“Think?” Yonick yelled and aimed his gun at Chief Duddles. Chief Duddles threw his arms over his face.
“Now, now. None of that, boy,” Momma Peach scolded Yonick. “I want us all to play nice and talk this out.”
Yonick growled at Chief Duddles and lowered his gun. “I'll deal with you later,” he promised and focused back on Momma Peach. “Okay, talk,” he said.
“Release Susan's daddy and take him to her momma, and have them flown to Los Angeles and driven to the FBI building there, is that clear?” Momma Peach told Yonick. “If you don't, I’m going to make that little formula a real news story for every paper in this country.” Momma Peach folded her arms together. “And don't forget to include that little scientist fella, too. He better be delivered to us—and all three of them better be alive and well—or there’s no deal.”
Vance walked back into the diner. “Clear,” he said and looked at Momma Peach. “You—”
“Oh, shut your ugly mouth and sit down, boy,” Momma Peach snapped. “Me and your friend are having a little chat that might have to include Mr. Taylor Whitesmith if you don't listen, and I'm sure Mr. Whitesmith won't be too happy about what I have to say. Neither will the folks pulling the strings at the United Asian Front. You know, the folks who run the RMCA and gave you money to kidnap—oh, sorry, ‘recruit’—people and sell them into slavery if the brainwashing didn’t work. And let's not forget about the weapons you snakes gather. Of course, that's why you're after the formula, right? That formula can create a mighty powerful weapon, now can't it?” Momma Peach finished, her voice casual but pointed. She allowed herself to take a big chance, tossing out an empty hook in hopes of catching herself a big fish.
Vance glared at Yonick and then back at Momma Peach. “How do you know all this? You set the decoy in the barn, didn't you? What are you...CIA?”
Momma Peach chuckled to herself again. “Dummy, I am one of kind, that's all you need to know.” Momma Peach pointed at Chief Duddles. “Now Chief, don't stand there so dumbfounded. Didn't I say in my note that I’d be back with the FBI?”
“FBI?” Vance asked. “What is this woman talking about?” he barked at Chief Duddles.
“Duddles found a note in the farmhouse left by this woman that he didn't bring to our attention,” Yonick explained, his voice dripping with barely concealed anger.
“I was...going to explain about the note,” Chief Duddles lied again. “I needed time to think. I don't need the FBI breathing down my neck about Charlene Readings’ murder and that explosion, you know. You guys needed, uh, time to finish up and leave town, right? Besides, if the FBI got involved I could lose my job...my home...my wife...I could end up in prison for helping you.” Chief Duddles looked at Momma Peach. “I had no other choice, can't you see that?”
“I see that unfortunately you are a victim of circumstance,” Momma Peach told Chief Duddles in a disgusted voice. “But real men, marshmallow boy, stand up to tyrants instead of licking their boots. You've disgraced your wife, this town and yourself. Shame on you.” Momma Peach looked back at Yonick. “Make the call, boy, because my patience is growing mighty thin. Don't make me lose my mind up in this diner because I’ll go crazy on you!”
Yonick stared into Momma Peach's eyes. The woman was not kidding. “Call the underground and have the girl's father released and taken back to China.”
“What?” Vance asked in shock.
“Do you want Whitesmith to kill us?” Yonick barked. “Make the call.”
Vance hesitated and then pulled a satellite cell phone out from his jacket pocket. Momma Peach looked over to Mom cowering in her booth, and then looked at Chief Duddles. Her eyes told both of them to sit tight because help was on the way.
Outside in the storm, Michelle desperately dug through the frozen crust of snow searching for the formula as Sam drove carefully back to Thelma's house, the gray truck navigating through the snow one painful mile at a time. Time would run out soon.
Chapter Eight
“Mom, I’m fixing to fall asleep if these turkeys take much longer. How about you go make a pot of coffee, please,” Momma Peach said, her eyes subtly telling Mom this was part of the plan.
Mom began to stand up from the booth where she sat but Yonick ordered her to sit still. “Not one move, woman. The call has been made. Now, where is the formula?”
Vance patted the gun on his hip. “Mr. Whitesmith just wants the formula. Is that clear?”
“Give us the formula and we'll leave. Toy with us and that brat's old man will never make it onto that plane,” Yonick warned Momma Peach.
Momma Peach prayed for strength and pointed her right finger at Yonick. “Listen here, boy. I am cold, hungry and wanting some coffee. As far as I’m concerned, that phone call is a load of hooey until I see or hear evidence that you’re following through on your end of the deal. You're in no position to boss me. Is that clear?” Momma Peach looked at Mom. “Mom, go make some coffee. But behave yourself, okay? If you try anything funny these two garbage cans might try and hurt ol' Momma Peach. I’ll be fine, but I sure wouldn’t want to muss up your nice diner floor with their blood.”
Amanda stood up. “This place is already stained by the likes of them,” she said angrily. “I'm going to have to bleach down the entire diner once justice is served.” Mom began walking toward the kitchen. Vance tried to grab her arm but Yonick shook his head at him. “That's right, you low-life,” Amanda snapped and walked on.
Momma Peach rubbed her neck and sat down in a booth close to the front door. She looked out the front window into the storm. “Don't be late,” she whispered.
“My patience is wearing thin,” Yonick told Momma Peach. “Where is the formula?”
“My delivery person will be here soon,” Momma Peach informed Yonick. “There is a storm just a-fussin’ away outside, just in case you've forgotten. It takes a person some time to travel in a storm like this. Besides, I ain't stupid.” Momma Peach looked at Yonick. “What do you think, boy? Do you think I'm just going to hand over that formula and expect you to walk out of here all nice and calm-like and keep your promises to me? Huh?”
Yonick felt like shooting Momma Peach on the spot but bit back his desire. “Lady, if you turn over the formula we'll leave...peacefully. If you play games we'll—”
“You'll what?” Momma Peach yelled. “Boy, don't make me lose my mind on you and slap you bowlegged! Oh, give me strength, give me strength!”
Chief Duddles watched Yonick go for his gun and then yank his hand away. He felt ashamed of himself for standing in the shadows while Momma Peach made a brave stand. But what could he do? He was a coward. He was terrified of Yonick and Vance. He was terrified for his wife. He was terrified for his own life. If he dared to charge these two deadly thugs he would surely go down in the gunfire. “Lady, calm down,” he begged. “Don't make this situation worse than it already is.”
“Don't tell me to calm down! I will get all up in your business and be on you like white on rice if you tell me to calm down one more time,” Momma Peach yelled at Chief Duddles.
Chief Duddles bowed his head. Sure, Momma Peach was making a brave stand—but a foolish stand that was going to get everyone killed. Yonick and Vance were hired killers without souls. The two men were not going to let Momma Peach continue running her mouth much longer. “Shut up,” he hissed desperately.
“Don't tell me to shut up, dummy!” Momma Peach roared and shot to her feet. “I will slap you into yesterday and slap you into tomorrow at the same time!”
Chief Duddles kept his head low. She was not going to take his warning. There was not much he could do about it.
“Leave him alone,” Yonick told Momma Peach. “We'll deal with that liar later.”
Momma Peach slowly sat back down. She drew in a deep breath. “You boys will get the formula as soon as Susan's daddy is on a plane to America with her momma.”
“No deal,” Yonick objected. “We can’t make that happen as quickly as tonight. You didn’
t say it had to be tonight.”
“Then no formula,” Momma Peach replied. “I ain't stupid, boy. I know as soon as we hand over the formula, why then, you'll just reverse all the kindness you've been showing,” she finished in a sarcastic tone. “You two better get your backsides in gear and get Susan's parents on a flight to America and make it snappy.”
Yonick squeezed his hands into two deadly fists. “Vance, you heard her. Make it happen.”
Vance hesitated. “Mr. Whitesmith is going to be upset.”
“If Whitesmith doesn't get the formula, he's a dead man as much as we are,” Yonick pointed out. “We were supposed to retrieve the formula and send the scientist and the brat back to China. He reports to even more powerful people, and if he doesn’t have the formula for them, well…let’s just say I think Whitesmith would rather lose a few nobodies than his life.”
“You’re crazy—”
Yonick pointed a hard finger at Vance. “You let the brat escape. We're in this mess because of you, Vance. If you weren't my brother I would have already killed you by now.”
Momma Peach watched Vance look down at his hands in shame. “I'll make the call.”
Yonick nodded. “And you,” he said and pointed at Momma Peach, “better not be playing games with me. If you are, you will not live to see the dawn.”
“Boy, if you threaten me again I’m going to beat you into a pile of mush,” Momma Peach told Yonick through gritted teeth. “Now sit down and shut your mouth. My messenger will be here shortly.”
Yonick sat down in a booth across the aisle from Momma Peach. A few tense, silent minutes passed and then Amanda walked out of the kitchen carrying a pot of coffee and a single brown mug. She walked up to Momma Peach and handed her the mug. “Coffee is hot, Momma Peach,” she said and filled the mug with coffee.
“Thank you.” Her voice spoke warm and gentle to Amanda despite the arguments and tension in the air.
Amanda nodded, sat down in the booth across from Momma Peach, and put the pot of coffee down onto the table. “You know, I stayed open all night just hoping Susan might find her way back to me.”
“Susan is safe,” Momma Peach promised, her voice just above a whisper. She took a sip of her coffee and looked out of the front window. “I sure don't like this storm.”
“This storm is just catching its breath,” Amanda warned Momma Peach. “Worst storm I ever seen came through in...oh...seventy-eight. The storm you're seeing before your eyes is much worse. This storm is one for the record books.” Mom looked at Yonick. “How do you boys expect to travel?”
“That's our problem,” Yonick replied.
Momma Peach kept her eyes on the storm. “Just make sure that scientist isn't traveling with you,” she said. “I want him safe.”
“I'll dump him off in front of the police station on our way out of town,” Yonick assured Momma Peach.
Momma Peach began to speak but as she did, a pair of bright truck lights appeared on the street. Yonick stood up and walked to the front door. “Duddles, one of your town trucks is here,” he said. “Go see why.”
Chief Duddles stood up, walked over to the front door, unlocked it, and walked outside. As he did, Momma Peach watched the arriving truck swing in and park between two snow drifts. Then, to her horror, she saw a large man yank Sam from the cab of the truck. “No,” she whispered.
“We caught him driving back to Thelma's farm,” the fat man yelled over the howling winds and shoved Sam toward Chief Duddles. “I called the other guys, Chief. We're going to meet up and go back to the farm and check the place over from top to bottom. We'll catch the rest of them.”
Chief Duddles grabbed Sam's right arm. “Uh...sure, Jeff,” Chief Duddles said. “If you find them, just...bring them here to the diner.”
The fat man nodded and jumped back into the truck. The driver backed the truck up and got moving, using the snowplow attached to the front of the truck to clear the streets.
Sticking his head out into the storm, Yonick spotted Sam. “Get him inside,” Yonick ordered Chief Duddles.
Chief Duddles walked Sam inside the diner and closed the front door. Sam locked eyes with Momma Peach and then looked at Yonick. “Your time is short,” he said in a tough voice.
Yonick studied Sam's eyes. The man was not someone he could scare or intimidate. However, he did catch a glimpse of Momma Peach's worried face. “Lady, if you want your friend to live—”
“I already told you my messenger would be here soon enough,” Momma Peach told Yonick. “I can't pull the formula out of my butt now, can I?”
Yonick nodded at Chief Duddles. “Put your handcuffs on this man and sit him down.”
Chief Duddles did as ordered. He handcuffed Sam's hands in front of him and sat him down next to Amanda in the plush vinyl booth across from Momma Peach. “Mr. Sam let himself get caught,” Momma Peach whispered. “Mr. Sam could have hid from the men who found him.”
“I love you, Momma Peach. I couldn't just leave you,” Sam whispered back. “We're a family.”
Momma Peach nearly began crying. “Oh, Mr. Sam,” she sighed, “I love you, too.”
Sam glanced up at Yonick and watched the man walk over to his brother. “Momma Peach, I have a plan. I convinced the men who found me that we're not the ones they should be hunting down,” Sam lowered his voice down so that Momma Peach had to strain to hear him. “The men who found me admitted they were uncertain of those two hired goons over there but didn't want to go against Chief Duddles.”
Momma Peach felt excitement bloom in her chest. “And?”
“Well,” Sam checked on Yonick and Vance again, “they weren't too happy when I told them the truth about those two snakes standing over there. But,” Sam continued, “this is their town, Momma Peach, and an innocent woman was killed. And since Chief Duddles has gotten mixed up with the enemy, they decided to take matters into their own hands.” Sam checked on the storm outside. “Jeff Hayes made Duddles think they were headed out to Thelma’s, but he’s actually going to gather up all the men he can, including the mayor, to come back to the diner for a good old-fashioned showdown.”
“My, my,” Momma Peach said in a pleased whisper. “Some of the men in this town do have guts.”
“There's some good people in this town, Momma Peach. Not every man in this town is like Chief Duddles,” Amanda whispered. “Ridge Falls is a good town that just wants to be left alone.”
Sam looked at Chief Duddles. The man stood beside the front door wearing a painful expression on his chubby face. For a second Sam actually felt sorry for him. Even if Chief Duddles did not end up in jail himself he would surely be run out of town, disgraced and shamed. “All we can do is wait,” he whispered.
“Michelle isn't going to wait,” Momma Peach pointed out. “But it's sure good to know that if the ball drops on her she'll have backup.”
Yonick spotted Momma Peach whispering to Sam and yelled at her to shut up. “No talking unless I say so!”
“What is this...Simon Says?” Momma Peach barked back. “Boy, your momma sure must have done something awful wrong to deserve you two.”
“I ate my momma for breakfast,” Yonick growled.
Momma Peach rolled her eyes. “Did you add a little hot sauce to her?” she asked. “You don't scare me, boy. Besides, it’s not me in a world of hurt right now anyway, ain’t that right Agent Sam?” Momma Peach gently kicked Sam's boot.
“Yes, that's right,” Sam said and ran with Momma Peach’s improvised plan.
“Agent Sam has been investigating Mr. Whitesmith for a long time,” Momma Peach continued. “If you two play your cards right, maybe he'll help you two out?” Momma Peach hoped her words would cast a protective net over Sam. If anything happened to him because of this gambit, she would crawl into a hole and die.
Yonick struggled to make sense of the situation. “You're a fed?” he asked Sam. “You’re the agent she’s been working with?”
“Yep.”
“Show me your b
adge,” Yonick demanded.
“I don't carry my badge on a job like this,” Sam replied in an offended tone. “I don't feel like being filled with bullet holes if I'm caught with my badge on me.”
“Spoken like a true fed,” Yonick said in a disgusted voice. He looked at Vance who still spoke quietly into the mobile phone. “We don't make deals with the likes of you,” he told Sam. “All we want is the formula and then we leave.”
Chief Duddles listened to the conversation and then remembered Momma Peach's note. “He must be the FBI mentioned in the note,” he said and then spoke even louder. “He's the FBI agent.”
“We get that, Duddles.”
“No,” Chief Duddles said, “you don't understand. I was expecting an army of FBI agents to show up here. But if he's all there is, then we can deal with this situation.” Chief Duddles pointed at Momma Peach and Sam. A desperate look filled his eyes. “All we have to do is kill them, wait for Detective Chan to arrive—she has to be this messenger person—then we ambush her, take the formula, and we’re in the clear.”
“You filthy skunk,” Momma Peach told Chief Duddles. “You ain't a victim of circumstance anymore.”
“I have my life to think about lady, so shut up!” Chief Duddles hollered. He looked at Yonick. “My men are going back to check Thelma's farm. If they find the missing girl, you guys can take her and leave town.” Sam pointed at Amanda. “But...clean up the mess before you do. I don't want any witnesses left behind.”
Yonick considered Chief Duddles’ suggestion. He walked over to Sam and locked eyes with him. “Tell me the truth,” he demanded. “If there was more of your kind around we wouldn't be standing here.” Sam did not answer and Yonick grinned. “You are riding solo, aren't you?”
“I can beat you down to the dirt single-handedly, punk,” Sam assured Yonick.
Yonick ignored Sam's remark and looked at Chief Duddles. “We wait and see what your men find,” he said. “If they find the brat, we'll clean up this mess and leave town. If they come up empty-handed we'll play her game,” he said and pointed at Momma Peach, “and kill you.”
A Peachy Plan Page 12