Rex looked thoughtful. I had no idea if he'd bought it, but he seemed to be willing to drop it for now.
"I'll check in on you in the morning then." He held up his cell. "Call me if you see anything out of the ordinary. I'm just across the street."
He got up and headed for the door. I followed him and gave him my best, apologetic smile. "Thank you for looking after us. I'm sorry we left. We won't do that again."
"Good-night, ladies," he said with a slight smile as he walked out the door.
I leaned against the door and let out a huge sigh. Lying to Rex was exhausting. But I had to do it one more time. I'd have to leave the house, probably in the next couple of hours, to rescue Riley.
CHAPTER EIGHTEEN
"So what happens now?" Lana asked as I joined her in the kitchen.
"I guess we wait until Aleksei calls us." I chewed on my lip. "What else can we do?"
What else could we do? The only good thing about this mess was that Riley was most likely still alive and two of the three Russians were dead. In fact, it was better than that because it was on Aleksei to dispose of Vlad and Yevgeny. We didn't have to drive around with two corpses in the trunk, trying to find a good place to dump them. He'd do a good job, too. He wouldn't want them found any more than we did.
Unfortunately, Aleksei was in charge of what happened next. Since he had Riley, he called the shots. He could call tonight or in three days. I could call Riley's cell, but I didn't want to make Aleksei jumpy. Jumpy spies tend to kill their hostages and run.
Once he did call, though, we'd need a plan and quickly. I was tired and out of ideas. The school shootout was good, but it left me pretty spent in the idea department. The Russian would decide the time and place. I'd have to adapt very quickly to that and very carefully to make sure Lana and Riley didn't get killed in the process.
That's right. I wasn't going to hand Lana over. I'd let the FSB think that. But it wasn't going to happen. And Riley would be pissed if I did that. He'd charged me with her safety and trusted me to do the right thing.
Riley had been a spy for a long time. He knew the risks. And he was probably thinking up a plan of his own right now. How had he let himself get taken? He was too good for that to happen.
Live to fight another day was kind of our motto at the Agency. When things went south, you got out of there, found a safe house, and regrouped. Riley must have decided it would be better to leave with Aleksei than engage him. Or maybe he was doing it to protect us.
I turned that thought around in my head for a moment. It was possible that the Russian had a bead on either me or Lana back in the gym. Riley probably saw that and decided to go with Aleksei to spare us. Awww, that gave me more fuzzy feelings toward Riley. I remembered that he'd almost kissed me in the office. Was Riley protecting me? Did Riley have feelings for me?
I shook it off. No, I had to keep my focus on the task at hand. I was guessing too much. Making up stuff that I had no idea was true. Stick to the facts, Wrath. What did we know?
Number one—we knew that Riley was gone. Aleksei and the bodies were gone. The black Beetle they drove in was gone. Riley's SUV was still there. Either Riley was dead somewhere in the school, and we somehow missed him, or he went with the Russian.
My conclusion was that Riley was with Aleksei. Lana and I scoured that school. And if Riley was dead, and his two buddies were dead, Aleksei would've stayed until he'd finished the job. And, he needed Riley to help him carry off Vlad and Yevgeny. Otherwise, the time it would've taken him to drag two huge guys out to the car would've doubled. And if it was doubled, we would've caught him. So Riley must be alive.
Number two—Yevgeny and Vlad were dead. There was no doubt about this in my mind. When I'd left him, Vlad wasn't breathing and had no heartbeat. Unless an EMT with a defibrillator had accidentally happened by, Vlad was still dead. Yevgeny was very close to death when I'd left him. I'd shot him twice at close range in the stomach. He'd dropped me immediately, which meant he was too weak to hold onto me anymore. I knew this because I've shot guys before, and they still kept coming—mainly because I hadn't hit anything important.
I probably hit his spine, which would've permanently immobilized him. He dropped me and fell to the floor pretty quickly. And I'd tied him up without a fight. That was something, in spite of my knot disability, I knew I'd done well. (Hint—it's all in the wrist.) No…Yevgeny didn't leave that school alive. I was convinced of that.
Number three—Aleksei took Riley. He made Riley go with him, because he still wanted Lana. He didn't have to take the other bodies. He could've left them there and run off. But he didn't. That meant he wasn't giving up. I wondered how he got the drop on Riley. My former handler was a pro. It wouldn't have been easy. Oh well—I could figure that out later.
Number four—we had some time. Aleksei needed time to secure Riley and get rid of two bodies in a way that they'd never be found. He didn't seem all that bright, but he was probably the smartest of the three FSB agents since he'd made it out of there with two bodies and a hostage. On top of that, he'd need time to come up with a plan. There were two of us, Lana and myself, against him. And he had to know we'd be armed. If Riley had gone with him to spare us, the Russian would also know we weren't about to give Lana up without a fight.
I closed my eyes and rubbed my forehead. I was tired, but I needed to take advantage of this time to come up with something that would get Riley out alive, spare Lana, and make Aleksei dead.
I heard shouting outside and ran to the front door.
"Back off Kevin Dooley, or I'll tell your mom!" Kelly's voice came from the other side of the door. Kevin Dooley? Who was that? Rusty gears squeaked inside my head, and I remembered. Kevin Dooley was the geeky guy in high school who made fun of Kelly and me. What was he doing outside my door this late at night?
"Just get back into your car. I'm not a threat," Kelly growled.
Ah. He must be the cop out front. I opened the door and grinned. Kelly stood there with another casserole. She pushed past me and headed for the kitchen. I locked the door behind her and joined her and Lana.
"I came to check on the patient and bring you dinner," Kelly said.
"It's like eleven o'clock at night!" I protested. But only half-heartedly because it was a casserole, after all. Spies never, ever turn down free home cooking.
"I only saw you and Lana get out of the SUV. Riley wasn't with you." Kelly folded her arms over her chest. "Do you want to tell me what's going on?"
"How did you see us?" I asked. "You live a block away!"
Kelly rolled her eyes. "I was driving home from my shift."
Oh. Right. The hospital. "And how did you make a casserole in that amount of time?" I asked. Not that I was complaining. This one smelled like a Tater Tot casserole. Nope, not complaining at all.
She shrugged, "I had one in the freezer. I heated it up. It still needs about twenty minutes." Kelly marched toward the kitchen and popped it into the oven. We followed her.
The three of us set the breakfast bar, and I made some tea. I needed the caffeine because eating one-third of a Tater Tot casserole would most likely make me sleepy.
"All right," Kelly said minutes later as she spooned the casserole onto our plates. "Spill it."
"What do you mean?" I feinted before shoving a fork into my mouth to stall. Oh my God. This was so good. I tell you, if you want to know fifty different ways (and all delicious) to cook with Tater Tots, come to Iowa. It's a point of pride here.
Lana nodded, and I realized she hadn't said much since we got home. She was probably traumatized.
"Knock it off, Merry." Kelly narrowed her eyes. "Something's going on. And by the guilty looks on your faces, I can tell it's not good."
I sighed. "Fine." I was exhausted and sick of lying to everyone. I told her everything. About us going to the school, stuffing Lana in the ceiling of the principal's office, the shootout, and the surprise absence of Riley. I even told her about Rex waiting for us. When I finished, I went b
ack to eating.
Kelly processed this for a moment. She did not look happy. "Did you try calling Riley's cell?"
I shook my head. "Not yet. I didn't want to force Aleksei's hand. Riley's still alive. I'm sure of it. The Russian will call when he's ready. Hopefully then we'll be ready too."
"For what? How?" Kelly threw her hands up in the air. "It'll all be on his terms. You have no idea how to prepare for that!"
"Um, excuse me!" I put my hands on my hips. "I was a spy. We're used to this kind of stuff! I'm better prepared than you would be!" I was deeply offended. I didn't go to the hospital and stand over Kelly and ask her what her plan was for a sucking chest wound. Okay, so maybe they do actually have a plan for that, but the point is, I don't tell her how to do her job. Of course now, I wondered what the plan was for a sucking chest wound. My mind wanders when I'm tired.
"This is all my fault!" Lana burst into tears. "They wanted me, not Riley. And now you two are fighting! I'm so sorry!"
Kelly immediately started consoling the blonde bombshell with intermittent glares at me that said, This is all your fault, and what are you going to do about it?
"Look, Lana," I started, "it's not your fault. It's just part of the job."
"Do you think the KGB, or whatever you called them, killed Carlos, Ahmed, and Midori?" Kelly changed the subject to make Lana feel better.
I thought about this. "It kind of looks like it…"
Lana interrupted me. "Of course they did it! The FSB is behind it all!"
"I don't know," I said. And I didn't. With everything going on, I hadn't taken two minutes to examine this clearly. "I mean, on the surface, yeah, I'd say they did it. And I'd like to think that because once I kill Aleksei, it's all over."
"But?" Kelly searched my face. She knew I wasn't convinced.
I shrugged. "But what's the motive? If Lana was the endgame, why not just come and get her?"
Lana frowned. "They wanted to blame you, maybe? Because you are the one who recruited me to spy on them?"
I nodded slowly. "Yeah, I guess I could see that. But why those three terrorists? Why go to all that trouble of bringing them here alive? It's a LOT of work to go to. Why not just kill me too?"
"By framing you," Kelly said slowly, "they get the Yakuza, Colombian drug cartels, and al-Qaeda angry. Wouldn't it be worse to be hunted by three different terrorist groups?"
I smiled. Of the two of us, Kelly was the smart one. "That makes a little more sense," I said, "but it still seems like a reach…"
Kelly rolled her eyes. "Why does it have to be more complicated than that? I think you're overthinking it."
Lana nodded. "Maybe they were behind you being outted and forcibly retired?"
That stopped me. Was that what happened? "So you think they leaked the information on me?" I remembered the hell I'd been through to get back to the U.S. when it had happened. Especially that armed chicken. I'll never forget that.
"Maybe they thought I'd be killed on the spot. That I wouldn't make it home alive?" That was possible.
We sat there in silence, thinking. Of course, we also had another serving of the casserole. It helped—believe me.
"I don't know," I said finally. "I mean, it could've happened that way, but it seems like a pretty elaborate conspiracy just because I turned Lana."
"I think it's a good explanation," Kelly said.
"Yes, but you're not a spy," I countered. "And besides, how do you explain the Congressional commission finding that the Vice President was behind the betrayal?"
"He denied it all the way," Kelly said. "Maybe the commission was wrong."
I could tell she really liked this idea. Lana seemed to be backing her up, because her head was nodding like a bobblehead that mainlined a pound of speed. Why was I so unsure? It just seemed too fantastic. Too bizarre. But then, the FSB weren't quite the agency they were in the Cold War.
"I'll have to worry about that later," I said finally. "Our main objective right now is to get Riley back alive." I pulled a plastic grocery bag from under the counter and rolled some dishtowels up inside of it.
"What are you doing?" Kelly asked.
I went to the front door. "I have to get our guns out of the car. I couldn't bring them in when Rex was here. And if Aleksei comes here tonight, I want to be ready."
I was out the door before they could say anything. I squinted at the patrol car. It really was Kevin Dooley in there.
"Hey Kevin!" I waved. "I have to get some things out of the car. I'll just be a minute!"
He nodded, then went back to staring into space. Since I found out that I knew him, I felt a little guilty about betraying him by leaving. Even if he was a jerk to me in middle school.
I climbed into the driver's side of the SUV and shut the door. The console was a mess as a result of me hotwiring the car. Damn. Riley wasn't going to get his deposit back on this rental, and I wasn't going to get this thing started again. I wonder if Kelly would let me use her car to go rescue Riley.
The guns were under the seat, so I grabbed all three and wrapped them in the towels before putting them in the bag. I reached up to adjust the rearview mirror to look at Rex's house. It would probably suck if he came over and caught me with three unregistered handguns in a grocery bag.
My hand bumped the visor, and a set of keys fell into my lap. Really? They were there the whole damn time? Perfect. I shoved them into the bag too and got out of the SUV. I held up the bag to Kevin as I walked by. He nodded, and I went back into the house.
I put the two H&K's and the Colt Gold Cup on the kitchen counter. Well, at least we had weapons. That made me feel a little better. I couldn't imagine charging into a rescue operation wielding a nail gun that required an extension cord.
"Why do you have tools lying all over the house?" Kelly asked me as she carried the giant wrench into the kitchen.
"It made sense at the time," I said irritably. Why was everyone criticizing my homemade weapons system? First Riley, now Kelly. I'd like to see them do better. "It's all I had to work with."
Kelly dropped the wrench on the counter with a loud clank. "You thought they'd come back, didn't you?"
I nodded. "Yup. Only we didn't have to do that. And now we have these!" I held up the Colt.
We sent Kelly home with a clean casserole pan. Lana and I unloaded each of the guns and checked the magazines. They were in good working order. We re-loaded the magazines and racked the slides to chamber a round before putting the safety on. I plugged my cell into the charger. We were kind of, sort of ready.
Now all we had to do was wait.
CHAPTER NINETEEN
I woke up to the sound of someone banging on the door. I was face down on the breakfast bar, with a pistol for a pillow under my cheek. Daylight streamed through the kitchen window. What time was it?
I got up, somewhat unsteadily and looked around. There was no one else in the kitchen. Lana must've gone to bed. I ran cold water over my face in the sink, ignoring the continued pounding on the door. The clock on the stove said it was eight o'clock in the morning. Great.
And who the hell was beating on my door? I swept the gun off the counter and into a drawer. After running my hands through my hair, I straightened my shirt and answered the door.
Rex stood there wearing a suit and a smile.
"Yes?" I asked a bit irritably.
Rex looked at me for a second, like a dog looks at you when it doesn't understand what you've just said. He pointed at my cheek. "You've got the word Colt imprinted on your face."
I rubbed my cheek vigorously. "Why are you here, Rex?"
"I just wanted to check on you and Ms. Babikova," he said, his smile never fading. "Before I go into the office."
"Oh. Right," I said. "We're okay. I fell asleep watching TV. I should probably take a nap." I didn't really want him to go. But I needed to brush my teeth and wake up Lana. Why didn't she hear the door?
Rex sighed. "You know, Merry," he said softly, "I'm just doing my job."
&
nbsp; For reasons I couldn't really explain, that just pissed me off. "Just doing your job? Well, if you're just doing your job, you know that we're okay so you can go now, Detective."
"Well, it's more than that, really." His blue eyes studied me. Like he was sizing me up. Like he wanted to tell me something.
"Yeah?" I snapped. "Well, it's starting to feel like harassment." I hated myself a little just then. He was a great guy. A good neighbor and a cop just trying to help people. But I needed him to go. My cell could ring any time now, and I didn't want him there when Aleksei called.
He nodded. "Sorry to bother you." I watched in agony as he turned and walked a few steps away. Then he turned back to me. "You know, Merry, you really need to let someone help you every now and then. I'm not a bad guy. I'm not the enemy." With a half smile that seemed a little sad, Detective Rex Ferguson turned and walked away.
I stood there, on my stoop, and watched as he walked across the street, got into his car, and drove away. I noticed the officer in front of the house was staring at me.
"Go fuck yourself, Kevin!" I shouted as I turned and went into my house. Like I needed judgment from him.
When this was all over I needed to take Rex a cake or something to apologize for being such a jerk. Maybe Kelly would help me. Or maybe she'd just make it for me. But that would have to wait until after I'd killed Aleksei, Riley was rescued, and Lana was safe from threat. Then I could get my car fixed, buy real curtains, and start acting like a normal person—or at least a person who doesn't get into shootouts with terrorists. Now that I think of it—that seems like a pretty long list. Maybe I could take him a cake before I get curtains. Something to think about.
As if on cue, my cell began to ring. I ran to it and grabbed a pen and paper. You know how in those spy movies, the villain calls and gives detailed instructions to James Bond, and he memorizes it—addresses, names, etc. without any problem at all? Well, that's not me. That's actually not any spy I know. It's just a movie. I needed paper and pen.
Merit Badge Murder Page 15