Assassin Affairs (3 page)

“My
naked detective, what are you doing here?” she asked in her
semi-groggy state.

“You
can call me Danny, but don't waste your energy talking. I'm taking
you to my folks' place ten minutes from here. I'll patch you up in
their guest room.”

A while
later, she was lying on his bed in a state of exhaustion. He was busy
preparing to tend to her wounds. She repeated her question.

“Danny,
why are you here? Did you come to arrest me or to bone me?”

“Bone
you? Is that what they're calling it these days? How can I arrest you
when there are no outstanding warrants, miss?”

She pulled
off the gloves as he went for something to clean her wounds, then
covered herself with the bedsheet. He returned and pulled it back off
again.

“I
have to clean your wounds, and we can't be getting blood on my mom's
new linen,” he joked.

She began
to lose consciousness as she watched him bandage her cuts. “Danny,
hold me,” she mumbled in a whisper.

He finished
up, then climbed onto the bed next to her, still dressed, held her
close, and pulled the sheet up over them.

“So
if you're not here to arrest me, I guess that means...”

He looked
over at her and she had fallen asleep in his arms, head on his
shoulder.

The rays of
the rising sun awoke them a few hours later and the conversation
resumed.

“How
about arresting me for breaking and entering, or for flight to avoid
arrest?” she asked.

My captain
wanted to go that route, but I persuaded her otherwise. I know a few
things that the department wants to have kept secret. There was never
any paperwork filed. You were never there.

“I've
done some homework since we met, Danvers. There's some interesting
stuff about you on the internet. You're more my kind of guy than I
first thought. I flew in here from Wichita. I guess my easy success
there had me feeling too arrogant. Arrogance leads to complacency,
which leads to stab wounds. There's just one more name on my list,
and this time it's a woman. She'll be expecting me for sure. Wanna
join in on the fun? I could use a partner. I'll make it worth your
while.”

“How
did you get by with no paper trail in New York?” he inquired.

“Oh,
Uncle Jack is a precinct police captain. Uncle Chip, he's not really
my uncle but we're so close I call him that, is a higher-up on the
other side of the law. He would have been my father-in-law if things
had worked out differently. I do 'special projects' for both. Between
the two of them, I'm pretty well covered. Speaking of covered, why am
I lying here naked? Payback?”

“I
guess I could look to see if my sister keeps any of her clothes here.
I've been kind of enjoying the view though,” he said as he
lifted up the sheet for a peek.

She slapped
his hand away.

“How
am I going to explain you to my folks?” he asked.

Danny
spent the remainder of his vacation time nursing her back to health.
His parents were quite used to odd things occurring in his life and
were most accepting of Renée. The young pair became better
acquainted during that time and were becoming inseparable, although
not yet intimate. When he returned to Arizona, she followed.

“Are
you sure your boss won't get upset about my being here?” asked
Renée.

“What's
there to get upset about? You let her live, you've never been
positively linked to any of the deaths, there are no warrants for
your arrest, and you have me vouching for you. I've already given her
the heads-up about it, and she didn't make any derogatory comments.”

“Well,
I did make her look bad in front of you, and I did leave her cuffed
and semi-conscious on the floor. We girls don't easily forgive that
sort of thing.”

“Don't
worry about it. I'll bring her around to being your best friend,”
he said confidently.

“I'd
settle for just friends right now. I don't have any girl friends
anymore. Life is all about balance: good and bad, male and female,
love and hate. Would you believe that I used to teach Sunday school?”
asked Renée.

“I
would never have guessed that, but now that you mention it, I can
imagine it. Do you want to do that again, or are you planning to
resume your quest for revenge?”

“Why
can't I do both?”

“Wouldn't
that be a bit contradictory?”

“Not
really. In a way, both things are doing God's work, because I make
the world a better place with each killing. I've never harmed anyone
you would call an innocent. Have you?”

“I've
done a few things I'm less than proud of,” he confessed.

“When
you did black ops?”

“How
did you know about that?” he asked, startled.

“I
have my sources. I did say I'd done my homework on you, Danny”

“What
are your plans once you've finished with your list? You indicated you
still plan to do that.”

“Would
you prefer I just stay here with you and resume teaching Sunday
school? And would you be assuming I'd be doing the cooking and
cleaning? And why should I be the one to move, assuming we even
hook-up? You could come to New York.”

“I'm
not the Manhattan-type,” he said. “All that glitz would
drive me crazy.”

“Things
aren't always what they seem, Mr. Detective. I admit I'm into
occasional deception. I don't actually live in Manhattan. That's just
a mail-drop for me. The address you found is really Uncle Chip's. He
was out of town when I stopped by to pick up my mail and those two
rookie cops showed up and chased me. Otherwise, there would have been
a few goons standing guard. Being who he is, his place is almost
impenetrable. Even the windows are bullet-proof. He's so high up in
the organization that he's not only a made-man, he's the one others
go to to become made-men.”

“Really?
Are you sure you're not exaggerating just a bit, Renée?”

“Fair
question since I just told you I can be deceptive, but yes I'm sure.
This is one thing you can trust me on. In fact, in your case, you can
trust me on 'everything', sweetheart.” She moved close and
looked him right in the eye as she made that declaration. “Is
that going to be working both ways, Danny?”

“Absolutely,
I swear it.” He pulled her close and they sealed their oath
with an intense, intimate first kiss.

“So
where do you live?”

“My
place is in Brooklyn, but you'd never be able to find me there. I'm
so well hidden, I can sleep soundly at night,” she bragged.

“Don't
get cocky. Remember what your earlier arrogance cost you. You could
easily get tagged with an RFID tracker, if you're not careful, and
not even know it.”

“What's
that?”

“They're
little electronic tracking devices, mostly used for following
corporate inventories around the country. They're getting tinier
every year, and some of the new ones can stick to clothing without
your even knowing it.”

“Damn,
so much for a sound slumber. Oh well, do you wanna hear about target
number ten before we get tracked down and killed ourselves, Danny?”

“If
you're determined on pursuing her, then yes I do.”

“Her
name is Manuela Muertes. I think it means many deaths, but I dunno.”

“Is
that 'the' Manuela Muertes, the one that's the sister to the infamous
Mexican crime lord who coordinated those gun-smuggling cartels you
told me about?”

“The
one and the same. That's why I saved her until last. In case I don't
survive, I at least got the other nine. Now you can see why I could
use a partner on this one, Danny.”

“What
does Uncle Chip think about all this? Maybe he should take her out
instead of you doing it.”

“On
the one hand, he hates her because she killed one of his kids. On the
other hand, there's an argument to be made that it was justified due
to unusual situations, he and Chris were somewhat estranged, and
Manuela and Uncle Chip have a complicated relationship.”

“And
I thought I had a dysfunctional family,” he said.

“You?
I don't see that at all. Your parents are genuine and caring. I don't
know anything about your sister, because you never talk about her,
but your mom said we make a nice couple.” She gave him a
teasing poke to emphasize the concept. “I think she has
aspirations of having grandchildren.”

“On
that note, what are we going to do about sleeping arrangements here?”

“Oh,
um, well, I haven't been with a man in a long while. Can you be
patient with me a little longer, Danny?”

“We've
already seen each other naked, Renée. It's just one step
more.”

“Yeah,
but not yet naked at the same time. I don't have that much will
power, and that one step is a mighty big one for me, good sir. We can
share a bed if it won't get you too frustrated. Otherwise, I'll just
sleep on the couch....for now.”

“I'll
be risking my life to win your favor. What if Manuela kills me in the
process, and we've never been together that way? Could you live with
that?”

“Dannnnny,
don't be like this!” She began to toy with loosening the
buttons on his shirt as her resolve was wearing thin. He pushed her
away.

“I'm
sorry, Renée. You're right. We need to wait. I'll take the
couch.”

Halfway
through the night, she came out and joined him on the sofa. They once
again woke up in each other's arms.

“What
food have you got here?” she asked. “Happiness is a
leisurely breakfast.”

“There's
a little greasy-spoon diner I like downtown. Let's go eat there.
They've got great omelets and pancakes. I go there every morning when
I'm in town.”

“I
need to take a shower,” she announced.

“You're
fine. This place is a dive. It's the kind of spot people shower after
they go to it, not before, but the food's really good.”

“You
make it sound both disgusting and appetizing at the same time. Hard
to do,” she said with a chuckle.

When they
arrived, the place was empty of customers except for his boss
Jennifer who was sitting at the counter. She was wearing her sidearm
and reading the morning newspaper. Renée saw it as a good
opportunity to clear the air between them.

“Hello,
Captain. Would you care to join us for breakfast?” she asked.
As always, Renée was armed, too, but kept it concealed.

Appearing
mildly annoyed by the invitation, she accepted, and the trio settled
into one of the uncomfortable booths.

Preferring
not to discuss their earlier confrontation, Jennifer opened up the
conversation saying, “I just heard from my mother, Danny. She
still hopes I might be willing to reconcile.”

“Well,
you do have only one mother, Jen, and she did put a lot of love and
effort into raising you. Maybe it's time you let bygones be bygones,”
said Danny.

The
waitress took their orders and left.

“Maybe,
maybe not. Probably not. So what about you two? I do admit that I can
see how you guys might be compatible.”

“How's
that?” asked Renée.

“Your
backgrounds, your temperaments; they're similar,” said the
captain.

“What
do you know of my background?” Renée asked defensively.

“Honey,
the FBI sent me a file an inch thick about you. I even know your
sexual preferences.”

Danny and
Renée pretended to ignore the comment, both curious to see
where she might be going with it.

There was a
pause, then Renée asked, “Does the FBI know I’m
here?”

“That's
how I got them to deliver the file to my house last night. All I had
to do was agree to let them know when you'd be somewhere specific. I
knew you guys were back in town, and Danny always comes here for
breakfast. What's the difference? There aren't any arrest warrants
outstanding on you. It makes for good reading, Danny.”

“Just
because you can't maintain any relationships, especially the one with
your own mother, you feel obliged to sabotage those of your friends,”
Renée accused her in a catty manner. “I understand it's
hard getting laid regularly at your age, but find another way of
dealing with it.”

Perplexed,
Danny asked, “What the hell are you two going on about? Renée,
what happened to trying to make a new friend?”

Jennifer's
word 'specific' began to bother Renée.

“Danny,
does it seem unusual to you that the FBI would give her my file and
that they would even deliver it to her house? Come to think of it, I
seriously doubt they could even have that much of a file on me,”
said Renée. “That was Manuela's people, you stupid
bitch!”

Just then
Danny's water glass shattered into pieces. All three observed a small
bullet-hole in the diner's window and dove for the floor. Both women
drew their weapons. Danny was good friends with the diner's owner who
kept a shotgun hidden behind the counter after having been robbed
several times.

“Here,
Danny!” he shouted as he tossed it to him.

The small
diner began getting pummeled by gunfire.

“What
the hell is going on?!” shouted Captain Mahoney.

“Your
infantile curiosity is gonna get us all killed, Mahoney!” Renée
shouted back.

“How
many of them do you count?” Danny asked them.

The
exchange of gunfire continued for several minutes, then Renée
said, “I count six of them.”

“Seems
more like a dozen to me,” fretted the captain.

The large
pane window shattered and collapsed; one of the attackers leapt into
the diner. Danny stood up and blew him away with the shotgun. Renée
picked up the man's weapon and now began returning fire with both
hands. The captain took a round in her neck. Sirens could be heard
entering the parking lot area as the outside gunfire escalated. Then,
as quickly as it had started, everything quieted down.

“Are
you all right?!” Danny asked, as he held the suffering captain.