Lethal Liaisons (Willful Women Assassins Series) (3 page)

“Oh my God, sis! What
happened?!”

“Someone ransacked my
condo. I feel so violated.”

“Are you okay?”

“Yeah, and nothing
seems to be missing. The police are on their way over.”

“I haven't mentioned
it to anyone yet, but I've had the feeling I've been followed the
last few days,” Kris revealed to them both.

“Oh geez, hon, you
don't suppose that...,” she stopped short of saying anything
more in front of Randolph. “You'd better go check on
your
place!”

It was soon discovered that
both condos had been broken into. The girls spent that night with a
mutual friend and compared notes when they were alone.

“Do you think it
could have anything to do with all that money?” Kris asked.

“What else could it
be? What are the odds we'd both have break-ins the same day? It's a
good thing the money is in a safe place.”

A concerned Randolph had
related the story to his sister Janine. She was more connected than
even he had realized and shared some tidbits of information. On their
next date, he asked Kris a few probing questions.

“Carlton bragged to
me that he was handling the estate settlement for one of the big
politicians. I'm guessing that Karlee did some legwork on that. Did
your sister take you with her?”

“We do lots of stuff
together,” she answered evasively.

“I'm going to connect
some dots here, sweetheart, and leap to the conclusion that you two
took something that maybe you shouldn't have.”

She showed a look of
confusion.

“That night at dinner
you asked if I could keep a secret. Can you keep one, Kris?”

“Yes, you're scaring
me, Ran.”

“My sister told you
she does contract work. She gets lots of unusual requests by referral
because she is so good at what she does. These aren't written
contracts as most are not of a legal nature, if you know what I mean.
Sometimes the job is in New York, sometimes London, sometimes
Chicago.”

“What are you trying
to say?”

“Something has just
come to her attention about you guys.”

“I'm having trouble
understanding what I'm hearing, Randolph.”

“I'm just suggesting
that you and your sister go into hiding for awhile is all.”

“So Janine is with
the m-o-b?!”

“She has lots of
'friends'. This time it's your Lieutenant Governor, not the m-o-b.”

“Oh shit! Your
frigging sister has contract hits on me and my sister?!”

“I didn't say that,
but now you can see why such information must be protected. And
you're right, but she's agreed to decline the contract because of our
situation. When she does, someone else will take it. The order is for
extraction of information and two kills.”

Kris immediately picked up
the phone and updated Karlee.

“So it's not a mob
contract, it's that crooked Lieutenant Governor Wallace?”
Karlee asked, needing to make sure she had all the details correct.

“Yeah, and if we
don't do something about it, it's just a matter of time until that
really deep shit hits the fan, sis.”

“Okay, Kris, let me
take care of things. I'll call you in the morning.”

Karlee got her Glock pistol
and a recently acquired silencer, and then departed for Springfield,
the state Capitol. She had never fired at anything more than a paper
target, but no one messed with her and her sister and got away with
it. She assumed that the two politicians had been in cahoots and
hoped resolving the issue with this character would keep them out of
harm's way.

It wasn't difficult for the
determined young woman to find his impressive residence in the
darkness. She had parked her black convertible a safe distance away,
worn latex gloves to ensure no retrievable DNA or fingerprints, worn
a hood to conceal her face from any surveillance cameras, and even
wiped finger prints from her ammunition. There was an armed guard
outside. He was smoking a cigarette when she came up from behind and
took him out with a choke hold. There had been a struggle, but her
previous fighting experience proved most useful. The doors were all
locked, so she covered an obscured window with masking tape and then
tapped it repeatedly with the butt of her weapon until it quietly
shattered. She slipped in and found the wicked fellow asleep.

“Oh, Mr. Wallace, you
have company, sir,” she announced as she connected the
silencer, turned on the bedroom light and took aim.

The man groggily opened his
eyes. “Who's there?”

“Someone who has
brought you a surprise!” Pfft Pfft. She fired twice. His wife
had slept through it all. Karlee hesitated as she realized the woman
probably knew too much and presented a risk. With a sense of regret,
she fired off two more rounds. Pfft Pfft. She had now crossed another
line, and another door would be opening in her life.

Randolph's phone rang as he
and Kristie cuddled on his sofa back in Chicago.

“Where are the
sisters?” inquired his sister Janine.

“Kris is here with
me; Karlee is probably at home.”

“I doubt it. Turn on
your TV!”

He put the phone on speaker
mode, picked up the remote, and the large screen came to life. There
in living color was a video of the Lieutenant Governor being
assassinated! He had had a low-quality security system, so the image
was unclear. It had also picked up the killer's voice, but again not
clearly. The security guard had regained consciousness shortly after
Karlee's departure, and the police and FBI were promptly on the
scene.

“Oh my God, that's my
sister!” shouted Kris. “Even with her voice muffled, I
can still recognize it, and that's the way she moves her body!”

“Well, whatever you
do, don't call her cell phone. It would ping the nearest tower and
leave proof of her whereabouts. I wouldn't be surprised if the FBI
checks those records for all inbound and outbound calls from
out-of-town numbers at least an hour either side of the killing,”
said Janine. “Give me her number. You have mine, so have her
call me as soon as you hear from her!”

Kristie and Randolph were
waiting at Karlee's condo when she returned home.

“Sis, are you okay?”
Kris asked as she hugged her.

“I've never been
better. Why are you guys here?”

“We saw you on TV.
You were awesome!” she declared with enthusiastic admiration.

“What do you mean? I
haven't been anywhere.”

“It's us, sis, your
family. You don't need to lie. Besides, I'd recognize your body
language and voice anywhere, even if it's too poor of a quality for
anybody else.” She switched on the TV so Karlee could see for
herself on the next broadcast.

Karlee looked over at
Randolph, not yet comfortable thinking of him as family.

“Janine wants you to
call her,” he said.

“Why? I don't have
anything to talk with her about,” she replied with a tone of
hostility. Karlee was playing it cool, as if nothing had happened and
as if there were nothing to discuss with anyone.

“How did it feel,
sis? Pumping those bullets into that sucker must have been orgasmic!
Was it, huh, was it?”

Try as she might, Karlee
could no longer conceal the hint of a wry grin.

“Oh, I knew it!”
shouted the younger Kris, jumping excitedly around the room.

Soon the replay of the
security tape appeared on the TV. Kris watched Karlee's eyes as they
remained intently glued to the screen.

Karlee's phone rang early
the next morning. She hadn't felt inclined to make the requested call
to Randolph's sister. It was Janine on the phone.

“I see you took my
warning to heart. I must admit, it was totally unexpected,”
said Janine.

“I don't know what
you're talking about.”

“No need to play coy
with me, honey. I know Randolph gave you some idea of what I really
do, and we four all know it was you on that video. For a rookie, it
was a nice job. The fact that you're playing it the way you are is
impressive, too. Next time, don't turn on a light, take night vision
goggles if you need to. Next time, don't talk, just shoot.”

“I still don't know
what you're talking about, Janine.”

“Dear, I don't want
to incriminate you. I want to hire you! I get more work than I can
handle now, and want to subcontract some of it and have someone for
backup at times that I can trust. I figure that with your sister and
my brother practically walking down the aisle together, we're almost
like family.”

“Really? Well, I
neither confirm nor deny anything. What kind of money are we talking
about?”

Meanwhile, back at
Randolph's place, he and Kris are lying in bed contemplating the
upcoming day.

“Are we going to
start my sniper lessons today?” she asked.

“What makes you think
you want to be a sniper, hon?”

“First of all, I know
what I
don't
want to be, and that's a housewife who does
cleaning, laundry and cooking. Your sister has nefarious connections,
you have a black-ops background, and my very own sister was seen on
national TV assassinating a prominent politician. What's a girl to
do? I want you to help me choose a rifle. Where's yours?”

“I don't have one
anymore. What exactly are you planning on doing with it?”

“That's my business,
not yours.”

“If you're going to
be my wife, it is.”

“Is that a proposal?”

“No.”

As they cuddled together,
she slid her hand down across his stomach, looked to see how his eyes
responded, then slid it lower, down between his legs. Getting the
expected response, she asked, “Why not?” She began
kissing and licking his neck as she awaited his response to the
question, then inched her kisses down across his stomach, following
the path her hand had taken. Suddenly she paused, looked up at him
and asked, “Why did you just say
that
? As long as I've
known you, you've never once mentioned the word
wife.”
The
intimate moment turned into one of mild confrontation.

“Do we have to talk
about this now?”

“If not now, when?”

“Get back to what you
were doing and maybe we'll talk about it after.”

“No, we'll talk about
it now and besides, it's
your
turn for
that
! Plus, I
don't even know that I would say 'yes'.”

“Why wouldn't you?”

“Why would I?”

Just then, his phone rang.

“It's Aunt Bea. She
wants to know if we can come for dinner next Easter.”

“She really plans
ahead. Did your friends ever call you Opie when you were growing up?”

“What do you mean?”

“Oh, never mind.”

“Well, we did
nickname Carlton
the doorman
though. So do you want to go or
not?” he asked.

“I don't get it.
Okay, we can go, but only if you take your turn at you-know-what.”

“We'll be there, Aunt
Bea,” he promptly replied.

The next day, he took Kris
gun shopping.

“We'll look at a few.
It's mostly a matter of personal preference, Kris. There's the Parker
Hale 85 or the 308, and there's the Lapua. Some are more
aesthetically pleasing than others, some designed more for
entry-level work. The Remington 700P is a good one. You could get a
rifle for under a thousand dollars, or go custom made and spend ten
grand. Like I said, it's personal preference. I'm still in touch with
some of my buddies from training at Ft. Benning and might be able to
help you get a good one. How much do you want to spend?”

“'A craftsman is only
as good as his tools' dad used to always say. I want to be the best.
Ten grand is good.”

The rest of the afternoon
was spent shopping and learning. In the end, Kris opted for the
custom model. Randolph special-ordered it through one of his buddies.
When it arrived, he wrapped it as a gift, placing a diamond ring
around the trigger. Kris arrived for dinner early that evening.

“What's this?”

“What's it look
like?”

“My sniper rifle!”
she said excitedly.

“Open it.”

She tore off the wrapping
paper and drooled over her new toy, quickly noticing the trigger
assembly. “What's this, good sir?”

“What's what?”

She slipped it off the
weapon, not sure which item was giving her more goose bumps, the
rifle or the ring. It was the ring she realized, trying it on for
size. “Oh my, it's just the right size. I love it!”

“So? Will you marry
me, honey?” he asked, kneeling on one knee.

Once again, she looked into
his eyes, pausing to answer. He began to get more nervous.

“Are you sure, baby?”

“Totally! I love you,
Kristie! I want to spend the rest of my life with you and have lots
of kids, if that's what you want.”

“Yes!” They
kissed, but instead of heading for the bedroom to celebrate, she
picked up the rifle. “Oh, Randolph, you couldn't have possibly
gotten me a better engagement present. Let's go shoot it!”

He gave her shooting
lessons the rest of the evening and was impressed with her progress.
“You're almost as good as I was when I started,” he said.

“Soon I'll be
better!”

“Ya think?”

“I know! I'll be the
best. I'm a girl who gets what she wants,” she bragged, holding
up her left hand and showing off her new ring. “I can't wait to
see the expression on everyone's faces at Easter dinner this
weekend!”

“About that, there
are a few things you should know about me before we do this,”
he cautioned.

“Don't tell me yet,”
she requested, placing her forefinger on his lips.

“You women are
attracted by the mysterious element, aren't you?”

“I'm as curious as a
cat, but we all know what happened to that poor cat,” she said.
“Things have been so good between us that I don't want to risk
it. Just tell me later and remind me that you offered.”

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