Missy giggled and said, “Nah! You guys are okay. And, I miss Mike. I’m outta here!” She disappeared in a shimmer of light.
Moments later, a nurse looked in and, looking all around, she asked if Tracy was talking to anyone. Tracy merely smiled at her innocently until she gave up and left.
-----
Missy next checked in with “P” Branch when she was back in Mike’s apartment. She wanted to be sure she could continue on back to Kabul. And, back to Mike.
Drew got on the line and they talked for a few minutes. Then he said, “You know how Lisa and Marie are now extracting data from everyone’s computers? As you might expect, the WIJO leaders are just now learning of their complete and total failures over here. They are definitely not happy. I’m quite certain some heads will roll.”
Missy laughed and said, “Good! And, I’m sure you mean that literally right?”
“Probably,” agreed Drew. “One other thing. I don’t know if I should mention this. But, the girls are still getting data from Pancholi, checking what he’s up to. And, it seems he was out filming things at Foxborouh today. He plans to send a big report over to Karimi which implicates Robert Ulrey and all you witches, aka demons. They’re corrupting the data, as they did before, but they say eventually? Pancholi will find a way to get everything to Karimi.”
Missy thought for a moment about this news. “Have the girls been able to extract all the data they need from him? Can they empty out his bank accounts and destroy all his data, if needed?”
“Sure, why?”
Missy said, “Maybe it’s time I paid Arvind a visit. Is he at his hotel right now?”
“Well … I can’t be sure since we don’t have him under surveillance at the moment.” Drew paused and then said, “There’s a note here from Lisa that he’ll be visiting a prostitute at eight. That’s only an hour from now.” Marie had managed hacking into Arvind’s phone and thus the girls were now tracking all his calls.
“Weeeeelll … that can work. Can you have this girl arrested and held for a couple of hours? I’ll let you know later on when she can return to her place.” For the second time that day, Missy asked for the address of a hotel and a room number.
Chapter Forty-Eight
Dec 29, 2019
As Arvind Pancholi made his way through the hotel lobby and over to the elevator, he noted that mysterious supernatural presence which he’d noted before was once again back. Well … he was in Salem. Okay. He went up in the elevator, got off on the appropriate floor and made his way down to the room number which he’d been given. No change. Like before, this presence was a constant.
He knocked on the door. He was looking forward to an enjoyable evening. It was always exciting when he got to be with a fresh, new girl.
When the door opened, he found himself staring at Missy McCrea. She was wearing a fluffy bathrobe. And, she was definitely the source of that supernatural presence he’d been experiencing. She smiled and waved for him to come inside.
“Arvind, I think it’s time you and I had a little chat.”
For a brief moment, Arvind felt a sense of fear grabbing at his insides. But, he quickly ignored that and entered the hotel room. He was confident he could handle this witch. At the same time, he was both careful and curious. For a girl who was only nineteen, she certainly had done a lot and been involved in a lot of amazing things. And, her beautiful smile was hard to ignore. Yeah, he had fantasized about her and now, here she was.
“Missy McCrea. You are even more beautiful in person than on all those videos. Should I be honored that you have arranged with the agency to be my date for this evening?” Arvind was pretty certain she was not associated with the agency in any way and was trying to figure out how she could possibly have found him.
Missy said, “I can’t imagine any scenario where a traitor like you might be honored. And I definitely am not your date for the evening.” She walked to the center of the room and then turned back around to face him. “Carlos told me what you did to poor Pablo. It’s that incident which makes it impossible for you to join Manuel Rodriguez and a few others. They’re in prison, of course. But, if you were there, their guards would be at risk. No, no. We can’t have that.”
Arvind nodded his head and said, “I’m glad you realize you’ve more than met your match. I am curious, of course. How did you learn I would be here tonight?”
“Are you hoping to glean more information to pass along to your good friend Askar-Samar Karimi? If so, let me assure you. That won’t happen. Your days of spying on me and betraying the U.S. to WIJO? Those days are over now.”
“Ah, but you see? I have so much more to tell him. All about how demons have helped the U.S. interfere with WIJO attacks. He has promised to pay me very well for this information.” Arvind smiled at her condescendingly. “It seems I will maybe have one less demon to talk about, of course. You understand. Just as you say I cannot be arrested, I’m afraid I cannot allow you to interfere.” He began drawing energy and power from his surroundings and was appreciative of his proximity to the Atlantic Ocean.
Missy knew he was planning to kill her. She could sense the way he was pulling energy and preparing to unleash his ability to control fluids upon her to the fullest extent possible. She asked, “What if I’m more powerful than you, Arvind? Are you really preparing to kill me without even knowing all the things that I might be capable of?”
Arvind was no long interested in debating with her. He had no choice but to kill her and move on. He extended his arm and pointed at her. Just as he’d done with Pablo, it was time. He pushed all the energy he could manage right at her. He no longer cared what things she could do but only wanted to see her dead.
When he saw the shimmer of light appear, he was elated. Yes! She was done for. But then she disappeared completely. He looked around but did not see any reappearance. He had wondered if she might also be a Shifter in addition to being a witch. But if so? Where had she gone?
Missy could feel the energy from Arvind. But, in her spirit form, she had been extracting energy for days, again and again and again. She’d needed it to sustain herself while constantly working with no food or rest. She’d not eaten or slept but had instead become an expert at extracting energy. Maintaining that balance. It had possibly become her greatest ability.
She could heal. She could Shift forms. She could move objects around with greater and greater amounts of power. She could exist in her spirit form as pure energy, her essence maintaining a perfect balance by constantly replenishing all that she expended. Yes, she could draw energy into herself. And, now she did so, extracting energy form Arvind.
He kept pushing and she kept drawing it in. He slowly began to realize things were not quite right … he sensed he was starting to feel drained. Then, he understood. He was being drained. That Shifter-witch Missy McCrea was somehow still there, her presence could indeed still be felt, and she was draining his energy. Arvind tried to stop but found it was too late. She was quite literally draining the life right out of him!
It did not take long. Missy saw Arvind collapse, his very essence now completely gone. She knew she had taken it. All of it. She felt different. And, yeah … this “feeling” was actually inside her essence. Draining energy from one single source the way she had done with Arvind? She realized that had somehow changed her.
But, Arvind was lying there dead and she needed to ask Drew Martinson to take care of things. It would not be good for the body to be found in this hotel room. Better would be if he were found back in his own hotel room. Maybe in his bed. She wasn’t sure what an autopsy would reveal. There would need to be some sort of determination for why the man had died in his sleep. But, what were government friends for if they couldn’t manage things like this?
She teleported back to Mike’s place, Changed in an exceptionally large burst of energy, and then called Drew. She wanted to be sure she could finally continue on back to Kabul. And, back to Mike.
Epilogue
Jan 5, 2020
Missy once again was moving all her stuff, bringing it over to her new room. She and Tracy had checked in, right on time, and then had looked at the list to learn where they’d be living for the next semester. West Point reassigned rooms and roommates every semester.
Her mind was not on moving rooms at the academy, however. No, she was still dwelling on the wonderful time she and Mike had enjoyed in Paris. Her government friends had wanted her to install the Missy virus on Philip Arnold’s computer. One last assignment. But, no hurry. And, they’d been willing to pay for her and Mike to stay right there at the Le Meurice Hotel for as long as they’d wanted. Yes! She finally was allowed to actually experience one of the places where they’d sent her.
She had returned to Kabul, and Mike, a week earlier. They’d stayed there that night and flown to Paris the next day. They’d only flown home that morning, to New York City. Mike had then come up with her to the academy by cab and was now riding home with her brother John.
Missy mentally had to smile thinking back to that night in Kabul when she’d finally returned to Mike. And, had finally been able to wear the sexy lingerie which Marsha had provided. Mike had been appreciative, of course. And, she’d been greatly relieved the lingerie still fit her; her body had gotten back to normal after all the energy she’d used Shifting back and forth all the way across the Atlantic.
She had by then filled him in on everything she’d done while back in the U.S., including what she’d done to Arvind. And, how she was convinced that had somehow changed her in several ways.
“How,” he’d asked.
“Well,” she’d told him. “For one thing, my energy balance was way off and, when I first Changed back to my human form and saw myself in the mirror at your place?”
“Yeah?”
She knew he loved it when she exaggerated. She’d said, “My boobs were sticking way out like giant watermelons, my nipples were an angry purplish-red instead of pale pink and they had grown to really enormous proportions. And, my ass?”
Mike was laughing at her but said, “Yeah? How big was it, Missy?”
She’d said, “Well, if someone had been there to take a pound of my flesh, no one would even have noticed!” They both had laughed at that and not long afterwards, Mike had been conducting a very thorough inspection. The lingerie had also, not long afterwards, been removed to enable his examination. Of course, other things had been enabled as well and neither one of them had gotten much sleep that night.
Paris, of course, had allowed them to get plenty of sleep. And, plenty of time together. Great food, great wine, great sex and great times, all in a great city. They’d created some memories there which would last them a lifetime.
Missy had no difficulty in getting the Missy virus installed on Arnold’s computer or in avoiding their being noticed by Arnold while staying in the same hotel that he was. And, when they’d checked in with “P” Branch for updates, all the news had been good. The terrorists at all three locations were now mostly in custody and the general public had never learned just how close things had gotten to total disaster.
While it was suspected there might still be a few who had gotten away, they were now on the run and posed little threat. WIJO was now in turmoil, back in Afghanistan, and it remained to be seen just how the leadership would fare. They’d learned there had been quite a shake-up in the leaders near Herat. Karimi had risen to prominence while many there were chastised for not heeding his warnings sooner.
Sooo, Missy indeed had many things to think about as she entered the building she’d be living in for the next few months. One thing she had shared only with Mike was how her situational awareness had increased. She now noticed more about those around her. In addition to her enhanced senses of sight, sound and smell she now experienced a heightened sense of each person’s essence.
Yeah, she could tell when they were calm or upset, lying or truthful, relaxed or excited. To test what she gradually had guessed was her new ability as a water witch, she’d had Mike fill up the tub with water the night before. She then had extended her arm and pointed. And, she’d pushed out some of the energy she’d been experiencing ever since her confrontation with Arvind. In no time at all, the water began boiling.
She had paused, refocused, and again used this new energy source. The water in the tub slowly froze until becoming a solid block of ice. Yep! She had indeed been changed. What, oh what, did those Fabulous Fates have planned for her now?
Missy then knocked on the door to her new room and entered. It was time to meet her new roommate.
From the Author
Thank you for reading Missy’s Operation Lily Pad, my sixth book about Missy. I hope you enjoy reading about Missy and her friends as much as I enjoy writing about her. I’ve always loved stories about female characters with special powers along with stories about witches and werewolves. Future books in this series are planned, so keep checking on Amazon.
I hope you will consider leaving a review for Missy’s Operation Lily Pad on Amazon, letting others know what you think about this book and this series. Word-of-mouth is crucial for any author to succeed. Your kind words, even if only a line or two, will help others decide to read about Missy and inspire me to keep this series going for many more books. That would make all the difference and be hugely appreciated. Thanks in advance!
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Missy's Operation Lily Pad (Missy the Werecat Book 6) Page 33