Bang, bang, Lulu; Lulu, bang, bang.
Who’s gonna bang bang Lulu, now that Lulu’s gone away?
LuLu had a boyfriend, his name was Diamond Dick,
She never saw his diamond, but often saw his …
Bang, bang, Lulu; Lulu, bang, bang.
Who’s gonna bang bang Lulu, now that Lulu’s gone away?
Lulu had a rooster, she also had a duck.
She put them on a table, to see if they would …
Bang, bang, Lulu; Lulu, bang, bang.
Upon her return to the barracks, there had been soccer practice and weapons training for competitions coming up, both for this weekend. She’d barely found any time to schedule Robert coming down to visit her. Having so little time was why she hadn’t asked Mike to come down since Labor Day. But, she knew she had to deal with what she’d stirred up, now that Sal had gotten on to her. Even if she hadn’t been concerned about saving those girls from being sent to Brunei, she believed it would have been necessary to come to terms with Sal … once he’d learned how she’d made that visit to Frank a year ago, that had become inevitable.
She explained all of this to Robert but he still was shaking his head. He looked at her and said, “But, did you have to say you were a witch? And, challenge him the way you did?”
Missy said, “Hey, who’s he gonna tell? I mean, for him or Sal to go around complaining about witches would only make them appear pretty vulnerable, right? I know they can’t afford that. So, tell me what you’ve learned. What have Ben and Sal been doing?”
Robert said, “Marchitto visited both Billy and Donny. He interviewed them each at their own places which was convenient for us, since we were able to listen in. Your surveillance system sure came in handy for that.” He saw Missy nodding her head at him, so he continued. “Marchitto talked to Billy first, which was good, since Billy then was able to give Donny both a head’s up and some direction on what to say. Bottom line, they didn’t admit to grabbing you or killing Tony and they definitely didn’t admit to naming Sal. But, when Marchitto asked if they’d ever met you, they were very vocal. They told him how you had to be some sort of a witch, without Marchitto even having to ask about that.”
“I had kind of hoped for something like that. After all the times they’ve been calling me that redheaded ‘witch bitch’ … glad to know some good has come from that.” Missy smiled.
“Yeah, that part really played right into your game quite nicely. They claimed you showed up at their hotel, knocked them out with some sort of a spell and then tortured them. You had Tony’s folder with his instructions for kidnapping you and you had already taken care of Tony. They didn’t admit to giving you anything and then they kept quiet about it when they returned to New York. They told Marchitto they didn’t dare suggest to anyone in Sal’s organization that they believed in witches. No, they hoped they’d seen the last of you.”
Missy said, “Excellent! Did Billy mention how I cut off his little finger?”
Robert laughed. “Oh, yes. You were an evil witch, torturing them for hours but they never gave you anything. As proof of that, you’ve never acted against Sal before now, right? They claim you got all your info from Tony and Frank, not them.”
“So, has Sal done anything about all this yet?” asked Missy.
“We don’t have much inside information but we have learned Marchitto has apparently consulted with a couple of people who supposedly are experts on witches and witchcraft. This has all been on the QT and very hush-hush. Nothing that would suggest Sal himself was involved. But, Marchitto obviously has done some research and I’m sure Sal has been given a full report.” Robert smiled. “Perhaps your strategy isn’t so bad, really. Like you say, Sal isn’t going to run around talking about this. And, if you can somehow convince him to leave you alone? We’ll see.”
“Yes, but I haven’t yet figured out how I’ll do that. But, in case I need to visit him, that’s why I’ve asked for all the details about his estate. Did you bring the aerial photos I asked for? You could zoom in from that government satellite spy camera for me, no problem?”
Robert said, “Yes. And, here are the details about all his utilities and about his elaborate security system. Even if you can knock out his electrical power, most of his security system will be back on line in just a minute or so. He has some huge generators out in one of his garages. What exactly are you planning to do, Missy?”
Missy smiled. “Now Robert, you know I’m only going to ask for forgiveness afterwards rather than ask for any permission now, right? You folks at “P” Branch really don’t want to interfere or anything.” She really emphasized the word interfere and they both laughed.
-----
Ben Marchitto was once again meeting with Sal to discuss witches and witchcraft. These meetings were happening more frequently, now that he’d provided Sal with his various reports and there were fewer days remaining until the end of the month. Hard to believe how much work he’d been required to do, all because of some girl still in her teens. He’d been very careful. No one else knew anything about this. He knew better than that. Even without Sal constantly reminding him.
“So, what can she do, Ben?” asked Sal. “You don’t think she can stick pins in some doll and actually give me hemorrhoids or anything, right? Shit. I can’t believe some of the crap you mention in your reports about witches. My real problem is where there’s smoke, there’s fire, right? Even though ninety-nine percent of this has to all be bullshit … some of it might not be bullshit. And, you’re telling me you believe her. She’s a witch. She pushed your chair. So what?”
Ben said, “So, I also was able to verify just about everything she said. You already knew about her visiting Frank and what she did to Ramon. And, that guy Tony Gonzalez died in a car accident that maybe wasn’t an accident. Then, those two guys she told me about that were killed by some large cat? There aren’t supposed to be any cougars in Massachusetts but that’s what killed those guys. A cougar. Very strange.”
“Yeah, yeah, I get all that. And, she seemed to know all sorts of things about my organization. Not only about Billy and Donny … and, I’m still not sure I’m buying everything those guys told you … but, she even knew about your girlfriend Minnie? That Russian broad you’ve got stashed over in the Bronx? Billy and Donny don’t know about her, which is why I’m not ready to just blame them for all of this.” Sal studied Ben and then asked, “Or, does this witch read minds? Were you maybe thinking about that Russian broad when this witch Missy walked in? No, wait … you told me how attractive this girl is … so, maybe your brain immediately began to make some fantasy associations, right? You wanted to fuck this cadet in her uniform and so you then thought about your mistress? Jeez … I don’t know what to think.”
Ben knew Sal was just venting. “No, Sal, that’s not what happened at all. And, she certainly didn’t learn about those girls going to Brunei from reading my mind. I didn’t even know very much about them. I still don’t. What are you going to do with them, anyway?”
“Well, I’m not ready to send them home and set up any fucking trust fund. I’m just not in any big hurry to ship them to Brunei yet. Tell me more what this witch might do. You said she might pay me a visit? She actually said that?”
“I don’t know if I have her exact words but, basically, it was to tell you not to make her come out here … if you didn’t do the trust fund and everything by the end of the month, she’ll be paying you a visit.” Ben thought for a moment and added, “She didn’t say what she’d do if she came out here, exactly, but … she said that’s what might happen. She’ll pay you a visit.”
“Okay, so tell me about my security. She can’t get in here, right? So, what can she do?” Sal didn’t like not being in control of any situation and this witchcraft nonsense was really pissing him off.
Ben said, “Well, there’s the double fence all around, each fence twenty feet high with barbed wire and electricity. If she can somehow get over the first one, the dogs are alway
s patrolling the twelve foot area in between them. If she can get past the dogs and climb the second fence, we would at least have been alerted by then. And, we have one of our guys at every possible entrance.”
“What about crashing through the front gate? Or, maybe she puts some spell on our guard out there? Then, he lets her in?” Sal knew all this but wanted to hear it again. What might he be missing?
Ben explained, “The guard is pretty safe inside the gatehouse and, even if he wanted to let her in, he’d have to have our security chief okay it. That’s how it works. He can’t open the main gates unless our security chief first flips his switch on the console in the control room. Where all the video cameras are showing him everything.”
“Okay. I guess we’ll just have to wait and see. I don’t like it but I also don’t like the idea that anyone else might ever hear about any of this. From what you’ve put together in your report, she could have tried shaking us down a long time ago. Instead, she’s at West Point of all places. Unbelievable!” Sal began looking at the huge file on Missy that Ben had provided. He’d already memorized it but was still finding it hard to believe all the things in that file. He began studying some of her photos all over again.
-----
Missy’s roommates Sharon and Kelsey were once again thanking Missy for saving their ass. Somehow, she’d managed getting their room ready for a last minute inspection that had caught everyone by surprise. Missy had insisted they step outside while she then had raced around their room, putting everything in order, and they’d survived the inspection with no one getting any demerits. Kelsey, in particular, was thrilled as she’d racked up many hours walking off all her earlier demerits and was really looking forward to the weekend coming up, without having to walk off any more.
“How do you manage getting all our stuff arranged so fast, Missy?” asked Kelsey. “And, how come we can’t watch?”
Sharon laughed. “You know you can’t watch her when she does her sparkly eyes magic, Kelsey. Don’t mess with success!”
Missy looked at them both and smiled. “As long as you two don’t actually see me doing anything that might be considered magic … why, then you can’t ever be blamed for not saying anything about it. Not that what I’m doing is any violation of our Honor Code. But, I’m just looking out for you both. You know I always have your back and I trust you guys will cover for me.”
They assured her that, of course, they’d always have her back -- no problem. Missy was counting on that … at least, she was counting on Sharon. Soccer season was finishing up and basketball season was just starting. Missy and Sharon had both made the basketball team and their first game was coming up on the second Sunday in November which was also Veteran’s Day. There would be no classes the next day, since that Monday was the national holiday. Because the game was an away game, they would be staying Sunday night at a hotel in downtown New York City -- they didn’t need to rush back to the academy and were being allowed a little bit of free time. And, since they were already roommates, Missy and Sharon were booked into the same hotel room. Very convenient.
Sharon played forward and Missy played guard. In addition to her ball handling ability, which was excellent, Missy had an amazing jump shot. She could jump several inches higher than other girls her height and this always surprised whoever was on the opposing team, who then would fail to block Missy’s shot. She had developed her shooting skill in high school, of course, and was very accurate. Whenever a three point shot was needed, Missy could usually be counted on to make her jump shot go in. As this became more and more obvious during tryouts, Missy easily made the team. Then, during practices, the coach Irina Borovsky studied her even more closely and realized Missy indeed was a fabulous player.
Irina then talked to Missy’s soccer coach, Kristen, and the more she heard about Missy, the more excited she became. Kristen explained how much Missy had helped with the soccer team and how, this season, they were finishing first place in their division and were going on into the playoffs. Missy’s contributions, on and off the playing field, had been a big part of their success. While there was a bit of an overlap, with soccer playoffs and basketball starting up, they worked things out so Missy was playing in all the games and only missing some practices.
Missy had decided on her plan. If Sal had still not set up the Roseanne Trust Fund and released all those girls by then, she’d be paying him a visit late that Sunday night, after that first basketball game. She would need Sharon to cover for her, since she’d be away from her hotel room for a few hours. Her Granddad McCrea always used to tell her to plan her work and then work her plan. She knew she definitely had her work cut out for her. But, she indeed now had her plan.
Chapter Twenty-Nine
Nov 2018
Missy studied Sal’s double fence and was thankful for the wind, which was blowing her way and keeping her scent from reaching the dogs patrolling inside. She was high in the tree she had selected from the aerial photos and was confident she could indeed clear both fences. This required leaping from the branch she had crawled out on and sailing more than forty feet outward and dropping about thirty feet to the ground. Even with her little backpack on, which Mike had brought her and had double checked was securely in place after she had Changed, this was a leap she could easily make. She had been waiting for close to an hour, since once inside she planned on Changing again.
Mike had met her outside her hotel and so far, everything was working as planned. Sharon had been very understanding. Missy had explained this was some important sparkly eyes magic that she needed to do and she wasn’t merely sneaking out to have sex with her boyfriend. Sharon had not wanted to know any more about it than that. If Missy said it was important and needed to be done, that was good enough for her.
Now she sent Mike a mental message. I’m going in now. She’d be sending him a few more messages tonight.
With one final look around, Missy gathered herself together, crouched down on the branch and then made the big leap pushing with her hind legs using all the power she could put into her jump. And, as she’d figured, it was enough. She cleared the barbed wire on top of the second fence with several inches to spare and landed silently on the ground below, inside. No alarms were being set off and she quickly loped towards the big house, set well back from the street. She was approaching from the side and about ninety degrees away from where the gatehouse was located.
There was plenty of cover for her approach as Sal’s yard contained several trees and bushes. And, it was quite dark outside the perimeter of light from all the floodlights that were illuminating the area close to the house. She crept to a hedge just outside of the lighted area and Changed. Quickly donning the black sweatpants and sweatshirt from her backpack, along with black running shoes, she pulled her hair back into a ponytail and set the backpack aside for later.
She also had brought several tranquilizer darts, a blowgun and some duct tape. Thank you to “P” Branch for its unlimited resources and willingness to provide her some support. She occasionally had practiced with some blowguns back in high school and was quite certain she’d be accurate from anywhere within twenty feet. Thank you to self for all the extreme training she’d put herself through these past few years.
There were guards stationed at three entrances and two more were patrolling together, circling the house about every ten minutes. She’d been watching all this from up in the tree while she’d been waiting. This checked with the information Robert had provided. She waited until the two guys on patrol had passed by and then she followed after them, about a minute behind. As she approached the first stationary guard at the side entrance, she was able to stay out of sight and had no difficulty getting close enough for an accurate shot. He hardly felt the sting of the dart in his neck and then suddenly collapsed, without much noise. Missy wrapped his hands and feet with duct tape and added some tape across his mouth. Then, she moved on.
She made sure she stayed far enough behind the two guards on patrol so they
were out of hearing range. She dispatched the second guard stationed in the rear and the third guard stationed out front, also taping them up as she’d done for the first guy, and then raced forward to be there when the patrol came up to where the first guy had been. Two quick darts caught them before they’d had a chance to notice anything amiss and she quickly had them taped up and set aside. She grabbed the .38 caliber revolver from one of the guards, a nice Smith and Wesson, and took his holster as well.
The .38 Special would only fire six rounds and wasn’t as good as her M9 pistol; it didn’t have much stopping power. But, it was simple. No rack to slide in order to chamber a round. Just point and shoot. She knew she would be accurate enough at close range, if she needed to actually shoot it.
Fifteen minutes had passed and five guards were down. She went inside the house.
Since it was close to midnight, she wasn’t surprised to find no one downstairs on the first floor. She knew there was a control room in the basement where the security chief and one or two others were watching all the videos and monitoring Sal’s security system. Too bad that system had relied so heavily on the double fence and the guys on patrol. She hadn’t even needed to force any locks to get inside and she still hadn’t set off any alarms. Sal really was old fashioned and hadn’t taken advantage of modern technology very much. The file Robert had provided had clearly identified all the sensors and detectors that she needed to be concerned about and she’d easily avoided those and escaped detection so far.
She went upstairs where Sal had a second office, which was actually his study. From the briefing notes in Robert’s file, she knew Sal preferred operating from that office. If he wasn’t in bed with his wife, that’s probably where he’d be. She noticed several scents as she made her way up the stairs, and one of them was Marchitto. She was able to hear voices and, sure enough, Marchitto was talking to someone. That someone had to be Sal.
Missy Goes to West Point Page 31
