Twisted Hunger

by Marilyn Campbell

“No!” Diane ordered then softened her voice. “You couldn’t possibly do that without ending up on the front page of a tabloid. Besides, all the technical skill in the world can’t put out a fire set by another man.”

  Ellery pouted at her. “I know that. But I’m just not sure I can trust him.”

  “Why do you think it’s called ‘the battle of the sexes’? Haven’t you heard? Men are all cheats and liars and women are all nagging and needy. It’s a true mystery how we manage to survive on the same planet, let alone under one roof. The fact is, you don’t have to trust a man to accept his gifts, whether those gifts are material, physical or emotional. And as far as him distracting you from your career goals, I can almost guarantee that once you’ve gotten that tune-up, you’ll have more energy and be more focused, not less. If you don’t believe me, answer this. How productive were you today?”

  Ellery groaned. “I was lucky I remembered the senator’s name.”

  “Enough said. And now that we’ve had our traditional girly chat, the only thing left to do to seal our friendship is order the Death by Chocolate dessert for two.”

  Overly full and high on chocolate, they took a walk after they left the restaurant. Ellery could not remember the last time she laughed so much, but once Diane got started relating some of her memorable dating experiences, she couldn’t be stopped.

  An old car slowed down beside them and a teenage boy leaned out the passenger’s window. “Buenas noches, pretty ladies. You look like you’re havin’ fun tonight. We’re on our way to a party. Wanna come?”

  Ellery could see several more laughing young men crammed in the backseat, passing a joint among them.

  “Ignore them,” Diane said quietly. “If they don’t drive on, just turn around and walk back toward the restaurant.”

  Diane’s authoritative tone of voice made Ellery abruptly aware of the possibility of danger. All the stores they were passing were closed for the night. No one else was out walking and the few cars going by were moving too fast for the drivers to notice two women in distress.

  The boys continued calling out to them in English and Spanish, their car creeping along the street. Their phrases swiftly became lewd in both languages.

  “This isn’t a bad neighborhood, I swear,” Ellery said as Diane nudged her to turn around.

  “Don’t worry about it,” Diane assured her in the same strong voice she’d used before. “We’ll be fine. Just stay calm and act like they’re the ones who should be afraid of you.”

  Ellery tried to follow that advice, but it became nearly impossible when the car squeaked to a stop, backed up and five rowdy, obviously stoned boys jumped out. They were all laughing as they surrounded the women, but there was nothing funny about the physical threat they posed.

  “Come on, chiquitas, you be nice to us, and we can be sooo nice to you.” The speaker cupped his groin and the others howled.

  “Why don’t you boys just go home and sleep it off before someone gets hurt,” Diane warned. She took a step forward, but the loudest of the gang blocked her.

  “You ladies may be tall, but there are only two of you. Whatcha think ya gonna do against five men?”

  “Men?” Diane made a snorting sound, handed Ellery her purse then did the most shocking thing. To the extreme delight of the braggart, she rolled the waist of her skirt up until the hem barely covered her hips. It held their attention as she said, “All I see here are five little boys showing off for each other.” She stepped out of her heels. “Let me give you some advice before it’s too late. Get back in that piece of shit you call a car, whip out all your little boy dicks and give each other blowjobs. You’re not ready for real women yet.”

  Ellery’s heart leaped into her throat as the boys’ faces changed in response to Diane’s insult. As the loudmouth lurched toward Diane, someone else’s arm bracketed Ellery’s throat, but she was too stunned by what she saw next to worry about being strangled.

  With lightning-swift moves, Diane grabbed her attacker’s arm, twisted it and flipped him onto the sidewalk. There was an awful cracking sound when he hit, then he lay deathly still. For several seconds no one moved—then the three others charged Diane simultaneously. But it was a suicide mission.

  Although they outnumbered her and two of them clearly outweighed her, to Ellery it looked as though Diane had a dozen arms and legs chopping and kicking and whirling in a full circle. She struck so fast, it was impossible to follow. In a matter of seconds, they had all joined their friend—two were unconscious, two were writhing in pain. And Ellery had no doubt some of the sounds she’d heard were bones breaking.

  “You crazy fucker!” the one holding Ellery shouted and tightened his grip so that she could barely breathe. “You some kinda whack job, lady!”

  Diane smiled at him. “Yes, I am. Now, let go of my friend.” She casually unrolled the waist of her skirt and smoothed her hair back into place with her fingers.

  His eyes were wide with terror. “If I let her go, how do I know you ain’t gonna do some of that kung fu shit on me?”

  Continuing to smile sweetly, she said, “If you don’t let her go, I’ll have to kill you. Your friends aren’t dead. They’re only damaged. You move away from her and I’ll let you stay healthy enough to drive them to an emergency room.”

  He slowly released his chokehold on Ellery and took a step away with his hands outstretched. “We’ll sue your fuckin’ ass for this!”

  Diane let out another snort at his false bravado. “Oh yeah? Who’s the judge going to believe—five asshole punks with drugs in their urine samples or two nice, mature women who work for the government?” She stepped back into her shoes, hooked her arm through Ellery’s and urged her to walk. “As I was saying, the absolute worst blind date I ever had—”

  “Diane!” Ellery exclaimed hoarsely, rubbing her bruised throat. “You… that was…” She glanced behind her and saw her captor helping one of his friends into their car.

  Diane forcefully got her moving. “Don’t think about it.”

  “But… but you… I think you cracked that one boy’s skull.”

  “That’s better than one of them cracking yours or doing what else they were thinking about.” She stopped and gripped Ellery’s shoulders. “Listen to me. We were about to be gang-raped or worse. I had no choice. There is nothing to feel guilty about. How’s your throat?”

  Ellery swallowed hard. “I’ll be okay. But shouldn’t we at least call the police and report the incident? Things like that aren’t supposed to happen in this neighborhood.”

  Diane took back her purse and nudged Ellery back into motion again. “Neither you nor I need the kind of hassle that would cause, and those boys have been sufficiently punished for their stupidity. I seriously doubt they’ll try harassing another female again anytime soon.”

  “You’re right. I know. I’m just in shock. I’ve never seen anyone, man or woman, fight like that except in the movies, and I know those scenes aren’t real. What are you, a black-belt or something?”

  “Naw. I just took a few self-defense classes at the Y. I’ve got to tell you though, it’s a lot easier when I’m not wearing a skirt.” When she saw that Ellery wasn’t laughing, she said, “Yes, I have a black belt, but it doesn’t go with any of my dressy clothes, so I rarely wear it when I go out.”

  Since that didn’t seem to satisfy Ellery any better, Diane leveled with her. “The truth is, it frightens some people, so I keep it a secret. I started studying martial arts when I was a little kid, but it has more to do with mental attitude than physical power. And if there’s one thing I’ve always had plenty of, it’s attitude.

  “Damn!” Diane stopped and frowned at her leg. “Look at that,” she complained, showing that her knee was poking out of a hole in her stocking and a run had started down her shin. “I just bought this pair today!”

  Ellery shook her head and clucked her tongue. “If you’d like, I’ll go back and have a talk with your playmates. I’m sure they’d be glad to pay for a new
pair of pantyhose.”

  Diane burst out laughing and hooked her arm through Ellery’s again. “This is truly the start of a beautiful friendship.”

  * * *

  Despite all his years of being prepared for the unexpected, Brevowski could barely believe what he had just seen.

  The first thing that was out of place was that gang of hoodlums. They didn’t belong in this neighborhood.

  He was about to rush to Ellery’s rescue when her new friend let loose with some moves that would have taken out a Navy SEAL. Diane Oliver had passed his standard background check, but now he realized a deeper dig was obviously required. Since she had the look of a pro, and he had no idea who might have planted her in Jones’ office, or why, he kept himself hidden so as not to blow his own cover. The only thing he had to make sure of was Ellery’s safety, and Oliver had handled that obligation for him.

  More bewildering than the gang’s appearance, or what Ms. Oliver really did for a living, was what he saw after the would-be assailants drove off.

  A white sedan, that had appeared to be just one of a line of vacant cars parked on the other side of the street, suddenly turned on and pulled out of the space… without headlights. Someone had been sitting in that car, watching the entire incident, just like he had. And Brevowski was fairly sure who that someone was, even if he couldn’t understand the motive. The street lights allowed him a glimpse of the license plate as the car passed him, but a quick glance was all he needed. It was the same one he had tracked down only that morning—the same one Ellery had found hidden in the senator’s trunk.

  * * *

  Those stupid fucking punks! Diane stood in front of the full-length bathroom mirror and examined her nude body. She was going to have quite a few colorful bruises by tomorrow. A pants suit and turtleneck shell would cover most of them, but it was going to take a lot of concealer to hide the discoloration already showing up on her jaw.

  It was unfortunate that she had been forced to reveal one of her less feminine abilities, but Ellery seemed to have accepted it with minimal explanation.

  She also thought the “girly chat” had gone extremely well. Not only had a solid bond been formed, she had learned about a new entrant into the game. Ellery had been reluctant to give the man’s name until late in the evening, but it was enough to do a preliminary background check. Of course, if he was, in fact, another player on the field, his true background would be as clean as hers. Diane had already decided that Lucas Madigan’s sudden, persistent appearance in Ellery’s life at this particular moment was too coincidental not to be questioned. She just needed to meet Lucas Madigan in person to be certain. If Ellery decided to get more involved with him, an intro would be called for as soon as possible.

  Normally, she would never have encouraged Ellery to have a fling with an unknown element, but it was the only thing she could think of that would keep her in town this weekend. Under no circumstances could she be allowed to go flying down to Los Angeles just to get laid.

  Part of Diane’s job was to know how to get to Ellery on a moment’s notice. She was being paid to stick close to both Jones and his aide and she could not do that if they were several hundred miles apart.

  As a professional assassin, she had to do more than simply eliminate people. She had to eliminate existing and potential problems surrounding the target, as well. Her well-established cover as an image consultant was a natural blend of her skills.

  As usual, she didn’t know any of the whys behind her assignment, nor did she care, but the how’s were always left up to her, as long as no loose ends were left to raise questions and no connection could be made to her employer. This hit had come with one additional stipulation—Jones was not to be made into a martyr, if at all possible. Under no circumstances was it to appear that he had been assassinated by an opponent to his political platform… unless she received orders to the contrary from Erikson.

  She had figured out on her own how Ellery could become a threat if Jones were obviously assassinated. She knew just enough and was just honest enough to blab what she thought she knew.

  If it turned out to be a double elimination, the risks were considerably higher, but she thrived on that sort of challenge. She might be able to create a believable murder-suicide, what with Ellery being so distraught over her mother’s death and blaming the senator for it.

  If it looked like Madigan was going to be an obstacle or even a loose end, he could first be eliminated in a more ordinary, accidental way. In that case, Ellery might be further upset by her new lover’s tragic death… upset enough to kill Jones, then herself.

  It wasn’t the most original plan Diane had ever come up with, but it would work if she got the word to act before she developed a more unique scenario.

  This wasn’t the first time she’d had to get personally involved with a target. However, she acknowledged that if she had the luxury of making friends, Ellery could be a good one. Besides that, she would probably make a good congresswoman someday… if it was decided that she be allowed to live.

  * * *

  Ellery’s mind would not allow her to get the rest her body sorely needed. For hours she lay in bed, replaying that horrible scene from her first moments of panic when the boys got out of their car to the sheer terror of being held against her will to the shock of seeing the lovely woman she had been talking to turn into a killing machine.

  Needless to say, she was very grateful that Diane saved them both from harm, and she agreed with her reasoning that they should not report it, but it was still mind-boggling to have witnessed the havoc wreaked by that woman without her breaking a sweat, getting rattled or feeling the least bit remorseful. Ellery knew there was no amount of training that would give her the ability to do that.

  It was almost like Diane was… what? Her thoughts sorted through various action movies she had seen for possible professions and came up with a private investigator, a police officer, a mercenary soldier, a secret agent and an alien. If she was anything except an alien, Brevowski would probably know. That raised another question. Where was he tonight during the one-woman massacre? If he was really keeping a protective eye on her, why hadn’t he come to their aid?

  When put together, only one answer made sense. Diane could be one of Brevowski’s agents, placed in Jones’ office much as she was—the right words, put in the right ears.

  But why wouldn’t he tell her about Diane?

  He wouldn’t if Diane’s job description had two parts, protecting Ellery and making sure she was putting effort into her assignment. Damn! She had really liked Diane.

  Her thoughts jumped to all the confidences and laughter they had shared this evening and she immediately changed her mind again. If Diane was a secret agent, she was a Russian princess.

  It was probably just all the craziness with those hoodlums, on top of no sleep, and the pressure of leading a double life, and Luke and the damn hairpins. She knew she had to resolve something before every nerve in her body exploded.

  Could Diane have been right about Luke? Could she have a wild fling with him and come out ahead? It was a scary idea, but even if she lost herself in him, it would only be temporary. Any day now he would have to return to his classroom in North Carolina. She could get her hair mussed, her body tuned up and balanced, and still be independent.

  What was she thinking? For a moment there, she forgot that Luke could be a spy rather than a horny but otherwise innocent teacher. Too bad she hadn’t been able to throw that possibility out to Diane while she was advising her to enjoy what he had to offer.

  She had to know for sure before she could make an intelligent decision. Since she couldn’t sleep anyway, she got up, got dressed and headed for the all-night diner a few blocks away. Using the pay phone there, she placed a call to the number Brevowski had given her and punched in the digits that would request an immediate meeting.

  Forty-five minutes later, she was getting into Brevowski’s car.

  “What have you got?” he asked even
before she had closed the door.

  Ellery heard Diane’s words in her head. It has more to do with mental attitude than physical power. “I’m asking the questions this time. Where were you tonight?”

  She had clearly surprised him. “I had an appointment. Why?”

  “I was almost killed.” She was satisfied that he looked appropriately worried. “You assured me that you would be close by if I needed help. Was that a lie?”

  “No, of course not. Tonight was an exception. What happened?”

  She told him about the near attack and how Diane had saved them. “I wondered if she was working for you, as my bodyguard or something.”

  He frowned and shook his head. “No, but she could be working for someone else. You should steer clear of her from now on, just in case. What I’m more worried about is who those boys were working for.”

  Ellery’s eyes widened. “You mean you don’t think they were just punks out looking for trouble?”

  “Let’s just say I have my doubts about it being a coincidence.”

  Ellery’s aggressive posture vanished. She had never considered that possibility. “Why would anyone want to hurt me? I haven’t found out any important secrets.”

  “Maybe you have and don’t realize it.”

  “I’ve told you everything I’ve seen or heard. Which reminds me, did you check on the license plate and phone number?” When he hesitated to answer, she objected. “I have a right to know if I uncover something important. As you just suggested, someone may try to hurt me because they think I know more than I really do.”

  “I don’t know yet how important it is, but it’s definitely curious. The plate in Jones’ trunk was one that had been reported stolen earlier this month.”

  She needed a moment to comprehend what that meant. Regardless of her belief that Jones was innocent of any wrongdoing, concealed possession of a recently stolen license plate was highly suspicious. “What about the Los Angeles phone number?”

  “It belongs to someone named Henry Levitt. Do you know who that is?”

  “No. It doesn’t sound familiar.”