Kitty Katt 14: Alien Nation

by Gini Koch

  “So maybe nothing’s going on and we’re all just jumpy after the guard’s attack,” Mahin suggested.

  A worry nudged. “Colette, see if you can reach Francine.”

  She texted. Waited. No response. She called. “Hey, it’s me, call me the moment you get this.” Colette looked worried as she hung up. “She’s never unresponsive.”

  “Perhaps she’s using the restroom,” Antoinette suggested.

  “Or, perhaps someone snuck in and found the ‘First Lady’ alone in her rooms.” Got the “huh?” look from several people, but not all. “Francine is my double,” I explained for the confused. “The world knows I’m here. Our greatest enemy, therefore, knows I’m here.”

  Reader nodded. “Cliff wouldn’t come himself, he’d send someone. And that someone probably wouldn’t know you well enough to notice the differences between you and Francine.”

  “I assigned guards to the rooms,” Raheem said.

  “So either they’re hurt, doing their jobs, or flipped out like the dude here. We won’t know staying in here.”

  “Let’s roll out,” Buchanan said briskly. “I’d suggest we go alone,” he indicated himself and Siler, “but I know Missus Executive Chief would object. We’re in the lead,” he said to me. “You can be right behind me, but you’re not going first.” He motioned to Butler, who moved next to me. White went to my other side.

  “Fine. Where’s Wruck?”

  “He was scouting the palace the last time we saw him,” Siler said. “You want me to try to reach him?”

  “No. I want to hope he’s with Francine in some way.” Because if he was, then he was going to get into Cliff’s latest lair or at least be able to help her. I didn’t want Francine hurt, and though I knew she was a trained A-C CIA operative, she’d be alone if Wruck wasn’t with her, and alone with our enemies was never the best place to be.

  We headed off at hyperspeed, though we were walking, not running, mostly because every woman was in heels and none of us felt like breaking an ankle right now. Still, it was faster than normal walking, and we reached the wing where our rooms were quickly. There was no one in the halls.

  “This isn’t normal,” Raheem said. “And I don’t mean the speed. We should have passed many people by now.”

  “We call that boding,” I shared over my shoulder. Turned back so I didn’t trip, even though White and Butler both had a hold of me. “Everything we’re planning is going to be screwed up if Francine’s been taken,” I said softly. “In addition to the worry about her being taken in the first place.”

  “We’ll adapt as we have to,” White said, sounding as worried as I felt.

  “Malcolm, are we in every room in this hallway?”

  He stopped walking, and therefore so did the rest of us. A-C’s had such good reflexes that they couldn’t operate human machinery—fast stops were something I was pretty sure only I worried about.

  “We are. I know what you’re thinking. You all stay here and on high alert.” Buchanan grabbed Siler, who blended. They disappeared and went into each room. They were back quickly.

  “Nothing out of place that we can tell,” Buchanan said. “Looks like everyone’s things are in there, unmolested. No people in the rooms, which isn’t a surprise.”

  Lorraine and Claudia zipped off and did the same search. They were back just as fast. “We just wanted to be sure,” Lorraine said, to the “really?” looks Buchanan and Siler were shooting them. “But you’re right. We checked every room before we came to the theater and nothing looks moved from what we saw.”

  “Professionals can toss a room in just a few minutes and you wouldn’t know,” Oren pointed out.

  “However, we’re going to assume that your underwear isn’t what they were after,” Buchanan said, sarcasm meter at eleven and rising.

  We all moved on and quickly reached the cul-de-sac at the end of the hallway where the royal suites were. To find bodies littered about. We stopped and Buchanan and Siler checked every body. “All dead,” Buchanan said grimly as he examined the last body.

  “Mine, too.” Siler shook his head. “Whoever did this, they’re professionals. Every hit is from the rear.”

  “Some of these were guarding us outside the theater,” Raheem said, sounding ill.

  “Meaning they were lured away, which would have been easy to do.” Wave a gun around and run away and watch most of the guards run after you.

  Considered who was in the Crazy Eights these days. Cliff, the LaRue and Reid clones, Casey Jones, Chernobog’s son Russell Kozlow, Darryl Lowe, Nerida Alfero, and Nigel Kellogg.

  There was no way in the world that Cliff was doing this particular raid, and it was unlikely that he’d have the LaRue and Reid clones do it regardless of what ages they were now or what powers they’d acquired along the way—they were necessary to too many other things and the only two people Cliff likely honestly cared about.

  Kozlow, Lowe, and Nerida were all hybrids, all children of Ronald Yates and their respective mothers. Lowe was an air bender and Nerida was a water bender, but neither one was a trained assassin. Neither was Casey, who was a full human.

  Kozlow and Kellogg, on the other hand, were both trained killers. Kozlow supposedly had no powers other than the ability to affect magnetic fields in a small way, but he’d been enough of a danger to be on Israel’s Most Wanted List and had been locked up for years before our enemies broke him out of prison in order to get Chernobog’s help. Kellogg was a human and the guy who’d almost murdered Mrs. Maurer during Operation Defection Election. He’d been caught by Prince when he was trying to murder Jeff. And his MO was to attack you from behind.

  “Nigel Kellogg is my first guess for who did the killing. I’m also willing to bet that he was assisted by Russell Kozlow, and yes, Vance, I’ll call Chernobog really soon.”

  Buchanan, Reader, Tim, Len, and Kyle all had guns drawn. Siler grabbed Buchanan then blended, and they disappeared. Saw them going into the rooms at hyperspeed, but only because I was watching the doors.

  Lorraine grabbed Tim, and Claudia took James, and they did the same thing, albeit without being invisible.

  “Don’t even think about it,” Len said to me and White.

  “Spoilsport.”

  The six of them were back fast. “No one and nothing in these rooms, either, other than everyone’s personal items,” Siler said. “No sign of Francine, though. Or Wruck.”

  “Which room is mine?”

  Was led to the room at the end of the cul-de-sac. Vance hadn’t been kidding—this place was like a movie suite—one where you had to be a gazillionaire just to hope to spend one night. “Wow, this is amazing and gorgeous,” I said to Raheem. “I’m going to feel all shoddy when you visit us and stay in the infinitesimally smaller Lincoln Bedroom.”

  He beamed at me. “However, the invitation is what matters most. And the congeniality of the hosts.”

  Saw Mona out of the corner of my eye. She looked pleased. Well, at least something was going right.

  Looked around. “You know what I don’t see, and what I assume you guys didn’t see in each room?”

  “What?” Buchanan asked.

  “Signs of a struggle,” Tim answered for me. “Every room we saw looked normal.” The others who’d searched agreed that the rooms hadn’t been messed up in any way beyond the normal things that they’d all done earlier, like unpack a couple of things and wash their hands.

  Trotted through the place. Never thought I’d find someplace that made both the Embassy and the White House Complex seem small, but here I was. Went into the room Colette confirmed she and Francine were sharing. It looked normal. “So, where’s the ransom note?”

  “None of us found anything that would indicate a note was left,” Buchanan said. “And we were looking for one.”

  “So, are we supposed to think that I just took a stroll? Would no
one notice that I was gone?”

  Vance shrugged. “It’s you. Would anyone assume you’d just stay put, even if you were told to?”

  “No. But then why leave dead bodies in the hallway? That’s kind of a sign that things are amiss.”

  “To create panic,” Leah suggested. “The knowledge that something is very wrong.”

  “Maybe . . .” Something was bugging me about all of this, more than just the dead guards and Francine being missing. Wandered through the rooms and found the nicest bedroom. The room was pristine, so if Francine had been lounging somewhere, hanging out, she hadn’t been doing it in the room chosen as mine. My stuff was here, such as it was. One lone rolling bag. “Did you guys search this?”

  “We opened it,” Siler said. “It was undisturbed.”

  “Hmmm.” Hoisted it onto the bed and opened it. It certainly looked neat. Not that I had any idea of what had been in here prior—I didn’t pack my own bags often anymore. That’s what the Elves were for. Had a thought and stepped back from the bag.

  “What is it?” White asked.

  “No one touch that right now, and that’s an order.”

  “Okay, why?” Reader asked.

  “You know, way back when, during Operation Fugly, Christopher and I went to my apartment to get some of my stuff. Which ended up being the only stuff I’d have of my old life that wasn’t at my parents’ house, because not only was there a rattlesnake in my bed, but there was a bomb in my apartment.” Really wished we’d brought Prince with us. Realized it wasn’t a hard thing to get him here. “Um, I want Prince sent to us via floater gate.”

  “We don’t need a bomb dog,” Siler said. “We’re all fast enough.”

  “Possibly, yes. Probably faster than a cobra or whatever horrid venomous snakes are native here. And no one tell me, I don’t need or want to know. However, I don’t want Raheem’s palace destroyed. Nor do I want whatever message Cliff’s henchpersons left for me destroyed.”

  “You’re kind of assuming a lot,” Jakob said.

  “Yeah, I am. This is my skill. I may be the First Lady and the Queen Regent because of my husband, but I’m Megalomaniac Girl because of me. And I’m telling you that this reeks of a setup of epic proportions right now.”

  “A bomb set off in your suite, with you nowhere to be found, would be highly suspicious,” Leah said.

  “I could be around and it’s still suspicious. In fact, it would be better.”

  “What do you mean?” Buchanan asked. “They’ve taken Francine, thinking she’s you.”

  “Have they?” Considered things. “Wruck was with her, I’d bet. Because he knows these people far better than we do. And it’s a perfect way for him to get back inside.”

  “What?” Siler asked, sounding shocked. “There’s no way he’s turning on you, Kitty. No way in the world.”

  “Oh, I don’t think John’s a traitor. I think he’s braver than almost anyone realizes, and he’s also far smarter than he lets on, and I’m not insinuating that he makes anyone think he’s stupid. However, he spent decades digging in with the bad guys to try to find LaRue, end her, and usurp from within.”

  “You think that whoever took Francine knew it was your double, not you,” White said.

  “Yeah, I do.”

  “Then why no signs of struggle?” Colette asked.

  “Because we aren’t the only ones who made plans. I’m betting that Wruck and Francine had a talk about what they’d do ‘if,’ and then ‘if’ happened. Why struggle and risk being hurt? Why struggle at all, when you’re already Wruck’s ‘captive’ who he’s bringing in to Cliff in order to get back in with the old gang?”

  “But why leave twelve dead bodies in the hallway?” Leah asked. “That makes no sense.”

  “Sure it does. It lets us all know something’s wrong. And all those guards are Bahrainis. Meaning it’s easy enough to insinuate that Francine wasn’t kidnapped and instead shot them all and then escaped off into the city to wreak more havoc.”

  “Who would believe that?” Mahin asked. “Why would you, if they think it’s the First Lady they’ve taken, or Francine, if they think they have your double, want to do anything negative here? You came here to gather everyone together as one.”

  “I did. And all that it will take to light the powder keg that the Middle East always is would be for the U.S. mission to blow up any part of one of Bahrain’s palaces.” Considered things some more. “Crap. We need to ensure that there isn’t a bomb or a snake or both in my luggage. And at the same time, we need to get everyone out of the room where the religious leaders are.”

  “Why?” half the room asked.

  Managed not to heave a sigh, but only because I was revved up on rage and fear. “Because that room is going to blow at any minute.”

  CHAPTER 61

  TO MY TEAM’S GREAT CREDIT, no one argued. Not even Raheem. Definitely a smart teddy bear. No one panicked, either, which was also a positive.

  Tim was texting and Reader was on his phone, calling in Field agents to arrive via a floater in these rooms. But the person who walked out of the floater first wasn’t a Field agent. Well, not anymore.

  “Tim says you guys need the Flash and told me not to strain myself until I arrived,” Christopher said as soon as he was solidly here. “What’s up?”

  “Nostalgia for Operation Fugly.” Pointed to the bag on my bed.

  “Fantastic. Snake or bomb? Or both?”

  “See, this is why Megalomaniac Lad called you. Both is my guess, but who knows? Poisoned darts and such are always a possibility, too.”

  “Do you care what happens to your clothes and stuff?”

  “Wow, Amy’s really made you a hell of a lot more thoughtful. No. The Elves can just get me more stuff. They might have a challenge recreating all the people, though.”

  Christopher nodded, then went to the suitcase. “You all should leave the room, just in case.”

  Field agents started arriving in the general living room area, so it was easy enough to tell the others to go with them. Reader had to tell them what to do anyway. We moved most everyone out, and I literally had to shove Buchanan, Len, and Kyle through the door, but White and I remained. It was his son, and this was Jeff’s cousin. The two of us weren’t leaving.

  “Dad, you shouldn’t be in here.”

  “Son, I’ve outrun explosions and so has Missus Martini. We’re staying. Just in case.”

  “Call us worrywarts. There’s always a possibility that I’m being overly paranoid, but be cautious.”

  Christopher nodded, then went to town. My stuff was flying through the air because he was pulling it out and tossing it so fast. He got to the bottom of the case in seconds. “Huh.”

  “What?”

  “How are you with rubber snakes?”

  “If they’re lifelike they still scare the crap out of me. Why?”

  Christopher turned around. He had a very lifelike rubber cobra in one hand and a round black ball that said “Bomb!” on it. “Someone knows us far too well.”

  “It’s Cliff, as if there was any doubt. Was there a note in there of any kind?”

  Christopher handed the fake bomb and rubber snake to White, then he searched every inch of the suitcase, including ripping out the lining. “Nothing.”

  “Then it’s in the snake or it’s in the bomb.”

  They both looked at me. “Why are you sure there is a note?” Christopher asked. “These two things seem clear enough.”

  “Yeah, the old, I know what you’re terrified of and I also know how we almost got you way back when ploys. But I think there’s a note because Cliff is a freaking lunatic and if we’ve found this, then we know we’re not exploding or being snake bit, but we don’t know anything else. Like, he doesn’t know for sure that we know he’s here.”

  “He might,” White said slowly. “If
John is, in fact, a very canny triple agent. Or if King Raheem has been lying to you.”

  “Raheem might have been. Without an empath to be sure, all we have is my gut. Which says he was not.”

  “Daniel and Marcus both were reading him and he gave off no signs of betrayal. And also gave off the right mixture of emotions to indicate that he wasn’t wearing a blocker or an overlay.”

  “Then he’s what we think he is unless he’s an android.”

  “Let’s hope not.”

  “Let’s be sure.” Opened my rolling purse. “I think I have an OVS in here.” Sure enough, one of the handheld models was sitting right there.

  Trotted into the other room. “Pardon this, but under the circumstances . . .” Wanded Raheem. Wanded the rest of the people in the room for good measure. Per the OVS, they were all organic enough that they couldn’t be an android or a fembot. This was because Butler was gone, along with all of Alpha Team, Mossad, Buchanan, Siler, the Amazons, Jareen, Felicia, and Wahoa. Presumably to go save the day and get the religious leaders out of the deadly room they’d been locked into. Good thing I was rolling with a million people.

  “Camilla, come with me. The rest of you, please continue to stay put.”

  Camilla returned to the bedroom with me. We showed her the snake and the bomb. “You seriously think something’s inside those?” she asked.

  “I think the possibility is there. I want to ask you your thoughts on King Raheem.”

  “You want to know if I think he’s in on whatever’s going on?”

  “Yeah.”

  “He shook a Jewish-American woman’s hand in front of every minister this country has. I think he’s potentially as crazy as you, but if he’s setting you up, he really likes to live on the edge. I’d assume someone’s already put a contract out on him as we speak.”

  “That fits with everything that’s already gone on. So, what do you know of Ali Baba Gadhavi? And not the guy from the stories, though he does have forty thieves and all that.”