Marshmallow S'More Murder

by Leslie Langtry

  Maria called in a couple of favors from Ahmed and Jenkins. Zeb Jenkins jumped at the chance to finally see some action, and Ahmed was bribed with a lifetime supply of cookies. Everyone, and I mean everyone, had a price.

  We set up the rendezvous point to be at an abandoned warehouse that used to be an Agency safe house in the Maryland countryside. The huge, steel-sided building was the only structure in the middle of a barren field. We'd be able to see anyone coming miles before they arrived. If we were lucky, we could get out of this alive and get home in time to rescue my cats from the evil clutches of Juliette Dowd.

  "I can't believe we're doing this," Rex grumbled as he checked his .45 one more time.

  "I'm so sorry," I apologized. Not only was this completely illegal, I'd dragged my boyfriend, a police officer, into it. And it wasn't his jurisdiction. He could end up fired or imprisoned.

  "Maybe you shouldn't be here," I said finally. "You could go back to the hotel and wait until it's over."

  Rex shook his head. "I don't see how I could do that. There's no way I could live with myself if you got hurt."

  My heart went all squishy inside. How lucky was I to have a man like this?

  "But Rex," I argued, "you could lose your job or go to jail if this turns south. I don't want that to happen to you. Especially when this is all my fault."

  His mouth hardened into a stubborn line. "I'm doing this whether you like it or not."

  Yeesh! Fine! So touchy. Okay, I was reacting out of guilt. If Rex wanted to stay, there wasn't much I could do to change his mind. I walked over to Maria to check on her.

  "Are we all set?" I asked. Ahmed and Zeb were in the corner, loading magazines and practically trembling with excitement. "Are those two going to be able to handle this?"

  Maria rolled her eyes. "Oh yeah. Their part isn't very big, just backup. I just hope they remember that and don't do anything stupid."

  "Yeah," I said, "because I'm the only one who gets that distinction."

  Maria laughed. "I wouldn't say that. You did really well with snagging Rex. He's wonderful. How'd you find a guy like that?"

  I shrugged. "You just have to change your name and appearance, move to a small town in Iowa, and have a hottie detective move across the street from you. It's easy."

  "Go check on Riley." Maria smiled.

  Riley was fifty feet away in the back corner surrounded with monitors that watched the approach to the warehouse in every direction. We gave him that duty as punishment for getting us all into this in the first place. He didn't argue. I was sure he felt bad about it.

  "Hey," I said as I walked up behind him. Four monitors—one for each direction—sat in front of him in a horseshoe formation. "All set?"

  Riley turned toward me, and I started watching the monitors for him. "I'm so sorry, Merry. This really got out of hand. And I ruined your trip."

  "Normally, the nice, Midwestern girl in me would argue with you to make you feel better. Unfortunately, she's armed and dangerous right now, so that's not gonna happen."

  Yes, it was harsh. And it was tough to see Riley flinch at my words, but he needed to know that I was upset about it.

  "I deserve that," he said. "I had no idea I'd called you. I was under some serious drugs, but that's not much of an excuse."

  "Wow," I said drily. "Who are you? Where's Riley?" The old Riley was more selfish than that. Maybe he'd learned a little something here.

  "I shouldn't have gone to the coffee house more than once." He looked duly chastened. A look I'd never seen on him before. "It was stupid and sloppy."

  "Now you know why we have those rules in our line of work," I said, my eyes scanning the monitors every few seconds. "But there's nothing we can do about that now. I'm grateful for the apology though."

  Riley looked into my eyes, like he had more to say. I waited, but no words came out. I got that. Sometimes you just felt like nothing you said would make a difference. And it wouldn't. The yakuza believed Riley and I were involved in the murder of their leader. Chances were, they'd have come to Who's There, Iowa, looking for me anyway. At least this way, my hometown was safe.

  "Forget about it," I finally said to break the uneasy silence. "We're good. And as long as this works, we all get out of this alive." Always look on the bright side when attempting a dangerous plan.

  "I should also apologize for what happened in Japan," Riley said quietly. I took my eyes off the monitor and looked back at Rex, who was now deep in conversation with Maria.

  "Forget about it," I said, but there was a hard edge in my voice. I guess I was still mad at myself for screwing around with Chlotilde.

  Riley shook his head. "I'm not sure you understand…"

  I nodded. "Yes, you shouldn't have been holding another woman in your arms when I walked in on you. But that's water under the bridge. Besides, if I hadn't caught you snuggling up to that German bimbo, I would've found you with someone else later."

  I guess I wasn't over it. The image of walking in to see Riley holding Chlotilde against him still hurt. But a snake couldn't change its stripes, so better then than later.

  Riley stared at me with his mouth open. He probably didn't think I'd actually say it out loud. Oh, well. This was a learning experience for him. And I was kind of proud of myself for saying what I should've a long, long time ago.

  "Merry, I don't—" he started.

  I held my hand up to silence him. "Save it." I pointed at the monitors. A black sedan was rocketing toward the south end of the warehouse. The yakuza had arrived.

  CHAPTER TWENTY

  "Showtime!" I called out, and everyone went to their predetermined locations. Maria and her two wannabees took up positions behind rusted machinery. Rex nodded and went to the monitors, where he took up a sniper position behind some old, rusty barrels. He'd keep an eye on the screens just in case anyone else joined us. It would be just like Ito to have a second wave come in when she thought we were distracted.

  Riley and I moved to the middle of the room, in plain sight, waiting. We were armed to the teeth, but you wouldn't have known it to look at us. I had a pistol in my waistband against the small of my back and another one in my jacket pocket. I also had a throwing knife up the sleeve of my right hand and another in my left sock. Riley was similarly outfitted.

  The warehouse was air-conditioned, or we'd look completely weird considering it was so hot outside. I was pretty sure Ito would see through this façade, but on the off chance she didn't, it was best to be prepared.

  "Well," I said under my breath. "Here goes nothing."

  Riley took my hand and squeezed it, dropping it as the door opened in front of us.

  Leiko Ito walked in, flanked by the bald guy from the photos and, to my complete surprise, Elvinia and her boys, Clem and Earl. I hadn't thought of that. I mean, I knew she'd ask Elvinia, but seeing the mountain men with her surprised me a bit. It shouldn't have. And there it was—a flaw in the plan. I prayed there weren't more things I'd overlooked. I wondered where the two thugs we'd encountered at the embassy were, but they probably got sent back home in shame.

  Ito Jr. walked up to us, stopping about twenty feet away. She was dressed tactically, wearing long, black leather boots, leggings, and a tunic covered with pockets which probably hid a million different ways to kill us.

  Elvinia and her boys carried shotguns. Their faces were expressionless. I wondered how she felt being dragged into this. Question was, should I tip my hand and address Elvinia directly? Ito didn't know we knew each other. I decided to do nothing.

  "Ms. Wrath, Riley…" Ito nodded.

  "Leiko," I said. "And company."

  Ito sneered. "Oh, I know you are acquainted with Elvinia and her friends. I'm not an idiot. But you need to know that when you're in the family, your loyalties are cemented."

  I shrugged. "Okay."

  "Okay?" Ito started to turn purple with rage.

  "Yes. Okay," I said. "You want to play icebreaker games and get to know each other better, or do you want to
settle this once and for all?"

  For a moment, I thought she was going to shoot me. Although in her mind, she was planning to do that anyway. She just wouldn't get the answers she wanted if she played her hand too early. I watched as she managed to bring her fury back under control.

  "You have something to confess, I believe?" she asked calmly.

  I looked at Riley then back at her. "I can tell you everything we know." I stepped forward to show I was in control of this standoff. "We didn't kill your mother."

  "Liar!" Ito reddened and started to shake. "I know you did it!"

  I shook my head. "We didn't kill her. We did find her body and dispose of it in a disrespectful way. And for that, I'm truly sorry."

  I explained what had happened, leaving out details like where I lived or the fact that Kelly had been there. No way was I dragging a new mom into this. Ito listened but maintained her level of anger. When I finished explaining, I apologized one more time.

  "Again, we are so sorry for the way we handled it. That was wrong."

  That was it. I'd told her everything I knew. It felt good, to be honest. Now the ball was in her court to figure out if we were telling the truth.

  "Why should I believe you?" Baby Ito asked through clenched teeth.

  "Because that's what happened." I shrugged. I could understand her disbelief. If I was still a spy, I'd totally lie to her. She didn't know that since I'd gone citizen, things had changed.

  Where in the hell was Riley in this? Why was he letting me do all the talking? Here he'd apologized for being a cheating jerk back in Tokyo, but he was letting me do all the apologizing and explaining here. I was kind of pissed, but maybe I should've expected that.

  Ito shook her head. "No. You lie. You lured her to the United States and then killed her. I know you did."

  "I have no idea how she got here. That's the truth. Whoever killed her obviously brought her over and murdered her to frame me." Come on, Riley. Jump in any damn time.

  "You expect me to believe that?" Ito stormed.

  I sighed heavily. "I know it's hard to believe. I'd have a hard time buying that story if I was you. But I'm not lying." I looked at Riley, who continued staring at Ito.

  "In fact, I'd like to make a proposition," I said, taking us into phase two. "I'd like to help you find out who actually did kill your mother."

  "And why would you do that?" Leiko spat. "You're just trying to confuse me!"

  I shook my head. "No, I'm not." This time I turned to Riley and smacked him with my left arm. He needed to participate in this little showdown.

  Ito turned to look at her right-hand man, who was staring hard at me. I noticed that while Clem still had a solid grip on his shotgun, Elvinia had lowered hers a little. That was interesting. I knew Maria and her two clowns were covering us, as was Rex. Hopefully, Ito didn't know that.

  "I need a moment," Leiko said, catching me off guard.

  "Take all the time you need," Riley answered. Finally. What was up with him anyway?

  We watched as Ito Jr. walked back to the big guy she'd brought with her. They started whispering to each other. It was impossible to hear them. I concentrated on Elvinia. Clem wasn't a weak link—he was probably looking forward to shooting someone. But Elvinia knew me. Granted, we weren't BFFs by any means, but still, she had tried to set me up with her nephew, so there had to be something there, right?

  Elvinia's face was passive, but the way she carried her shotgun said a lot. She was thinking, trying to sort out if I was telling the truth. In the end, would she act based on her own assumptions or on Leiko's?

  Honor and family loyalty were huge tenets of the yakuza code. Elvinia would be expected to go with whatever Ito decided. On the other hand, Elvinia was her own woman. Her yakuza husband was dead, and she was pretty far removed from the Japanese syndicate. On more than one occasion, she'd told me how much the Okinawa family despised the Tokyo branch. The woman was a wild card. Which way would she go?

  In order to keep their locations hidden, I didn't glance in the direction of Rex or Maria. Instead, I turned to Riley. His face was unreadable. In fact, he was frowning. That was strange. Riley was usually so laid back. Most likely, his guilt was killing him. He'd hated dragging the girls and me into this. He was probably very concerned about what would happen next. I should have cut him a little slack.

  "What do you think?" I whispered.

  "No idea," Riley replied softly. "It's a total crapshoot at this point. Mostly because Leiko has a reputation for being wildly unpredictable and a bit unstable."

  "She hasn't killed us yet," I mused. "And she's had plenty of opportunity."

  He nodded. "That's true. Like I said, unpredictable."

  Minutes ticked by. What was taking her so long? I thought about the car she came in. Five people were here, so the sedan couldn't have carried more people. And if another car were coming, Rex would let us know.

  Ten minutes passed, and Ito and her man were still talking. If Elvinia and the boys could hear her, they weren't letting on. This was getting ridiculous. The only reason they could be conferring so long was that they were waiting for reinforcements. Right now, we outnumbered them by one person. Another vehicle full of gun-toting criminals would put us at a disadvantage.

  "Time's up," I said finally. My radar was going off. Something was wrong.

  Ito turned to face me. "I thought you said we didn't have to rush?"

  "I did say that. But this is taking too long. Either you believe us, or you don't. What's it going to be?"

  "Why are you in such a hurry?" Ito sneered.

  I shrugged. "I've got tickets to a performance at the Kennedy Center tonight. I'd like to change before I go." It was a lie, and she knew it. There really was a time for snark, and maybe this wasn't it. But I wanted this over. It just seemed like the yakuza was playing with its food.

  "You're in a hurry to die?" Leiko stepped forward.

  "Let's just get it over with," I said.

  "Come on, Ito." Riley finally spoke up. "Time to decide."

  Leiko smiled. That woman really could go from zero to crazy in seconds. She pulled her gun and leveled it at me. Immediately, Riley and I pulled our guns, aiming them at her and her dude. So this was how it was going to be.

  "I can't. I don't know if you're telling the truth or not. So I might as well kill you."

  I shoved Riley out of the way and dove in the opposite direction as the shot rang out. Riley fired, hitting Ito's man in the leg. Clem and Earl began firing their shotguns at us.

  Elvinia raised her arm, and to my unbelieving eyes, both men lowered their shotguns. That was a good sign, but I didn't take the time to appreciate it. I fired at Ito, but she dodged it, shooting directly at me. The bullet barely grazed my shoulder, but I didn't have time to react.

  Rex came up behind Ito. "Drop it," he growled.

  She turned, and he knocked the gun from her hand. I was already on my feet, running toward her, when she pulled a knife on my boyfriend and lunged for him. It was like watching something in slow motion. Rex blocked the arc of her knife arm and held the gun to her head.

  What he didn't know was that wouldn't stop Ito. She was flat-out insane and would fight until she won or died. I screamed as her knife arced up and sliced into Rex's side. He dropped to the floor, squeezing off a shot that missed.

  I tackled her from behind, bringing both of us to the floor. Oblivious to anything else that was going on, I rolled on top of her and punched her in the face. Unfortunately for me, Ito had some martial arts skills and threw me off her. As she straddled me, she started bringing her knife down toward my throat.

  I'd like to have said that was no problem. But that would be a lie. Leiko was much stronger than I was, and even though I was holding her off with both hands, the knife was getting dangerously close to my neck.

  "I'm telling you the truth, dammit!" I shouted. It meant nothing. Leiko was lost in her blood lust and wouldn't be satisfied until I was dead.

  Other shots rang o
ut around me, but I dared not take my eyes off my attacker. She'd stabbed Rex, but I couldn't risk a look at him. I could only pray that he was alright. Right now, I was fighting for my life.

  Clunk.

  Ito's strength stalled, and she looked confused, just before falling to the floor, unconscious. Elvinia stood there, wielding the butt of her shotgun.

  "Thanks," I said as I rolled to my feet and jumped up to survey the scene.

  Riley was tying up Ito's colleague, and Ahmed and Jenkins were holding Clem and Earl at gunpoint. Maria was tending to Rex, who looked at me with relief before passing out.

  "I never liked the Tokyo branch," Elvinia said as she stood over Baby Ito's inert body. "And I'm an American first, bitch."

  "You mean we don't get to shoot anyone?" Clem sounded disappointed. Elvinia had better keep an eye on him in the future.

  Ahmed and Jenkins were giddy with delight. They'd gotten to be part of a big operation. That was all they needed.

  "How is he?" I asked as I knelt down beside Rex.

  "Just grazed him," Maria said. "He'll just need stitches."

  "Thank God!" I said as I kissed my boyfriend on the forehead.

  I got to my feet, adrenaline pumping, and may have accidentally kicked Leiko a few times. It was over. Somehow I'd have to convince this woman that I didn't kill her mother, or she'd just keep coming after me until I was dead.

  Ito awoke to find her accomplice tied to a chair. To her credit, she didn't even struggle. That was nice. I crouched down in front of her with Riley standing behind me.

  "We are going to stay here until you believe me," I said calmly. Maria and the guys had taken Rex to the hospital. Elvinia left, promising to stay out of it. I knew she would. She seemed pretty pissed that Ito expected her to kill me, what with me and her nephew Knob being almost sort of engaged and all.

  "I'll never believe that!" Ito spat. "I'll keep hunting you until I kill you! And then I'll kill everyone you know!"