Chief Duddles froze. His life now hung from a very frayed rope. “Maybe I better drive out to Thelma's farm and—”
“You sit tight,” Yonick warned Chief Duddles. “And wait with us.” Yonick walked back over to Vance. “If the brat is found, kill the messenger when she arrived. If the brat isn't found, let her live.”
“I understand,” Vance promised his brother. “In the meantime, I can cancel the China transfer.”
“No,” Yonick said, “let's wait and see if Duddles’ men find the brat first.”
Momma Peach looked at Sam. What a night, she thought and waited for Michelle to arrive.
Michelle eased down the alley and stopped near the back door of the diner. She was frozen and hungering for shelter from the storm and maybe a hot cup of coffee. The last thing in the world she wanted was to stand in a dark alley in the middle of a blizzard and stare at the back door leading into a small diner hiding two deadly killers. “I should be home, sitting in front of a cozy fire with Able,” she said through shivering teeth. “Well, I found the formula...so let's get on with it.”
Michelle placed her hand over the right pocket of her leather jacket and felt a crumpled-up envelope that had been stuffed down into an empty soda bottle and buried under the snow. “Momma Peach, let's just hope your plan worked.” Michelle drew in a deep breath, steadied her nerves, and then banged on the back door and waited. A couple of minutes passed and then the back door crept open. Vance's stony face appeared. “I'm here,” Michelle said in a tough voice.
Vance pointed a gun at Michelle. “Inside,” he growled.
Michelle stepped through the back door and walked into a warm kitchen. “Where is Momma Peach?” she demanded.
“Stand still while I pat you down.”
“Touch me and die,” Michelle promised.
Vance stared into Michelle's eyes. The woman was serious. “Move,” he ordered Michelle. He pointed toward the door leading out into the dining room. So what if she carrying a gun? If she tried to use it before they got the formula from her, her body would be full of holes.
Michelle nodded and turned to walk toward the door, fighting back the urge to kick Vance's teeth in, but the man kept a safe distance. “Wait for it,” Michelle whispered to herself and walked into the diner. When she saw Sam she stopped. “What's going on here?” she demanded, forcing her voice to portray the tough street cop even though inside of her she was scared for Sam and Momma Peach.
“The messenger, I assume?” Yonick asked Michelle and scanned her face. “You better have the formula.”
Michelle narrowed her eyes. It was time to finish Momma Peach's plan. She just hoped the hidden tape recorder she had shoved down in the inside pocket of her leather jacket would capture what she needed. “If I don't, will you kill me like you killed Charlene Readings?”
Yonick tossed his eyes toward his brother and then looked back at Michelle. “Yeah, we blew up that woman's house real good,” he said. “So long and good riddance, too.”
“I'm not talking about the explosion. One of you strangled Charlene Readings to death and left her body sitting in a parked truck —”
“Hey,” Vance yelled at Michelle. “That ain’t on us. We didn't strangle the social worker.” Vance glared at Chief Duddles. “You said you locked the woman in her bathroom, Duddles!”
Chief Duddles face turned pale. “I...” he tried to speak but knew that any words that came from his mouth would condemn him to death.
Yonick ran to Chief Duddles and snatched him up to his feet from the booth. “Start talking!”
“Yeah, start talking,” Momma Peach chimed in. “Seems like you've been playing a very sick game.”
“Talk!” Yonick yelled and threw Chief Duddles down onto the floor and held him down with his right boot. “Now!”
Chief Duddles stared up at Yonick's furious face. “Please, you don't understand...”
“Stop slobbering on yourself and talk, dummy,” Momma Peach said and then froze. “The mayor,” she said.
“What about the mayor?” Yonick demanded.
“Ask him,” Momma Peach tossed a thumb at Chief Duddles.
“Spill it before I spill your guts all over the floor,” Yonick ordered Chief Duddles, releasing the safety from his gun and aiming at the man’s head.
Chief Duddles, realizing that he was in a desperate situation, decided to betray Mayor Beardman in a pathetic attempt to save his own life. “Mayor Beardman and me...we’ve been running...drugs...” he said in a miserable voice. “I took it out of the county evidence storage and he set us up with buyers. Our operation ran smoothly until Charlene Readings came into the picture. She was always in the town hall and the courthouse working with her clients and one day she…overhead a conversation she shouldn't have.” The man panted, sweat dripping on the floor as he squirmed under Yonick’s boot, but the thug did not move to let up the pressure for an instant.
“Keep talking, boy,” Momma Peach ordered Chief Duddles.
“Charlene never said a word to us,” Chief Duddles continued. “She assumed Beardman and me didn't know she overheard us talking about that drug run.” Chief Duddles stared up at Yonick. “But she talked to one of the guys on my police force, trying to suss out what he knew, and it got back to me. Beardman insisted that we leave her alone. But then you guys showed up...and I found her dead body...I assumed you killed her. I swear it!” He gasped in pain as Yonick pushed down harder. “But then you came to me and ordered the woman locked up in her home while you searched for the missing girl. It was then that I knew you didn't kill Charlene...and figured out who did.”
“You rat,” Yonick said and pressed his boot into Chief Duddles chest. “You were gonna let us take the fall for what the Mayor did?”
“Please,” Chief Duddles begged for his life, “let me finish.”
“Go on,” Yonick said.
“I had to deal with those three,” Chief Duddles said and looked up at Momma Peach, Michelle, and Sam, his eyes spinning wildly in fear and desperation. “The outsiders were a threat...so I made them believe you killed Charlene Readings.” Chief Duddles shook his head. “I had no choice. Beardman... he killed that social worker. After he saw you two in my office he demanded I tell him who you were or he would turn me in for drug running and hurt my wife until she gave him control of the bank accounts where we stashed our money. So I told him...and the next day, Charlene Readings was dead...the little girl was missing...and you two were breathing down my neck. What was I supposed to do? I was dealing with a murder, three outsiders, a partner about to betray me, a missing girl and you two. I panicked, okay? If the FBI starts sniffing around my town...” Chief Duddles finished his sentence by closing his eyes in defeat, shaking his head.
“You boys picked the wrong town to lose a little girl in,” Momma Peach chuckled to herself. “You also picked the wrong man to ask for help. My, did you ever, yes sir and yes ma’am.”
“It wasn't supposed to be like this,” Chief Duddles yelled in desperation. “I didn't want to hurt Charlene Readings and had no intention to. The woman was scared enough. But Beardman, he figured she spilled the beans to that little Chinese girl...the man is paranoid and jumping at his own shadow. When I confronted him about Charlene and he confessed to killing her, I hit the ceiling.” Chief Duddles tried to catch his breath. “Beardman wanted to kill the little Chinese girl, too. Still does. That's why he forced me to help you two find her, hoping you would do his dirty work. He's the one that spooked her off, not you.”
Sam looked at Momma Peach. “The mayor,” he whispered.
Momma Peach’s eyes widened as she nodded. “None of the men who are gathering for that good old-fashioned showdown know that dirty bird killed poor Charlene Readings. But you can bet your last dollar that rat will use those men to try and clean the clocks of everyone standing in this here diner.”
Sam looked at Michelle. Michelle focused her eyes on Yonick and Vance, trying to calculate their movements. “We're in a real mess,
Momma Peach,” he whispered again. “Jeff and his men aren't happy with Chief Duddles. Mayor Beardman will manipulate the situation to his advantage.”
“Yep,” Momma Peach agreed. She looked at Michelle. “Michelle?”
Michelle moved her attention over to Momma Peach. “Yes?”
“The situation has changed,” Momma Peach said and gave Michelle a look that clearly said the time to attack had arrived. “Give them the formula,” Momma Peach said. Time for Michelle to go into Kung Fu mode and show a couple of turkeys just who was boss.
Yonick took his boot off of Chief Duddles, moving away from the man in disgust. “This is your mess,” he told him and pointed at Michelle. “Give me the formula and we'll leave. I ordered the little brat's old man to be released from his prison cell and sent to his wife. They'll be on a commercial flight out of China very soon. Now give me the formula.”
Michelle glanced nervously at Momma Peach. Momma Peach nodded. “Give the man the formula. Our focus is on Mayor Beardman now.” Momma Peach pointed at Yonick. “When you walk out of this diner you best let that scientist go. We have a copy of the formula and if you try any funny stuff? We'll go public.”
“All Whitesmith wants is the formula,” Yonick growled. “Once my brother and I give it to him we're going to South America and vanishing. I could care less if you have a hundred copies. Whitesmith needs the formula to give to the United Asian Front so they can build their bomb. Our job was to snatch the scientist and the kid and retrieve the formula. Yeah, Whitesmith will be upset that we lost the scientist and the girl into the bargain, but at the end of the day, they’re just two pawns. His main concern is the formula.”
Momma Peach prayed the digital recorder hidden on Michelle was catching every single word. “The United Asian Front wants to build a bomb, huh?” she asked.
“Yeah, a bomb, lady,” Yonick said, losing his patience. “We may just be a couple of low-level enforcers, but we’re not stupid. A bomb is a good way to cause a war. Make one country think another country bombed it and there you go: instant war.” Yonick sneered and walked up to Michelle. “Hand it over, girly.”
Michelle looked into Yonick's eyes. She pulled the formula out of her jacket and tossed it at him. “I don't like being called girly,” she growled and without saying another word, while he was busy catching the plastic bottle that held the formula, she dropped down and double punched Yonick in his lower stomach. Yonick, shocked at the attack, stumbled backward into his brother. Michelle rolled forward, jumped to her feet, and threw a roundhouse kick into the air. The kick caught Yonick in his face and threw him down onto the ground. Yonick lay still, seemingly stunned, the wind knocked out of him. Vance, seeing his brother go down, moved to raise his gun at Michelle. Michelle swung her body around and kicked the gun out of his hand before he could even finish aiming it.
“You think you're tough?” Vance yelled and whipped out a sharp dagger from his jacket pocket. “Come on, cop, let's play,” he said and swiped the knife at Michelle. Michelle moved away from the knife. As she did, she spotted Chief Duddles go for his gun. In a lightning-quick move, Michelle pivoted her body into the air by pushing off the back of a booth, landed beside Chief Duddles, and punched him out cold.
“I'm not so easy to defeat,” Vance hollered and charged at Michelle with his dagger. Michelle rolled forward toward the front door, leaped to her feet, and kicked hard just as Vance reached her. The kick caught Vance in his chest. Vance stumbled backward, tripped over Chief Duddles, and landed flat on his back.
Yonick hissed as he recovered and reached for the gun he had dropped on the floor when he fell. Michelle quickly ran forward, flipped her body through the air, and kicked Yonick's gun out of his hand just as he prepared to fire. The gun went flying across the diner and landed at Momma Peach's feet. “You're going to pay,” Yonick promised Michelle. He charged at her and grabbed her leather jacket in an attempt to take the fight down to the floor where he would have the advantage. Instead, Michelle surprised him by shrugging out of her jacket, leaving him angrily clutching her empty coat, and brought the toe of her boot up under Yonick's chin. Yonick, not expecting such a move, felt his head snap. For a few seconds, everything went silent and dark. But the darkness soon burst open, interrupted by bright white flashes of light and pain from the knock-out blow to the head, compliments of Michelle Chan.
“No!” Vance yelled, watching his brother collapse down to the floor and drop off into an unconsciousness.
Michelle did not wait for Vance to speak again. She ran forward at full speed, flipped her body forward and landed behind Vance, securing his neck in a headlock and landing solid, painful punches in the back. Vance fell forward in agony and landed on his knees right beside Momma Peach. “Time for Momma Peach to teach you some lessons about respect,” Momma Peach yelled and leaped onto Vance, wrapping her legs around his waist to pin him down. All Vance felt was a boulder land on him and two fists began pounding the back of his head. He tried to throw Momma Peach off him but the more he struggled the tighter Momma Peach held on. “Don't you ever mess with Momma Peach, boy!” Momma Peach grunted as she pounded him again. “Momma Peach will lose her mind on you!”
Vance continued to struggle and finally managed to roll to his left and throw Momma Peach down onto the floor. Momma Peach did not like being thrown down to the floor. She reached out with her teeth and sunk them into Vance's right calf. Vance cried out in pain and began slapping at Momma Peach, which was a mistake. The last thing he saw before being sent into dreamland was Michelle's clenched fist flying right at his jaw.
“Dummy,” Momma Peach said, huffing for breath as she slapped the unconscious Vance in the back of the head once more for emphasis. “Didn't you ever learn to look both ways in a fight?”
Michelle helped Momma Peach stand up, then ran to Chief Duddles who still lay on the floor. She dug in his jacket pocket and fished out a pair of handcuff keys and hurried over to Sam. “Thanks,” Sam told Michelle as she took the handcuffs off of him. He rubbed his wrist and looked around. “Michelle, sweetheart, you make a daddy proud.”
Michelle rubbed her fists and looked down at Amanda who sat across the room looking stunned. “Why, I've never seen anything like that in my life,” she told Michelle. “You single-handedly knocked out three grown men.” Mom raised her eyes up to Michelle. “Honey, coffee is on the house.”
Michelle blushed. “I was just doing my job,” she said in a humble voice. “Our goal tonight was to secure three confessions.” Michelle walked over to where Yonick had dropped her leather jacket during the fight. She pulled the tape recorder out from the pocket and then looked at Momma Peach. “You were supposed to wait until I arrived with the formula, Momma Peach. What's this about Susan's parents being free?”
“Oh, I figured I would play just a little game of chess while I waited for you to show up,” Momma Peach chuckled.
Michelle spotted the formula lying on the floor and picked it up. “I guess we really didn't need this formula after all. I could have taken down these losers with my eyes closed.”
“Oh well,” Momma Peach said and patted Michelle on her shoulder, “let's just say I needed time to get an extra checkmate lined up for us. Besides, who knows how this night might have turned out.” Momma Peach looked at Sam. “Isn't that right, Mr. Sam?”
Sam shoved his hands down into the pockets of his pants. “That's right, Momma Peach. I guess my plan blew up in my face.”
“Mr. Sam, try and have faith in your fellow woman,” Momma Peach told Sam. “And trust me when I say this: tonight, the man who killed poor Charlene Readings is going to know real fear. Now let's get the rats we already have all tied up and gagged, because I got myself another plan.”
Outside in the storm, Mayor Beardman narrowed his eyes with grim resolve and checked his gun. “It ends tonight,” he hissed.
Chapter Nine
Mayor Beardman stepped out of a truck and eyed the diner with suspicion. The inside lights were off. The dine
r sat dark and quiet. “Maybe they left?” Jeff Hayes said and looked around. “The truck is still here.”
Bill Beardman reached up his right hand and smoothed the frosty snow out of his neatly trimmed brown mustache that matched his fancy brown leather jacket, expensive gray trousers and gray loafers. Even though it was freezing outside he wanted to remain distinguished in appearance. He dressed for power, unlike the men with him dressed like moronic rednecks. “Try the front door.”
Jeff walked up to the front door and managed to open it. He stuck his head inside and looked around. “I don't see anyone, Mayor.”
Bill Beardman remained unconvinced. “We'll wait until the others arrive with Thelma. I'm sure she'll be…very helpful.”
Jeff nodded and stepped back out onto the front walk. “Wonder where everybody is? Something isn't right here, Mayor. Maybe Duddles did something to those outsiders?”
Bill ignored the icy winds and blowing snow attacking his face. He focused on the dark windows of the diner. “You saw with your own eyes the two men dressed in black?”
“Yeah, those two guys never sat well with me,” Jeff explained. “And Chief Duddles was acting real funny, too. But he's one of us and asked for help. When a man asks for help dealing with outsiders we're required to help. That law is written in the rules of the pact.”
Mayor Beardman continued to stare at the diner. “This outsider you talked to, this Sam person, he convinced you that he wasn't a killer?”
Jeff looked up and down the dark street being swallowed up in the storm. Even with a snowplow attached to his truck, he had found it difficult to maneuver through the snow-covered streets. “Bill, I didn't know Charlene Readings all that much, but I did notice the woman acting mighty strange the last few weeks.”
“That's not what I asked you, Jeff,” Mayor Beardman said, allowing his temper to flare just enough to intimidate the other man. “I asked you a question.”
A Peachy Plan Page 13