Operation London (18 page)

"I like it," Magdalene said immediately, tossing her golden curls in decisive agreement.

"Wait a minute, there," Cormac said, his blue eyes flashing. "You girls mean to tell me that you want to put yourselves into the hands of a psychopath with protection from on high and see what happens?  It sounds like a load of bullocks to me!"

"What other alternative do we have?" Ava asked heatedly, her gray eyes snapping back at him
. She was surprised that she had been so aggressive with him, but a little part of her knew he was being a thousand times more reasonable than Miguel was going to be about the idea.

"Well, first of all, we have no real idea that this Angel guy has anything to do with Marie
. A strong lead isn't evidence," Cormac argued. "I know the glasses tipped you off, Ava, but we need more than that before either one of you becomes a victim of that maniac."

"What else do we have?" Magdalene challenged.

"I don't know yet. But I'm willing to take a good look at everything, including school files and this crazy step dad before we send you two out to the wolves," Cormac retorted, this time at least trying to keep his voice even keeled.

The women slumped back in their seats
. There was really no arguing with common sense, and Cormac had the bulk of it on his side. The only thing that they were really prepared to do was go through everything they had collected and then see what could be decided. Each woman snatched a folder grumpily, but soon fell into complete silence, reading through files. They were all occupied for almost an hour before Cormac began to read triumphantly.

"'Interview with Marie Deltore, dated this past October
. Conducted by...some school psychologist.....Dr. Louise Dale. Question: 'Why do you think of yourself as an outsider?  Answer: I just don't fit in. Not even my family loves me. My step dad wants me gone.'  Question:  'Why do you say that?'  Answer:  'Too many accidents whenever I go away. At my last school there was a mysterious mini-avalanche when I was skiing. No one but me, no reason for an avalanche at that time of year. This time he's trying to make me look like a drug dealer.'  Question:  'Why do you say that?' Answer:  'He's put drugs in my room and shown my mother.'  Question: Do you use drugs?  Answer:  'Yes, sometimes, but not the kind he put in. Just some pot, nothing serious. He makes her think I'm a cokehead.'  After that it's more about her mother, how much she loves her and all. Sounds like the shrink is trying to convince her that she's making it up, blaming the old bloke a bit," Cormac said.

"I found financial records in Marie's file," Magdalene said
. "Daddy contributed over fifty grand to Lincoln Academy in funding and donations alone last year."

"So we have another potential maniac who no one wants to go up against," Ava sighed
. "No wonder there wasn't a search for Marie. He obviously doesn't give a rat's ass what happens to her."

"I want to check this guy out," Cormac said.

"How?  He's always at his office," Ava said, holding her head in her hands.

"Well, it's an old trick, but I think it might work," Cormac said.

Two hours later, Cormac MacGormaine had changed into Bill of Bill's Electric Etc. It seemed Mr. Wesley Conway was having a problem with the lights in his office.

"Hey, you!  Are you the guy who's going to fix this?  Because I need this done
. Now!" Wesley barked at Cormac. He was a small man, balding, pale, skinny. He looked like the kind of man who'd hold a grudge against a teenage girl, Cormac thought with disgust.

"Well, I'll certainly do my best, Mr. Conway
. I know how much work you have to get done in there," Cormac said smoothly.

"Fine. Just get it done
. I need to be back on by seven for a conference that's worth more than you'll ever see," Conway muttered impatiently. When he thought Cormac was out of earshot he muttered, "Damn foreigners. Taking the jobs away from good old fashioned Americans."

Cormac felt his blood boil, but he went to work with little more than a low snarl
. A proud Scot and a self made man, he wouldn't forget the jibes quickly.

He walked past the barrage of secretaries, winking and smiling as he went by
. There was hardly a lady in the place who wasn't swept away by his midnight hair and electric blue eyes. At the end of a long hallway was Conway's large office, complete with a huge desk and skyline view. Cormac went to the small fuse box in one of the corners then messed around with the wires behind Conway's desk. Planting bugs had never been easier. He also put in a small video camera while he was at it. You could never be too sure, after all.

Crouching down below the desk, Cormac spoke into the mouthpiece of his tiny microphone, hidden in his "Bill" pin.

"The bass took the bait. I've got all eyes and ears on the lake. He won't escape me this time. I'm reeling him in one way or another," he reported, his blue eyes sparkling in his handsomely tanned face.

"Pack up your pole and bring the boat in
. We'll bring the firewood down to the pond," Magdalene's voice piped in clearly. Cormac smiled to himself as he pictured the women, on the roof, playing with the main controls for the electric. Cormac went back to the main power surge in the office and attached a tiny clip on it, setting the timer with a dramatic flair. At seven o'clock exactly Wesley Conway would experience a black out that would his impotent self flush red with rage.

Cormac made his way out of the office, but not before he looked carefully at the gold edged family photo on the desk
. Wesley and a pretty blonde he assumed was Josephine, three kids with bright smiles. No sign of Marie. Cormac grimaced. How could this man leave her out of her own family?  Why would he want to do that anyway?  The women seemed dead set on pulling Angel in for the crime, but Cormac had a distinct feeling that the culprit was Marie's shady stepfather. He only needed to wait in order to have enough proof.

With a wink to the secretaries, Cormac made his way downstairs, where Wesley was waiting impatiently.

"So?" he snapped, his gleaming white head taking on a purple hue.

"Good as new, Mr. Conway," Cormac grinned
.

"You sure seem happy about your work," Conway muttered as he wrote out a check
. "Let's hope everything was done right," he said with quite a bit of venom.

"Well, I did my best," Cormac said, his voice heavy with sarcasm
. He snatched the check and walked back to his van where Ava and Magdalene were patiently awaiting his return. "I think we've reeled him in, loves."

"He took the bait, hook, line and sinker," Magdalene grinned
. "Listen, I have to do some formatting for a new Community Watch system, so I'll have to join up with you two later on tomorrow. Can you drop me on Reginald St.?"

"Your wish is my command
. I have to work out before my student comes in tonight. Piper's keeping the gym open during repairs, right Magdalene?"  Cormac asked.

"Yes
. She's going to do most of the repair work at night. Thank God it was only the men's locker room that took a real hit. Most of the gym space is completely untouched, so Piper's just letting everyone who wants to come in come and offering refunds to anyone who isn't comfortable."

"Judging by her usual crowds, I'd say she'll have very few refunds," Ava smiled, unzippering the black leather jacket that had cut off the cold bite of the wind on top of Wesley Conway's building
. The temperature on the ground was so much hotter, she was instantly coated in a sheen of sweat. "I should head over with you, Cormac. Maybe we can run through a practice session before I teach class tonight?"

"My pleasure
. I never turn down a chance to duke it out with a beautiful woman," Cormac said smoothly, pausing at the corner of Reginald's to let Magdalene out. Ava noticed that he couldn't seem to keep his eyes off the petite, fiery blonde.

"So what's up with you and Magdalene?" Ava asked as she settled her lithe body into the front seat, next to Cormac
. There was a sudden tightening around his jaw line that told a whole lot more than would ever come out in words.

"Let's just say that lightening doesn't strike in the same place twice
. I was burned pretty thoroughly the first time I let myself get too close, so I won't be making the same mistake twice."

"Vague, but I'll settle for that," Ava smiled as they pulled into a creepy looking garage where Cormac was going to leave the borrowed van and get into his lapiz blue Dodge Ram
. Ava followed him into the truck, hoisting herself up into the seat. "Jeez, this truck is enormous!"

"Well, you're a tiny woman
. I'm a big, strapping man," he teased beating his fists against his chest in a display of Tarzan-like machismo. "Speaking of vague, isn't that just the word someone might use for your relationship with the mysterious Miguel Gustan?"

Ava's voice caught in her throat
. "It's not......he's not mysterious," she finished, running her long fingers through the light waves of her hair distractedly.

"Yes he is, love
. I'm not saying he's mysterious in any bad way. A man's entitled to his silences. But yours has more silences than average," Cormac pointed out. He kept his cobalt eyes focused on the road as he drove, maneuvering the wheel with tan, muscled forearms lightly covered with midnight hair.

"He had a rough life," she said simply, gazing out the window to give Cormac the signal that the conversation was done with.

"Well, it's your business. What do you want to go over today?  And do I really have to do this ridiculous dancing tonight?  My mates invited me over to watch a game and drink some beers, so this has to be pretty damn good."

"Beautiful women clamoring to be held in your arms?  What could be better?" Ava smiled.

Cormac groaned in return. "Avey, I've had my full of beautiful women, enough to last my whole life. Beer and a game is sounding right good to me."

Wesley Conway gazed at the photo on his desk
. Josephine looked gorgeous, just the kind of woman he had lusted for during high school and college. Everyone had always told him that the geeky guys would get the girls in the end, and everyone had wound up right in his case. He had seen Josephine performing a strip dance at a Las Vegas club years ago. She wasn't like the other girls there. There was a wholesome beauty, a tender sweetness about her that had attracted him immediately.

Plus the fact that she had been a challenge
. When he had attempted to proposition her to spend the night in his bed, she had been appalled. She had strict morals about sex, and it was obvious she'd been burned by her ex-husband. So Wesley had taken her out, bought her some clothing, paid up her rent for a few months. She had introduced him to her little girl, Marie and he had been nice enough. But what he really wanted was Josephine all to himself.

He got her, married her, made his own children with her, but it was not enough
. Josephine would never be completely his to do with as he pleased until he cut her off from every aspect of her life that was alien to him. He had demanded that she end contact with her family, that she stay at home instead of work, that she devote herself to their children, but Marie was always there, always watching. It seemed like she was always waiting to have her mother back, all to herself.

The thought made Wesley's blood boil
. After all he had done for Josephine, how dare she think that she could just neglect his kids for that little tramp. That girl was the link that kept Josephine from loving him completely. He needed her gone. A smile crept onto his face, a smile of arrogance and incredible loathing. He might have achieved his goal already.

Ava took a swing but missed Cormac completely
. Shaking her head, she readjusted her helmet and went in for another blow. She missed again and was met with Cormac's intensely annoying but very handsome smile.

"What is the first rule, Avey love?" he asked.

"Watch your feet," she mumbled.

"Louder, lovey!  I can't hear you when you mumble!" he taunted playfully
. Ava felt a sudden wave of relief that she had been born an only child. She couldn't imagine putting up with a brother like Cormac for years on end.

"Watch your feet!" she cried, swinging again and hitting him square on the ear.

"Ouch!  Down, lass, I was just poking fun!"   he moaned theatrically, holding his ear and writhing in pain.

"I'm getting a little better?" she asked.

"Well, you're hitting a little harder, that's for sure."

"So, now that you're good and scared of me, you'll agree to join my class tonight?" she asked, taking a playful jab at his well-muscled stomach.

"Of course I will. If I absolutely have to."

"You absolutely do
. Now I need to go change. I'll meet you here at five, OK?" 

"Yes, five sharp Avey
. Oh and there's Mr. Robinson, here fore a lesson. Come on into the ring man, and give me some time off after the abuse I got from that one over there," he smiled at the skinny, pale man who was bursting with excitement to begin his lesson. Ava held up her fists in mock block stance and then strolled back into the women's changing room.