Lethal Liaisons (Willful Women Assassins Series) (6 page)

“Well, I'm not
getting naked for you guys,” she huffed, looking up at the
screen.

“That's not what
we're looking for today. We just want to get a sense of who you are
and if you might fit in,” said Marie.

“My sister and I are
a lot alike, except that she's more of a home-body and I'm more of a
thrill seeker,” Karlee said, attempting to pitch her value to
them.

“What kind of
thrills, dear?”

“I travel the world
and I kick ass, ma'am.”

Howard perked up and asked,
“What does 'kick ass' mean?”

“I'm close to getting
my black-belt in martial arts,” she bragged. “I've just
returned from extensive training in Europe and plan to resume my
education locally.”

“If it's okay with
you, we'd like to record a sample of both your acting and fighting
skills for the screen. Our partners in New York and Hollywood will
review it. If things don't work out this time, there is something
else that we're working on,” said Howard. He then punched a
button on the intercom and asked for Raoul to join them.

“Yeah, that's okay, I
guess.”

Before she could complete
her sentence, a South American lad entered through the exit door.

“This is Raoul, who
helps us out with our auditions from time to time. He already has his
black-belt, and will take you through a few script lines and some
basic moves to see what you can do. Okay?”

She tensed up as she
anxiously looked him over and as Marie turned on the camera.

“Sure, bring it on,”
she said as she scanned the lines to read that they had just handed
her.

The reading went well, and
every time Raoul made a move, she counter-moved him, usually with him
ending up on the floor.

“Thank you, ladies,”
said Marie and Howard. “We'll be in touch.”

The next day, Karlee got a
message from Alexei. It was her first contract. She was discussing it
with her sister.

“Kristie, I can't
believe I'm doing this.”

“Be careful, sis.
When you dance with the devil, it can change you.”

“Oh, it's not so
devilish, it's actually more angelic. This time it's one of those
damn bankers. You know, one of the ones who nearly destroyed society
as we know it. Those bastards privatize the profits and socialize the
losses. They leveraged to the hilt and when the shit hit the fan,
we're the ones who had to cover it, and then they paid themselves big
bonuses. It was so egregious, Kris. No, no devil this time, I'll be
doing our country a service!”

“So who's putting out
the contract?”

“I don't know. My bet
is it's his wife. She's probably anxious to get her hands on his
billions.”

“Let me come with
you, Karlee! You could use some back-up, and I hate those guys as
much as you do.”

“Okay, I guess I owe
you that. What about Randolph?”

“He's busy with his
dad. Besides, this will give us some quality sister-time together.”

“I don't know about
'quality', but I do know I'd like someone with me I can trust my
first time out.”

“First time?”

“Well, first time as
a pro,” she said with a wink.

It was a few days later
when they approached the man's estate in the middle of the night.
Both girls were dressed in black, had night vision equipment, and
were well-armed. It was a rural area on a large section of land, with
no nearby neighbors, lots of security and the property was surrounded
by a barbed-wire fence.

“Be careful, sis,”
Karlee said as they approached. “He has sound-activated sensors
mounted in the trees. Don't speak unless you have to, and don't even
step on any twigs.”

“Yeah, yeah, I know
the drill, now hush.”

There was a chill in the
fresh night air as several dogs began to bark. Someone stepped out
from the home and took a look around. The girls tensed up and
exchanged a nervous glance. The man yelled at the animals to shut-up
and returned inside.

“Kristie, you stay
here and cover me,” Karlee whispered in her ear. “If
things go bad, do your sniper thing.”

“Okay, sis. Good
luck.”

Just as she started to make
her move, security flood lights came on and a siren started going
off. A half-dozen men came running out of the home.

“Oh shit!”
shouted Karlee. “Run, Kristie!”

The men began firing and a
round hit a tree just inches from the girls. Then the dogs were
released.

“What's the matter,
sis?” Kristie calmly inquired as she lay prone and took aim.
“I'm glad I spent the extra money for top-of-the-line
equipment. This thermal imaging scope really lights up these guys!”
She squeezed the trigger and fired off a shot; one of the shadowy
figures fell over. Then in rapid succession she fired off six more
rounds. Three more men and two dogs went down. “I can see
someone in that upstairs window, sis!”

“Take the shot!”

“Maybe it's not him.”

“Maybe it is.”

“What if it's the
wife and what if she's the one paying us?”

“Let me see,”
Karlee said, looking through her binoculars. “It's definitely a
man, I think.”

Kris nonchalantly fired off
two more rounds at the approaching threats. Two more figures fell
down. “It's your contract; tell me what to do.”

“We need to be sure.
Stay here. You've obviously got things under control. I'm going in.
By the way, nice job, Kris.” As she disappeared into the night,
she looked back over her shoulder and said, “I'm impressed.”
Kris could be heard firing off another round.

With most of the security
team taken out, Karlee easily made her way into the house. Some
sporadic gunfire could still be heard outside as she made her way to
the upstairs window. As before at the Lieutenant Governor's, her head
was covered with a hood because of security cameras. Still wearing
her night vision goggles, she entered the darkened room. A startled
man turned around.

“Don't shoot! I'm not
armed.”

Karlee confirmed it was her
target and took the kill-shot. A second figure appeared in the dimly
lit area. She turned and took aim.

“Please don't shoot
me,” said the feminine voice.

Karlee hesitated, then
remembered what her sister had said about it maybe being the wife who
was paying for their contract. She determined there was no point in
killing the spouse this time, turned and ran out of the room and
exited the home, sprinting across the large lawn. A few more shots
could be heard as well as some approaching sirens. She promptly
rejoined her sister at the perimeter.

“I think I got 'em
all, sis,” Kris bragged. “I hated killing the dogs, but
it was them or us.”

“You're a good girl,
honey. Now let's get the frig out of here!”

It was early morning when
they arrived back at Kristie's house, once again dressed in their
everyday clothes. Randolph was waiting. He wasn't the type to ask
questions, but did have news.

“Your agent called.
You both got parts as extras in that movie!”

It was a week later when
the sisters left for Lake Geneva, a plush resort area just across the
state line in Wisconsin and home to many rich celebrities, both
famous and infamous. There were rumors that in addition to some
Fortune 500 CEO's summer homes there, certain Chicago crime families
could also be found.

There was an air of
excitement as everyone gathered for what was to be a three-day shoot,
with some of the big-name stars attending. One of the locals had
provided his own mansion for the filming. The Executive Producer was
about to address the group.

“Hello, everyone. I'm
the movie's Producer and my name is Peter. We ask that you extras not
bother the stars during the three-day shoot. There will be lots of
downtime between shots, so hopefully you each brought a good book to
read. As you know, this film takes place during Chicago's bootleg era
and is about an assembly of gangsters and their girlfriends as the
men meet to make plans for their future endeavors. You will be
provided with costumes from that time period. Please show
consideration for your fellow performers. We'll attempt to provide
you with breaks and food on a timely basis. This is the staff off to
my left. Familiarize yourselves with them, as they will be the ones
to help you with your questions, get outfitted and organized. That is
all.”

Peter had been given the
'heads-up' by his associates in New York to keep an eye on Karlee, as
her audition had captured special attention.

Over the next few days,
everyone did prove to be most cordial. The sisters and all the other
extras had a memorable, fun time as they donned the outfits, partook
in the scenes, and made new friends. Some of the big stars approached
the more attractive young ladies who were most awestruck by their
presence, with some pairing-off together and disappearing into
trailers. During one of the breaks, Karlee chatted with one of the
young men.

“Hi, my name's Bob.
This is my first time as an extra.”

“I'm Karlee. I'm kind
of new to it, too. What do you do when you're not busy being an
extra, Bob?”

“I'm a lawyer.”

“Too bad. I guess no
one's perfect. I don't have much use for attorneys; I usually just
kick their ass.”

“I bet that makes you
very popular in the legal community,” he kidded.

“Ditto bankers,”
she added with an attitude.

“I've sued bankers,”
he said, trying to impress her.

“Really? So have I. I
used to be an attorney, too. I don't know how good a lawyer you are,
Bob, but I have noticed that you do have a great butt.”

As Bob struggled for an
appropriate response, Karlee noticed a man approach her sister. They
were close enough that she could eavesdrop.

“Hi, honey. I'm Sonny
Sinclair. This is my home,” he informed her with his Italian
accent.

“Wow, you have quite
an amazing place here, Mr. Sinclair.”

Karlee nearly gagged as she
listened to his over-used pick-up lines. Bob soon departed and she
continued to listen to Sonny's banter for another fifteen minutes
while pretending to read her book. Meanwhile, Peter was observing the
whole thing.

Soon Sonny stood up and
said, “Kristie, let me give you a tour. There's a lot of
history here that you will find of interest.” He led her out of
the room, Karlee followed unnoticed. Peter followed Karlee, also
unnoticed.

The tour ended upstairs.
Karlee, concerned about her still somewhat naive sister, peeked
around a hallway corner as the couple entered a bedroom and closed
the door. She sensed it was like watching the moth get enticed closer
to the flame. A heavyset bodyguard stood outside its door. Peter
continued his own surveillance unseen.

Inside the room, Sonny
ogled the young woman. “It looks like you’re gonna get
what you wanted, sweet thing.”

“What's that, Mr.
Sinclair?” she asked in a childlike way.

When he pushed her hand
into his crotch, she suddenly realized how foolish she had been.
Stunned, she pulled her hand away. “Mr. Sinclair, how dare you!
I'm not that kind of girl, sir!”

He tore off her skirt and
tossed her onto the bed. She screamed out. Karlee made her move to
the guarded doorway.

“You'll have to wait
your turn, honey!” exclaimed the threatening fellow.

She gave him a swift and
unexpected thrust of her knee. As he bent over in pain, she put him
in a choke hold, and then entered the room as he fell unconscious.
Kristie was on the bed nude from the waist down, with her blouse and
bra pushed up around her neck. The wicked Sinclair was on the verge
of penetration, with his trousers wrapped around his ankles.

“Karlee, help!”
she cried out.

Karlee was all over the man
in an instant. As they struggled, she happened upon a pistol hidden
under one of the pillows. She and Kris ran for the door. He tried to
pursue, but fell down, tripping over his own pants. Karlee returned
and pushed the firearm firmly up against his neck.

“This ends here, Mr.
Sinclair, unless you look forward to castration! We don't want you
coming after us. If you do, this escalates to the next level. Trust
me, you don't want that. Do you agree?”

He nodded yes and the
sisters left the room, stepping over the bodyguard on their way down
the hallway.

“Why didn't you cut
off his balls
this
time?” asked Kristie. “I liked
that idea. And why aren't we calling the authorities?”

“We don't want to end
up in a situation like mom and dad had, do we?”

“Oh yeah, I guess
you're right,” Kris admitted, as they continued down the
hallway.

Peter walked into the room
and shook his head in disbelief. Having sensed the potential for
various problems, he had brought along his own security team. They
maintained control of the facilities as the film-shoot wrapped that
afternoon and everyone headed home, most unaware of what had
happened.

The next day, Karlee's
phone rang. It was Peter the producer.

“Karlee, I was
awestruck by your performance yesterday,” he declared.

“But I didn't even
have any lines in the movie, sir.”

“No, not that
performance, hon. New York told me earlier that they had been most
impressed by your audition and asked me to keep close tabs on you,
preferably without your knowledge. I did just that and saw everything
that happened upstairs when you discovered the assault, as well as
the way you handled yourself throughout the three day session. We're
preparing to start a new major movie about a young woman, rogue
government agent and her adventures saving the free world. She'll
have to be very fit physically and most adept at handling herself
under adverse circumstances. That's you. You're the one we want to
have star as the lead character. Are you interested?”

“My sister and I are
a package deal, sir. That's not negotiable.”