“I’m not seeing the connection …”
“Well, it turns out that Tony owns a cottage out there on Plum Island. But, our guys went through the place. Nothing. And, no one saw anything out there. It’s just that no one saw Tony at all after he left his restaurant Friday night.”
“You’re thinking Missy saw Tony on Friday? At his place on Plum Island?” asked Robert.
“Well, it’s possible. And, maybe Saturday. And, well … it’s just that she brought us all this stuff she couldn’t possibly ever have access to. My guys are telling me if they didn’t have the passwords and codes which she provided? They’d never be able to get into the files she gave us. Or, those bank accounts and investment holdings. Tony had it all set up with several dummy corporations, each with only electronic codes to control transfer of titles and currency, so no one but he could manage things. There’s no way he would just give her all that stuff. No way. My guess? She met with him, all right. We’ll just never know what she did to get this stuff. But, she’s covered her tracks. She’s clean.”
Robert asked, “And, did she really give us all that money? Free and clear?”
“More than ten million, just like she said. It took my team three days to sift and sort through it all, even with the document she put together for us. Her connect the dots document.” Armando laughed out loud. “She actually called it that, you know. It’s a Word document titled Connect-The-Dots. Amazing.”
“Can you use the stuff she provided about McCarthy? If he had Tony launder millions, like she said, can’t you somehow get him on something?”
“Not right away. This stuff isn’t what we can take to court. But, we’ll be able to get what we need, soon enough. Now that we have all this information, our team will be able to build a solid case and get all the evidence we need to support that case, no problem. Give us a few months and we’ll be arresting Frank and several others. While not for murder or any of the violent crimes we know they’re all guilty of, they’ll still be locked away for years. I doubt they’ll ever get out. This is going to be very big for us, Robert. It’s probably good that Missy can’t be tied to this in any way. I’ve already made sure my team won’t ever leak she was our source.”
“Great. I’ll mention that to Missy,” said Robert. “Do your guys have anything showing links to this D’Amato in New York? She won’t tell me anything but insists it’s important. I’m worried. If she’s really in danger, she should let us protect her and her family but she absolutely refuses to discuss the subject.”
“Well, there are some phone calls between Frank and Salvatore. Not very often, but they do know each other. Apparently they’re friends. It wouldn’t surprise me to learn they do favors for one another, but we don’t have any real evidence of that.” Armando handed Robert a thick folder. “Here’s everything we have on D’Amato and his organization. If it helps keep her safe, she’s more than welcome to it. Just so she doesn’t give any of this out, but I guess that’s not very likely, is it? She really did buy our trust. And, that girl knew exactly what she was doing. She played us. And, we loved it!”
Robert took the folder. “I was just as shocked as the rest of you. Ten million dollars. Wow.”
“She could have just kept all that money, you know. Our guys claim she didn’t take one dime. All the other funds and properties will be going to Tony’s wife. You can tell Missy we’re going to keep watch over the wife and stepdaughter for a while. Just in case any of McCarthy’s guys come looking for anything Tony might have left, you know?”
-----
Missy thanked Robert for all the information on D’Amato and was happy to know he was going to continue as her contact person. Just in case. They were sitting at a coffee shop in Salem, not far from her home. She didn’t want her family to know any of this and had asked to meet him there. “I do have one more little favor to ask,” she told him. “I’m hoping the FBI can provide me with some special software.”
Robert laughed and said, “I guess I’m not surprised.” He looked around to be sure no one was listening to their conversation. “Ten million does give you a rather large line of credit with us. So, no reasonable requests will be denied. As long as it’s legal, of course.”
“Oh, I think the software is legal,” Missy told him. “Let me give you a possible scenario. Let’s say that I had this homework assignment for school. My teacher wants me to watch some movies. Video tapes, actually. And, whenever someone says Mickey Mouse my teacher wants me to write down how many of Mickey’s friends are with him. So, I could sit and watch all these movies, which would take me hours and hours. But, if I had your software which could do that for me? Software which could process these video tapes and recognize whenever the words Mickey Mouse are spoken? And, maybe send me a text message which identified where on the tape this happened? Each time? Then, I could be out with my friends or playing softball or working out at the gym and check the tapes when I got home later. I’d be able to quickly find each of those sections on the tape and check for Mickey’s friends. I could complete my assignment in no time at all. You can see how handy that would be, right? Perfectly legal.”
Robert stared at her as he considered all the other possible scenarios. He realized she wouldn’t be looking at any Mickey Mouse movies. “I suppose you’ll want to program the software to recognize various words. In case your next assignment was for Donald Duck or Elmer Fudd?”
“Oh, yes! That would be so helpful, Robert.” Missy’s smile lit up her face and her eyes sparkled with warmth. “My sister has this friend in college who studies computers. She read how the government searches news reports and stuff on TV with software which can find key phrases. Maybe even monitors phone calls? Finding those terrorist cells?”
“And you thought this would be handy to have? For saving you some time on your homework? So you can go play soft ball?” Robert sighed and looked up at the ceiling, then back at Missy. “I sure wish you’d let me help you, Missy. With what I’m guessing you’re really doing? There’s some very real danger, isn’t there? Can’t you let us help with that?”
Missy sighed and looked at Robert with her green eyes suddenly growing serious and concerned. “You guys have rules and I respect that, Robert. I really do. So, while I appreciate your offer, I’m not ready to accept any help except for these little favors I’ve asked for. Information. Software. Maybe I’ll call you again. We’ll see.” She thought about Roseanne and Tony. Then, about Alice. Should she have handled things any differently?
-----
“Hey, Drew?” A young woman named Marsha Goodding was standing at the doorway to Drew Martinson’s office. She was one of the research technicians on his team. Her husband was another “P” Branch team member. Both were sworn to secrecy about all their activities and it helped a lot that they didn’t have to keep secrets from each other. When he looked up and raised his eyebrows, she continued. “That girl Missy you have us keeping tabs on? The one who was missing for two years and then reappeared when she rescued that family up in the mountains? Got them out of their car right before it exploded?”
Drew said, “Sure, I remember. She’s in high school now, right? I saw something last year on her when she won that Amateur Women’s Middleweight trophy in mixed martial arts. I knew we’d be seeing more examples of her physical prowess. I don’t think she can stay hidden. Special abilities, right? What’s she done now?”
“Well, yeah, she’s got special abilities and physical prowess all right. But, you’re not going to believe what I just learned from our links into the FBI database.”
“Oh, oh! What’s she done? One of my worries, as I’ve briefed all of you about many times, is that these individuals might either self destruct or else go off the deep end, causing all kinds of problems. That’s why we’re monitoring them. In case we need to step in to contain things and deal with …“
“Relax, Drew, you don’t have to kill this kid, yet.” She was laughing at her joke, which she was hoping was merely a joke. They’d n
ever actually terminated anyone that she was aware of. “She gave the Organized Crime Division up in the Boston office a little gift. She even called it an FBI freebie. Along with lots of information about money laundering, which they think will help in taking down several local mobsters up there.”
“Information about money laundering and mobsters?” He smiled as he sat back and reflected on that for a moment. “What was the FBI freebie?”
“Oh, not much. Just some cash and investment holdings which are now theirs to claim, free and clear. But, she actually traded all this, so maybe it’s not really a freebie. She insisted they give her some information about Salvatore D’Amato, in New York. Along with some pretty advanced surveillance software.” Marsha was enjoying this. “They apparently gave her everything they had about D’Amato and his organization. And, the software of course.”
“Did they, now? Why would they …? Wait! How much was that cash and everything worth, anyway?” Drew realized she was setting him up.
“Ten million dollars.” Marsha laughed. “Special abilities, you said, right?” More laughter as she watched the shocked expression on his face get slowly replaced by an incredulous smile. She couldn’t wait to tell her husband Lester.
Chapter Thirty-One
May 2017
“There she is!” Mike Ryan pointed out Missy, which was hardly necessary since she was the only girl surrounded by more than a dozen guys. His twin sister Michelle was seated next to him in the stands and her boyfriend Aaron Brooks was next to her.
Michelle was the same height as Missy with a very nice figure. They could probably wear the same clothes. She and Mike both had dark hair, thick and wavy. There were other similarities they shared as twins, such as their amazing blue eyes and nice smiles. But, there were some differences also. Michelle was quite pretty and very feminine looking while her brother was a big handsome hunk, very masculine with a strong jaw. She had no athletic ability but Mike was very physical and had played well on various sports teams.
Aaron was six one, a couple of inches shorter than Mike. He had dirty blond hair and, like Mike, was athletic and good looking. Aaron and Mike both went to the Prep in Danvers but since that was for boys only, Michele attended a different school. She was Aaron’s date to the Prep’s senior prom and now that Missy had agreed to go as her brother’s prom date, Michelle had insisted on finally meeting her. Mike had said that watching Missy spar would be a special experience and would help her understand why he was so crazy about this girl. So, now they were all watching from the spectator seats at Missy’s mixed martial arts club.
They weren’t alone. These seats were usually pretty full, especially after Missy had won that trophy last November. Membership at the club had doubled yet again since then and there was a lot of interest in watching activities and events by both nonmembers as well as members. On the one day each week that Missy came in to spar, there was always a big crowd in the stands and ripples of excitement were obvious whenever she finally made an appearance. Missy was definitely fun to watch.
“Why is she the only girl out there? You told me she won a trophy competing against other girls.” Michelle was looking all around. She’d never been to anything like this before and had not watched any of the video clips showing Missy on YouTube, although she had heard about them. She had heard a lot of things about Missy McCrea from several people, long before her brother had ever mentioned her. According to some, she was big trouble. Michelle went to the same school as Marcia Newton, the leader for one of the more popular girl cliques. Although she was not that friendly with Marcia and her group, she couldn’t ignore all the negative things she’d heard. But, there were some other girls who really seemed to like Missy and insisted that everyone who really knew her would only say good things about her.
Aaron now explained, “She’s the only girl in this club, Michelle. That trophy was when she represented the club at the World Expo in New York. All the best mixed martial arts fighters went to that. She beat the best of the best. Of course, that was against girls. Girls only compete against girls.” Mike had been talking to Aaron about Missy for months, so Aaron had learned many things like this. He’d seen her from a distance a few times but today would be his first time actually getting to meet her.
“But … Mike told me he watches her spar. He’s been coming here for weeks.” Michelle had been very surprised at seeing the two full size photos of Missy when they first walked in. She had never seen Missy but had heard that she was very pretty. While she could see how sexy Missy was, with that killer body, she didn’t think pretty was the right adjective. Attractive? She could understand her brother going for that. Sure. But she thought intimidating was more appropriate than pretty. And those scars? What was that all about?
Mike spoke up, “Missy spars with the guys. It’s not a competition. She does it for the training and exercise. Other girls just don’t provide her with … well, just wait. You’ll see.” He had discussed all this with Missy several times, after finally approaching her at the gym. It had taken him a long time to get Missy to really start talking to him and explaining herself. He could still remember last summer when he’d walked into the gym to sign up and had seen Missy in the lobby. When he had asked them at the desk who she was, they’d laughed. “That’s Missy McCrea. She’s in here all the time.” He hadn’t looked at another girl since.
“Wait a minute, wait a minute.” Michelle had been staring at Missy who was wearing her gi uniform, as usual. She could see Missy was smaller than in those photos. She looked at her brother and said, “Those pictures hanging up out front? They’re photo shopped or something, right? Now that I can see her better, she doesn’t really even look like that. And, when she smiles, I can see maybe why you’re interested. She seems nice. Not anything like in those photos.”
Mike only laughed. He had actually watched Missy bulk up for that World Expo competition, when she had switched to lifting much heavier weights. Instead of the usual twenty to twenty-five reps she normally would do as she went through her circuit training routine at the gym, she had used weights she could only lift six or eight reps. And, she’d gone crazy with her eating. He later learned she’d increased from her usual intake of about 4,000 calories per day to between 8,000 and 10,000 calories. Everyone at the gym had been amazed at how much she’d bulked up. Back then, she was always covered up in her gi uniform but her voluptuous body was still very obvious. Then she went to New York. He had no idea how she’d lost so much body fat, getting ripped and shredded the way she was in the photos. But, he’d stopped being surprised about anything Missy did.
Once she’d won that trophy and the gym had put her picture up, she’d started working out in much more revealing gear rather than always being covered up in her gi uniform all the time. Like in the photo, she often wore shorts and a sports bra, only not as skimpy. The shorts covered the scar on her thigh, which Mike didn’t even know about. The scars on her shoulder were obvious but Missy never discussed those. He often found himself mesmerized just watching her. The play of those incredible muscles under those scars and under her silky smooth skin everywhere else was just so amazing. She had quickly slimmed back down and now merely looked fit and athletic rather than being so pumped up. But, he knew her looks were deceiving. She was not a normal girl. And, she still had the strength to handle those heavy weights, if she wanted to. Those and maybe a lot more.
He had eventually decided he just had to come watch her spar. There was so much controversy about her, not only at the gym but amongst all the guys at school. He’d watched the video clips and studied the photos on the internet. Then, he’d started watching her here at the club. She really was a different person when she stepped into that ring and faced off against an opponent. He’d talked with many of them and they all said the same thing. If they thought about her as a girl, even for a fraction of a second, she’d have them on their ass. Nobody was as fast as she was and she had such tremendous power in each of the blows she’d use. They had to totally
focus on her being an opponent and give it their all. They’d all stopped worrying long ago about hurting her. If they held anything back? Once again, they’d be on their ass.
Mike had actually worried about her getting hurt. At first. But, after watching her week after week, bouncing back up from whatever was done to her, even when the guy was twice her size, his worries subsided. Missy never seemed affected in any way. She’d smile, acknowledge the guy had gotten her good, and come right back at him in a blur. In the ring, she wasn’t a girl. She was just something else. So, today he’d brought Michelle and Aaron, so they could see for themselves. He had no words to describe her.
-----
Two hours later, the four of them walked into Missy’s favorite ice cream shop, two blocks from her club. She always wanted to eat something after working out and didn’t want to wait until she got home. Mike knew, from talking to her brother Patrick, that she still ate every meal at home like it was her last and like she’d not had any food in a week. It was his persistence in chasing her, finally winning her over with these ice cream dates, which had led to her agreeing to be his prom date. Since Missy still waited until she got home to shower and change, she’d resisted at first. But when he’d told her it was a huge turn on for him to sit next to her while she was all sweaty from her sparring, that had made her laugh and so she’d finally give in. As long as they’d pick a booth in the back which was away from everyone else.
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