Assassin Affairs

by R. S. Smith

  As the evening wore on, the emcee announced the various winners. Everyone applauded accordingly. The girls anxiously awaited their moment, anticipating how cool it would be if both could win, and hoping that at least one of them would. When the emcee began discussing their film, there was some disorder and confusion behind the speaker as he leaned toward the microphone.

  “For this next award, we have a rather unusual situation, folks.”

  The sisters looked at one another perplexed.

  “This time we have very special circumstances. Our next winners have been separated from their parents for more than twenty years because of a witness protection situation. I'm thrilled to be able to announce that that condition has now been resolved. Mr. and Mrs. Kingston, would you please come out on stage and make the presentation for your daughters Karlee and Kristie?”

  “Girls, will you both come to the podium now please?”

  The entire audience went wild with enthusiastic excitement and gave the parents and sisters a standing ovation. Both girls began to cry as they rose from their seats and ran up to the stage.

  It was a long overdue reunion. The ecstatic, proud parents presented the awards, followed by lots of hugging and sobbing. The girls decided to keep their clandestine endeavors a secret and hoped to focus their futures on their acting careers.

  Chapter 7

  Lethal

  Ladies

  A Return to the Colorado Cabin

  The young woman appeared to be a college coed who had been drugged. She was cute, with short blonde hair, wearing just a blue denim shirt, held together by only one button, but it covered all the critical areas. She was bound by handcuffs to what appeared to be a downtown parking meter. It was difficult to tell, as the image was too dark due to the predawn lighting and illuminated by only an overhead street lamp.

  I'm a semi-retired female private investigator located on Florida's Gulf Coast. Someone had left an anonymous note with my morning newspaper, telling me to check this internet site for a live feed concerning a potential case. As it was already early daylight in Florida, I knew this had to be somewhere west, perhaps Denver, as the roads were wider than most. It looked like a big city, but there were no car headlights yet, so not that big of a city. Maybe it was Omaha, I thought. Kansas City came to mind, too. I couldn't tell if I saw a mountain range in the background, or if it was simply clouds on the horizon from a storm front.

  As I watched the young woman, I wondered if anyone would help her, or would passers-by simply look at her as they continued on their way to work or to shopping. Would mischievous kids undo her lone button, I asked myself. Maybe she had been date-raped and dumped there. Maybe she was about to be raped. All kinds of things went through my mind as I sat there watching the computer screen, feeling helpless.

  Several Weeks Earlier

  The Kingston family had run afoul of the mob and long ago been forced into WITSEC, the Witness Protection Program. As they were led to believe that things would be resolved within a year, and the parents were most fearful they would be found, they had sent their two young daughters to live with their aunt for the duration to ensure their safety, severing all communication. She too was in the program.

  As cruel fate would have it, that one year turned into five, which became ten, and ten grew into twenty. In the meantime, the two look-alike sisters had started careers, one in law and the other in modeling and acting. Both had often been mistaken for twins, although they were a few years apart in age, and were very smart, blonde, tall, blue-eyed and attractively slender. They had starred together in a TV show as twin sisters and later in a film as rogue government agents and won awards for their work. Along the way, destiny had led them to encounter some lethal liaisons and become well-trained assassins. Realizing that the best defense can sometimes be a good offense, they used these skills to take out the crime family responsible for their own family's separation and had recently been reunited with mom and dad in front of millions of adoring fans at the Oscar awards ceremony. When they finally got a private moment together in the folks' hotel room, they spoke at length of family things.

  “Girls, we're both so proud of you,” beamed their dad.

  “That's right! We've followed your careers from their beginnings,” added their mom.

  The foursome continued busily updating one another on the numerous happenings in their lives over those many years. The sisters held back the fact that they had become professional assassins. Just when they were about to take a dinner break, the mother casually shocked the sisters with an unexpected revelation.

  “Just after we went into the program, I discovered I was pregnant. You both have a younger sister named Kacey!”

  The stunned pair was agape with astonishment and excitement.

  “A sister?! Oh my God! And it's another 'K' to boot,” said Karlee.

  “Tell us all about her, mom,” Kristie eagerly requested.

  “She's been such a joy to us. She's done well in school, participated in lots of sports and other activities, and is simply an all-around, free-spirited, sweetheart. She blonde like both of you. We never told her about you two, knowing she'd try to contact you or tell everyone about you, and that could have put your lives in danger. She saw your TV episode 'The Sinclair Affair' and your movie several times and is your biggest fan! Enlarged photos of you both are on her bedroom wall. She's commented on your resemblance to her.”

  “Where is she? When do we get to meet her?”

  The two parents exchanged an apprehensive glance, both unable to continue the discussion as the mom broke into tears.

  “What is it? Tell us!” ordered the sisters.

  At this point, the father took over. “Kacey fell in with the wrong crowd. We tried to dissuade her, but to no avail. She has a stubborn, bull-headed mind of her own, just like the two of you always did.” He pulled out his wallet and shared a photo of her.

  “Oh, she is a cutie. She's got our eyes. What wrong crowd? Who are they? Where are they? In what ways are they so wrong?” Karlee asked.

  “Kacey fell in love with a young man named Chad. He had some roughneck friends and we suspected they may have been involved with illegal activities, but we didn't know what. We didn't really know much of anything, but they gave off bad vibes. Anyway, she disappeared last week. The police say she probably just got pregnant and decided to elope. She would never do that!”

  “We'll find her, Daddy, “declared Kristie. “We're good at that sort of thing.”

  “You are?”

  Karlee gave her the sisterly shut-up glare, and they both proceeded to get as much information as they could over the next few days as the pair introduced their parents to some of their favorite Hollywood celebrities and treated the family to some bonding time at nearby Disneyland.

  The sisters had developed an extensive database of contacts. As their assassin skills had evolved, so had the quality of the names. One public figure on the list was the head of the NSA who had awarded them a license-to-kill when they had rescued his family. Karlee sent him a message with all the names of those involved in her sister's disappearance. If anyone could help them, it would certainly be the head of the NSA!

  The next morning she got her response. Some of the names were familiar to the NSA and connected to a militia in Colorado, but investigations were in their preliminary stages and he offered nothing substantive. He seemed evasive on what little he did know and recommended that the girls get in touch with Alexei, their contact and mutual acquaintance in Europe.

  The sisters had initially met Alexei as a fellow dinner guest at the palatial estate of Karlee's ex-fiancé's parents. He had been posing as an agent for Interpol, while in reality he was an assassin and considered the top man in the world for training new ones. When Karlee did her first independent kill, she hit his radar and ended up getting a year of intense training at his residence outside London, a remote, old English castle which had been updated with all the modern conveniences. In exchange for his tutelage, she
had agreed to serving his needs on a limited number of contracted hits, and her sister Kristie had helped out, too, getting some vital on-the-job training. Alexei had been a central figure in the sisters' operation that took down the Carbonis, the crime family responsible for driving their own family into WITSEC. They had all become close in the process.

  Karlee and Kristie promptly placed an overseas call to him.

  “It's good to hear from my girls again,” he said with his Belgian accent. “How goes the family reunion?”

  They brought him up to date on the dilemma with their newly-discovered third sister.

  “I've been meaning to get in touch with you two. Do you remember the night we invaded that house with the poker game?”

  “Yeah, you guys guarded outside while we put on our masks and went inside and did our thing,” said Kristie.

  “Tell me what you both remember about the encounter. You need to do a little reconstruction of the event for Uncle Alexei.” He liked to call his female trainees nieces.

  “We went inside to intimidate everyone and make them believe Carlotta Carboni had sent us. There was a poker game in progress.”

  “Okay, and then what happened?” he asked.

  A little perplexed by the request, Kristie said “That's when I noticed that gangster Sonny Sinclair there. He's the one who tried to rape me when Karlee came in and saved me. I fired a couple rounds into his crotch before we left. We already told you about it.”

  “Do you remember anyone else there besides the men playing cards?”

  “No,” said Kristie.

  “Wait a minute!” interjected her sister. “There was someone else there! One of the men had a bimbo with him. Kristie, don't you remember that little redhead that was there making snacks in the kitchen?”

  “Oh yeah, she was a nobody, just one of the guy's girlfriends.”

  “Uh huh, and where was this harmless little tart when you had the drop on all those nasty men?” asked Alexei. “Was she behind you by any chance?”

  “Probably. We totally ignored her, focusing on the men.”

  “Never, never judge a book by its cover, girls. I thought I'd taught you that, Karlee. Shame on you!”

  “You've lost us, Alexei. What are you talking about?”

  “I've pieced together a few facts that have subsequently come to my attention, ladies. One of the other poker players was a New York mobster named Charles Cicero. That little harmless, redheaded bimbo was his most accomplished hit-woman. She had come to see him and collect a large payment due her and her group from a recent hit. Since they're also friends, she accompanied him to the game. Apparently while you two were so busy harassing the men, she had time to not only get out her pistol, but also attach the silencer. Had you turned around, you would have seen it pointed right at you.”

  Both women displayed a look of disbelief. “No way!” they responded. “How do you know this?”

  “Her name is Renée. From what I'm told, she grew up subjected to a childhood of sex-abuse by her step-dad. When she witnessed you put two rounds into Sinclair's crotch, you won her favor and she decided to spare you and let you finish out your play. Her boss Cicero didn't mind as he and Sinclair were more adversaries than friends, so he subtly nodded his okay.”

  “How in the world do you learn these things, and what does this have to do with our missing sister?”

  “Renée is a rather unique individual, as you might now surmise,” said Alexei. “She was so impressed with you two that she became determined to get to know you. She's been putting out feelers ever since that night to find out who you are.”

  “Maybe she's involved with Kacey's disappearance,” said Karlee. “Maybe that's her play to meet us. Have these feelers of hers reached out and felt you, Alexei?”

  “Yes, twice, in fact. One of her associates is named Laura. Laura trained under me for a year before you came along, Karlee. She and I were also lovers, just like you and I were. Laura approached me some time ago on the subject on Renée's behalf and I feigned ignorance. That's when I learned all these details.”

  “You did say twice.”

  “Do you remember that operation we did with the CIA a while back, the one where you worked with an agent named Pepper?”

  “Yeah, we remember her,” the sisters said in unison.

  “Well, it seems little red, who incidentally graduated sigma cum laud, and her gang have gotten their tits-in-the-proverbial-wringer.” He chuckled at his own male humor. “Their last op to kidnap a Laotian princess went south on them over in Thailand, thanks to Pepper. Faced with a lifetime in an Asian prison or working for the CIA due to no outstanding arrest warrants, they made the obvious choice. This all happened within the last twenty-four hours and they're still incarcerated in the Royal Palace there.”

  “So this Renée now has Pepper contacting you about us?” asked Karlee.

  “You are quick. I won't say anything to anyone without your approval, and I'm definitely not saying to become friends with any of these women. On the other hand, it's my opinion that they're in a position to help you. Renée has a Colorado cabin, and extensive criminal contacts, including gun-runners and New York crime families. Laura gained the status of top-assassin on the west coast, another associate named Ashley did her Master's Thesis on made-men and hit-men, focusing on both Sinclair and Cicero. Ashley is so good at tracking, she located Renée who is more elusive than you two. In other words, it's only a matter of time until they find you anyway.”

  “What do you want, Alexei?” asked Karlee. She was still indebted to him for her year of training.

  “Pepper needs a favor. She needs to get the respect of her new recruits. Although she captured them, they feel it was just dumb luck. Renée mentioned her interest in meeting you two as a test. I owe Pepper; you owe me. Go to Thailand and meet with Renée for me, and we'll call it even between us, Karlee, plus Pepper will owe the pair of you a favor,” offered Alexei. “One more thing that will be of some interest to you both.”

  “What's that?”

  “Like with you two, Renée just reconnected with her dad after twenty years. He's CIA and, unknown to her until now, was in one of those Asian prisons all that time, just getting out last year. All of them are at the Royal Palace there, where Princess Lei is about to marry the Prince. It's as good a place as any to start in your search for Kacey. Because some of the names on your list are connected with an anti-government militia, you might be able to persuade Pepper to make finding them the girls' first CIA operation. From what Laura has told me, they're a tight-knit, highly skilled group, but they could turn on you on a dime. One time, Ashley pushed a young man off a hi-rise balcony just to impress them. If you follow this path, be very careful.”

  “All right, Alexei. It sounds like our best bet. They've got skills and contacts we could use. Having the CIA behind us, too, would be sweet. Tell Pepper to expect us forthwith.”

  The sisters sent their parents home in case Kacey tried to contact them, and then they departed for Thailand.

  It was well past midnight when they reached the Royal Palace and reconnected with their one-time op-partner.

  “Pepper, what are you thinking? You should just throw away the key with this bunch!” declared Karlee.

  “Renée's dad is CIA and we owe him. She's a master manipulator and has influence over this group similar to the way Charles Manson did with his. There's a lot of young talent in that room. If we can cultivate and properly mold it, reprogram them, we'll have some top skills in the service of our government. We've frozen all their assets and threatened them with RICO confiscation to discourage them from taking flight. It will all be slowly released back to them like a profit-sharing program. The youngest one, Julie, has the least to offer and has some potential murder charges looming, but we wanted to keep the group together. I've interviewed each individually at length.”

  She led them to the darkened library where the five ladies were still kept under guard, but in a comfortable manner. All five wer
e asleep on cushy sofas. Pepper quietly pointed out which one was Renée.

  “Do you recognize her, Karlee?” Kristie asked in a hushed tone.

  “Yes, she was definitely there that night, sis. Do you think we were really that close to being shot in the back? She looks so sweet and innocent.”

  “Yeah, I think so, and in the back of the head is more likely. She's not the harmless darling she appears to be. I'm never making that mistake again! Do we really want to wake her up?” she asked in a whisper.

  “We do have a lot in common, sis. But for the grace of God, there go we. Be nice, we're unarmed and outnumbered.”

  The two sisters hesitantly sat on the sofa next to the petite redhead, Karlee turned on an adjacent table lamp, Kristie nudged Renée.

  “Who are you? What do you want?” she asked groggily.

  “We're told you've been looking for us.”

  “You do look familiar,” said Renée as she sat up.

  By now, the others were stirring.

  “They're movie stars, silly. They were in that film with my mom,” said Jessie.

  “Who's your mom, kid?” asked Kristie.

  “Joanna Jennings.”

  The sisters looked over at Pepper for confirmation. She nodded.

  “We never actually met her. They always filmed around her. Does she know what you do, kid?”

  “Not exactly, but my step-dad trained me and Ashley, so she's gotta suspect.”

  “I haven't been looking for any actresses,” Renée said dismissively, lying down again.

  Kristie made a gun shape using her fingers, pointed at the woman's crotch, and said “Bang, bang,” her way of saying she was the mysterious shooter.

  Renée bounced right back to her sitting position. “No way!” She stood up and faced them, eying both suspiciously. The other four joined her.