1 Hot Scheming Mess (31 page)

She came to a dead stop, breathing heavily. She looked down at the wand on the floor that Agent Cole had dropped along with his badge. It had a rhinestone star at the tip just like hers. Agent Cole released her.

She knew it was no coincidence. She’d put her fairy godmother props in the metal box, and now two grown men with sparkly skin and pointy ears were using identical props at Zombie Prom. The FBI Special Agents from headquarters in DC.

Shaking from her fright, her mouth hanging open, she looked back and forth at the undead fairies in their professional quality costumes and zombie makeup. Her voice came out in a high pitch as she said, “
Seriously
!?”

Not holding back his laughter, Vladik said, “What did I tell you?” with a hand on his red face. “Fierce little bear!”

Agent Riley shrugged as he and Agent Cole looked at each other. “We thought you’d pick up on it right away,” said Agent Riley. “We were trying to give you signals.”

“You couldn’t
call
me?”

“No.”

“Why not?”

Nika said, “For the same reason I couldn’t let you call your mother. They believe Jerry Rosser has tapped your phone.”

It took a moment for this news to sink in. She was worn out from all the fright, the running, the incomprehensible stories of human foibles and suffering. And now the local super villain was listening in on her phone calls.
Well, that’s just… peachy.

The situation in front of her finally registered in her brain. “Wait,” said Madison, “wait.” She stared around at the four people occupying the same room. “You’re working together?” She turned to Agent Riley. “And why didn’t you tell me who you were when we got in the elevator?”

“We didn’t know for certain what kind of surveillance he had,” said Agent Riley, “or if he was using any agents from the Seattle Field Division. We needed a safe moment to present ourselves to you but had to stay nearby, just in case.”

“I saw Aaron Reed out there,” said Madison. “I think he’s working with Jerry.”

“No,” said Agent Cole. “Agent Reed is here with your mother.”

“My mother is here!?”

“Well, down in the convention, yes. Looks like she’s searching for you. From the way she’s looking at people, she doesn’t seem too happy. ”

“Yeah, I don’t think she likes zombies,” said Agent Riley.

Agent Cole’s cell phone rang. He pulled it out of a pocket from inside his Edwardian tailcoat, and stepping away he talked quietly into it.

“Why is she searching for me?” Madison asked Agent Riley. “How’d she even know I was here?”

“Unclear. It wasn’t part of her orders, so we’re still trying to confirm all this.”

After hanging up, Agent Cole came back, speaking to Agent Riley. “We take Agents Cruz and Reed to the other room. Headquarters says to go ahead and brief them.” He paused for a second and said, “And that other thing. That’s a go, too.”

“Other room?” Madison asked, “Is that where my grandfather is?”

Agent Cole said, “Yes. We’ll be taking your mother to him soon.”

Madison was quiet. Her grandfather was going to sit Ann down and try to explain his part in all this. She tried to imagine how he would say it, the look on her mother’s face.

“I have to go, too,” said Madison. “I want to be with them.”

“Actually, we’d like to get you back out on the convention floor,” said Agent Riley.

Madison studied him. “Why don’t you save me the trouble of figuring out what I don’t know? I’ve been trying to play along. I’ve been a good girl—”

“Hah!” said Agent Cole.

“…mostly.”

The zombie fairies looked at each other. Agent Riley said, “I think we’ve covered it, wouldn’t you say?”

“No. There’s that… thing.”

“Oh, yeah.”

“What thing?” asked Madison.

“You tell her. I think she likes you more,” said Agent Riley.

“Are you kidding?” said Agent Cole. “She tried to kick me in the nuts.”

“What thing!?”

Exasperated, Nika butt in. “What is the matter with you Americans? She has no training, no experience. You think you are all the cowboy? You will ride in and save her?”

Vladik stepped up. “I also do not like this thing.”

Agent Cole said, “It’s not up to me. And Madison gets final decision, anyway.”

“What. Thing?”

“They want to use you as bait,” said Nika.

Surprised, Madison said, “Why?”

“Two things,” said Agent Riley. “We were already investigating Jerry Rosser for double agent activity. Your mother is part of our team. We even suspected a connection to Vladik Sakharovsky, but we’ve been looking for proof. The second thing is that even if your grandfather’s story turns out to be true, his story is about an illegal adoption and blackmail. Not for money in this case but for silence and occasional access to the home to monitor the childhood and early adulthood of the child in question. The connecting factor for us was Vladik showing up to discuss how to end the blackmail for both of them.”

“Sorry for getting impatient,” said Madison, “but what does that have to do with me?”

Agent Riley said, “For their final exchange, Jerry offered you to Vladik.”

Madison stared at him for a second, her face crinkled up. “That doesn’t make sense. Even if he could catch me, I’m the least important person in this whole mess.” She looked around at the dubious faces. “Think about it. I wasn’t there when my mother was born. I’m not a witness. I can’t testify—”

Agent Cole’s quiet voice broke in. “Agent Cruz would do anything to keep you safe.”

Madison turned and looked at him. He added, “Once she found out about it, she would say or do anything Jerry wanted to back up any alibi he came up with. So would your grandfather. They would both be quiet and uncooperative if they thought talking would bring you harm. We’d never get testimony out of your grandfather, or…” he looked over at Nika, “or your grandmother, I imagine.”

Nika agreed saying, “No, you would not.”

Madison went still. She’d never thought of any of this before. She’d never want her family to fear for her safety.

“To me,” said Vladik, growling in his heavy Russian accent, “this is disgusting thought. He thinks I am that kind of man. He sees only his own motives.”

Agent Riley said, “But that’s why this will work, Vladik, because he thinks you’re just like him. We’ll honor our agreement with you, if you continue to help us with this.”

“I have already said I would. I did not come all this way to wish Jerry happy retirement. I did grave injustice to Veronica Fedora.” He put his arm around Nika. “We have tried many times over the years to find her little Anzhela, but this time it worked. I will see this through.”

Madison walked over to Nika and took her hand, saying, “I don’t know much about you, but I’d like to. When this is all over, let’s get to know each other. All right?”

Nika nodded but stood still. Remembering her own reaction to Nika in the hotel broom closet, Madison realized that it was up to her to break the ice now. She opened her arms to Nika, who smiled, coming forward, and Madison enjoyed the most heartfelt hug she’d had in a while. She said, “I’m sorry I hit your chin with my elbows. I got so scared; I didn’t understand what was going on.”

Nika chuckled, wiping tears from her eyes. “You completely surprised me. It was a good move.”

“So,” said Madison, turning to Agent Riley, “how would this work?”

“Vladik will bring him the money, they’ll have a chummy drink together like they usually do, then Jerry will call you to come meet him, somewhere here in the hotel. We don’t know how he intends to convince you, but he told Vladik he can guarantee you’ll show up. I’ll be nearby the whole time. He’ll hand you over to Vladik and you’ll go with him. Vladik will be wired, so we’ll hear the whole conversation.” He added, “Then I’ll take you to see your grandfather. He’ll be with Agent Cole.”

“So I’m supposed to go back down to the convention floor and wait for Jerry’s call?”

“That’s right,” he said. “But one last thing, we still need the contents of that metal box. Your grandfather listed a lot of things that were supposed to be in there. A couple of them could be helpful.”

“Oh. Well, it’s downstairs in the convention. When I switched clothes with Target, I gave her my tote bag to take with her.”

Agent Cole said, “We’ll take it all off your hands as soon as we can.”

*****

No white contact lenses or sunglasses, and her dark hair was no longer pinned up. She had it hanging down underneath her big floppy hat. She carried her phone in one hand, the fabric beach bag in the other, wishing she could change out of her zombie bathing suit and the poolside cover-up. She was tired of her zombie costume and the liquid latex wounds had started to itch.

Agent Cole already had taken her mother and Aaron to meet with Grandpa and Nika. Maybe Aaron would give the other three a little privacy. They were going to need it.

With Agent Riley down the aisle from her, she had to force herself not to look in his direction as she wandered the convention, undead life having gone forth without her presence, and wondered what she should say to her friends. She longed for normal life, surprised to realize it had only been a few days since everything had turned upside down. Maybe she shouldn’t even go to ExBoy’s booth. There would be uncomfortable questions and even more uncomfortable answers. No, as it was, they were probably having a great time. She wanted to keep it that way for them.

Stepping around a stroller containing a rosy cheeked cherub of a baby boy, she exchanged a quick smile with the mother. The little guy was somewhere in that in-between age, not quite an infant but barely a toddler. He was passed out cold, his head tilted to the side, pink little heart-shaped lips in a wet pucker. His small hand clutched a soggy cookie while a favored toy lay forgotten in his lap. Something about his peaceful oblivion brought tears to Madison’s eyes. She wanted to feel like that, perhaps watching a field of flowers bending in the breeze or a litter of puppies at play. But no, instead of puppies, she got Uncle Enemy.

She had to get a grip. Her part in all this was not done.

Trying to appear as if everything were normal, she stopped at a table, feigning interest in baking molds in the shapes of brains, skulls, and single bones. Picking one up, she turned it over, pretending to examine it while she wondered when Jerry would call. Did he know where she was right now?

Feeling impatient to get the meeting over, Madison exhaled loudly.
If he doesn’t call soon, I’m going to go out of my…”

A gentle voice said, “Madison.” Toonie stepped up, her chef’s costume still in perfect zombie condition. “Your mother’s been worried.” She looked up and around the nearby area, adding, “Did she find you yet?”

“Not exactly,” said Madison, feeling self-conscious again, taking off her hat.

“We all split up,” said Toonie. “Everyone is looking.”

“Who’s everyone?” asked Madison.

“Your mother and a nice young fella named Aaron something and all your friends.” She gave her a wry smile. “You sure have some interesting friends.”

“Why would my mom be looking for me?”

“She got a call from ExBoy. He told her about Target coming back to tell us you had to hide from someone, that you were so scared you had to disguise yourself. She heard you talk to him on the phone, calling him Jerry.” She looked at Madison for a second, thoughts going by unspoken. She added, “We were all under strict orders not to call your cell phone. What’s that about?”

Looking around, Madison said, “This isn’t a good place to talk about it.” She started them walking, saying, “Come on. Let’s start by meeting up at the booth.”

Still down the aisle a way from ExBoy’s Infect Me booth, she could see Target and Crystal in conversation, worried looks on their faces. Target looked up and saw Madison. Madison could make out the words on Target’s lips saying, “Oh, thank God.” Target looked over her shoulder at ExBoy, saying something to him. Madison girded herself, seeking access to her most confident face. Time to look strong.

ExBoy turned his head for a moment from customers browsing his artwork in the long comic book boxes on the table. He saw Madison approaching before he bent to sign the inside cover of a copy of
Infect Me.
Target said something to him, gesturing towards Madison with her hand, and he nodded. It looked as if Target was taking over the money exchange to free him up for a minute. But he stood there instead next to the Victorian grandfather clock, a slight smirk on his face, looking sexy as ever as he watched Madison approach. Madison wondered what he had to smirk about.

Then, from around the grandfather clock, out stepped Jason, his expression deeply worried till he saw her and his eyes locked with hers. With a sudden exhale, relief flooded his face. Her pace went into slow motion with her shock, losing all the girded up strength she had summoned. The bag dropped.

He caught her as she ran into his arms, tears and zombie makeup smearing the t-shirt on his chest. She looked up at him, her green eyes wet, trying to understand what he was doing here.

“I thought you’d be all wrapped up in the next pretty girl,” she said.

“You
are
the next pretty girl,” he said. “And the next.”

Turning his face away, his soft expression went hard and smug as he looked over at ExBoy saying, “This is exactly what it looks like.”

“Just because she ran to you?” said ExBoy. “Want to use my room? Her things are already in there.”

“Stop it!” said Madison. “There’s no time. Something serious is…” Then realization grew, her blunder becoming clear. She looked at Jason. “You’re here because I sent you that text.”
Jerry would have seen it.
She looked around in a panic. Where was Agent Riley? He should be told.

“I couldn’t get here fast enough,” said Jason. “My grandfather couldn’t remember where he’d put the phone number those federal agents gave him. He was still looking for it when I left. I saw your mom when I got here and joined the search, then she asked me to wait here at the booth.”

Target stepped up, giving Madison a hug while Madison said, “I’m sorry to put you all through this.”