Mint Cookie Murder (6 page)

So, Bobb was an assassin for the
other side
. Well, there wasn't just one "other side." I guess that technically, if you think about it, there are several "other sides," including the obvious Russians, Chinese, and Yemenis, to the more obscure Basques, Nepalis, and let's not forget the Irish (never forget the Irish). The list goes on and on. And Bobb worked for one of them.

I thought about the man I'd seen in the backyard. He seemed so…so…American. He looked like an average, middle-aged white guy, and he had the Midwestern twang down perfectly. If he was from one of the other sides, he was very, very good.

"Octopussy," Riley said into his cell phone before hanging up and gathering up the cat. He took me by the arm and led me to his rented SUV. I went only because I was curious why he was using a codeword. And why
Octopussy
? That was a terrible James Bond movie. And what self-respecting female spy would go by such a stupid, demeaning name? And why put the word "octopus" with the word "pussy"? Did it mean she had a vagina with eight arms and suction cups? Ian Fleming had some twisted fantasies.

I still said nothing as we drove across town to a yarn shop. A yarn shop? I really had to see where he was going with this, because unless he was going to knit me a safe house, I wasn't sure why we were here.

Riley parked the car then hefted Philby as he opened the door to All About Ewe and motioned for me to follow. Inside, the walls were covered with bookcases filled with every color of yarn imaginable. A cute, 20-something chick with a severe black pageboy haircut nodded and led us to the back of the shop. She pulled on a bookcase and it opened, revealing a secret room. She closed the case behind us.

"You have a safe house?" I raged, my anger punching my curiosity in the face. "Here? In
my
town? And you never told me? What the hell?"

The room was 15 feet by 15 feet with a couch, table with two chairs, a huge flat-screen TV, a desk with a computer, a fridge and microwave, and a double bed in the corner. There were no windows, but I did have a bathroom. There was only one way in—the way we came. It was comfortable with soft green walls and hardwood floors. But obviously this was a prison. For me.

"You built a lockdown? You planned to use this all along!" I shouted as Riley set Philby on the bed. The cat yawned and stretched and fell asleep. The traitor.

"I'm not staying here," I said, folding my arms over my chest.

Riley arched one eyebrow. "Yes, you are. I'll stay at your place. I'll bring Philby's things over."

"That's
my
house, and you can't commandeer it! I live
there
!" I don't think I'd ever been this angry at Riley. Even after the time in Nicaragua when he accidentally set fire to my shoes (he was trying to start a fire in the middle of nowhere),
while I was wearing them
. Or the time on the Amazon River when he used up all the mosquito spray on himself, leaving me to turn into one huge, itchy welt. Or the time in Moscow when we were undercover in a seedy bar filled with the Russian mafia and he slid out in our getaway car for a booty call—leaving me to walk through the worst part of that city alone. In January. Huh. I realized I had a lot to be mad at Riley for.

"You don't go anywhere without me," Riley replied. "As of right now, you are in danger. My job is to figure out why."

"If Bobb wanted to kill me, he would have," I snarled. Philby hissed quietly, deciding a full-on hiss didn't warrant upsetting his comfort.

"He was scoping you out," Riley said. "There is no argument here, Wrath. You're staying."

"Look," I said evenly in an attempt to reason with him, "I don't think…" I looked at my cat. He was snoring. "…the assassin wanted to kill me. Maybe he wanted to talk to me? Now I won't be there to do so."

Riley shook his head. "I'm not taking any chances." He moved to the door and opened it. "I'll run home to get some things. This door locks from the outside, and I've instructed Suzanne to shoot you with a tranq gun if you try to leave."

"You what?" He what? "I'm trapped in here? This isn't a safe house…it's a cell! And what about safety? How do I get out if my
shoes
catch fire for no reason?" I hoped he'd catch my meaning. He didn't.

"I don't want you getting hurt. Will you please just trust me and stay here? Please?" He sounded exasperated. "And it's not a prison. There's a keypad hidden in here. I'm just not going to give you the code right now."

I threw my arms up in the air. "I don't believe this! You can't keep me here! You have no legal grounds to do so!"

"I know!" He shouted. I wondered what Suzanne thought was happening in here. "But if you would just do this one thing for me…one thing! I'd really appreciate it!" Riley's eyes were pleading. It caught me off guard.

For a moment, I thought about this. I took a couple of deep breaths and closed my eyes. Riley said he was doing this to keep me safe. Fighting him on it wasn't doing any good. My heartbeat started to slow down a little.

He had a point. I didn't want to die any more than the next guy. But I didn't like being locked up. I thought about rushing Riley and twisting his testicles until he shouted for Suzanne to let me out.

On the other hand, I could use some uninterrupted time to think about this. Riley thought I was safe here, so this was as good a place as any to sort things out.
Maybe I should do what he says…for now. If I have to knock him down later to get out of here, I can.
But right now, I'd go along with him.

"I will stay here until you get back. Then we're going to talk," I said.

"Fine." Riley flashed me a dazzling smile. "See you in a bit." The door closed behind him, and I heard the latching sound of a lock. Fantastic.

I sat on the bed and started to pet Philby. He didn't seem to even notice. I thought about Bobb. Riley thought I was his target. So why didn't he kill me on the spot then? I never knew an enemy assassin who didn't take advantage of any opportunity to kill when he had it. And he'd had me in my backyard with the hedges for cover. It would've been perfect.

And yet, Bobb didn't even attempt to approach me. The assassin even let me know he knew my name. And he told me his name with the spelling that would've tipped me off. Why do that? None of it made sense. Surely Riley could see that?

As for me visiting Lenny in the clink…I know I didn't do that. Well, unless I was under the influence of hypnosis. That has happened before. Once in Serbia, a double agent hypnotized me into thinking I was an Olympic soccer player. And, oh yeah, a man. Riley managed to track me down before I made it into the men's locker room to change for a match. Although I'm sure the Nigerian men's team would've caught onto me before I took my shirt off.

No, I couldn't have visited Lenny. Besides, Riley would have the video footage soon enough to prove that. But someone was setting me up. My money was on Bobb. That would be easy. And maybe he pulled off the Midori murder too.

Still, I had Girl Scout Cookies to sell, assassin or no. I couldn't stay here. That would be ridiculous. And I had a boyfriend. He'd wonder what was up. I pulled out my cell and dialed.

"Hey, Merry!" Rex answered. He was using my first name so he must be away from the office.

"Hi, Babe!" Babe? Why did I call him that? Pet names definitely meant the relationship was getting serious, didn't it?

Rex laughed. "I was just thinking of you."

Yay! He was thinking of me! I guess my use of the name, Babe, wasn't so weird after all.

"Well," I said, "Maybe we should get together tonight. Maybe we could go out for dinner or something?" I was on dangerous ground now—suggesting something other than our usual cuddle at his house.

"Oh, sorry, Merry," Rex replied. "I've got to make up meeting my friend. Remember, I was supposed to meet Angela the other night, but you had that unexpected visitor?"

My heart sank. "Um, sure, okay. Who's Angela again?" I asked, hoping it sounded like I couldn't remember. It was a risk. Either sound like a moron or bypass any chance at getting intel on this bimbo.

"Just an old friend. She's in town for a conference this week. I'll fill you in later—I have to get ready."

"Okay. Bye…" I said, trying not to sound like I was sulking. Which I was.

"Bye, Gorgeous," Rex said. That was something—sort of like a very adjectivey pet name.

Angela. So that was her name.
Angela
. I didn't like her name. An Angela was a statuesque, seductive, siren who never once in her life had to take "no" for an answer. She's probably some high-powered executive. But what would she be doing in town at a conference? It's not like we're a big city, like Des Moines, for crying out loud. Who came here for a conference? Well, I guess we
did
have a Radisson.

Likely story—a conference. She's probably always pined for Rex. My mind started snowballing. I'd bet they were together in college. She was recruited by some major corporation, but Rex wanted to be a detective in a small town. Angela threw down an ultimatum and lost him forever. Okay—that part of my made-up story made me feel better.

But now, she's back! Determined to win the love she once lost! Angela would pull out all the stops too, wearing a skin-tight designer suit in blood red and super sexy stiletto high heels. Her long, exotic, mahogany hair in perfect waves cascading over her shoulders as she sashayed to meet him in the hotel lobby.

I shook my head to clear it. Whoa, this was getting a little out of hand. I had no proof of any of this. Besides, he'd called me "Gorgeous"! And he told me all about this date.

Date. No, this couldn't be good. I needed to do something. I looked at my watch. 5 p.m. Damn. I didn't have much time. I needed to act on this intel.

*   *   *

"What do you mean, you need the night off?" Riley asked me when he got back. "You don't get a night off, Wrath. It doesn't work that way."

He'd returned shortly after my call with Rex with Philby's litter box and food and a bag of my clothes and toiletries. How he knew what I'd need was pretty weird.

"I've got some Girl Scout stuff I have to do tonight," I lied.

"I'll go with you," Riley said.

"No!" I shouted a little too eagerly. No way was I going to bring him along as I spied on Rex. He'd laugh at me. I'd never live it down. "You would be totally bored. I'll be perfectly safe," I promised.

Riley frowned at me. "I don't think so," he said. "Something's up. What's really going on?"

"Nothing." I shrugged. "Just stuff I need to do. Boring stuff."

"That isn't how this works, Wrath. What part of locked up in a safe house do you not understand?"

I narrowed my eyes. "And what part of you can't legally hold me here, and I don't work for you anymore don't you understand?"

Riley crossed his arms over his chest. "You are not going anywhere until I kill Bobb."

Philby hissed from inside of his litter box.

"Then you are going to have to defend yourself, because I'm going to kick your ass and Suzanne's ass too." I got into a defensive stance.

"Like you could take me," Riley sneered, removing his jacket.

I lunged forward and pushed his jacket over his shoulders, locking his arms behind him. Swinging my right leg, I knocked his legs out from under him and then held him facedown on the floor.

"I'm sorry," I murmured in his ear. "What were you saying?" I got off him and allowed him to struggle to his feet. He didn't look very happy.

"I could shoot you," he said, putting his hand on his gun. "Or have Suzanne bring in the tranq gun."

"Yeah, who is Suzanne, anyway?" Curiosity got the best of me. "And why a yarn shop?"

Riley shrugged. "Suzanne is actually from here. She joined the CIA but quit shortly after training. I've kept her number handy." He smiled.

"Ah. One of your conquests?" I asked. "Poor kid. Do I have some stories for her…" I got up, walked over to the door, and knocked.

Riley tackled me and held me against the wall. "Blackmail? Really?" He backed up, releasing me. I did notice with some satisfaction that he got out of my way in case I reciprocated.

I winked. "What do you think, Riley? I've still got the numbers of a few women at the office who might be interested in some information…"

Riley frowned. "You wouldn't."

I smiled because I had him now. "I would."

He sank into a chair, defeated. "I'm just trying to protect you."

"I can protect myself." Except against Angela's plans to take my boyfriend. "I just need a few hours."

"For Girl Scout stuff?" he asked. I nodded.

"Kelly can go with you then." He decided.

Oh great. Kelly would probably give me a worse time than Riley ever could.

"That's the only way you're going out for a few hours. With Kelly." Riley crossed his arms to let me know he was serious. "And I mean a few hours, Wrath. You get three. Max."

"You can't make me take Kelly with me!"

"I'm doing this for your own good!" he stormed. Wow. I'd never seen him so angry! Not ever. He'd always had this placid, laid-back surfer vibe.

"What's your deal?" I asked. "Why is this so important to you?"

Riley walked up to me. He took my face in his hands, his lovely blue eyes on mine. "You are important to me." I felt my anger break. Was he going to kiss me again? For some reason, I really, really wanted him to. Oh my God! What was I thinking? I had a boyfriend! I had to solve this case and get rid of Riley so I wouldn't have this temptation anymore.

He released me and walked away, running his hands through his hair and straightening a tie that had never loosened. "I'll take you to Kelly's. She will bring you back here when all is said and done. I'll stay here with you tonight, and we can try to figure this out." He looked at his watch.

"I should be getting the footage from the prison any minute now. We'll go through it when you get back."

"Okay," I said, a little dazed. This man had way too much sway over me. I needed to get out of the range of his pheromones to think. Besides, it was time to stalk my boyfriend and destroy the seductive Angela before being locked down for the night by the CIA. Piece of cake.