Missy Makes Mayhem (Missy the Werecat Book 5) (21 page)

Melo paled as his predicament became that much more apparent.  She knew about his panty collection?  What
else
did she know?  What evidence might she actually have, after all?  Fuck!  She had that gorilla Mitch Cooper standing by, so getting back to his room was not going to be easy.  And, she probably had the fucking FBI on speed dial.  She had friends and resources which went way beyond anything he could manage.  He was screwed with no way out.  No, he wasn’t going to take her on.  It was time for him to find some way out of this.  Time for damage control.  “What happens if I agree to resign?”

“Well, then I’ll bring you right down to the Superintendent’s office so you can do that.  Just so you don’t change your mind.  And, then?  You’re going to go away.  Leave and not tell anyone about your crimes here.  Or, talk trash about the academy either.  No, you’re going to go home and behave yourself.  Not molest any more women.  You see, you’re not going to want to deal with the consequences of strike three, Evan.”

“You’re not going to make accusations once I’ve left?”  As he thought about that, Melo realized she probably wouldn’t.  No, she’d made it pretty clear she wanted all this to remain a secret, provided he behaved.  So, if he resigned, that was the safe course of action.  He could regroup, try to go in other directions without having to deal with all this drama.  Had he been innocent, of course, he might then have had the courage to stay and fight.  But, somehow, she
knew
he was guilty.  How she knew, he didn’t know and it didn’t matter.  He wasn’t dealing with a woman he could take advantage of.  No, he was facing Missy McCrea and he had nothing he could use against her.

“You ready to resign, now?  And, no.  Once you’re gone, there won’t be any accusations.  That will only happen if you ever try doing it again, later on.  That would then be strike three, just as I’ve promised.”  Missy knew she’d won this round.  It would remain to be seen whether he’d behave or not.  But, she’d be having him watched to minimize any risk to other girls.

“You really are a fucking whore bitch, you know that?”  Melo was frustrated and wanted to lash out against her.  “Okay.  Yeah.  Let’s go see the Supe.  I’m sure he’ll enjoy the blowjob you’ll probably be giving him right afterwards.  But, I know what I have to do.  Let’s go and get this over with.”

Nov 10, 2019

It was very late by the time Missy finally got back to the academy, disembarked from the bus, said her congratulatory goodbyes to the rest of her soccer teammates and went on up to her room.  Traffic returning from Boston had been terrible, with an accident on the highway delaying them by more than two hours.  But, they had won, beating Boston University by a score of three-two, and now Army was the Patriots League Champion and would be playing in the First Round of the NCAA Playoffs next. 

As soon as Missy entered her room, Tracy jumped up and said, “Yea!  Great job!  We were able to watch it on TV and that last goal you made was so exciting!  I bet you couldn’t help showing off, playing in front of your family and all your friends!”

Missy laughed and said, “That BU team was pretty good but yeah … being able to break that tie and then hold them off for those final minutes was special.”  Her Mom and Dad had been there with her brothers John and Patrick, plus Mike, of course.  Her sister Heather and Donald Whalen, Mike’s sister Michelle and Aaron Brooks, Mark and Alice Mathews, many of her old high school friends … they’d all been there in the stands, cheering her on.  “John sends you a great big kiss but I refuse to actually deliver that.”  She laughed again, harder.

“Oh, good!  Were you able to spend much time with the home crowd or did you have to jump on the bus right away after the game?”

“I managed maybe twenty minutes.  Then, as we sat in traffic for hours, I couldn’t help but wish I’d stayed up there instead, visiting with everyone for longer.”

Tracy giggled and said, “I know … you could have done your blinky-blink-blinky-thing and still gotten back here much quicker than the bus, even had you spent several hours with them.”

“My blinky-blink-blinky-thing?  Is that a highly technical term for my witchcraft-werecraft?”

“Oh, you’re way beyond mere witchcraft, Missy!  There really are no words for all the
blinky
stuff you’re doing, so Emily and I have decided to substitute a few special words of our own.  If you don’t like blinky-blink, I can get with Emily again and we can invent some other words.”

“Please don’t.  And, how am I supposed to mentor that girl if you’re filling her head with crazy things like that about me?”  Since Troy Dangelmeyer had insisted on sharing details with Emily’s brother Scott, explaining all about how they’d rescued Sandy D’Amato, Missy had allowed Tracy to fill Emily in as well.  Of course, Troy had also told his mother about Missy’s ability to shift into spirit form so the word would surely get out, going from coven to coven.  Angela had never heard of anyone with an ability like that and had been duly shocked and amazed.  Witch gossip was sure to follow!

“Well, if you would spend five minutes actually
mentoring
her, rather than always being so damn busy, maybe I wouldn’t have to ‘splain so much!”  Tracy tried to pretend she was put out but Missy wasn’t buying it.

“Very funny.  I think I’ve helped her a lot, and not just with her shooting out on the range but with everything else a poor plebe has to put up with.  She really seems to like it here now and works very hard, so I’m quite proud.”

Tracy smiled and her eyes glinted mischievously.  “Ha, she likes it here now that she’s met Donald Quigby.  The two of them remind me of how Mitch and Kelsey were all last year.  You know,
before
they finally started having sex … remember?  It’s really providing us Quigby girls with some great opportunities for teasing and harassing them, only in a
good
way.”

Missy laughed.  “I’m glad they’re going slow and not rushing things.  That’s really how most relationships should go.  Then, if things really aren’t meant to be, there’s a lot less heartache when they break-up.  Of course, I’m hardly one to give any advice.  You either, for that matter.”

Tracy groaned.  “There you go again, besmirching my relationship expertise reputation.  You’ll be glad to know Sally is still seeing Troy and they also are going slow.  He was here yesterday and again today.”

“Very good!  Sally is the one I was thinking about, talking about heartaches from bad break-ups.  How are she and Sharon liking things now that Cadet Melo has left?  You’ve told them how I have him being watched, right?”  Missy hadn’t had any time at all to talk to her friends, due to all her increased soccer activity combined with everything else she had going on.

“Oh, they’re both thrilled to have that serial-rapist out of here.  As for how you’re having him watched so he won’t prey on anyone else, I had to share with them a bit more about your friend Alice and that Roseanne Fund and how she’s known as the
crazy mob lady
in spite of her blond kewpie-doll appearance.”

Missy giggled and said, “Don’t let her hear you calling her that or you too might end up on her
bad guy
list.  And, you definitely do
not
want to ever be on that list.”

Alice’s list of all those whom she wanted her Roseanne girls protected from had become quite a big deal, not only for all the mob enforcers who wanted to do favors for the D’Amato organization but for local law enforcement as well, since they in turn wanted to do favors for those mob enforcers.  Doing favors was the currency of choice and, with the internet and smart phones and all the high tech tablets, there weren’t many places someone on Alice’s list could go.  No, once Alice identified someone as needing to be watched, that someone was kept under surveillance wherever he went.

Evan Melo’s name had been added, even before his fateful meeting with Missy.  And, since Missy knew he liked to date the girls first, getting to know them before deciding to make them one of his victims, rather than merely grabbing some poor girl at random, she figured that would enable a timely intervention whenever he once again decided to force himself on anyone.

Tracy asked, “How did you know he’d agree to Plan A and resign without making you go with any of your other plans?”

“Oh, I had figured he wasn’t really here out of any deep conviction of his own.  His parents wanted him here and he liked the status it gave him, which he used to get those women to date him.  But, he really is a weak coward inside.  Being caught and forced to leave was actually a relief for him.  It gave him an excuse he could use to justify not continuing.  Since I gave him a way out, letting him resign without being exposed and charged with anything, he grabbed at that quickly enough.  I knew I had him at ‘
we’re going to have a conversation
’.”

Tracy studied her friend.  She realized most at the academy now considered Missy as someone they would not want to have any adverse
conversations
with.  All the recent magazine articles about her serving in combat with the Special Forces had only further enhanced her bad ass reputation.  So, yeah … she could see why someone like Evan Melo might choose to slink back home and make excuses rather than stay and deal with her.  “You really can be rather intimidating now, you know?”

“That’s what Melo said, only he used slightly different words.  He said I really was a fucking whore bitch.  Of course, I knew just what he meant.”  Missy and Tracy both laughed and then they got ready for bed.  Ten minutes later they were both sound asleep.

-----

Nov 12, 2019

Arvind Pancholi looked out from his favorite restaurant’s tenth floor window and once again admired the magnificent Bosphorus Strait down below, connecting the Black Sea to the north with the Sea of Marmara to the south and dividing Europe from Asia.  Further south, through the Dardanelles Strait was the Aegean Sea and the Mediterranean.  Having been born and raised in New Delhi, where the next big war would just as likely be fought over water as anything else, he was very appreciative of having such wonderful water resources nearby.

Since he also happened to be a very powerful water witch, something he’d been careful to keep very secret all his life, the proximity to water which living in Turkey gave him was even more appreciated.  Although he worked in the U.S. Embassy in Ankara, he frequently managed to get over here to Istanbul.  He’d left India twenty some years ago, when in his early twenties, and had never regretted that.  True, witches were not welcome anywhere in the Mid-East and he had no coven.  But, having long ago chosen to be a double agent, spying on the U.S. for various groups while also employed by the CIA, having a secretive lifestyle had always been a requirement.

Since he was a foreigner, his access inside the CIA had been limited and he was only considered a lower level cleric at the embassy, handling all the mundane tasks which the big important staff members did not want to bother with.  That was fine with him, as while they all came and went like the seasons, he stayed on and had managed to earn everyone’s trust, all the while making a very nice income selling secrets.

The CIA thought they were paying him to spy on the Turks while his latest efforts had mostly been for WIJO, who knew he was a valuable asset and paid him very well.  They only knew about him indirectly, since he always dealt with them through his client.  His bank accounts in Switzerland had grown and in just a few more years, he could retire to enjoy the nice fortune he’d managed to accumulate.  He planned to live on a yacht and probably cruise the Mediterranean.  Someday.

But, for today, he needed to stay focused.  He tore his gaze away from the Bosphoros and returned to stare at the man sitting across the table from him.  His unique ability to sense and control water allowed him to always know when any person he was dealing with was telling the truth or lying.  And, this man who called himself Felipe Benedict, which he knew was a false name, was now telling him the truth about what he could deliver.  And, that was what mattered.  Obtaining information which was valid and then providing that through his client to his buyers was what had earned him his reputation for always being a reliable source.  In his business, that had been essential.

“These Thanksgiving Day parades … in New York, Philadelphia and Chicago … your files can provide all the latest security provisions and Homeland Security procedures?  My client will not be pleased if there are any surprises concerning the crowd surveillance technologies and equipment being used.  And, if they’re not pleased, if they think you’ve misled them about anything …?”

Benedict said, “That won’t happen.  My data is good and contains all the latest … not only what Homeland Security has but also NSA, the FBI, each municipal police force and various other agencies as well.  We were privy to all of that at Homeland Security and I have it.  As I told you at our first meeting, whatever you want to know, I’m probably going to have it in my files.”

Although he hadn’t known Pancholi until advertising what he had to offer, he’d known where to post his information.  Sure enough, he’d been contacted and Pancholi had arranged to meet him.  Once all the bone fides had been taken care of, he’d made his first sale.  That had been information he knew WIJO would be interested in and would lead to their coming back for more.  He and Pancholi had met a few times since then and each time, their dealings had gone well.

Pancholi nodded and said, “Okay.  My client was satisfied with what you provided us before.  We’ll pay your price.”  They discussed arrangements for the payment and the transfer of files, both of which would be done the same as on previous deals.  WIJO had indeed been satisfied with Benedict’s earlier information, which had enabled them to evade U.S. Customs and Border Protection, not only getting several of their Jihadist volunteers inside the country but also helping to smuggle in certain high tech explosive devices as well.

Pancholi paid the check for their dinner and then they went their separate ways.  Since he had been in the spy business for a long time, he had already managed to learn where Benedict was living in Paris.  This was information he kept to himself, however.  For later, if needed.  Information was his stock in trade and he had a lot of it, just in case.

He grabbed a taxi for the short ride over to the train station in Pendik, an Istanbul suburb on the Asian side of the Bosphoros.  It would take less than four hours to return to Ankara, thanks to the high-speed rail link which had been established five years earlier.  By the time he arrived back home, thanks to the encrypted messages he’d be sending his client, funds would already have been transferred into Benedict’s account.  Shortly after that, the requested files containing everything his client wanted to know about the three Thanksgiving Day parades would be in the hands of WIJO.

-----

“Will you marry me?”  Oliver was down on one knee, holding the black box out in front of him with both hands, hoping Candace would like the diamond ring he’d selected.  It was a pretty ring with the main stone an emerald cut, just over a caret, plus two smaller stones, also diamonds, one on each side.  He’d pretty much maxed out all his credit cards in order to buy it but all that mattered was whether she would say yes.

Candace hadn’t been expecting this.  She was thrilled and immediately said, “Yes!” while flinging herself into his arms and hardly even looking at the ring.  She had no doubts whatsoever but was somewhat overwhelmed at taking this next big step.  She knew he considered her his soulmate and she was very happy with their present relationship status.  “But, Oliver … I thought we agreed to wait until after I graduated?”

“Well, it’s like the song says.  If I like it, I should put a ring on it.  I want to be introduced as your fiancé rather than merely as your boyfriend when we go visit all those embassies.”  He hugged her tight and then kissed her, putting all the emotion he was feeling into his kiss and noting with pleasure just how eagerly she was responding.  Finally, several long moments later, he managed to say, “Being married to you someday is all I can think about and if you can agree to our engagement, you’ll be making me the happiest man in the world!”