Naughty (12 page)

Follett fell backward, onto her ass. Hammett, sore as she was, kipped up and kicked Follett in the side of the head. Then she sighted the dropped Taser, scooped it up, and shot her in the leg with it, giving her a ten second pulse burst.

Follett seized, and when the neuro muscular incapacitation and subsequent pain ended, she once again tried to sit up and attack. Hammett gave her a fifteen second jolt, and finally her sister passed out.

That was one tough bitch.

Exhausted and more shaken than she wanted to admit, Hammett took advantage of her unconsciousness and bound her hands and feet with plastic zip lines. Then she recovered the laptop. A quick glance showed Clancy hovering over a spasming and naked senator, the Secret Service agent by her side calling for an ambulance.

That seemed to be going well. But what else was to be expected when good quality cocaine was blended with good quality strychnine? If Clancy had followed protocol, after Burling began to seize she’d blown more up his nostrils, ensuring his demise. A thorough autopsy would discover the poison if it was tested for, but The Instructor said he’d take care of that end. Besides, this
death by natural causes
bullshit was tough. If they’d wanted something completely undetectable, they should have hired that half-Japanese assassin Hammett had heard rumors about.

Forsyth was still in the security booth, only this time she was wearing her bra and panties and pulling on the rest of her clothing. The guard was passed out on the floor, the bottle of roofied-up whiskey next to him. Shrugging on her jacket, Forsyth pulled a half empty, whiskey bottle from her bag and switched it with the drugged bottle.

All going according to plan there, too.

Ludlum, on the other hand, was still in the security room with her degaussing wand.

“Ludlum?” Hammett said into her earpiece. “Get the hell out of there.”

The shriek of an ambulance pierced the night.

“Hurry,” Hammett added.

“I got nothing,” one of the guards said, Ludlum’s camera showing him on hands and knees on the floor.

Hammett heard Ludlum give a dramatic sigh. “The whole damn thing seems screwed up.  I’m going to call the security company. If you two figure it out, give a yell.”

Back up in the master bathroom, the Secret Service agent was heading out the door.

Shit.

“Keep him there, Clancy,” Hammett said. “A few more seconds.”

“Where are you going?” Clancy asked.

He paused. “I have to let the guard at the gate know.”

Hammett glanced back at Ludlum’s progress. “Out through the living room. Now.”

“Listen,” Clancy’s voice trembled. “I know I’m supposed to be able to handle this, but the senator and I, we’re close, and I just…” She covered her face with her hands, and when she looked up, tears trickled down her cheeks. “You have to take care of him.”

“I need to—”

“I’ll call down to the gate. Please. I’m a mess. I can’t do this.”

Hammett held her breath.

The agent nodded, and switched places with Clancy. Grabbing her phone from her jacket, Clancy slipped it on and made the call, pretending to talk to a man who was passed out on the floor of the guard booth.

Hammett let out a breath. That was too damn close.

The siren grew louder. Red light pulsed over the garden as the ambulance raced past. When they reached the gate, Forsyth motioned it through, wearing the guard’s uniform jacket, his hat shielding her face.

The emergency caravan moved up the driveway to the house, and Hammett heard breathing from the edge of the lawn.

“Just in fucking time.”

Ludlum followed her voice, coming to a stop next to Follett’s limp body. “She dead?”

“Unconscious. Help me carry her. We don’t have much time.”

Ludlum taking Follett’s shoulders and Hammett her feet, they carried her to the gate and slipped through. Forsyth was waiting on the other side with the cab. Two seconds to throw Follett in the trunk and pile in, and they were on their way.

Sitting in the passenger seat, Hammett checked the laptop. Now there was only one feed left to watch, Clancy’s. The remaining sister followed the paramedics as they wheeled Burling out the door and loaded him into the ambulance. She climbed into the passenger seat and the Secret Service agent rode in the back with the senator.

Behind the wheel, Forsyth took an alternate route to the hospital and parked on a side street about three blocks away. Now there was nothing to do but wait.

While Ludlum and Forsyth reviewed each step of the op, then chatted about the booth guard’s anatomy and their favorite sexual positions, Hammett watched the laptop. She was the only one not surprised when Clancy rapped on the car window ahead of schedule. Ludlum let her in the back seat.

“He’s deader than hell,” Clancy said.

Hammett smiled.
Shouldn’t have fucked with me, you bastard.

They drove to a safe house in Milwaukee that The Instructor had arranged. And when they arrived, the four circled to the back of the cab and opened the trunk.

Follett blinked at the light of morning, streaming clear and fresh over Lake Michigan.

“Welcome to the club, Sis,” Clancy said.

Epilogue

Vice President Ratzenberger sat at the Resolute Desk in the Oval Office. The President was off doing some international bullshit, giving Ratzenberger much-needed private time. He came in here often when the Commander in Chief was away.

Imagining the future.

He put his feet up on the desk, ankles crossed, and dialed the secure number.

“This is The Instructor,” came the monotone pick-up.

Ratzenberger frowned. He didn’t like this man, or his methods. But he appreciated his results.

“How’s our little project going?”

“Hammett and her sisters have been briefed and are on board.”

Ratzenberger was surprised. “No problems?”

“I didn’t train them to cause problems. I trained them to solve problems.”

The Vice President was surprised by their level of commitment in the line of duty, considering what was being asked of them. But then again, what was the point of patriotism other than to make sacrifices for your country?

“And that asshole, Burling?” Ratzenberger asked.

“You mean
Isaac
?” The Instructor chuckled, then used his electronic gizmo to change his voice. “Our people are performing the autopsy. It will be called a cocaine overdose. You not only got rid of a powerful rival, but you’ve discredited him as well.”

It had been a masterstroke to use Hydra to eliminate Burling by telling them he was their handler, when The Instructor had been Isaac all along. Like being a double-agent for the same side. But even if they never found out, and even though their commitment seemed assured, Ratzenberger still had some doubts.

“You aren’t concerned this is getting out of control? I saw the things Hammett has done, on the news. She’s seems like a wild card.”

“There are safeguards in place.”

“I know you said Chandler is formidable,” Ratzenberger said. “Is five against one enough?”

“One and a half, if you count her handler.”

“Can she be recruited as well?”

“Chandler? No. She’s… different. The best way to deal with her is to proceed as planned.”

“So we’re going to do it.”

“It’s best for the country, Mr. Vice President. We’ve discussed this.”

Ratzenberger bit his lip. This was incredibly risky. But the nuclear strike was an easier and less-lethal alternative to releasing the disease. And Hydra Deux was still prepping.

“Keep me posted,” he ordered.

“Of course.”

The Instructor hung up.

Ratzenberger leaned back in the Executive chair and closed his eyes.

Soon, the fate of the world would be left to a few specially trained operatives. And Razenberger’s legacy, his destiny, was intertwined with that fate.

So many ways for things to go wrong.

So many ways for things to go right.

The Vice President imagined a nuclear strike.

The mushroom cloud.

The burning.

The radiation.

Then he thought of millions of people, blood streaming from their eyes, coughing out bits of lung tissue.

“Dear God,” he prayed. “Let me know I’m doing the right thing.”

God didn’t reply.

The End

While each story can be read as a standalone, here is the chronological order for the series:

HIT

EXPOSED

NAUGHTY

FLEE

SPREE

THREE

FREE (coming in 2014)

J
oe Konrath is the author of more than twenty novels and dozens of shorter works in the mystery, thriller, horror, and science fiction genres. He’s sold over a two million books worldwide, and besides Tracy Sharp he’s collaborated with bestsellers Blake Crouch, Barry Eisler, Ann Voss Peterson, Henry Perez, Tom Schreck, Jeff Strand, and F. Paul Wilson. He likes beer, pinball machines, and playing pinball when drinking beer. Visit him at
jakonrath.com
.

A
ward-winning author Ann Voss Peterson wrote her first story at seven years old and hasn’t stopped since. To pursue her love of creative writing, she’s worked as a bartender, horse groomer, and window washer. Now known for her adrenaline-fueled thrillers and Harlequin Intrigue romances, Ann draws on her wide variety of life experiences to fill her fictional worlds with compelling energy and undeniable emotion. She lives near Madison, Wisconsin, with her family and their border collie.

Whiskey Sour

Bloody Mary

Rusty Nail

Dirty Martini

Fuzzy Navel

Cherry Bomb

Shaken

Stirred (with Blake Crouch)

Last Call (with Blake Crouch)

Shot of Tequila

Banana Hammock

Jack Daniels Stories (collected stories)

Serial Killers Uncut (with Blake Crouch)

Suckers (with Jeff Strand)

Planter’s Punch (with Tom Schreck)

Floaters (with Henry Perez)

Burners (with Henry Perez)

Truck Stop (short)

Flee (with Ann Voss Peterson)

Spree (with Ann Voss Peterson)

Three (with Ann Voss Peterson)

Hit (with Ann Voss Peterson)

Exposed (with Ann Voss Peterson)

Naughty (with Ann Voss Peterson)

Babe on Board (short with Ann Voss Peterson)

With a Twist (short)

Street Music (short)

Jacked Up! (with Tracy Sharp)

Racked (with Jude Hardin)

Straight Up (with Iain Rob Wright)

Symbios

Timecaster

Timecaster Supersymmetry

Wild Night is Calling (short with Ann Voss Peterson)

Shapeshifters Anonymous (short)

The Screaming (short)

Afraid (writing as Jack Kilborn)

Endurance (writing as Jack Kilborn)

Trapped (writing as Jack Kilborn)

Haunted House (writing as Jack Kilborn)

Draculas (with Blake Crouch, Jeff Strand, and F. Paul Wilson)

Origin

The List

Disturb

65 Proof (short story omnibus)

Crime Stories (collected stories)

Horror Stories (collected stories)

Dumb Jokes & Vulgar Poems

A Newbie’s Guide to Publishing

Be the Monkey (with Barry Eisler)

Grandma? (with Talon Konrath)

Pushed Too Far

Burned Too Hot

Flee (Chandler series with J.A. Konrath)

Spree (Chandler series with J.A. Konrath)

Three (Chandler series with J.A. Konrath)

Babe on Board (with J.A. Konrath)

Wild Night Is Calling (with J.A. Konrath)

Hit (Chandler series with J.A. Konrath)

Exposed (Chandler series with J.A. Konrath)

Naughty (Chandler series with J.A. Konrath)

His Witness, Her Child

Gypsy Magic (with Rebecca York and Patricia Rosemoor)

Claiming His Family

Incriminating Passion

Boys in Blue (with Rebecca York and Patricia Rosemoor)

Legally Binding

Desert Sons (with Rebecca York and Patricia Rosemoor)

Marital Privilege

Serial Bride (Wedding Mission series)

Evidence of Marriage (Wedding Mission series)

Vow to Protect (Wedding Mission series)

Critical Exposure

Special Assignment

Wyoming Manhunt

Christmas Awakening

Priceless Newborn Prince

Covert Cootchie-Cootchie-Coo

Rocky Mountain Fugitive

A Rancher’s Brand of Justice

A Cop in Her Stocking

Seized by the Sheik

Secret Protector

Visit the author at
annvosspeterson.com
.

She’s an elite spy, working for an agency so secret only three people know it exists. Trained by the best of the best, she has honed her body, her instincts, and her intellect to become the perfect weapon.