Honorable Death

by Linda S. Prather

  Her laugh filled the room, and it was suddenly clear why Simon had pissed all over our car. My own bladder threatened to let go as a shudder ran through me. If evil had a sound, I’d heard it. I hoped I appeared braver than I felt. “You must be Yoshekita’s sister. You’ll kill us either way, no matter what we do. Humor me and tell me who Min Wong is? Or is he going by Jonathan Drysdon?”

  “You have been a busy little beaver, haven’t you? You think you know everything by now, but trust me—you don’t. Since you’re right, and I do plan on killing you, I’ll let you in on a little secret. Min Wong as you know him doesn’t exist. I hired that Min Wong to bury you alive as a warning for my dear sister of what would happen to her if she continued.” She rolled up a chair across from us. “We have a little time before Hilda comes down to tell me your little friend outside has been eliminated.”

  Dave strained against the ropes as I stood. “You hurt him, and I swear I’ll kill you or force you to kill me. You’ll never find Yoshe or your lists.”

  She shrugged. “Perhaps she won’t kill him. Hilda doesn’t enjoy it nearly as much as I do, although I have to admit she took pleasure in watching Kurt die. Almost as much pleasure as I took in killing him.” Her eyes darkened, and she raised the shotgun. “Have a seat, or I’ll take out your legs. You’ll still be able to talk and watch as I carve up your friends.”

  I took my seat. “If Min Wong doesn’t exist, then why is everyone looking for him?”

  “You can thank Williams and Combs for that. They fed those rumors and kept the fires burning, hoping to flush me out. You see, Min Wong was my code name when I was working for them. When I decided to switch sides as my skills were sought after and the pay was lucrative, I hired a few well-known assassins to do some of the dirty work. Occasionally, I’d do a job myself and leave a little token for them. I wanted all of them to know what they had created.”

  “Why did you kill Kurt and Katherine?”

  “You can keep me talking all night, darling. No one is coming, and to answer your question, they were careless. I could talk to my employees until I’m blue in the face”—she waved a hand to Katherine’s bloody body—“but this sends a message without saying a word.”

  “Let Dave and Greg go. I’ll take you to the lists, and you can kill me. They don’t deserve to die.”

  “Tempting. I do find you much more entertaining than your brother.” She stood and shoved the chair back. “First you take me, then we’ll see if I let them go.”

  The upstairs door opened. “That should be Hilda now with our other guest.”

  Greg came down the steps, his hands held up and blood streaming from a cut over his left eye. “Sorry, Kacy, she ran out, saying you were in trouble. The next thing I knew, she clobbered me.”

  Hilda was walking behind him, a satisfied smirk on her face. “Dropped him like a sack of pig feed.” She poked him in the back with the gun she was holding. “Get over there and have a seat.”

  A strange feeling washed over me, and I realized there was no way out. Greg took the seat I vacated as I faced the facts that no one knew we were here, and there was no way she would let us live. Kyle had shown me where Yoshe was. I’d missed his message. Like Kyle and Simon, I would take that knowledge to my grave. All that was left for me to do was make her kill me first. I couldn’t bear to watch Greg and Dave die. “Let me say goodbye to my partners.”

  “Make it short. I’ve got places to go and people to kill.”

  I turned to Dave and smiled. “Son of a bitch.”

  He nodded and returned my smile. “Jesus.”

  Greg might not have understood, but Dave and I did. “I’m sorry, Greg. You should never have been involved in this.”

  “Wouldn’t have missed it.” He grinned and winked at me as he shifted to the edge of the seat and placed a hand on Dave’s chair. I’d been wrong—he knew exactly what was coming, and like me, he’d decided to go down fighting.

  “I forgot to say thank you. Dave’s always trying to teach me manners.” I turned slowly, locking my eyes on her face. “You never told me your real name. You are sort of family. The aunt of my niece.”

  “Since you put it that way, it’s Keisha.” She motioned with the gun. “We’ve wasted enough time.”

  “I have one more question for you, Keisha. Why do you think Williams and Combs want to take you alive?”

  Her jawline hardened, and her eyes turned cold. “If they told you that, they’re lying. They would be the last people that would want to take me alive. I know too much on them and too much about their agency.”

  I glanced at Hilda standing a few feet away from her. There was no way I could take them both down, but if I’d judged Hilda right, she would protect the source of her income, which might give Greg the seconds he needed. “Thank you, Keisha.”

  I didn’t have time to wonder if Greg had caught my thank you message. I rushed Keisha, hoping to catch her off guard. The butt of her gun collided with the side of my head at the same time a bullet struck her in the right shoulder. I turned just as Marcone prepared to fire again.

  “Don’t! We need to take her alive.” I jerked the gun away from her and threw it across the room.

  Derek Stevens stepped around Marcone and sped to where Greg had grappled Hilda to the floor. “Good work, bro.”

  “What the hell took you so long?”

  “We had a slight car wreck on the way.” He waved to Marcone. “Don’t ever piss that guy off. I thought he was gonna break someone’s neck before we got back on the road.”

  Strong arms lifted me, and gentle hands ran over the side of my head. “Are you all right?”

  “I’ll be okay. Where’s Williams and Combs?”

  “Tied up and waiting in our wrecked car. They’re the ones that tried to stop us. Thank God Greg sent that text to Derek, telling him where you were.” He glanced at Keisha. “You should have let me make sure she was dead.”

  Keisha opened her eyes and smiled at me. “See you in hell.” With one quick movement of her left arm, she slammed her fist into her chin, grinding her teeth together.

  “Son of a bitch.” One look told me it was too late. With Keisha’s death, Williams and Combs would go free. “I can’t believe she did that. I liked Williams and Combs, but from the little she told me, they’re responsible for what she became.”

  “They’ll pay for their crimes eventually. You have my promise on that.”

  “Jesus, would somebody untie me?” Dave bellowed from a far corner of the room where Greg had shoved him before tackling Hilda.

  “You’d better go to your partner. I think he’s feeling a little left out.”

  “Don’t go anywhere. We still need to talk. I know where Yoshe is, and the lists.” I caught Greg’s eye and grinned as I headed toward Dave. “For heaven’s sake, Dave, give a girl a break, will you? It’s not like I haven’t been busy getting knocked senseless while saving your ass.”

  EPILOGUE

  The Wilsons’ home was festive, with a touch of sadness. A week had passed since our battle in the basement of the Lange mansion. The FBI were still there, sifting through the computer databases and gathering information. Park had suspended the three of us for three weeks and threatened us with desk jobs when we came back. The time off had allowed us to attend Simon’s, Kyle’s, and Crimson’s funerals. Charles and Melanie had purchased three plots, and we’d buried the three of them next to each other. I thought Kyle and Simon would have liked that.

  I glanced to where my father and Greg were seated on the floor, surrounded by Yoshe, Mary Elizabeth, and Tina Fae as they entertained Greg’s ball of fur, Popcorn. My father had refused to explain his involvement with Williams and Combs, and without Keisha’s testimony, the two of them had been released. Hopefully, the documents Kyle had stolen would trace back to them. I had remembered to ask the question about our names, and thankfully, Kurt and Katherine had kept the names our parents had given us.

  “Penny for your thoughts?” Dave handed me a cup o
f eggnog. “Drink it, or you’ll hurt Martha’s feelings.”

  I took a sip and grimaced. “Someone needs to spike it. That way, after the first cup, you don’t care how bad it tastes.”

  He nodded to where Yoshe was clinging to her grandfather and giggling as Popcorn licked her fingers. “You never told me how you figured out where she was?”

  Good memories. “I thought when I found the picture of the two of us in the rubble at Kyle’s apartment, it had fallen there. When Keisha said Kyle wouldn’t have died without leaving me a clue to where he’d left Yoshe, I knew. He must have come back to the apartment after Crimson was killed. He couldn’t contact me, so he left the one thing that would point me in the right direction.” I sipped the eggnog. “He left Yoshe with the headmistress, with instructions to contact Charles and Melanie if I didn’t show up in a month. She always had a soft spot for Kyle. The flash drive was in a small hole in a rock at the cove Kyle took me to. We used to leave notes for each other there.”

  My thoughts turned to the missing children. It would take years to find them all, if they were ever found. Then the real pain began. If they were in happy homes, uprooting them and returning them to parents they didn’t know would create emotional damage that could take years to repair. The parents would all suffer, but the children would suffer the most.

  “Have you decided what you’re going to do about Yoshe?”

  Things were still awkward between Marcone and me. He was my father, but he was also associated with the criminal world I’d dedicated my life to wiping out. It would take time for the two of us to come to terms with each other. Derek Stevens had seized the flash drive storing the information everyone wanted, and since none of us had seen it, we should be in the clear, but we all knew the past had a way of coming back to haunt you. The decision on what to do with Yoshe had been heart-wrenching for both of us, but the bottom line had been what was best for Yoshe. “Dad and I discussed it. Charles and Melanie are going to adopt her. They can give her the time neither of us could. I’ll still get to be the favorite aunt, and he’ll still get to be her grandfather. Here, she’ll get all the love she deserves and needs to grow up happy and healthy.”

  “You could marry Greg, and the two of you raise her. I still think he’s got a crush on you.”

  I finished the eggnog. “Told you—I don’t date cops, and he named his dog Popcorn.”

  “Won’t be a cop much longer. Park’s promoting him to detective once our suspension is up. Now that you’re rich, we could all live together in that big old mansion.”

  Kurt and Katherine hadn’t left a will. As the only known surviving relative, I’d inherited everything. “No way, partner. I see enough of you at work.” I handed him my cup. “Besides, the feds will be seizing most of the assets that were obtained illegally, and even if I get the house, I’m not keeping the mansion. As soon as the FBI are finished and probate is done, it’s going on the market.” Yoshe was toddling toward me. “Any money left will go into a trust for Yoshe.” She held up her arms, and I picked her up. “Don’t worry, if I’m frugal, I can still buy you breakfast once in a while.”

  “Damn.”

  “Language, Capello.” I glanced in the kitchen, where my father was helping Charles carve the turkey. The future wasn’t exactly bright, but it held promise. Derek had allowed me to purchase one more large ticket item before Kurt and Katherine’s accounts were seized. We had two more weeks of suspension, and Martha and Dave deserved some time alone. Martha’s mother had been thrilled with the idea of keeping the girls, and Dave was always telling me how Martha was dying to go on a cruise. I removed the envelope from my jacket pocket and passed it to Dave. “Merry Christmas, partner.”

  THE END

  FROM THE AUTHOR

  Thank you for reading Honorable Death. If you’ve gotten this far, then I hope that means you enjoyed this book. I would greatly appreciate it if you would take a moment of your time to leave a short review on the site you purchased it from or Goodreads. Reviews help a book gain visibility and many times your words are helpful to another reader in choosing a book they will enjoy.

  Thank you, again.

  Linda S. Prather, Author

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