouldn’t be necessary. They needed to contact Mrs. B, but their phones were back at Mr. Raymond’s mansion, so Emma volunteered to go back to get them.
“Fetch the car keys too,” Nadia said, “in case we need to relocate our new friend.”
Leaving the flashlight behind with the girls, Emma trekked through the dark forest, heading in the direction they came from and following the faint glow of the floodlights coming from Mr. Raymond’s mansion. When Emma broke out of the forest and into the clearing, she noticed a group of people standing in the floodlights next to the mansion: Mr. Raymond, Ryan, Jacqueline, and a trio of men holding guns.
“What happened?” Mr. Raymond asked. “Why are you wandering the grounds alone?”
Emma hesitated. This needed to be good. “A coyote chased this poor Siamese kitty up on to the roof, and they were creating a heck of a noise, yowling at each other. Well, the kitty lost its balance and tumbled off the roof, where the coyote could get at the poor thing. So we yelled out the window and tried to scare the coyote off. Before you know it, we’re all climbing out the window and creating this huge commotion to drive the coyote away. Then we ended up jumping off the roof and chasing it into the forest. The Siamese kitty ran off too, poor thing was so scared, but the girls found him and coaxed him out. We’re thinking about taking the kitty back with us.”
Jacqueline scoffed. “This is all over a stupid feline?”
Mr. Raymond chuckled to himself. “Silly girls. You triggered the burglar alarms.” He glanced at his men. “Stand down.” The men nodded and holstered their weapons. “Please tell your friends to hurry up. My men can’t reset the alarms until they’re back.” Mr. Raymond headed back inside.
Jacqueline watched Emma for a long moment.
Emma grinned.
Jacqueline didn’t respond as she withdrew back inside also.
“A cat?” Ryan yawned.
“A Siamese kitty cat. Yes,” Emma said with her brow raised.
“Did the cat try to eat your shoe?”
Emma looked down at her shoe with the bullet hole. Hmm. How could she explain that?
“The coyote did that. I was trying to keep him away from the kitty.”
“Did you get bit?” Ryan asked, quite concerned. “Those coyotes could have rabies, you know.”
“Nope, and I still have all my toes,” Emma said. “Why don’t you go back to bed? I’ll give you the full play-by-play in the morning.”
Ryan nodded and his sleepy eyes blinked as Emma followed him inside the mansion and up the stairs.
Emma parted ways from him at the scary stuffed Grizzly bear and went up to the girls’ room. She grabbed all their phones and the keys to the car before slipping back outside. One of the guards told Emma to be back with her friends in no less than ten minutes or they would drag them back. Emma nodded before rushing back into the forest. She found the girls again
and gave Olivia her phone. She called Mrs. B on a scrambled satellite line. They woke her up, but the woman didn’t mind when Olivia told her the reason.
Olivia activated the speaker mode and held the phone up to Bertrand, whose hands were immobilized.
“What information do you offer?” Mrs. B’s voice asked through Olivia’s phone. “Why shouldn’t we throw you in a dark cell and let you rot in it?”
“The FBI can’t do that. You must follow rules, oui?” Bertrand replied with attitude.
“I’m afraid we don’t answer to the FBI or any other organization. We make our own rules. No one has to hear from you ever again, if that is what we wish, Mr. Petit.”
Bertrand pondered that for a second. “Are you MI6?”
“You know who we are. Unless you’re not that bright. Judging by your performance over the last few days, I would vote for the second possibility.”
The girls smiled.
Bertrand frowned and then thought about it. “The Authority?”
“You’re a genius,” Olivia said.
Bertrand struggled against his bonds. “If I wasn’t tied up…”
“Please spare my girls your macho attitude. It’s quite pointless. Let’s get back on point. What can you offer us?” Mrs. B asked again, sounding impatient.
“You’ve heard of Venomous, oui? The group.”
“The organization you are no doubt a part of, yes.”
“I have information about the group. Code names. Plans. Could be valuable to you.”
“Possibly. Tell us some information and we’ll see how much it’s worth.”
“Not yet. I want a deal in place first.”
Mrs. B paused on the phone. “If you say that you want a million dollars and a private island, I’ll have these girls string you up and play hit the piñata until you bust wide open.”
“You look like a bunch of nice girls. You wouldn’t do that.”
Olivia smirked. “Black Opal here wanted to use you as target practice. Maybe she’d like another go at it?” Olivia held out the pistol.
Emma reached for it.
“Don’t be so hasty,” the man said. “How about I join you? Be one of those consultants? I know a lot. I could be valuable.”
“Joining our organization as an equal is quite out of the question,” Mrs. B said over the phone. “But we could relocate you to somewhere pleasant. You would, of course, have to earn such a privilege. How about answering a few questions first?”
“I’ve got one,” Olivia said. “Is Jacqueline giving the orders? Is she a Venomous plant?”
“She’s one of our agents. High up on the chain. The sixty-ninth of the order, to be exact.”
“And who else?” Olivia asked.
“What about Mr. Raymond?” Mrs. B asked. “Is he a part of all this, or is he a Venomous pawn?”
“When you say somewhere pleasant, are we hinting at Tahiti? I would enjoy Tahiti.”
“So far you’ve only earned West Texas,” Mrs. B said through the phone. “Keep talking and we’ll see.”
“You posed as an AirTech engineer,” Nadia said. “You worked on the new climate control systems for all those facilities owned by Raymond Foods. Were you responsible for the special modifications to them?”
“Yes. And I also worked on the projects at Ovechkin-Komstat in Ukraine. Kyo-Shun in China. The Lester-Sumner Company in Australia. Ganchi Farms in Mumbai.”
“What was the purpose of all these modifications?” Mrs. B asked. “What is Venomous planning?”
“You know what? I’d also want a car. How about a Maserati? I would enjoy one of those in Tahiti.”
“Answer the question,” Mrs. B said, sharp as a knife.
Olivia cocked the hammer back on the pistol, but didn’t aim it. “Answer the lady’s question, Mr. Petit.”
“No Maserati? I’ll take a Lexus then. Surely The Authority could afford—” Bertrand slumped over and stopped talking.
Olivia shook him. “Hey! Oy! Can you hear me?”
Emma’s eyes widened. There was the end of a large arrow stuck in the man’s chest.
“What is that?” Nadia asked.
“Over there!” Miyuki pointed at a figure running from a tree with a crossbow in his hand.
Miyuki broke out into a run and chased after him. Emma and Nadia ran after her while Olivia knelt down to check on Bertrand.
He was dead.
The assassin weaved through the trees of the forest. But Miyuki picked up speed and closed in on him. The girl was like an Olympic athlete in the gold medal race. Emma was amazed at how in-shape she was. Miyuki chased the assassin down a hill, then up and over another hill until there was a county road at the bottom, where a car waited.
The assassin reached the road and swung around. Reaching behind him, the hooded figure pulled out an arrow. He inserted it into the crossbow and pulled back the string, locking it in place. The figure took aim.
The arrow swooshed over Miyuki’s head as she dropped to the ground. The arrow thumped against a tree right next to Emma, making her freeze in her tracks.
The assassin slid behind the wheel and the car roared to life.
Miyuki jumped to her feet and ran to the road.
The car gunned forward. Its headlights shone against Miyuki’s body. She tumbled out of the way just as the car sped off down the road.
“Are you all right?” Nadia called out.
Miyuki flashed her a thumbs-up.
Nadia watched the car for a moment and then swiveled to Emma. “We can still catch him.” Nadia ran off, heading back towards the forest.
“We can? How? Where are you going?” Emma asked before whistling to Miyuki and signaling for her to follow.
The three girls ran back the way they came, zipping past Olivia heading in the opposite direction. The confused girl stopped and threw out her arms.
“What the hell is going on?”
The other girls didn’t answer, as they were too busy running.
Olivia cursed to herself and ran after them.
The girls made it all the way to Mr. Raymond’s mansion. Nadia headed for their rented BMW in the driveway. Emma felt almost out of breath, but she pushed herself harder and jumped into the passenger seat without thinking. Nadia fired up the engine and Miyuki slipped in back. Nadia swung the car around, throwing gravel everywhere as she accelerated.
“Wait a flipping second,” Olivia yelled as she ran after the car.
Nadia braked hard and Miyuki opened the door.
Olivia jumped in headfirst as Nadia gunned the car forward.
“What’s going on? Where’s the assassin? Why are you girls running around the forest like a bunch of psychotic chipmunks?” Olivia sounded like she was on the verge of freaking out.
“How can you find him?” Emma asked.
Nadia swung the BMW into a perfect ninety-degree right turn and put in just enough input on the wheel to keep the car from fishtailing. “The assassin’s still trapped inside the compound. That service road he’s on circles around the back and empties out right here near the main gate.”
Nadia guided the BMW up the gravel drive and they soon reached the main gate. The iron gates sat wide open with damage to both ends. One of the guards was on his phone, most likely calling it in.
“Monkey balls! He’s already been here,” Miyuki said.
Nadia gunned the engine and flew through the busted gate. “He can’t be too far ahead.”
The speedometer climbed as Nadia pushed the BMW to its performance limits. Emma checked her seat belt and hoped Nadia was a much better driver than she was. Nadia braked for a turn and accelerated into it, keeping the BMW in complete control as the tires squealed in protest. When she reached the top of a hill, Nadia kept calm as the car went slightly airborne. The girl wasn’t all over the road either. Her moves on the steering wheel were precise and had purpose. When they cleared another fast turn, a set of red taillights pierced the night.
Nadia sped up. It didn’t take long for
the BMW to close the distance. The car came into focus. Emma didn’t know much about cars. Was that the same one? The darkness didn’t help.
“Is that him?” Olivia asked.
“A gold Kia. That’s him. He almost ran me down,” Miyuki said.
“Think you can run him off the road, Nadia?”
She smiled. “Please put on your seat belts first.”
Chapter 23
The gold Kia accelerated down the dark, two-lane road as it realized the four teenage girls in the black BMW were chasing it. But the Kia’s four-banger engine was no match for the V-8 as the BMW closed.
“Don’t go crazy,” Olivia said. “Knock him off into a ditch or something.”
“Love tap!” Miyuki said.
Nadia floored the BMW and the front end smacked into the Kia with a jolt. Miyuki clapped her hands together with delight while Olivia looked like a concerned soccer mom. Emma just hoped Nadia knew what she was doing.
Nadia turned hard into the next turn. She accelerated out of it and rammed the Kia again.
Emma’s heart jumped in her chest. That was more than a love tap. The lights of the BMW exposed the Kia’s back bumper. The car’s taillights were broken and mangled. Pieces of the Korean car were falling off.
“Hit him again!” Miyuki squealed, treating this like some kind of game.
“PIT him, for flipping sake,” Olivia said. “Don’t take us out with him.”
“Pit him?” Emma asked, not familiar with the term.
“The police use the PIT maneuver to push a fleeing felon’s car into a spin so they can end a chase,” Nadia said in her calm and quiet way as she drove a car over ninety miles per hour. “I’ve only done it once, during evasive driving training.”
“Sounds dangerous,” Emma said.
“Don’t worry. I’ll be gentle.” Nadia concentrated as she swung out to the left lane and sped up. She tried to make the right front fender of the BMW line up next to the left rear of the Kia’s.