Assassin Affairs

by R. S. Smith

  Kristie and Karlee again squirmed uncomfortably at the prospect. They all ogled the pair of potential bisexual converts, hoping for an answer in the affirmative.

  “No sex this time, Julie. This week is all about bonding non-sexually and rescuing Kacey. Any other issues?”

  “I can't work with a bunch of dykes!” exclaimed Kristie.

  “We're not dykes; I hate that word!” Ashley shouted back. “We're bisexual, we're progressive in our sexual attitudes and experiences. We've all had or are having men, too. We have the best of both worlds, we play with domination and submission. Life is short, one should try new things in their journey through the years.”

  “She makes a valid point, sis” said Karlee. “Don't be so narrow-minded.”

  “I'm a happily married woman. Who knows what diseases we'd catch with this group?”

  “I'll take my clothes off for you, Julie,” Karlee offered. “It's no big deal. Would it excite you? And if I do it, what will you do for me?”

  “What would you want?”

  “I don't know. I'm new to all this stuff. What are you offering?”

  Julie was caught off-guard by the response and at a loss for words.

  “C'mon, Julie,” said Jessie. “Offer to show her the techniques you learned back in Thailand.” She wiggled her tongue teasingly.

  “No sex, you guys. Personality bonding tonight, not sexual bonding,” said Pepper, knowing she was losing control of the group, but also eager to see what might develop.

  “What better way to bond personalities than by sex?” Karlee inquired. “It's the quickest way to get their respect, so it has to be public. Right here, right now, Julie. How about it?” Karlee pulled off her shoes and socks, then loosed her slacks. “Right here next to the fire, it's nice and warm. I'll get naked, you come over here and do all the work.”

  Julie's group started jeering at her, challenging her to come across with the goods.

  “I'm not going to stay and watch such a thing,” said Kristie. “It's too disgusting and gross!” When she attempted to go outside and avoid it, the others held her back.

  Julie crawled across the cabin floor and pulled off Karlee's loosened pants.

  “I want you naked, too,” Karlee requested. “Strip for me first.”

  “Have Kristie strip her,” suggested Laura.

  “No, she doesn't have to do anything she doesn't want to do,” said Pepper.

  “Okay, okay, I'll do it. If my sister is this anxious to bond with you guys, this is the least I can do. Come over here, kid.”

  She took her time removing each item of clothing, as the others watched and continued passing around the joint. Soon Julie stood nude in front of her.

  “You can touch me there if you want to, Kristie.”

  “No thanks. Sorry guys, but this just doesn't do anything for me.”

  “I can tell that you want to. I'm good at reading people.”

  “Go for it, sis.” Karlee requested. “Let me know if she's wet yet. You've got to pet a girl at least once in your lifetime. Pinch her butt if nothing else.”

  Kristie gently ran her hand across the soft, bare bottom, then pinched it hard.

  “Ouch!”

  “Now that was was kinda fun,” she conceded.

  “Get back over here, Julie,” ordered Karlee, now standing nude in the center of the gathering. “I'm ready for you now. You've got work to do.”

  When the pair eventually reached a stopping point, both remained naked, everyone resumed relating their stories to one another as if nothing had happened, and the group bonding was well underway. When the evening wound down, each crawled into her own bed roll and slept like a baby.

  The crate of guns arrived in the morning, along with a dozen sets of army fatigues in varying sizes, brunette wigs for the sisters and other assorted items.

  “Put these on, ladies,” ordered Pepper. “We're going to hang out in town awhile and try to be noticed. Then we'll head into the country and practice some attack maneuvers.”

  As she continued talking about their upcoming visit to scout the area with the militia, Karlee whispered to Kristie. “She's behind Kacey's abduction; I just know it!”

  “I agree. It's the only way she could have gotten us up here with this group for a week of bonding. How do you want to handle it?”

  “Let her play out her hand. I'm curious to see where she's going with this quest to get the nine of us working together. She doesn't have as much leverage with us as she does with the others. If we don't like the outcome, we kill her.”

  “Works for me,” said Kristie. “I wonder what's happening with Kacey right now.”

  “Let's get closer to Pepper somehow and see if we can learn anything. She seems delusional with her Presidential aspirations, but she has accomplished quite a lot so far.”

  Later that evening, Kristie happened to run into Pepper down by the lake. It was just the two of them, and the area was lit only by the moonlight.

  “Hi Pepper, I've been hoping for a chance to chat with you alone.”

  “Hi, Kristie. I admired the way you helped your sister on her banker contract. That was some awesome shooting from what I hear. What was it, three hundred yards?”

  “Thanks. Closer to five hundred actually. I could probably do a mile with that top-of-the-line gear that I bought. What interest does the CIA have in taking out a banker? I'm stunned to learn it was you behind it.”

  “He was a threat to capitalism. He posed a systemic risk to the entire financial procedure with the excessive chances he was taking and planning on continuing. When the government gave him billions in bailout funds, he gave one of those billions to himself as a bonus. That rankled the powers that be.”

  “The President ordered the hit?”

  “Oh no, he would never do that, Kristie. My boss wouldn't take that kind of initiative either. When you have true power, the chain of command isn't on paper.”

  “What do you mean?”

  “There's a ruling council made up of affluent, influential people. No one knows exactly who is on the panel other than the members themselves. I'm one of their facilitators. I'm one of the tools they use to make things happen. When the CIA Director retires soon, they're going to use that influence to ensure I get the position.”

  “I've never heard of this council, Pepper.”

  “And you never will from anyone other than me. I'm taking you into my confidence on this matter. You can share it with your sister, but not the others. I've worked with a lot of agents over the years, and it's you two that have impressed me the most. I've come up with what I consider the ideal agent profile, and everyone in this group fits it. I want a person who is smart, open-minded, who wants to experience life to the fullest, who will follow orders and who isn't afraid of taking a risk.”

  “Is being bisexual another requirement?”

  “No, it just seems to come with the other attributes most of the time.”

  “Tell me more about this council, Pepper.”

  “Have you noticed things happen that don't really make sense, like some of the morons who end up in Congress, when a powerful general falls from grace, or when someone talking about a UFO experience disappears forever or has a fatal accident?”

  “Yeah, lots of times. You're saying this council decides who wins elections?”

  “Oh yeah, and that's the least of it. It's way more than that. With this team we're making, we could move mountains. I could work my way onto the council. I'm sure of it. We'll could neutralize anyone in our way. I'll take you guys with me. You'll become one of the most powerful women in the country, Kristie. It is going to happen. Trust me.”

  “Pepper.....”

  “Yeah?....”

  Kristie moved closer to her, admiring how the moonlight lit up her face, and excited for the first time by the prospects of being involved with the group's future. She also wanted to get more information from her about Kacey.

  “Pepper, I was wondering....wondering what it would
be like to kiss you.”

  “Come closer, Kristie. Do you feel the chemistry between us?”

  “I feel something, pheromones maybe. I've never felt this way about another woman before. It's unsettling.”

  “Like I said earlier, Kristie, I'm not interested in sex.”

  “Then why do I get the feeling you're about to kiss me, Pepper? Neither one of us is interested in that kind of relationship.”

  “I know,” Pepper responded, staring into Kristie's eyes. The moonlight reflected off the lake and danced across her face.

  The two women kissed.

  “How did that just happen?”

  “I don't know. What would your husband say, Kristie?”

  “He would be shocked. Karlee would be shocked. I'm a little stunned myself.”

  “Do you love him?”

  “Yes, I do. We have an excellent relationship.”

  The pair stood in the dark, staring at one another, neither knowing what to say next.

  “Did you facilitate our sister's disappearance in order to get us here?”

  “Yes. Would you have responded to such an invitation otherwise?”

  “No. Is she in danger?”

  “I only helped along destiny. Kacey made all her own choices. I covertly nudged her along the path of getting involved with the young man who is involved with the group. From there, nature took its course. They're both at a camp a few miles from here. Apparently she tried to break off the relationship and it didn't go well. There are just a dozen of them and they're not very experienced, so the danger is minimal. We should have no trouble taking them down. You two will be your sister's heroes, and I'll have another successful mission on my resume. If these fellows fit the profile, I seriously doubt any of them watched the Oscar awards. Odds are Kacey doesn't yet know you two are her sisters, and she certainly doesn't know you're affiliated with the CIA!”

  “Why the ninth sleeping bag? Are you thinking we're going to keep her here rather than take her home?”

  “She fits the profile. Kacey is a lot like you two. You three could bond better without your folks around. She and Julie should get along well as fellow computer hackers. Please consider giving it a week, then the five of you can bond at your folks' place for a few months. Who better to handle her orientation than her sisters? With the three of you working together, with the nine of us as a team, the future will belong to us!”

  “This is insane. It excites me, though. I have to go talk with Karlee.”

  “Don't share the council information with the other five. Their mob affiliations could complicate things at this juncture. We'll have to treat those relationships with finesse, Kristie.”

  She updated her sister on everything but the kiss. They agreed to remain flexible and see how things played out. It was shortly past dawn the next morning when Pepper awoke the group to startling news.

  “The bad news is the militia boys appear to know of Kacey's connection with the sisters and the Carboni family. They feel that they should be able to get a ransom from her wealthy sisters and are asking for a million dollars. They've contacted a semi-retired, private investigator to be the go-between, apparently picked at random on the Internet, but she had to be near one of their friends, too, so he could deliver a note. They gave her a website with a live feed from a web-cam. At first, she thought your sister was handcuffed to a downtown parking meter, because of the poor lighting. Now it looks like it's a pole in a remote or abandoned parking lot. The P.I. contacted the FBI, who saw my name on a file about the sisters and referred the case to me.”

  She opened up her laptop and showed everyone the image of the live feed.

  “You're lucky your laptop gets a wi-fi signal up here,” said Renée. “They must have boosted power to the tower.”

  “She looks so sweet and vulnerable. Those bastards! What's the good news?” asked Karlee.

  “We have the element of surprise on our side. They have no idea we are only a few miles away from their camp. These guys are rank amateurs, and if we can figure out where this broadcast is coming from, we've got 'em!”

  “Danny's lived in the area on-and-off for ten years,” said Renée. “That's how we found the cabin Jessie was being held prisoner in so fast. I'll call his cell and have him look at the website.”

  She used the old land-line in the cabin bedroom and returned a moment later.

  “He told me where it is. I can drive us there in fifteen minutes!”

  They all promptly armed themselves accordingly, climbed into their SUV and departed. Fifteen minutes later they were in the area.

  “Look at that green van. See the way he's blocking that gate. I bet that's it,” said Pepper.

  Renée snuck closer, looked in the window and reported back.

  “It's just some homeless guy with a bunch of fishing gear and food supplies in the back. We got the right place, though. I saw Kacey about fifty yards inside the fenced-in area and there's a panel van parked where the camera must be. There could be three or four of them inside. I couldn't see.”

  “Maybe it's a trap,” said one.

  “I told you these guys are amateurs,” said Pepper. “Let's grab them, take their van and Kacey back to the cabin. Here are some plasticuffs and gags.”

  The sisters ran toward Kacey, as the other six snuck up behind the panel van. As the men got out to stop the sisters, the gang subdued them.

  “Can you wake up, honey? We're here to rescue you. It's Kristie and Karlee Kingston.”

  Her eyes could barely focus, but had a look of recognition in them as they undid her bindings. Soon everyone was back at the mountainside cabin.

  “We're putting her in the bedroom,” announced one of the sisters.

  “We'll see what we can learn from these young men while you two tend to Kacey,” said Laura. “The tall, lanky one is kind of a hunk. Look at those big hands. You know what that means, ladies. Let's find out for sure.” She undid his pants and pulled them down around his ankles.

  Kristie and Karlee sat with their new-found, youngest sister Kacey in the bedroom as she slowly came out of her drugged state, while the others had fun with their interrogations in the main room.

  “Where am I?” asked Kacey.

  “You're safe and among friends, sweetheart,” said Kristie.

  “Well, safer and among acquaintances anyway,” added Karlee with a tone of sarcasm.

  “They were mean to me.”

  “We have three of them in the other room. You can shoot them if you want to, just let the others have some fun first.”

  “Shoot them? You have guns?” As the grogginess left Kacey's eyes, she began to focus more clearly on her new companions. “You look familiar, like those sisters in that movie.”

  “That's us kid, and we're told you've noticed our resemblance to you.”

  “Huh? Told? I never told anyone that, except maybe my parents.”

  “Look at those eyes, Karlee. Aren't they precious? You can almost see it all coming together in her mind,” said Kristie.

  Kacey sat up on the bed. “I overheard those guys talking last night before they drugged me, and that wasn't long after a few of them raped me, and they said something about the Oscar awards and my family hiding in Witness Protection and them getting lots of money for a ransom. The words were muffled and I couldn't make sense of it all.”

  “It's all true, kid, and the family is not in WITSEC anymore,” said Karlee. She left it at that as Kacey digested the information and noticed them wink at one another.

  “Sorry, it still doesn't make any sense,” said Kacey. “Why are you even here?”

  “We're mean, baby one. We're gonna just sit here with you and make you figure it out,” said Karlee.

  “Oh sis, let's just tell her,” said Kristie.

  “No way! This a once in a lifetime experience. Let's savor it. She can ask us yes or no questions,” said Karlee.

  “Are you and your acquaintances here making a movie?”

  “No,” they respo
nded in unison. “Great idea for a film though. Let's talk to our guys about it, sis!”

  “Well, this is a long shot, but have you met my folks?”

  “Yes,” they proclaimed, each with a special sparkle in her eye.

  “Sorry to be so slow. My thought process still has cobwebs from the drugs. You mentioned meeting my parents, witness protection and the resemblance thing. You're movie celebrities who rescued me and claim to have guns. Still processing, getting nowhere.” She reached for the closest sister and held her hand.

  Both older sisters nudged their fatigue jackets a few inches to the side, revealing Glock pistols.

  “Oh shit, you really do have guns!”

  Just then the noise level from the adjoining room spiked and Julie barged into the room.

  “You guys should see this. This one guy has a really big...oh, I see our guest is awake. How's your si.....”

  “Shhh, Julie. We're playing a little game here.”

  The others began filing in behind her. All were still in their fatigues and still wearing their sidearms.

  “Nobody talks!” ordered Karlee. “Kacey is trying to figure out who we are and why we came here.”

  “Geez, everybody has a gun! Props and outfits for a movie maybe, but you said no movie. A rival para-military group?”

  “Oh, this is fun,” said Jessie. “How do we answer that one, Pepper?”

  “With a 'no',” she said.

  “You're warm, kid, I'll give you that, but still totally off the mark, too,” said one of the sisters.

  “Can I give her a hint?” begged Julie.

  “Yes, please do,” Kacey insisted.

  “Okay, just a hint,” said Karlee.

  “Take them over to the mirror.”

  “We already discussed the resemblance,” said their guest.

  “I can see why it's difficult to put it all together,” said Kristie in sympathy. “I'd never get it if I were in her place. It's too far out. Let's give her another hint.”

  “Okay.”

  “We grew up with your aunt,” added Kristie.

  “I have an aunt? You grew up with my aunt that I've never heard of, we look alike.....we're cousins! That's it, we're related, aren't we? Please say we are; that would be so cool!”