Marshmallow S'More Murder

by Leslie Langtry

  "I understand," Kelly replied. "And maybe you can do both. But you have to promise me if it gets bad, you'll send the girls home."

  "My parents seem to want them here. I'm not worried when the girls are with them. Dad has access to security services. And the police would respond instantly to a senator's call."

  "Merry," Kelly said. "I know you want to help Riley. And I have to admit, if I was there, I'd probably do the same thing. But you can't multitask this. You aren't Super Spy."

  "Right," I said, a little wounded. Who didn't want to be Super Spy? "I said I'd promise to send the girls home if it gets bad. But that's not why I called. I called because I need some detective work done."

  "And you thought a woman who is more than nine months pregnant could do that? Are you nuts?"

  I deflated. What did I expect her to do? Midori's body had already been found. There was nothing she could do to help.

  "No. I just wanted to go over some details with you and ask you how I should break the news to Rex."

  "What? You're going to tell your boyfriend now? And you won't tell the CIA? You really are crazy!" Kelly was reaching a point of agitation that couldn't possibly be good for the baby.

  "Rex can do some detecting," I insisted. "It's his job. Besides, he might be able to find out a little more on what happened to Midori's body once it was found."

  "I don't know, Merry." I could sense my best friend rolling her eyes at me. "If you tell him, you risk losing him. He won't take too kindly to you covering up a murder across the street from his house. Not to mention the fact that you never told him about it in the year you've been going out."

  I slumped. "I've thought about all that."

  "Is Riley worth it?" Kelly asked.

  And there it was. Out in the open. Was Riley worth it? On the one hand, he'd saved my ass with helping cover up Midori's murder. But on the other hand, he was my former boss and still employed with the CIA.

  "His life is. He's my friend," I mumbled.

  "I didn't mean it that way," Kelly said after a moment. "I meant shouldn't you think about yourself for once? You're not on missions anymore. You're no longer a secret agent. You're a Girl Scout leader, girlfriend, owner of multiple, weird-looking cats, and someone's best friend. Riley needs to face the consequences."

  "So you don't think I should involve Rex at all?" I asked, maybe a little too hopefully.

  "I guess I don't know. You should definitely tell him about it at some point. But do you want to do that over the phone? Do you want him to dump you from one thousand miles away?"

  Of course I didn't want that. My feelings for Rex were very real. I was starting to envision a future with him. That was something spies rarely did. We didn't think past tomorrow. The future was too unpredictable. But now, I was beginning to imagine what it would be like to spend the rest of our lives together. This kind of permanency was new to me. The longest relationship I'd had before Rex was with Riley—and that was only as partners at work and now…friends.

  "Thanks, Kelly," I said. "You've given me a lot to think about."

  "Just call me before you do something stupid, okay?" I could tell she was worried.

  "Okay. Make sure your husband lets me know if the baby comes while I'm out here."

  Kelly agreed, and we hung up.

  This was hard. A week ago I would've thought the hardest thing about this trip would be that the girls would get lost. Now things were a lot worse.

  Maybe Kelly was right. I should turn this over to Maria. Of course, then she'd leave me, and I'd be stuck with Evelyn Trout—the surly mother of one of the Kaitlins. Whichever Kaitlin it was probably liked Maria more than her mother. None of them claimed her.

  If I turned this over to Maria, she'd have the whole Agency behind her. All the resources they had would be targeted toward finding rogue agent Riley. And Riley should know that. He had to know that he was putting me and my troop in danger. He knew we were coming to DC.

  Now I felt a little angry. How could he put us in this position? It was selfish. Well, that was Riley. It had always kind of been about him. From his bevy of blondes to his perfect tan and body. Riley was very much into himself.

  Except that he hadn't been. Not really. He'd come back last year to help me when I had dead terrorists popping up all around me. He'd helped me hide Midori to keep me out of the limelight and away from the prying eyes of the yakuza and the Agency. Riley had been there every time I'd been in trouble. He looked out for me.

  And he'd kissed me. More than once too. Riley had confused me with his attentions. More than once I'd wondered if he was into me. All that changed when I chose Rex. I'd made the right decision. Hadn't I?

  Oh, wow. I was rehashing this all over again. Didn't I just do that in the truck before we were attacked by Mr. Fancy Pants? I needed to make a decision about Riley's situation before we all ended up dead…or worse.

  I needed to keep my head clear now. I'd do whatever I could to keep the girls' trip going without putting them in danger. I'd have to remember what my priorities were. If I could help Riley and allow the girls to stay on and finish their tour of DC, I'd keep going. But when things got bad…

  "Wow." Maria interrupted me from the doorway. "You're doing some intense thinking."

  She closed the door and sat on the bed opposite me. "The girls are asleep. Want to talk?"

  "Where's Evelyn?" I asked in an attempt to stall.

  Maria waved her hand in the air. "Sloshing around the kitchen. I think she hit the bar after a major shopping spree. You should see all the bags in her room! It's as if she'd never seen a Macy's or Nordstrom before."

  I shook my head. "We don't have those stores back home. You have to drive five hours to either Chicago or Minneapolis to find something like that."

  "Well, she's making up for lost time. I spotted a bill for spa services on the kitchen counter. She owes the hotel a lot of money. Make sure she pays her share before you check out." Maria stretched and crossed her legs.

  "What would happen if I just turned the hunt for Riley over to you and the Agency?" I blurted out.

  "Ah. So that's what's been on your mind. Well, I'm pretty sure we'd find Riley. But he'd probably be drummed out of the CIA and possibly do some jail time. On the other hand, we'd be able to protect him from the yakuza."

  "Is there any way you could find out if anyone did an autopsy on Midori after she was found?" I asked.

  Maria frowned. "If the Japanese government ordered one, I could. But if the yakuza took control of her remains, I doubt it. Why?"

  "Just wondering," I said. "At the time, we found her in a puddle of blood on my kitchen floor. Her neck was broken from a blow to the base of her skull with a blunt object. But maybe there was more to it."

  "You're thinking if you solved the murder, you could get them to release Riley, aren't you?" Maria asked.

  I threw my hands up. "Well, why not? It could happen. Then we'd get the yakuza off our backs and free Riley."

  She studied me for a moment. "I appreciate what you're doing. I really do. You don't want to get me or Riley in trouble. But how can you solve a murder that happened a year ago, halfway across the country, while you are here?"

  "Can you get the intel or not?" I asked.

  "Sure. I'll try. I'll head to the black box tonight and see what I can find out." She pointed at me. "But you need to get some sleep. You look like hell."

  "I haven't slept very well since this whole thing started," I admitted.

  "Take my bed. I'll crash on the couch tonight. That's not a suggestion—it's an order."

  She was probably right. I felt like I'd been hit by a semitruck with a king vulture hood ornament. I agreed and lay down on the bed, fully dressed. I was out in seconds.

  I cleared the apartment and found nothing. There wasn't even any evidence of a break-in. Stuffing the note with the phone number into my pocket, I dialed Riley.

  "My safe house has been compromised," was all I said.

  "Meet me at the offi
ce," was all he said. I packed a small duffle with everything I had and left.

  Once again, I found myself out in the drizzly Tokyo night. I couldn't really take a cab from one safe house to another, so I walked. Walking at night didn't bother me. I could handle myself. Besides, it gave me time to think.

  Who had broken into my apartment and left the number? Probably the same person who texted me the address earlier. I thought about the woman Riley had an affair with. A tall, voluptuous blonde from the German Embassy. She was beyond beautiful. And she had assets that I didn't have.

  But how would she know where I lived? And how did she get in? All the windows had been locked from the inside, and the door hadn't been forced.

  My head was pounding. I wasn't going to get anywhere with this until I had time to call that number. First things first—get to the office. Then find a place to crash. Nothing was going to happen until I had a moment to myself.

  I pulled my coat tighter around me in the damp chill. That's when I heard a sound behind me.

  The street was empty. Dammit. I hadn't checked to make sure I wasn't followed. I was letting this business with Riley trip me up. Stupid, stupid, stupid. Emotions could compromise a mission. I wondered how James Bond was able to do it—what with falling in love with every woman he met.

  I turned a corner and quickly flattened myself into a recessed doorway. Seconds ticked by in time with my beating heart. Any moment now, whoever was following me would appear. Then maybe I'd have a few answers. I wasn't greedy—I'd take one. Was this the person who'd been contacting me tonight?

  Seconds turned into minutes, and no one showed up. I couldn't wait here all night, especially if it had been a false alarm. After a few moments, I stepped from the shadows and cautiously looked around the corner. Nothing.

  Still, I took no chances, keeping to the shadows and making several false turns until I got to HQ. If someone had followed me, they'd either given up or mastered invisibility. And if it was the latter, I was screwed anyway.

  "Anyone follow you?" Riley said when I finally came through the door. He was all business when it came to one of his agents in trouble.

  I shook my head. No point in telling him I'd freaked out over nothing.

  Riley led me to a room in the back. Our headquarters had a small, one-room apartment in the back.

  "Need any company?" Riley asked with a seductive smile.

  "No thanks," was all I said as I shoved him out the door and locked it behind me.

  I waited until Riley left before taking out my secret phone. It was a smartphone with a Wi-Fi connection that I kept hidden from the Agency and my boss. It was just a precaution, but now it came in handy.

  As I dialed the mysterious number, I kept an eye on the door. Just in case Riley decided to double back.

  "Hello?" a woman with an American accent answered.

  "You left me your number," I said.

  "Meet me tomorrow at noon." She went on to give me the address before hanging up.

  I got ready for bed, wondering what on Earth I'd gotten myself into.

  CHAPTER NINE

  Clink…

  "Philby!" I shouted with my eyes closed. That stupid cat got into everything. My eyes were so heavy I couldn't open them. Exhaustion formed a haze around the edges of my brain, and I started to drift back to sleep.

  A grating sound, like ceramic sliding over a counter, made me groan. What was that cat up to? Hopefully she wouldn't knock my favorite Spies Love Wet Work mug over. She liked pushing things off countertops to watch them smash onto the floor below. It was a sort of hobby with her.

  Wait. I'm not at home. I'm somewhere else. Forcing my eyes open, I saw a room unfamiliar to me. A woman on another bed snored like a buzz saw. Huh. I dragged my sleepy brain into the present. Oh, right. I'm in Washington DC with my Scout troop. I was in Evelyn and Maria's room. Man—I must really be out of it to forget that.

  I grabbed my cell phone and saw that it was three in the morning. The noise on the other side of the door was probably Maria getting a glass of water. I slid back down onto the bed and began to doze off.

  Crash…

  I sat straight up. I wasn't going to get any sleep until I confirmed that Maria was moving around out there. Hey, I was still dressed. That was convenient. I slipped into my shoes and, using my phone as a flashlight, made my way across the room and gently turned the doorknob. I wasn't going to go out there noisily. Years of spy experience taught me that.

  The living room and kitchen area were pitch black. That was weird. Even spies don't usually move around in total darkness. Turning off my phone, I stood in the doorway until my eyes adjusted to the dimness.

  The couch was empty. Was Maria out there? I stepped into the main room and looked toward that area. There was a small glow from a light over the microwave, and a figure stood there, going through the cabinet. It was too big to be one of the girls.

  "Hello? Maria?" I called out.

  The figure reached out and snapped off the small light, plunging the area into darkness. Nope, not Maria. Adrenaline raced through my veins, and I grabbed my pink backpack off a nearby chair.

  A shape came hurtling toward me in the darkness, and I swung the bag at it with all my strength. It connected with the figure's head, and he or she went down with a loud oomf.

  Before it could get to its feet, I attacked with a kick to the neck. I was met with a satisfying gagging sound, but the intruder grabbed my foot and drove it upward, knocking me to the floor.

  I lashed out with my other foot, connecting with whomever it was, but he got up and ran to the main door. I heard it slam shut just as I made it across the room. Flinging open the door and diving into the brightly lit hallway, I looked both ways, but the intruder was gone. My eyes were struggling to adjust to the blazing lights, and I went back into my room, dead-bolting the door behind me.

  Very carefully, I checked each bedroom and counted the girls sleeping there. Everyone was present and accounted for. I turned to search the main area. But nothing seemed out of place. I texted Maria to bring a bug detector from the office. If the intruder had planted a listening device, I wanted to find it before whoever it was could discover my plans.

  Maria texted back that she would and she'd check with the hotel manager to find out if there was any CCTV footage from the hallway. She was a good agent. Do what you're told without asking a lot of questions. Besides, she knew she'd get the answers when she got back here.

  Someone had broken in, and I was pretty sure they weren't looking for Girl Scout Cookies. This was bad. I didn't like the idea that someone out there knew where I was. Where my girls were. That struck a nerve. Maybe it was time to call it a trip and send the girls home. I could stay here and keep the baddies' attention focused on me while I tried to find Riley.

  I guess I'd made up my mind to finish this. Okay. Then I was going to do it without my girls. Putting them in danger was not going to work for me. They'd be disappointed and upset to cut their trip short, but I wasn't going to put them in harm's way.

  I was still searching the kitchenette when Maria gave the special knock at the door. I didn't use peepholes. Too many of my colleagues had had their brain matter rearranged by looking through that tiny window. We called it a lobotomy hole in the business.

  Maria didn't say a word. She just nodded and pulled the bug locater from her purse and turned it on. The device was the newest model, and it looked like a smartphone. It kind of operated on the same principle of many locator apps. She silently waved it around, working in one-foot by one-foot square increments as she made her way around the room. I sat on the couch and watched her work. We wouldn't be talking until her scan of the area was complete.

  It took a while. The work was slow going, but that's what you did if you were serious about the craft. Too often, young and impatient spies let valuable intel slip because they were too impatient to use the equipment properly. Maria and I knew better. And knowing better had saved me in the field many times over.
/>   An hour later, she turned off the device and slipped it into her pocket.

  "All clean," Maria said as she flopped down on the couch next to me. She looked tired. It was almost five a.m., and she'd had no sleep. I didn't want to tell her that we had another full day of visiting monuments ahead of us.

  I filled her in on the intruder. She didn't like the news.

  "So, they found you," Maria said quietly. "Not good."

  "What did the manager say about CCTV?" I asked. If we had a good image, we'd know for sure who we were dealing with.

  Maria shook her head. "The camera on this floor was tampered with last night. Whoever broke in was smart about it."

  "The only reason they got in is because I didn't deadbolt the door, knowing you'd be coming back here," I mused.

  "Could we find another hotel?" Maria offered.

  I shook my head. "No, it's obvious they're watching us. Besides, it's a little difficult to run around with a bunch of kids dressed in neon colors and not stand out." Maybe I should dress them in city camouflage suits. Or little ninja costumes. That would be cool.

  "Why plant a listening device? Why not just take you if that's what they're after?" Maria asked.

  That was an excellent question.

  "I think this means they don't have any proof about my involvement in Midori's murder. If I was here alone, they'd definitely take me and not worry about if I'd be missed—innocent or not. But we're here in a high-visibility capacity. There was some publicity about the National Council awarding the troop with this trip. If I was to go missing now, word would get out, and it would be investigated. Even the yakuza wouldn't risk that."

  Maria nodded. "That's a good point. And good news. It means that Riley is, in all likelihood, still alive."

  "I hope so."

  I jumped out of my chair and ran to the pink backpack, ripping open the zippers and searching through it.

  "What is it?" Maria had joined me.

  "The phone!" I said as I tossed the bag aside in disgust. "It's gone."

  CHAPTER TEN