In Sheep's Clothing

by David Archer

* * * * *

  Noah had told them they could all sleep in a bit the next morning, but old habits are hard to break. By seven thirty, they were all awake and ready for breakfast. The hotel had a waffle maker and other items for a free breakfast, so they decided to simply eat there.

  “Waffles,” Neil said, “are one of God's great gifts to mankind.”

  “You say that about every kind of food,” Sarah said, poking him in the ribs. “As much as you eat, I cannot understand how on earth you can stay so skinny.”

  “Hey! Stop that!” Neil said, slapping at her hand. “I can't help it I'm still growing.”

  “If you're still growing, kid,” Moose said, “then you're going to have a big problem. You can barely get through a doorway now.”

  Neil sneered at him. “Yeah? How's the weather down there, Shorty?”

  The easy banter continued while they ate, but then it was time to get to work, so they cleaned up after themselves and went out to the car. Sarah dropped the three men off at the warehouse, then went in search of jewelry and baby needs.

  One of the things she had been told over and over during her training for E & E was to avoid drawing attention to herself during a mission. Regardless of what kind of vehicle she was driving, she was always supposed to keep it under the speed limit, signal every turn, do everything by the book so that no one would take any notice of her or the car.

  Normally, that wasn't a problem, but when she came to the first stoplight, she found herself right beside two young men in a brand-new Corvette, and the driver kept looking over at her with a grin while revving his engine. She smiled at him, but that only encouraged him. He rolled down his window and began calling for her to race him to the next light.

  Sarah shook her head, still smiling, but the boy didn't give up easily. His friend was making faces at her, and clucking noises, and she suddenly found it annoying. She glanced at the rearview mirror, then looked all around to see if there were likely to be any police in the area.

  She saw nothing, so she turned and glanced at the Corvette's driver again, then winked. He broke out into a huge smile, and revved the engine a couple more times as they waited for the light to turn green.

  Green appeared, and the rear tires of the Corvette suddenly began spinning and screaming, as the driver gave it all he had. Sarah shook her head at his foolishness and pushed her own foot to the floor. The Chrysler's all-wheel drive grabbed the road and threw her forward like a rocket, leaving the Corvette sitting in a cloud of its own black smoke.

  It was almost a quarter of a mile to the next light, and Sarah had been sitting stopped at it for more than five seconds before the Corvette pulled up beside her. The driver was staring at her in awe, but his comments and taunts had come to an end. The passenger was looking straight ahead, unwilling to even turn his eyes in her direction.

  When the light changed again, Sarah drove away sedately. The young driver of the Corvette gave his car more accelerator and pulled quickly away, but Sarah knew that he would never forget the day a big four-door sedan had left him sitting still at the light.

  Three hours later, with three big bags of costume jewelry, Sarah returned to the warehouse. She dumped it all out on the table, and she and Neil began choosing the items they would use to decorate the shrine. She had bought necklaces, bracelets, brooches and more, all kinds of sparkly, shiny things to represent the offerings believers would present to Santa Muerte.

  She sent Moose out to the car to get her other purchases. Two folding cribs, a playpen and a folding cot for an adult were carried in, followed by a TV, a mini fridge and plenty of snacks and soft drinks to stock it with. There were also three big bags of diapers, baby food and other necessities. Moose set them all in the room they had set aside as a holding area for the nanny and babies, and then he and Neil began setting them up.

  And then they waited. According to the tracking number Neil had gotten via email, the dress was scheduled to arrive sometime in the afternoon. There wasn't a lot they could do until then, so Noah went over the plan with them one more time.

  “Once the skeleton is dressed and ready, Moose will load it into the van and take it to the Gomez house. We’ll put a card with it that indicates it was a gift from a friend of Duane Harris, asking them to pray for his release. Once they have accepted it and taken it inside, that's when we'll start watching for the nanny to take the children out. Immediately after that, Moose, you're going to go and steal us a car, something big but not too noticeable. Sarah and I will use that car to go and find the nanny and children, forcing them into the car and bringing them back here. Hopefully, we can do that without drawing any attention, but we'll stay away from the warehouse until we're sure we're not being followed. At that point, we'll need you to bring the Chrysler and pick us up somewhere, Moose. We don't want the stolen car connected to this location.”

  “Right,” Moose said, “I'll be ready.”

  “Noah,” Sarah said, “why don’t we just use the Chrysler? I can flip the plates and change the color, so no one would know it was the same car we’re driving now.”

  Noah shook his head. “No, we don’t want to overuse what that car can do unless we absolutely have to. That’s a pretty powerful feature, and I can see how it could save our asses if we need it, but the last thing we need is someone saying they saw a car like that changing color as it went down the road. For this purpose, it’s better to use a completely different car.”

  “Okay, I can see your point. I’m just dying to use it.”

  “Hang on, and I’m sure you’ll get the chance sooner or later. Neil, when Moose leaves to come pick us up, I want you to call the Gomez house and use one of your computerized voices to deliver the message in Spanish that the kids have been kidnapped, and that we want ten million dollars in ransom. Tell them that we’ll be back in touch with instructions, then cut the call off. That should start the ball rolling.”

  “Not a problem,” Neil said. “My Spanish is pretty good, and the computer can make me sound like somebody from their neck of the woods.”

  “Good. As soon as we get the nanny and kids locked away here, I'll notify Queen Allison that they're ready for pickup. We'll wait about three hours after the abduction, give it time to let the news spread about it, and if nothing is happening, then the first load of flowers can be delivered. Neil, you be sure to use a similar voice to order flowers from two or three other flower shops around town, get them delivered as quickly as possible to the Gomez house. An hour or so later, Moose, you can take the last batch of flowers to them.”

  “Got it, Boss.”

  “Sarah, once we drop the nanny and kids off here, we get into the car and just start circling around that area of the city. The idea is to be as close as possible when the gathering begins. Neil, you'll be keeping tabs on who's going in and out of that house, I want to get as many of them as possible inside. If we miss any, Moose and I will have to track them down and take them out one by one.”

  “They all got together when that one guy was killed,” Neil said, “so I figure they'll do it again over Mrs. Gomez losing her kids. They're all supposed to be pretty close, so it would make sense.”

  Noah nodded in agreement. “I think you're right, but we have to prepare for contingencies. Keep your eye on as many of those cameras as you can, I need to know about any of the targets who manage not to get caught in the trap.”

  “Will do.”

  FIVE

  The day dragged on, but finally a big brown delivery truck appeared. Noah had put Sarah at the reception desk in the front office of the warehouse, and she smiled at the driver as he carried a box inside.

  “Is this Avalon Floral?”

  “It sure is,” Sarah said cheerfully. “Got something for me?”

  The driver smiled and set the box on the counter in front of her, then held out a device and asked her to use a stylus to sign for the package. She quickly scribbled “Rosemary Wingo” and handed it back. The driver smiled once more, winked at her and then headed b
ack to his truck and drove away.

  Sarah grabbed the box and headed out into the warehouse, where Moose took it from her and began to open it up. The wedding dress he lifted out of it was small, but very pretty.

  “Wow,” Sarah said, “that's pretty nice. If it was a little bigger, I could wear it.”

  Neil spun in his chair to look at her, his eyes wide. “You guys getting married?”

  Sarah's eyes were suddenly even wider than his. “What? No! No, I just meant—I mean, I was just saying—oh, shut up, Neil!”

  Moose started laughing. “I wish you could see your face, Sarah,” he said. “I don't think I've ever seen you turn quite so red before.”

  “You shut up, too!”

  “Okay, okay,” Moose said. “You want to come help dress up Bony Girl? Even if you're not getting married, you probably know more about how to put on a wedding dress than we do.”

  Sarah stared at him blankly for a moment, then grinned. “Yeah, probably,” she said. “I doubt any of you have ever been near one before now.” She walked over to the table and began looking it over. “Remember, this is just a costume, it doesn't even fasten like a real wedding gown. It's got these three little hooks in the back instead of a zipper or buttons. Set the skeleton down on the floor, please?”

  Moose did as she asked, and Sarah slid the dress down over its head, fumbling to get the bony arms into the sleeves without ripping the lace. It took her only a couple of minutes, and then she stood back and looked at it.

  “Okay, let's get the jewelry on her.” She began picking through the pile they had made the day before, adding different ornaments to the figure as she went along.

  “We missed something,” Neil said, “actually a couple of things. Santa Muerte is supposed to be holding a couple of objects, mainly a scythe—she's Death, right?—and a globe, like of the world. I guess that's supposed to mean she has the power of life and death over everything.” He looked at Noah. “I can make them, with the printer. They should look okay that way.”

  Noah nodded. “Yes, go ahead. We need this to look as real as possible.”

  Neil nodded once and went to the printer. He couldn’t find a scythe in the image database, but it took him only a few minutes to create one with the CAD software that was built into it, and the printer began working at its normal rapid pace.

  Sarah was actually enjoying herself, and Noah cocked his head to one side as he watched her work. It took a moment, but she saw him.

  “What?” Sarah asked.

  Noah shook his head. “Just watching you,” he said. “You were smiling, and it caught my attention.”

  Sarah blushed and looked away. “I was just remembering when I was a little girl, before my mom died. She used to buy me dolls, and we'd play dress up with them. I hadn't thought about that in a long time, but this reminded me of it.”

  Noah nodded. “I knew it was just you and your dad when you got busted and recruited, but I never knew what happened to your mother. How old were you when she died?”

  “I was eleven,” Sarah said. “It wasn't sudden. She got cancer, and we knew for a couple of years that it was coming, but it still hurt when she was gone.”

  Noah said nothing, and a moment later she went on. “After that, it was just me and my dad. I don't think he ever got over it, to be honest. He never dated or anything, always said he didn't have time for that kind of thing, but he was always ready to take me to the movies, or out to play putt-putt. If he hadn't taught me how to steal cars before I turned eleven, it would've been a pretty decent childhood.”

  She added a couple more pieces and stood back to look at her handiwork. “Not bad,” she said. “Neil, what do you think?”

  Neil walked over and looked at the figure, nodding his head. “Looks like the pictures I found online,” he said. “When the scythe and globe get done, I'd say she's ready, Boss.”

  “Scythe looks like it's ready,” Moose said. He reached into the printer and picked it up.

  Neil had done a good job on it. The handle, properly curved, looked like wood, while the blade appeared to be made of steel. Only the weight made it clear that it was plastic. Moose carried it over and carefully bent the fingers of the skeletal right hand around it, but the arm wouldn't stay in position. Sarah rolled up the sleeve while Moose applied superglue to the elbow joint to lock it in place.

  Neil started the printer on the globe. This time, he was able to find one in the database, one that showed all of the continents engraved into what appeared to be a silver ball. He turned the printer loose and it began working. Fifteen minutes later, the shiny four-inch globe was ready.

  Moose and Sarah had gone ahead and prepared the left hand, bending and locking the elbow so that the hand was positioned just in front of where the skeleton's heart would be, if it had one. Another drop of superglue attached a silver chain from a necklace to the globe, and that was draped over the hand.

  The four of them stood back and looked at their creation, and Neil let out a low whistle. “I gotta say, that looks pretty awesome to me. Don't get me wrong, I'm not ready to start praying to a bony bitch, but if I was one of her followers, I think I'd want one of these in my living room.”

  “We didn't think about a box,” Noah said. “I don't think anybody would expect one of these to be delivered without being in some kind of a box.”

  Neil shrugged. “I wouldn't even know where to look for a box this size,” he said. “Anybody got any ideas?”

  Sarah nodded. “Yeah,” she said. “Be right back.” She turned and walked out the door, got into the car and drove away. She was gone about half an hour, and when she pulled up again she removed a large package from the back seat and carried it inside.

  The package turned out to be a doll, one of the “Your Size” fashion dolls. The plastic girl inside was just barely taller than the skeleton they had made, and the front panel of the box was clear plastic.

  “I had one of these when I was a kid,” Sarah said. “I was pretty sure the big toy chains still sold them, and I was right. Our Santa Muerte will fit right inside, but we need to do something about the labeling on the box.” She opened a bag that she had carried in with the box and pulled out a small can of gold paint and a couple of brushes.

  Moose opened the box and removed the doll, and then he and Sarah began painting. The metallic gold paint covered the original lettering perfectly, and while it was obvious the box had been reused, it appeared to have been very nicely done.

  Neil used his portable inkjet printer to create a banner that read, “Gracias!” and Sarah stuck it directly to the paint in the upper left corner, so that it crossed the corner of the clear panel at an angle. The paint dried quickly, but it was still after seven PM by the time they finally had the skeletal figure tucked inside and ready to go.

  “I doubt any flower companies deliver at this time of night,” Noah said, “so we'll be starting first thing in the morning. Let's go find some dinner and then get some rest.”

  Instead of going out to eat, they decided to pick up pizzas and take them back to the hotel. They gathered in Noah and Sarah's room and found a movie on the television, a fairly recent film from the new Star Trek series.

  Neil pointed at the screen when Mr. Spock came on. “Look, Boss, you're on TV.”

  Noah looked at him and raised one eyebrow. “Fascinating,” he said. “When I was a kid, one of my best friends introduced me to the old Star Trek TV show, and told me I was like Mr. Spock. I used to watch that show every chance I got, just to see how he put up with all those humans around him. Personally, I don't think this new guy does the character justice. Leonard Nimoy was Mr. Spock, and that's all there was to it.”

  The movie ended, Moose and Neil went off to their room, and Sarah dragged Noah into the bed. She cuddled up close to him and just lay there for a moment.

  “What happens if the nanny doesn't cooperate and bring the kids out where we can grab them?”

  Noah looked her in the eye. “If I have to, I'll go ta
ke them right out of the house. I'm not going to let them be there when those explosives go off, and we need the abduction to give the cartel members a reason to gather.”

  Sarah's head was lying on Noah's shoulder, and his right arm was around her. She rubbed her face on his shoulder and then looked up at him again. “I always get scared,” she said, “the night before the mission gets heavy. This one sounds like it should come off pretty easy, but I'm not sure. We're adding in a kidnapping; that's like throwing lit matches into a box of firecrackers. Something's bound to blow up.”

  “We'll just have to play it by ear,” Noah said. “I'm just counting on you to get us off the radar as quickly as possible after we have those kids. That's the only place where I see any real potential problems. If the local police were to get on our trail, things could get pretty messed up.”

  Sarah sighed into his shoulder. “Then just make sure Moose gets me something that can move. There's nothing I hate worse than running from cops in a vehicle that doesn’t have the power or maneuverability it needs.”

  She tilted her face up for a kiss and Noah obliged her. A few moments later he heard her breathing slow as she drifted off to sleep. He relaxed and followed her after only a few more seconds.

  They rose at six, showered and then went out for breakfast. Moose had spotted a place that looked appealing the day before, and it turned out to have a terrific breakfast menu. All four of them went for the steak and eggs, even Sarah moaning with delight as she bit into the T-bone.

  They pulled up at the warehouse at eight AM on the dot and went inside to look the shrine over one more time. It was already in the box, so all they could do was look through the plastic window, but Noah finally nodded his approval.

  “Okay, it's time to do this. Moose, you probably ought to have some flowers in the van with you, just in case anyone pays attention. It wouldn't do for them to remember a few days from now that some flower shop delivery van dropped off a box, but didn't have anything else inside.”