"Thanks, Mom," I whispered as I released my troop into my parents' backyard and pool area.
"Girls! Let's thank Mrs. Czrgy for letting us use her pool!" I shouted, careful only to shake my mother's hand so as not to tip the kids off as to who this really was. They'd be meeting my father—their senator—in the morning. As far as they knew, I was just some boring adult who weirdly had awesome connections. I wanted to keep things that way.
I needn't have bothered. The girls started stripping as they ran, shouting their gratitude while leaving a trail of clothing across my parents' immaculate living room as they ran to the guestroom to change into swimsuits. They emerged seconds later and hit the French doors to the outdoor pool. I could already hear them splashing.
"I called the neighbor boy—the Irish Ambassador's son—to lifeguard," Mom said softly. "They're in good hands."
I looked toward the door. "It's not them I'm worried about. How much do you like the Irish Ambassador?"
Maria winked and made her way to the pool to check things out. I let out an audible sigh.
"It's so good to see you, honey!" Mom wrapped her arms around me.
I hugged her back then pulled away, looking around to make sure no one had seen us. Judith Merrygold Wrath Czrgy was amazing. So amazing that I took my new name from her middle and maiden names. Mom was everything I wasn't. Where I was casual, she was formal. Even lounging around the house she was dressed up, wearing a sun dress with sandals. Her hair was perfect and her makeup flawless. She smelled lightly of lavender and roses. Had all of her life, really. Yet I'd never seen a perfume bottle in the house.
"Thanks for having us over." I slumped into a chair, and within seconds, she'd brought me a sweet tea.
"I heard about the unfortunate experience at the hotel," Mom said with a slight Southern accent. She'd never had that until they moved here. Mom just acclimated to any area very easily, adopting their culture, habits, and accents in a short period of time. Like her, I was also a mimic. It was probably what made me a good spy.
"How did you hear about that?" Between Maria and Mom I wondered if there'd been a story in The Washington Post: "Iowa Scouts Destroy Hotel Pool—25 Dead. Terrorists Suspected."
"It was all over the country club, darling!" She smiled, and I knew that she wasn't worried about the girls here. Just how good was the Irish Ambassador's son? Did he have crowd-control training? Riot gear?
"Your father told me about tomorrow," she said quietly. "Are you sure about this?"
I explained the whole story—about Riley's phone call and Maria's assistance. Mom nodded appropriately.
"I always liked Riley," she said when I finished. "I never trusted him, but I liked him."
"He's not dead, Mom. At least, I don't think he's dead." I was a little creeped out by her using past tense.
Mother straightened a lock of honey gold hair that wasn't even out of place. I could never remember my mother in a state of distress or undress. Her thick, blonde hair was always silky shiny and perfect. Mine was curly, dull, and unruly. I'd have to ask her what she used. Maybe it wasn't bad genetics—just bad hair products.
"So tell me about Rex and Philby." She smiled.
Mom didn't know much about Rex, and she'd never met him. She seemed overly happy that I had a boyfriend in a way that made me itch. I couldn't remember ever bringing a boy home to meet the parents. I hadn't dated at all in high school and barely in college.
Of course, they'd met Riley on a few occasions. Everyone had been polite, but there had been an undercurrent I couldn't put my finger on until Mom mentioned it just now. I knew they'd like Rex. He was far more approachable and seemed like a regular guy. The two men also looked completely different. Rex's short, dark hair and quiet demeanor were a complete contrast to Riley's outgoing California style. Riley had worked hard to cultivate that look. Most people would have been shocked to know he grew up in a tiny town in Indiana.
Philby was my cat. She looked like Hitler. I mention that again because it's something that still surprises me every time I see her. Fortunately, it was just her appearance that matched—she showed no sign of megalomaniacal despotic tendencies. Well, not yet…
My cell rang. What weirdly unbelievable timing.
"Hi, Rex," I said as he grinned back at me on FaceTime. That man could really make me melt in all the right places.
"Hey, Merry." He held up a huge cat that looked dubiously at me. "Philby says hi."
Philby belched loudly then let out an annoyed meoooooooow. Rex set him down.
I introduced my boyfriend to Mom, and the two of them exchanged the usual small talk. It was a strange way to introduce Rex to my parents but oh well. When you were a spy, you took these opportunities as you got them. When I thought of the men I'd dated in the field, Rex was certainly an acceptable improvement.
Not that I'd dated a lot when on assignment. There were fake dates and real ones. The fake dates were usually developed to infiltrate a state dinner or something like that. I'd dated Riley briefly. And there'd been one or two guys after that, but none of them took. Mostly because you move around a lot when you're an operative. You might spend a month in India then a couple of weeks in Spain. Trying to make a relationship work under those conditions is impossible.
So, I had the one or two nights out, complete with texting and phone calls. It always ended awkwardly with one of the two people leaving for somewhere else. I never took dating seriously then for that very reason. Well, except for Riley—but even that had a bad ending.
Dating Rex was completely different. It didn't help that our relationship started with lies about who I was. Fortunately, he accepted me once he knew the truth, and things had gotten kind of serious. Over time, I let my guard down and started to enjoy being with someone. Besides, he lived across the street, and we both owned our houses. Neither of us was going anywhere else anytime soon. Even though it took me a while to get used to, I liked that.
"Kittens!" Mom clapped her hands with glee as three little faces crowded onto the screen. Philby had had kittens recently—one white, one black, and one that looked like Elvis with little black sideburns on her white face. She was definitely the 1970s Elvis with her little potbelly.
"Oh, you have to let me have one," Mom pleaded.
"Really?" I asked. "Since when did you like cats?" We'd never had so much as a dust bunny when I was growing up. I had assumed Mom hated animals. I guessed I was wrong, unless she was going to sacrifice it to Satan. Hmmm… I should have probably had Maria run a background check.
"I've always loved cats. But your father doesn't. So I'll take one. Can I have the black one?"
What? Was there trouble between my parents? Why else would she want something that would drive Dad nuts? I'd have to interrogate her later.
"Okay. Once they're weaned you can have him," I said, taking the phone back. "Rex?"
The cat and her kittens disappeared, and my beyond-handsome-and-amazing boyfriend popped back on the screen. My stomach felt light, and I could feel my cheeks warming up. He really was incredible. I wished he were here with me. I didn't know if he could handle the girls, but he might have had some ideas on Riley. Or maybe he could just talk me out of dealing with it altogether. It would've been nice to have someone tell me to hand it over to the CIA and leave it alone.
"I've got to go. But I'll call you tonight, okay?" I hated cutting him off, but I had to check on the girls. In all likelihood, they were now holding Maria and the lifeguard captive.
"Alright," Rex said with a smile. "And you can fill me in then on how your troop got kicked out of the hotel pool." He hung up before I could ask him anything. Did everyone know about that? I'd have to check the internet later to see if one of the girls posted a video. Rex was a good detective, but I couldn't figure out how the intel got to Iowa so quickly.
In a way, I was lucky my boyfriend didn't give me a hard time about it. He didn't have any qualms about my past—well, except for the inconvenience of having dead guys showing up on my
doorstep. Somehow though, I knew he wouldn't be happy that Riley had asked me for help. Rex would consider that unprofessional. He'd be right, of course, but civilians didn't really understand how spies operated. We had few friends and were very loyal to our colleagues because in the field that's all we had.
I had very strong feelings for Rex too. We'd been dating for almost a year now, and it was going well, except that it was going slowly. Not that I'm in a hurry to take the step to the next level—we dated, and he was cat-sitting, but we maintained our separate residences, even if they were only across the street.
Something inside me wanted to take this further. Maybe it was because of years in the field, on the road, with relationships that lasted as long as Minute Rice. Maybe I was ready for a full-blown, serious commitment. Not marriage. I wasn't quite ready for that. And I didn't mean moving in together. There was no way I was ready for that.
Wait… So what did I mean exactly? We saw each other regularly and were monogamous. He sent me cards and flowers. He even introduced me to the guys at work as his girlfriend. So why did I feel like something was missing? Kind of like we'd skipped a step in the Relationship Handbook. Was there a Relationship Handbook? That would come in handy. I'd have to look that up when I got home. I wished Kelly, my best friend and co-leader, were here. She'd know what to do.
I shook my head to clear it. Kelly wasn't here, and I needed to focus on the problems I was dealing with right now—from Riley going missing to a rogue Scout troop. I could figure it all out on my own, right? I made my way to Mom and Dad's pool, hoping it was still full of water.
The Irish Ambassador's son was named Liam. And he was handling things very well, mainly because he was extremely handsome, and the girls were locked in his thrall. The kid was maybe twenty and had that athletic lifeguard body. Dark auburn hair framed a pair of bright green eyes. His accent was soft…just enough of a brogue that you could still understand him. To be honest, I was kind of hypnotized too.
"What's going on here?" I whispered to Maria as I pulled up a chaise lounge. All twelve girls were sitting at the edge of the pool while the attractive young man spoke to them in a soft, lyrical voice.
"He's telling them some folklore story about the water fairies. The girls haven't moved since he started speaking." I noticed that Maria said all of this without taking her eyes off of Liam. He was good.
I listened for a moment. "Can he spend the rest of the trip with us?"
Maria's eyes glinted. "I wouldn't mind that at all. But I doubt it."
I decided to slip Liam a hundred bucks when this was over. Maybe two hundred. He was definitely worth it. I wondered if he knew hypnosis.
My cell buzzed just as Liam was getting to the good part. I looked at my phone and froze.
"Maria!" I whispered.
She looked irritated that she had to take her eyes off of our Irish storyteller. "What is it?"
I got up and motioned for her to join me. We stepped away from the girls before I told her.
"It's Riley. He's calling."
CHAPTER FOUR
"Riley?" I asked as Maria and I slipped into the house. I put the phone on speaker and set it to record the call.
"Wrath…" Riley's voice was choppy, and there was a lot of static. "Help me… can't… much longer…" It was a terrible connection for a local call, which didn't make much sense.
"Where are you?" I asked. "What do you want me to do?"
"Ito… Ito…" His voice faded in and out. "They know… Get help… Maria…" The call quality was as rough as if I'd been in the Amazon. How could that be?
Maria's eyes grew wide. "I'm here, Riley! How can we help you?"
"Maria? It's… I… You have to…" Riley asked as the call ended abruptly.
"Do you think they caught him calling?" I asked as I stared at the phone. If they did, they'd know it was me. Did they know I was in DC? Would they try to find me? Were the girls in danger?
"I know what you're thinking," Maria said.
Wow. Could she read my mind? Maybe I should have her start working on the girls…starting with Betty. I'd noticed her studying my parents' pool filter system. We'd have to keep an eye on her.
"Don't panic. I don't think they've made a connection to you or we'd have noticed being followed," Maria said.
"Maybe I should send the girls home," I replied. "I can't let anything happen to them."
She shook her head. "I'm sure they'll be fine."
"What are you talking about?" I asked. "We're using them as cover tomorrow! We'll all be on Japanese soil. There's nothing we can do if they decide to hold us hostage."
Maria frowned. "And create an international incident? No, they wouldn't risk that."
"But you found chatter about Riley at the embassy." She was making sense, but in this business, you had to play devil's advocate to see both sides.
She shook her head. "Japan is an ally. If someone on the inside is responsible for taking Riley, they're working alone. I doubt they have the government's backing."
Maria was right. The Japanese government was no fan of the yakuza. And kidnapping a bunch of little girls wasn't exactly in its wheelhouse. Besides, holding my troop hostage would only be a nightmare for them in ways they could never imagine.
I sent the recording of the conversation to her cell. "Is there someone you know who can analyze this?"
Maria nodded. "I'll send it to Abdul."
"Cookie Abdul? Why would you send it to him?" Abdul Jones had bought tons of cookies from my troop last winter. He wasn't a very good spy. In fact, he was pretty awful at it. The man actually showed up in a disguise with a fake name to buy cookies. Who doesn't want anyone to know they like cookies?
"Because he'd do it for more cookies." Maria grinned. "And his sister works in IT. Could you get your hands on more peanut butter sandwich cookies?"
"I guess so," I mumbled. "Okay, send it off." Abdul had better not blow this.
"Pizza!" Mom announced as she walked into the room with six huge boxes. She plunked them down on the breakfast bar and opened them. My stomach rumbled. I never could resist pizza, especially pepperoni. If I could eat pizza for each meal, I would.
After swiping steaming, cheesy wedges from the box, Maria and I followed Mom out to the pool and set up the food as the girls played quietly in the water.
Wait, what? The girls were swimming and splashing but calmly. Every few moments, they'd turn their heads toward Liam and giggle. He'd wave back, and they'd swoon. Oh yes. Two hundred dollars at least. I could afford it. My forced retirement brought me a very handsome payout. I wondered briefly if I could export Liam to Iowa for, like, forever.
"Cannonball!" A roar came from the French doors, and Senator Michael Czrgy, clad only in swim trunks, ran out onto the deck and jumped into the pool, causing a tsunami of water and squealing girls.
"Dad's home," Mom whispered. Did I detect a note of sarcasm? What was going on with my folks? Well, whatever it was would have to wait. I did not need one more problem on this trip.
"I think you're right," Dad said an hour later as Maria and I sat in his den. The girls were dried off, dressed, and watching a movie with Liam and Mom.
"The ambassador wouldn't have anything to do with organized crime. Someone else must be doing this without his knowledge. But I still don't think we should involve him. We'll just stick to the plan tomorrow."
Maria nodded. "I'll go check on the girls so you two can have a little time together." She smiled at Dad as she let herself out. "Nice to meet you, Senator."
I hugged my father. "Thanks for helping out, Dad. I really appreciate it."
"Well, kiddo, anything I can do to help, just let me know."
Michael Czrgy was every inch as handsome as his wife was beautiful. Sandy brown hair with green eyes, he was a force to be reckoned with politically. His demeanor was a bit different from Mom's. While he could terrify his enemies on Capitol Hill, he was really a big softie with a great sense of humor. They matched each other perfectly.
If something was wrong, I couldn't for the life of me figure out what it was.
"I'm sorry to drag you into this," I said honestly.
"Nonsense. It'll be fun!" Dad slapped his hand on his desk, making me jump.
"Is everything alright with you and Mom?" I asked.
He frowned. "What do you mean?" I couldn't help noticing his eyes avoiding mine.
"That you didn't answer 'no' to that question." I folded my arms over my chest.
"Everything's fine. Don't worry about us." He gave me a look that I recognized as this conversation is over.
But he'd said, "Don't worry about us," which meant something was wrong between my parents.
"I hear Mom got to meet Rex and the cats," Dad said. "She likes him."
"And you're getting one of the kittens," I added, trying to bring the conversation back around to the issue of marital discontent.
Dad frowned. "So I hear. Oh, well. Your Mom spends a lot of time alone here in this big house. I don't blame her. I just wish she'd asked for a dog."
"There's still time left for you to change her mind. The kittens aren't weaned."
My father ran his hands through his hair as he thought about this. "No, that's okay. Let her have it."
I studied my dad. Throughout my life as an only child, I'd never seen my parents disagree, let alone argue. They always seemed happy. The perfect couple. My mother never said anything derogatory about Dad and vice versa. In fact, they were far more likely to team up on me instead of each other.
Dad wasn't a senator when I was a kid. He was an attorney who worked long hours but still found time to spend with Mom and me. My mother was the perfect stay-at-home parent—the envy of the PTA and adored by everyone who met her. We took the usual family vacations a few times a year and always had a good time.
Most only children would tell you they wished they'd had siblings to commiserate with, but I didn't. This didn't mean my parents spoiled me at all. I had to have a part-time job, get good grades, and behave responsibly. If I screwed up, I got in trouble, and if I did well, I was praised. I couldn't remember any time when I'd asked my parents for a sister or brother.
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