Work Text
Waiting patiently for her comrades to retrieve the vital data, Veronika Liliya Simanova aimed her BB gun towards the front door. She rested on a branch of a large tree with her SBBC (Super Binocular Baseball Cap) watching the glass building like a hawk. One of her good friends, Sarah Christine Moses, was perched next to her anxiously waiting while clutching a knife in her hand. She kept flipping her thick, brown hair out of her face. “I’m not meant for sittin’ still for hours at a time. When will they come out?” Sarah complained. “Patience.” Veronika whispered in her light Russian accent. She squinted her blue-green eyes and slightly shifted her body. “So, where’s Lidia an’ Taylor?” Sarah asked. “Zome vwhere on zhe other zide.” “That’s specific.” “Vwhat?” “Well, don’t you have more to go on?” Veronika just shrugged and Sarah fell silent for a few moments before changing the subject. “So, you ready for school to start tomorrow?” “Meh. I’m ready for thiz craziness to be over.” Veronika suddenly tensed up and signaled with her hands to Sarah. The glass doors to the office opened and out walked a red haired, 5’3” woman with dark sunglasses, tight fitting pants, and a multi-colored blouse. She was followed by a seemingly normal businessman, but as they started down the steps, he reached to grab her. Veronika fired her BB gun and stunned the man who halted right below the tree where the two girls were hidden. Sarah dropped down and, with her knife in her right hand, slashed at his arm and gave him a few superficial cuts to startle him. He stumbled backwards and when he reached the young woman, she stuck out her foot and tripped him. He was on the concrete in seconds and moaned. Before he could get back on his feet, she reached with her left hand into her pocket and pulled a gun on him, and Sarah pointed her knife towards him. By now, a large crowd of civilians gathered to see what the commotion was about. Most were shocked by the sight of a teenager holding a gun. Veronika hopped out of the tree and pressed her cap between her fingers and pulled off the binoculars. She dug into her jean pockets and fished out her CIA badge and flashed it to the crowd. “No worriez. Ve are from CIA.”Melissa Stonewedge, the red head, took off her sunglasses and handed her purse to Sarah. Sarah opened the purse and pulled out the tiny thumb-drive containing the information they were seeking. Melissa glared at the businessman. “Game over, you noob!” She exclaimed.
----- CHAPTER BREAK -----
“Raahk. Wake up Sarah!” Zara squawked. She shook her colorful feathers and bobbed her neck. Sarah reached out and stroked her yellow belly while still half asleep. “Who’s a pretty birdy?” Sarah mumbled. “Raahk. I am.” Zara replied. Lifting herself from her warm bed, Sarah stumbled to the hallway bathroom. Her dark blue eyes stared at her brown hair in a messy, tangled ponytail, red marks on her face, and blurry, watery eyes. After a warm shower, she slipped into a comfortable pair of jeans, a tank top, a cream colored sweater, and a pair of tennis shoes. She looked up to see her vast collection of knives on her wall, her basketball trophies on the shelves and a picture of her and her friends. She glanced at her twin sister’s bed and discovered that she was not there. ‘Didn’t she have to go to school early?’ Sarah thought. Dismissing the thought, she grabbed her yellow backpack, her iPod, and her yellow beaded necklace. Zara, flying behind Sarah, followed Sarah out of her room and down the stairs towards the kitchen. Sarah’s parents, Frank and Sarah Moses, were already there. Mrs. Moses was making pancakes while Mr. Moses was cleaning his gun with old newspapers. Zara assumed her perch on a wooden bird swing and Sarah grabbed a bowl from the cabinet, cereal from the pantry, and milk from the fridge. She sat down at the table and watched her dad methodically clean his gun. “Where’s Taylor?” “She had a project due and went to school early.” Mrs. Moses explained. “Mr. Cooper called. He said that you’re off CIA duty until the next summer.” Mr. Moses said. Sarah laughed and rolled her eyes. “Experimental Teenage CIA division sounded a lot better when I thought it would be fun.” Sarah sarcastically said. “Hey, your last case was hectic enoug’, right?” “Frank, let the girl live a- little. She’s bound to take interest in something more awesome then the CIA.” This ridiculous thought sent Mrs. Moses into a fit of laughter until she noticed her daughter hadn’t touched her pancake. “Why can’t you eat pancakes like everybody else?” “ ‘Cause I work best when I eat cereal in th’ mornin’.” The clock alarm went off signaling Sarah that it was time to leave for school. “I’ll be late comin’ home from school. I have rehearsal so don’t wait up.” Without waiting for a reply, Sarah was out the door and climbing into her white Honda. Within ten minutes, Sarah was in her school parking lot. The school building was three stories high, shaped like an oval, and covered in grey bricks. The Prescott Pachyderms represented a school where there was no clear mascot. Each game, the school would cycle through different mascots under the term pachyderm. One week might be an elephant (the most popular); another week might be a pig. It left both students and other schools guessing. Random statues of these different animals could be found all over the school. At the front of the building were the obvious statues, two elephants lifting their trunks towards the sky. This marked the main entrance to the school where Sarah was about to enter. A loud shout stopped her. It was Melissa, bundled up in a black fur coat and camouflage pants with hiking boots, heading towards her. “Ya know Melissa, it’s not that cold outside.” “I do not care how cold you think it is. I am freezing!” Melissa shivered and clutched her backpack. “Can we continue to converse inside the school please?” Sarah held the door open for Melissa and the two headed towards their lockers which were located near the cafeteria close to the main entrance. Melissa and Sarah shared adjoining lockers. Melissa opened her unorganized locker and shoved her fur coat into it revealing her second coat, a leather jacket, underneath. Sarah just rolled her eyes and opened her locker revealing a picture of her boyfriend, Kyle, and a small sack. “Ah, I keep a secret stash in my locker as well.” Melissa bragged. “They’re just for emergencies.” “But darling, we are in the safety of our school. No one knows what we do on the side, and no one certainly will attack us here!” “An’ you’re the paranoid one?” Melissa smiled wickedly and laughed at Sarah’s comment. Someone began to approach them from the other side of the hall. It was Lidia Marie Cooper wearing her favorite electric blue jacket, a batman T-shirt, and jeans. Her dark, shoulder length black hair, green eyes and pale skin made her attractive to most boys but her father, Mr. Cooper, wouldn’t let her date. Her dad headed the experimental teen branch and was their boss. “Hey Lidia!” Sarah greeted. “Hey.” Lidia replied. “Can you believe it? We’re eighteen year old seniors who’ve made it through! Some said it couldn’t be done but we did the impossible!” “Fantastic.” Lidia said unenthusiastically. Sarah’s perkiness in the morning irritated her. “If you’re done now, I’m going to math. I hate math.” Lidia walked away without saying another word. “She is not a morning person.” “Yep. Not a mornin’ person at all.” Sarah sighed as she closed her locker. “But would you be if you had math in the mornin’?” “Certainly, I would be cranky.” Melissa ran her fingers through her hair. “I should head to French class.” “Yeah, French would be my headache.” Sarah laughed. “Fortunately, I only have to go to History which means I’ll be sleepin’.” The two friends waved goodbye to each other and departed. Sarah walked into her History class which was only a few feet from her locker. “Great, it’s you.” A voice of an older woman moaned. Sarah turned to see her history teacher Mrs. Sylvia Histine. She despised Sarah because she slept in class almost every day and still made excellent grades. Sarah began to tug on her backpack straps which she always did when she was nervous. “Yep. It’s me.” Sarah gave Mrs. Histine a big smile, but Mrs. Histine was not amused. “Just go to your seat and let’s get this over with.” Sarah quickly obeyed and was in her seat at the front of the class in no time. As soon as she was in her seat, she became sleepy, her eyes closed, and she allowed sleep to take hold. Meanwhile, Veronika and her younger sister, Elizabeth Brown, had arrived in their English class. Elizabeth had doubled up on her English and was conveniently placed in her sister’s class. They both sat near the window and enjoyed watching people entering the building. Today, after a few minutes in class, they noticed a man in a fancy car enter the school. This made them suspicious, but their thoughts were interrupted by their strict teacher. “Pay attention!” The man in the snazzy business suit and car walked into the school and requested the location of a certain student. Once he learned the student’s location, he walked towards Mrs. Histine’s class. Back inside Mrs. Histine’s class, Sarah had awakened for a brief moment and Mrs. Histine took the opportunity to pop a surprise question about the Industrial Revolution. “Sarah, give one example of a catastrophe caused by human negligence during the Industrial Revolution.” “The Great Molasses Flood of 1919, in Boston Massachusetts, where the workers filled the tank too high and caused the tank to explode and release a massive flash flood. The workers ignored safety precautions and, as a result, they killed 21 people and injured 150. This type of negligence continues today with the air industry, when they skip out on proper procedures, caused air disasters like the tragedy in Peru. The air plane crashed into the Pacific Ocean resulting from a piece of duct tape placed on the transponders, by maintenance, and gave faulty readings. This major human error resulted in a calamity similar to the Molasses flood.” Sarah waited for her teacher to respond. “Really! You sleep in my class, and you can practically recite an entire essay for one question!” Mrs. Histine exploded. Before Sarah could answer, there was a knock on the classroom door. “Come in.” Mrs. Histine rubbed her head and returned to the front of the room. A tall man in a business suit with blonde-grey hair (more grey than blonde) emerged from the door. Sarah observed his belt. He had a small handgun tucked into a gun holster and his badge shone in the florescent light. Mrs. Histine became alarmed. “May I help you sir?” “Yes, I’m here searching for…” “I’m sorry but why do you have a gun with you?” Mrs. Histine had also observed the gun strapped to his belt. “Ma’am, I assure you I am licensed to carry this weapon. I am a FBI agent, my name is Devin Thornston, and I’m here to speak with Sarah Christine Moses.” The whole classroom became silent and everyone was shocked. Sarah, who was satisfied with her answer, had drifted back to sleep and had missed the commotion. “Which student is Sarah?” Mrs. Histine pointed to a sleeping Sarah’s desk. The FBI agent poked Sarah a few times before she woke up. “I’ve already answered one question! Can’t I sleep?” Sarah groaned as she sat up. Dark green eyes staring at her startled her. “I’m afraid you are going to have to answer more questions.” Mr. Thornston rested his hands on Sarah’s desk and leaned in towards her. Sarah could tell he was trying to intimidate her by invading her space and figured it was best to play it safe until she knew what was going to happen. Mr. Thornston cleared his throat before he continued. “Is there somewhere we could talk in private?” “There’s a storage room in the back of the classroom.” Mrs. Histine answered. This school was an old building, so there was practically a storage room in every classroom. “That will do.” Sarah followed Mr. Thornston to the storage room. ‘I wonder what he wants with me. I haven’t witnessed anything horrible, and I haven’t threatened to kill anyone.’ Sarah’s thoughts roamed as she entered the storage room. As soon as the door was closed and he turned on the lights, his demeanor changed. He became stoic and cold, and when they entered, he had locked the door behind him so no one could come in. ‘Or leave’. “Please sit down.” Sarah quickly sat in an extra chair in the room and waited for the next question. “Where were you last night around 11 pm?” “Sleepin’.” Sarah kept her answer short, simple, and truthful. Mr. Thornston chewed his lip and leaned in closer. “I have information that tells me otherwise. Like this note for example.” Mr. Thornston pulled from his jacket pocket a plastic, zip-lock bag with a handwritten note inside and slammed it on the desk. Sarah, confused and baffled, looked at the note and back at Mr. Thornston wondering what was so important about the note. “I’m surprised you don’t recognize it. It’s the note you left at the crime scene, isn’t it?” “What? You think I’m a suspect in some investigation?” Sarah asked. “I don’t think; I know. And it’s not just any crime; it was murdering another FBI agent by the name of Mark Coarslyn.” Mr. Thornston accused as he slammed his fist on a desk near the door making Sarah jump. “Is it also true that you are a trained CIA agent working for an experimental branch with five other teenage girls?” Sarah lowered her head in defeat and nodded. “That’s what I thought.” Mr. Thornston turned to leave the storage room into the hallway and pulled out his cellphone. “That doesn’t mean I killed that FBI agent.” Sarah shouted as she stood up from her chair. Mr. Thornston paused for a moment before exiting the room and standing outside. Sarah immediately whipped out her cellphone. In another part of the school, Taylor Michelle Moses sat in her science classroom bored out of her mind. She twirled and twisted her long, red-brown hair and crossed her icy blue eyes. Since she had presented her project first, she was left waiting for everyone else to present. Suddenly, her ringtone set off. She could tell it was Sarah because she had programmed her ringtone to be “You Raise Me Up” by Celtic Woman. Her teacher glared at her. “It’s my twin sister an’ I have a bad feelin’ about this.” She explained to her teacher. The teacher agreed and Taylor answered her phone. “Hello?” “Taylor, we’ve got a problem.” Sarah replied. “What problem?” “Like a ‘FBI is out to get us for murder’ problem.” “That’s not good.” Taylor got up and walked over to the window. She lifted the blinds and could see a coupled of government issued car. “What should we do?” “Activate your watch and warn the others. We have to get out of here. Now!” Sarah hung up the phone and climbed onto a desk in the back of the storage room out of sight of Mr. Thornston. She dislodged one of the ceiling tiles and dragged herself into the vent just like she had been trained during one of Mr. Cooper’s disaster evacuation drills. Before crawling away, Sarah poked her head out of the ceiling and lip read a part of Mr. Thornston’s conversation. “She hadn’t confessed yet but we have enough probable cause to arrest her and her friends.” She ducked back into the vent and placed the ceiling tile back in its place. In the meantime, Melissa had been summoned to the principal’s office and while she was walking through the hallway, she stopped and sniffed the air. Her nose wrinkled and she raised her right eyebrow. “Washington!” She grumbled. Immediately, she snapped into action. Melissa rushed to her locker and grabbed her coat, keys and secret stash. She placed a small earpiece into her ear so she could contact the others. She found an open window, slipped out, and ran to the parking lot. Veronika and Elizabeth also felt that something was amiss. Another FBI agent busted through the door and addressed the classroom. “Veronika Simanova!” The agent said harshly. Veronika raised her hand. “You are under arrest for the conspiracy and murder of agent Coarslyn.” Veronika reached into her pocket and pulled out a pen. She clicked the pen and nothing happened. The FBI agent was stunned at her calm reaction and waited for her to stop clicking the pen. She rapidly clicked her pen until she became too frustrated to continue. “Elizabeth, may I borrow your pen.” Veronika asked. Elizabeth gave her the pen and Veronika clicked that pen only to have nothing happen. “Maybe I should do it, love.” Elizabeth said in her British accent. Elizabeth took the pen from her and clicked it. One of the FBI vehicles exploded outside. This created a distraction and gave Veronika a chance to slip into the air vent. Back in the science room, Taylor had activated her earpiece and asked her teacher to go to the bathroom. She rushed through the hall and went into the bathroom. From there, she ascended into the air vent with Sarah and Veronika. Finally, Lidia heard the ear piece warning and a FBI agent also came into her classroom. “Well, I’m getting out of my least favorite class.” Lidia said out-loud. Before anyone could respond, Lidia reached into her purse, grabbed something, and dropped a small, grey smoke bomb she always carried on her for emergencies. Engulfing the entire room, Lidia used the opportunity to climb into the vent. With the four girls clambering through the vent, each came out at a vent hood leading to outside next to the pig statue. As they lifted themselves out of the vent, Melissa came on the ear piece. “Where are you guys? I have been waiting in the parking lot for ten minutes. My engine is hot, I have Sarah’s secret stash, and I’m not sure how long our escape window will stay open.” “Wait! We have to get my motorcycle!” Taylor insisted. Veronika glared at Taylor and whacked her on the top of her head. “Owe!” “Vwe need to leavve not get motorcycle.” “Honey, your motorcycle is in the back of my truck.” Melissa calmed her. “Oh. Then ok. We can go.” Taylor said. The others rolled their eyes and they made a mad dash to the parking lot. Melissa had a Ford F150 2009 model cherry red. Just like she said, Taylor’s Kawasaki red motorcycle had been loaded into the truck bed and Melissa was in the driver seat ready to go. Taylor called shotgun and leapt into the passenger seat while the others crawled into the back. Melissa put on her swanky black sunglasses and her white truck driver gloves and revved the engine before speeding out of the parking lot. FBI agent cars attempted to surround them, but Melissa’s truck crash through railing, snapping it like a toothpick, and drove through the grass to the street. They disappeared around the corner leaving the FBI agents frustrated and stunned. Special agent Thornston came barging out of the school and began yelling at his team. “How in the world did those girls escape?” “Well…um...see sir…there was this pen and explosion and um there was a smoke bomb and a phone call and a principals note and the bathroom and then…poof.” One of the agents on the team babbled. “I can’t believe that some of my teammates, my teammates, let murderers escape from their high school!” Thornston screamed as his face turned bright red. “Sir, didn’t you leave one of them in a storage room alone for several minutes while you were talking on the phone?” A brave, young, naïve male agent asked. Detective Thornston turned towards the man and glared at him. “Find them now!” Thornston hissed. Meanwhile, Melissa, after turning the corner, had sped for a couple of miles and then slowed down. “Vwhy are vwe slowhing down?” Veronika questioned. “I am slowing down because if we get caught by a police car then we are doomed. Anybody have any ideas as to where we should go?” “How ‘bout we head over to Mr. Coop?” Sarah suggested. “Hey, I was thinkin’ the same thing!” Taylor exclaimed. Sarah rolled her eyes and leaned against the car door to see out the window. She wasn’t entirely sure that the FBI had given up the chase. “My dad will not be happy.” Lidia stated the obvious. “Now why would he be mad at us?” Melissa said sarcastically. “Com’on guys! We have to focus! Where are we goin’?” Sarah interjected. There was a brief period of silence before someone answered. “To Mr. Cooper!” Taylor cried as she pointed her finger forward.
----- CHAPTER BREAK -----
Melissa’s truck came to a stop in front of a CIA storage house. Everyone piled out. Sarah’s legs felt like Jell-O. “Did we really hafta drive around an hour just to throw them off our trail?” She complained. Melissa rolled her eyes. “Sarah, we had to allow people to see us meandering around an hour outside of town so the FBI would go searching there. It is the first move they expect us to make!” Melissa explained. “Yez dear. Vwe must do vwhat vwe haf to to survive.” “Let’s just get this over with.” Lidia sighed. The group entered the storage unit. It was a large, nearly empty room with only steel walls, uncomfortable metal chairs and matching metal tables. Leaning against one of those tables was a tall, middle-aged man with dark black hair. His arms were folded and his look was cold and stern. Lidia walked forward, her head bowed and her hair dangling in her face, and addressed the man. “Hi dad.” She said in a defeated tone. Her dad stood up straight and looked at each girl. Then his gaze fell back on Lidia. “Why did I have the FBI calling me telling me they had a warrant for your arrest?” Lidia looked her dad in the eyes and shrugged. “They never explained.” “Well then, they said that if you show up at CIA headquarters I was to detain you and inform them immediately.” He bluntly stated. “So, you’ll help us?” Taylor hesitantly asked. Cooper raised an eyebrow and walked over to the vault. He punched in the code and the wall opened. A large stash of weapons, gadgets and computers were stored in there. He then, faced the girls. “I would like to help, but I can’t.” The girls bowed their heads in sadness. “I would like to allow you access to all these weapons and CIA property, but I can’t. I would also like to tell you that I’m not going to inform the CIA that you’re here, but I can’t. I would like to tell you there is an empty CIA facility that no one has been to in years called Lot 56 at 2214 Gladson Street 73229, the building behind the wall-mart, but I can’t. I’d like to help you, but I can’t.” The girl’s, catching onto his hints, started to grab everything they could possibly carry. Melissa grabbed one of the laptops; Taylor grabbed a tiny laser; Veronika grabbed specialized BB’s; Sarah grabbed a bag of knives; and Lidia grabbed extra smoke bombs, a small loaded handgun, and pepper spray. “Wait, before you go, tell me what this is about?” “We’re bein’ blamed for the murder of a FBI agent named Mark Coarslyn.” Sarah explained. Cooper’s expression didn’t change. He simply walked out and they heard a car door slam and the car left. Lidia clutched her jacket. “I am so dead!” “Nawh! I’d say you’re fine.” Taylor cut in. Sarah was standing off to the side and she leaned against one of the walls. Suddenly, she was on the ground and the wall had a gaping hole. “I didn’t do it!” “Vwell done. Vwe found…vwhat have vwe found?” Veronika examined the hole and then got a bright idea. She dug into her left jacket pocket and pulled out a tiny flashlight and shinned it into the hole. There it stood a black fridge with tiny kitchen magnets. Veronika opened the fridge and spotted a supply of Dr. Pepper. She gasped in happiness and dragged the pack out of the fridge. Each of the girls seized something out of the fridge until the entire fridge was empty. “Is everyone ready to go?” Melissa asked. They all nodded. “Then we shall head over to our new hideout!” A large assembly of dark black cars pulled up into a driveway. It was a typical suburban neighborhood and the place they were parked was a light blue house with a few trees and bushes. Nothing terribly impressive thought Thornston as the driver parked. Detective Thornston stepped out of the car up front and strolled forward to the door. After ringing the doorbell, a bald man and a dark haired woman answered. “Mr. and Mrs. Moses I presume.” They exchanged worried glances. “Yes. We are the Moses’s.” Frank replied. He tilted his head at the gathering of cars and agents. “What’s with the men in black parade?” Detective Thornston removed his sunglasses and gave them a serious glare. “Your two children are currently fugitives who are being accused of capital murder.” The blunt statement shocked Mrs. Moses. Thornston smirked at her reaction and held up a piece of paper. “I’m sure you’re familiar with a warrant. Now, if you would be so kind?” Frank wrapped his strong arms around Sarah and moved her out of the way and they both stepped to the side allowing the agents inside their house. A skinny woman dressed in a tangerine colored jacket, a pale yellow dress, a lime green scarf, and little cherry dangling earrings stepped out of another car and walked up to the front door. She slowly removed her zebra stripped sunglasses and snapped at the guy following her. “My clipboard!” She commanded. The young man quickly produced a clipboard and a pen. She snatched them from his hands and began to scribble on the paper. When she reached the door, she looked up and stared at Mr. and Mrs. Moses. “You must be the twins’ parents. You seemed stressed and confused. Don’t worry; we’ll bring your daughters back home so you can confront them.” Without waiting for another word, the women charged into the house. Mr. Moses turned back around. “Who’s that?” “Our Psych evaluator. New FBI standard.” Thornston explained. She stared intently at the avocado growing on the table. After taking some more notes, she returned to where they were standing. “Very well. I need to see the suspect’s room.” “Um…upstairs. The second door to the right.” Mrs. Moses directed. “Please. Come and tell me more about them. They share a room?” “Yes. They share a room. Is that bad?” Mrs. Moses cried as the psychologist began to write. “No. Just gives me some background information…Uff!” She nearly stepped on a hairy thing lying on the steps. It was Kovu, Taylor’s dog. He was a large grey/ black, husky/wolf mix. The psychologist shrieked. Kovu lifted his ears and perked up his head when he was wakened by the screaming. Frank snapped his fingers and pointed down the stairs. Kovu obeyed and walked down the stairs. The psychologist took slow, deep breaths and composed herself. She followed the parents to the twins’ room and opened the door. She was shocked. The walls, which you could barely see, were half orange and blue and half purple and yellow. Yet, somehow the color combination didn’t look tacky. On one twin’s side, there were polished guns displayed on the wall along with posters of wolves, Chloe from Celtic Women, and Harry Potter. On the other twins’ side, the wall was covered with sharp, evenly spaced, cleaned, knives along with posters of butterflies, Skillet, and Iron Man. Both beds were unmade; both desks were covered in random junk and figurines, and both had dream catchers dangling over their beds. In the corner of Sarah’s side, Zara sat in her cage. “Raahk! Who’s the fruit cake?” The psychologist, wide-eyed and nearly speechless, hesitated to step into the room. Then, it dawned on her that the parrot was talking to her. “I’m…Rita. Whose bird is that?” Rita was slowly recovering from her initial shock. “That’s Zara and she’s Sarah bird.” Frank answered. Rita nodded and wrote that down. She had a question in her mind, but she felt it was rude and offensive. However, she knew it was critical to her report. She gulped and asked. “Doesn’t it concern you that their room is covered with lethal weapons?” “No.” Both Mr. and Mrs. Moses replied simultaneously. Rita’s mouth dropped. “But,” Mr. Moses continued. “Sarah and Taylor are 1) trained CIA agents 2) responsible and 3) mature and moral young women. Their fascination with guns or knives doesn’t define who they are.” “I’m afraid, considering the state of their room, they are dangerous individuals who I’m surprised haven’t killed before!” Rita huffed and left the room. “Raahk! What’s her deal?” Frank and Sarah stood in the middle of the girls’ room and lowered their heads. They were convinced that their daughters were innocent but they knew it would be hard to prove. Sarah hugged Frank and a tear streamed down her cheek. “Do ya think they’ll be ok?” Frank lifted Mrs. Moses’ head, brushed her hair out of her face, and kissed her cheek. “I think they can handle themselves. Trained CIA agents know how to disappear if they have to.” “But what if they have to stay fugitives? What if they can’t come back?” Frank, heart-broken at his wife’s suggestion, just stood and held her as she cried, unable to answer her questions.
----- CHAPTER BREAK -----
A two story, plain grey building with overgrown weeds and grass stood overlooking the Wal-Mart. Taylor looked up in awe as she stepped out of the truck. Sarah and Veronika joined her. Melissa and Lidia began to unload the truck. They struggled to get the motorcycle out.“Some help please!” Melissa yelled. Veronika shook her head as she went to help them. “I thought you coulhd get motorcycle intoh truck earlier?” She teased. “Placing the motorcycle into the truck was a delicate operation but taking it out of the back is far worse.” “Pull!” Lidia growled. Veronika and Melissa pulled and Taylor’s motorcycle finally came out. They carefully placed it onto the pavement. While they were dealing with the motorcycle, Sarah and Taylor went into the building to scope out any possible problems or intruders. Taylor dug into her backpack and pulled out her lucky handgun. Then, she scanned the surrounding area with her watch. “No strange heat signatures. As far as my watch can tell, no one is here.” Despite Taylor’s assurance, Sarah held her knife ready and proceeded with caution. She opened the door allowing Taylor to go first. Taylor held her gun close to her body as she stepped inside. They heard a few bird flaps and angry squawks. They saw a large, open room with stairs leading to a smaller second floor. There were a couple of doors near the stairs, a few small tables and chairs, and pieces of old tech strewn all over the place. Sarah walked to the center of the room and eyed the giant windows above the second floor.“Hello!” She hollered. The sound echoed and reverberated throughout the open room. No one answered. Sarah motioned for Taylor and pointed to the stairs. Taylor nodded and, in a bent/ crouched position, made her way up the steps. At each door, Sarah kicked the door down and Taylor pointed her gun to an empty room. One was a storage room; the other two were bathroom/shower rooms like typical CIA storage houses. Sarah pressed her earpiece.“All clear.” She informed. The twins ran back down the stairs and opened the warehouse doors. Melissa drove her truck in and Lidia and Veronika pushed Taylor’s bike inside. They each grabbed a chair and sat around the tables holding a cold soda. It was Melissa who broke the silence.“So, what is our plan of action?” “Play hide n seek until we’re caught.” Lidia morbidly stated with an un-amused look on her face.“Ve can’t juzt zit here and do nothing.” Veronika could sense the tensions in the room. Sarah was stroking her Sprite can with her thumb wiping the cold water off. Taylor was fiddling around with some of the scrap on the table. Melissa kept eyeing the ceiling for any hidden cameras, and Lidia was tugging on her shirt. None of the girls wanted to say what they were thinking until Sarah finally stood up.“I don’t know about you guys, but I hate playing hide-n-go-seek. How’s about we visit our FBI friends and see what “evidence” they have against us?”“You think we can just waltz into the FBI and ask what’s-his-face to hand over the case file: absolutely absurd!” Melissa strongly voiced her opinion. “I’m with ya!” Taylor said as she slapped her hand in the center of the table.“Sure. Why not?” Lidia shrugged and set her hand on top of Taylor’s hand.“Me too! I even ‘ave a plan!” Veronika placed her hand into the growing pile.“Have you all gone MAD?” Melissa raved. Each of the girls glared at her until; finally, she let out a frustrated sigh and threw her hand on top. “Fine, but when this all goes horribly wrong, you all shall receive an ‘I told you so’.” Sarah put her hand on top and smiled.“Now, about that plan…”“Wait! They’ll recognize Melissa’s truck! I’m sure they have a bolo out for it by now!” Taylor reminded them.“Oh, that is no problem.” Melissa cockily informed them. She went to her truck and came back with a small brief case. Opening it up, they gazed upon a stockpile of freshly made license plates. “They have a bolo out on my truck with a specific license plate number which are not any of these.”“How did youh get all of theze?” Veronika picked on up and examined the details. It looked exactly like a Virginia license plate.“I have my resources.” Melissa slyly smiled and set to work replacing the license plates. Taylor glanced at Veronika.“Does this mean I can use my new watch camera jammer feature?” “Precisely.” Veronika answered.“Does this mean I can be in stealth mode?” Lidia sighed. Sarah rolled her eyes and grabbed the bag she had recovered from the store house. She slammed the heavy bag on the table and patted it.“Speaking of stealth mode, I hope your plan includes a disguise because I’m going to pay Detective Thornston a visit.” Sarah chuckled.Sarah confidently strolled into the concrete building that housed the Federal Bureau of Investigation Agency. She had worked extremely hard to make herself look the part. She was a women reporter from Arkansas coming here to interview the head detective about their current national case. Her hair was covered by a luminous blonde wig, which she had pinned up with a hair clip, and her face was drenched in makeup. Wearing a sparkling light blue shirt, grey slacks, a name badge, and glowing red lipstick, she had assumed the name Marge Anderson. Stopping at the front desk, she loudly smacked her gum and addressed the secretary.“Excuse me ma’am. I’m lookin’ fo’ a detective Thornston.” Sarah said in her best southern drawl. The secretary eyed Sarah suspiciously, but Sarah, unfazed, flashed her reporter’s badge. “The office at the end of the hall.” The secretary waved her off and Sarah followed her directions. When she reached the door, before knocking, Sarah pulled perfume out of her purse and sprayed a heavy amount. This was the agreed signal. Lidia, Taylor, Melissa, and Veronika had gained entrance moments before by dressing up as janitors after calling them and saying they had the day off. They now waited in a closet by Detective Thornston’s room. It was then that they smelled the perfume. Back at Det. Thornston’s door, Sarah waited for him to open it. He did and he went from a frustrated agent to a perky man.“You must be Marge! Let me tell you I am very pleased that you decided to come all this way just because of your interest in this case.” He gestured her in and pulled out the chair for her to sit in. Once his door closed, the other girls snapped into action. Veronika stood on top of a chair to watch for unexpected visitors. Taylor used her tiny laser to cut a hole into the wall opposite of the one connected with Det. Thornston’s office. Melissa and Lidia climbed through the hole and began their work on the filing cabinet doors. Meanwhile, Det. Thornston sat down in his chair and Sarah began to speak.“Ya know Darlin’, I find the work of a top notch FBI agent like yourself fascinatin’.” Sarah gave a sugary smile and batted her eyelashes. Det. Thornston’s face turned red. “Why don’t you ask me about how the case is going?” “Ok. How’s the case goin’? Do ya have any prime suspects?” Sarah pulled out a pen and notepad and waited for an answer.“Well, I don’t want to alarm anyone, but the suspects are a group of teenage girls who have escaped our custody. They are highly dangerous but we are pretty sure we’ll catch them soon.” Thornston leaned back in his chair and he brimmed with confidence.“Ooh No! You mean ta tell me that there’s a bunch of murderin’ teens on tha loose?” Sarah pretended to be shocked and jotted down the notes. “What evidence do ya have against ‘em?”“We recovered a note found at the crime scene with their confession. Plus, a strand of each girl’s hair was found on the floor. Combined with the knife, gunshot wounds, and weak alibies, this is an open and shut case.” Thornston smirked. How Sarah wished she could stand up and give him a piece of her mind, but she kept her composure and continued to write her reporter notes. Two rooms over, Melissa was listening to the lock trying to figure out the combination. After multiple attempts, Lidia offered to do it and with one try the lock clicked and the cabinet opened. Melissa rolled her eyes and thumbed through the folders. She found their case folder and began to copy the files. Veronika tapped on the walls three times signaling trouble. A young agent, one of the ones working the case, was conversing with a female coworker. Lidia snuck over to the door and locked it. She turned back to Melissa and gestured for her to hurry. Melissa mouthed that she was going as fast as she could. The agent had reached the door and noticed it was locked. Becoming concerned, he and the female coworker went to find someone with a key. Melissa finished the copying a few moments later and they dashed back into the janitor’s closet. Taylor sealed the hole shut with the laser and they sat in the closet waiting for Sarah’s interview to end. Of course, it seemed Thornston would talk forever. Talking about his reputation, his impressive awards, his multiple, “remarkable” past cases made Sarah bored out of her mind. All the while, she had to scribble down these useless facts. Finally, she looked at her cheap watch and gasped.“Oh my! Look at the time! Boy-oh-boy, time flies when ya interviewin’ someone as talented and inerestin’ as you.” Sarah almost chocked on the words. This was the worst part about disguises, appealing to the enemy.“Oh, don’t let me keep you from your other appointments.” Det. Thornston stood up and escorted Sarah out of the room. “I hope this meeting was informative.”“Believe me, you have givin’ me more than enough!” Sarah giggled. She made her way out of the building and headed to Melissa’s car. Sarah pulled Melissa’s keys out of her purse and twirled them. She hopped into the truck and revved the engine and smiled. Now she knew why Melissa loved her truck so much. It was fun to start. She pulled out of the front parking lot and drove to the back by the meeting point. Four figures in janitor outfits rushed out the back door and into the truck. Sarah pulled out of the parking lot onto the street and started driving to their hideout. “So, did you get the package?”“Ohf course. Vhat do you think vould happen?” Veronika joked. Lidia held up a manila folder filled with papers.“That’s the copy, right?” Sarah didn’t want the FBI to charge them with obstruction of justice. “Again, yes. What, you thought we didn’t succeed?” Taylor teased. While they were driving back to the hideout, Det. Thornston was pleasantly reading a few closed case reports that needed to be finalized. It was then that the young agent came bursting into the room with a distressed look on his face. “What is it this time?” Thornston sighed.“Sir…there’s been a break in.” The man cringed waiting for his boss’s response. Det. Thornston froze. Then, he grabbed the agent by the shirt collar. “Where?” He hissed. The agent pointed to his left.“The file room sir.” Det. Thornston threw him to the side and stormed into the file room. He addressed the file keeper.“What was stolen?”“Apparently nothing sir. All they found was a file sitting on this cabinet and the door open. Plus, for some strange reason, the copy machine was used. Unless someone got lazy and didn’t clean up after themselves, highly unlikely, I’d say the perpetrators broke in a made a copy of this.” He handed the file to Det. Thornston. It was the FBI agent murder case. Thornston became furious. He had them under his nose the whole time and he let them escape! “I want those girls caught and I want them caught NOW!” He shouted. Every agent in the room sprang to life and began putting out bolos for the girls. Thornston stopped one woman and handed her a picture of Marge. “Get a bolo out on her also.”
----- CHAPTER BREAK -----
“Let’s open the folder!” Taylor jerked it out of Lidia’s hands, and Veronika snatched it from Taylor. “Ve can’t open dis now!” Taylor gave her an intense stare but Veronika’s glare scared her enough to make her stop. “Ve have no idea vho could be vatching us in dis open environment.” Sarah, who had been trying to get the bickering couples attention, swerved the truck some to startle them. Once she had their undivided attention, she spoke.“Never mind the folder. While it was a pain listenin’ to Det. Thornston, I did manage to get some usable info.” Sarah handed her notepad to Melissa, who was sitting in the passenger seat, and asked her to read what was underlined.“Kayleen Ugfo; world renowned sculptor of the famous statue collection, ‘Greyless Souls’ lives on 1415 ninth street in Washington D.C. She was a witness to the horrendous murder of Mark. She ‘saw five figures lurking in the bushes as she passed by his vacation house. With the knife glinting in the moonlight, a girl with brown hair in a ponytail and blue eyes stepped out of the shadows and told me that if I ever told anyone what I saw, I would be killed.’ Why Sarah, I never knew you threatened a famous sculpture.” Melissa joked.“That was so funny I forgot to laugh.” Lidia bluntly stated. It sent Taylor and Melissa in an uproar. Sarah waited 5 min for their hearty laughter to die down and then she continued.“The point is the FBI has a witness that places us somewhere we weren’t, has me threatening her, and…”“Vait…you zaid Kayleen Ugfo, right?” Veronika cut in. Her eyes lit up. Kayleen Ugfo was an artist she admired. ‘Greyless Souls’, Kayleen’s masterpiece, often gave her inspiration for her own artwork. One particular stature, ‘Grey on the Inside’, which was on display in a park near the Russian Embassy, was her absolute favorite. It consisted of human-like figures posing, each half covered in one precious metal (gold, bronze, silver, and copper), and the other half was covered in the same shade of the original clay color; grey. Paired with a few Celtic women songs, they defined what she could only barely begin to put into words. A glossy look came over her eyes and she transported herself to a different place; to her tranquil oasis. Only the sound of snapping fingers and the hand waving an inch from her face brought her back to reality. “Veronika!” Taylor called. Veronika sat up straighter and the glossy look left her eyes.“Welcome back.” Lidia smirked. Veronika punched Lidia in the shoulder. Lidia rubbed her shoulder.“Yes. We said Kayleen Ugfo. Can we get back on topic now?” Sarah sighed. Everyone stopped talking and waited for Sarah to continue. “So, something doesn’t feel right. A famous artist stumbles upon a crime scene and doesn’t say anything because a teenage girl carrying a glittery knife jumped out of a bush and said, ‘I’ll kill you!’.”“Sounds a bit far-fetched to me.” Melissa commented. “If the witness insists on lying, they should really come up with a semi believable story.” Sarah rolled her eyes as she pulled the truck to the side of the road, put it in park, and turned the key. The roar of the engine died. The girls looked around wondering where they were. They were definitely not at the Wal-Mart. It was a large house surrounded by old, giant oaks and picturesque fountains, luscious flower gardens, and tiny grey statues. “Where are we?” Taylor asked. Lidia, without asking any questions, got out of the truck. Sarah checked herself in the review mirror, fluffed up her wig a bit, and reapplied the cherry-red lipstick.“We are at Ms. Ugfo’s house.” Sarah answered. Veronika squealed and a huge toothy grin appeared. Melissa just rolled her eyes and, like everyone else, began to exit the truck. Sarah stopped her. Melissa gave her a pouting expression. Sarah raised an eyebrow. Melissa sat up straighter, crossed her arms, and stuck up her nose in defiance. Sarah dangled the keys in front of her face. Melissa swung her arm and seized her truck keys and stomped to the driver side.“Must I always be the getaway driver? I can do so much more and yet every time…” Melissa mumbled unhappily. Sarah waited for her to slam the door before she walked up the steps. Veronika, Taylor, and Lidia were already there and Veronika had already ringed the doorbell. The sound of stomping footsteps and frustrated groans came from beyond the door. A tall woman with tan skin and golden hair opened the door.“How many times have I told you, I DON’T WANT YOUR MAGIZINES!” She screamed. The girls were taken aback by the artist shouts. It was then that Ms. Kayleen noticed that she didn’t recognize them. She went from a rampaging woman to a sweet lady. “I apologize for that. There have been some…issues with solicitors. Please come in and allow us to get acquainted.” Still shocked at the sudden outburst, the girls meandered into her home. Grey paint, paintings, china, and sculptures with a silver chandelier adorned the walls. Veronika was in complete awe. She stared with her jaw hanging on the floor, completely speechless. The artist gave her a funny look.“She’s just one of your many admires.” Sarah quickly stated. “Yeah. Ok…shall we?” Mrs. Ugfo gestured to the living room sofa. Lidia, Sarah, and Taylor sat. Ms. Ugfo offered some drinks and cookies. Taylor went for one but Lidia slapped her hand.“We’re fine.” Lidia crossed her arms and leaned back into the cushy sofa. Mrs. Ugfo crossed her legs and sipped some tea.“Now, I suppose introductions are in order. I, as I’m sure you know, am Kayleen Ugfo. And you…you all seem oddly familiar.” Squinting her eyes, Ms. Ugfo searched her mind to find the answer. The girl’s gave each other quick glances and Sarah cleared her throat.“Well doll, ya probably heard of me. These are my assistants- Lidia, Veronika, and Taylor- and I’m Marge Anderson, a reporter from Arkansas. I’m doing a story about the dead FBI agent, and I heard from a reliable source that you are a witness to this horrendous crime. Care to enlighten us?” She handed a piece of paper to Lidia and snapped at her signaling that she wanted her to take notes.“Of course. I was at my vacation home off the coast of Virginia and apparently I and the FBI agent had vacation homes in the same neighborhood. I was taking a walk when I noticed his house lights were on, a very rare occasion, and I heard rustling in the bushes. The next thing I knew, this teenage girl with brown hair in a tangled ponytail and bloodshot blue eyes was threatening me with a gun. I told her I wouldn’t tell and she disappeared back into the bushes but not before I noticed that she wore a yellow necklace.” The artist nodded in satisfaction with her descriptive account of the “traumatic” event. By now, Veronika had finally wandered in and sat on the far end of the couch. Taylor fiddled with her watch and Lidia was “writing” Kayleen Ugfo’s story. Sarah, pretending to be interested, smiled.“Wow, you were so brave. I feel an inspirational story brewin’. Lidia, I hope you have fantastic notes. Um…if you don’t mind me asking, where’s the bathroom?” “Down the hall to your right. The first door.” Sarah politely thanked her and went to the bathroom. This left an awkward silence between the group still there. Lidia tapped the pencil against the paper anxious to slam her foot into Ugfo’s face. Veronika’s eyes wandered around the room capturing every bit of grey detail. Taylor continued to fiddle with her watch. She too was apprehensive so she set her watch from kill to stun. Ms. Ugfo sat straight and cross-legged while twiddling her thumbs. ‘Wow, they don’t look too thrilled to be here.’ Ms. Ugfo pulled the bottom of her dress down to her knees in an attempt to release the stress of the silence. Then, she heard the toilet flush and the anxiety in the room seemed to evaporate. ‘Finally, someone I can talk too!’ She whirled around to greet Marge but the young women who stood in front of her was not Marge. In fact, she looked really familiar. She also had a long knife in her right hand. “Recognize me?” Sarah jeered. Kayleen leaned back a bit and furiously shook her head no. The other girls rose and cut off Kayleen’s potential escape routes. “Come on? You really don’t remember me?” “I have no idea who you are!” Kayleen grabbed the pillow. Lidia pulled out her small handgun and pointed it at her temple. Ms. Ugfo froze and contemplated her chances of survival.“Try me.” Lidia mocked. Kayleen slowly put down the pillow.“I still don’t know who you are.” She pathetically cried. “Veronika, please inform Ms. Ugfo why we know she’s lying.” Sarah said. “Da loohk in your eyez, you keep loohking dovwn vhen you say you don’t know uz, your body posture changed, zhould I continue?” Kayleen’s shoulders dropped but she continued to vehemently deny knowing them.“Guess you only remember my knife if it was glitterin’ in the moonlight.” The realization that her gig was up began to sink in for Kayleen. “Crap!” Was the only word she could muster. Her face went pale and she bowed her head like a prisoner before they were executed. “Just kill me quickly and get this over with.” The girls gave each other weary glances.“We don’t want to kill you.” Taylor told Kayleen. Kayleen lifted her head and her eyes were filled with tears of happiness.“I thought….but I sold you out….how could you….oh this has gotten out of hand!” She threw her hands up in frustration.“But we want to know why you sold us out and who you sold us out for.” Lidia ordered. She still had the gun trained on her head.“I was losing money because no one was buying my statues anymore. Everyone adored ‘Greyless Souls’ and they wanted more of that but, as a true artist, I had moved on. Anyways, I was on the verge of debt when someone contacted me and gave me the opportunity to make money. All I had to do was come forward as a witness to this guy’s murder. I was so desperate for money, I didn’t question it. They showed me a picture of you,” She pointed to Sarah. “And said I had to describe you coming out of his house around 11 pm. After that, I had enough money to pay my bills and start sculpting again.” She sighed and paused. “How could jou? My favorite arizt, a horrible scandal, vhy?” Veronika whined. “I’d hate to be the one to interrupt your rant but we need that other information. Who hired you to be a false witness?” Kayleen’s mouth opened and the name was on the tip of her tongue. BANG! A loud gunshot interrupted the interrogation. Sarah, Veronika, Lidia, and Taylor immediately dropped to the ground. Veronika, who had stood next to the window facing the backyard and woods, peeked out of the blinds. She signed that there was a man hopping out of a tree close by. Lidia, who was next to the other window facing the street, took out her handgun and opened the blinds. She also saw the mysterious figure headed for a black Sudan parked further down the street. Lidia opened the window quickly, aimed her handgun, and fired. With a single shot, she lodged a bullet into the man’s leg and with another shot; she put a bullet in his arm. Despite her best efforts, the man continued to run and before she could shoot him again, he scrambled into the Sudan and the car drove off. Sarah crawled to where Ms. Ugfo had been. Blood and chunks of brain stained the white sofa. Kayleen Ugfo’s eyes were still open and a large, gaping hole leaked into a pool of blood around her head. She lay limp on the floor, dead. “Is she dead?” Taylor asked. Sarah shook her head yes. She could feel the burning sensation of stomach acid reach her throat, but she swallowed it back. Veronika’s eyes widened and she stared at the couch, the floor and Ms. Ugfo’s body. If Taylor wasn’t mistaken, she even saw a glimpse of tears in Veronika’s eyes. However, Veronika stood up and walked towards the door.“Ve better get out of here. The FBI vill be here zoon!” The other girls got up and followed. Their heads hung low as they climbed into the truck. Melissa, who was still upset about being left behind in the truck, was ranting and wanting to know how it went. No one answered. Taylor, Veronika and Lidia sat in the back mourning the loss of Ms. Ugfo while Sarah sat up front attempting to steer Melissa off subject. Finally, Veronika snapped. “Shut up! Zhe is dead!” The rest of the ride was traveled in complete silence. Even Melissa, the chatter box, held her tongue. They reached the hideout and Veronika hurried out of the car. Sarah and Taylor decided they would go to Wal-Mart and use the money and credit card they got from Mr. Cooper to stock up on supplies. Veronika grabbed her backpack and jacket, stomped up the steps, and locked herself in one of the bathrooms. Lidia sighed and went to the other bathroom to take a shower. Melissa, left standing alone in the large room, started rummaging through her bag searching for anything to entertain her. She pulled out her computer and turned it on.
----- CHAPTER BREAK -----
Lidia moaned and curled further into the sleeping bag. The morning light was shining from the large windows. She tried to ignore it but soon the light was shining in her face. Yawning, she slowly lifted herself out of bed and looked around. Veronika had come out of the bathroom about 1:00 am and was half asleep in the sleeping bag next to her. Sarah, who had an internal alarm clock, woke up half an hour earlier and was now in the shower. Taylor also woke up early and was nowhere to be found. Neither was Melissa. Lidia searched her backpack until she found her hairbrush. She attacked the thick black weeds on her head until she managed to clip it down and tie it with a hairband. She stumbled out of the upstairs room and downstairs to the main area. She passed one of the bathrooms and heard the continuous roar of hot water. ‘Sarah must still be in the shower. Weirdo! Showers at night are better.’ Lidia gripped. Once downstairs, a container of chocolate chip muffins, perched on the table, caught her eye. She picked one up and started to eat it. Taylor was hard at work messing around with broken tech she gathered from the scattered remains of some long forgotten CIA project. She was dismantling a hard-drive and comparing the results to her watch. Melissa was hard at work on her computer. She could type well; her fingers flew across the keyboard. Lidia, in between mouthwatering bites of her gooie muffin, decided to speak.“What are you working on?” She asked Taylor. “This old microchip. Apparently, it was used to send a severe shock to someone when implanted. It caused the subjects to throw up, go unconscious, and even killed a few people.” Lidia stopped chewing her muffin and gave Taylor an eyebrow. She had peeked her curiosity. “Of course that was only when they had an underline heart condition.” Lidia rolled her eyes and, against her better judgment, asked another question. “Who did they implant the microchips in?”“Mainly criminals to make sure they didn’t escape. This is where they would go before bein’ incarcerated.” Lidia froze. The irony and coincidence seemed uncanny. Hiding in a place that was many criminals final stopping place before being herded into prison sent a chill down her spine. Taylor simply shrugged and continued her experiment. Lidia then turned to Melissa.“What are you doing?” “I, my curious friend, am doing some research.” Melissa had that smug smile on her face; the one that said, ‘I dare you to ask another question’. The door to the shower opened and, surround by a thick fog of steam, Sarah walked out fully dressed in an Iron man logo T-shirt, jeans, her same tennis shoes, and her necklace. Her hair swung back and forth in a wet ponytail as she walked down the stairs. Veronika also emerged from the room and joined them downstairs. “What research might this be?” Sarah interjected. Melissa shifted her computer so that everyone could see and moved away. They saw bank statements and transactions for Kayleen Ugfo.“I have been researching Ms. Ugfo’s bank records. I have confirmed that she was, indeed, telling the truth.” Veronika gave Melissa an intense glare but Melissa continued. “A few days ago, Ms. Ugfo received $1 million dollars broken up into four deposits and accounts of $250,000. What was unknown to her was that these deposits were only temporary. It states in the fine, fine print that should the holder of the deposits die, the money shall return to the original owner. So, as of now, the deposits have back tracked to their origin. Unfortunately, yours truly lost the trail from there. Whoever created these accounts has some serious bank knowledge and has dealt with blood money before.” Blood money was a term the girls created to symbolize money transactions that kept people quiet, manifested false witnesses, or finalized a kill contract. Lidia always hated dealing with blood money, like the other girls, because if you had a professional, then the trail was almost impossible to follow. Sarah crossed her arms and frowned. “I hate blood money! Someone always manages to die ‘cause they accepted it.” “Vell, dat’s de vay the cookie crumblez.” Veronika stood up and closed the computer. Her tense muscles and leaning stature tipped off the girls that she was still upset about Kayleen’s death the other day. Melissa snatched her laptop away and opened it back up.“Hey! I was uploading my online comic strip. I hope you did not stop the upload.” Melissa clicked around and checked. To her delight, the upload was complete. Lidia, Sarah, Veronika, and Taylor stared at her. “Did you say upload?” Taylor cringed hoping that she said no.“Yes.” Lidia threw her hands up in the air, Sarah rubbed her forehead, and Taylor laid her head on the table in defeat. Veronika, on the other hand, was beyond furious. Her nostrils flared and she shook with anger. She grabbed Melissa’s shoulders, after Melissa had set her laptop back on the table, and squeezed her arms.“Vhat vhere you thinking?” She screamed. “You really had to update today?”“Well of course I had to update today.” Melissa huffed. “I cannot disappoint my fan club.”“Well, it’s been nice known’ y’all.” Sarah dramatically sighed.“Well, we lasted longer than I thought.” Lidia morbidly joked. Veronika released Melissa’s arms, seized her shirt, and got inches away from her face. “Now they can track uz to our current location!” Veronika roared, letting go of Melissa, and pushing her back into the wall. Before Veronika could do any further damage (she was reaching for her gun), Sarah stepped between them.“Enough! The FBI will be here soon once they’ve tracked the signal. What we need to do, instead of fightin’, is gather our gear and hit the road. We can’t stay here anymore.” Sarah pointed at Lidia. “Lidia, go upstairs and dump all our unnecessary supplies and leave the sleepin’ bags. Taylor grab all the useful tech you can find. Veronika, grab our food and weapons and Melissa, load the motorcycle into the truck.” Nobody questioned Sarah’s orders but Lidia could tell that Veronika was a mad Russian. She vowed that Melissa would pay for her slip up and trudged upstairs to follow orders while mumbling something undistinguishable in Russian. Sarah decided to help Melissa load Taylor’s motorcycle. Lidia could hear their conversation. “Veronika has a right to be mad, ya know.” “Ah, this place was getting old anyways. Shall we skip town? I know a wonderful place in Florida where no one will ever find us.” Sarah rolled her eyes. That was Melissa; she always had a hidden agenda. Usually, Sarah was clued in but this was a low blow for her. She had absolutely no idea that Melissa would risk their survival for a stupid online comic. Now she understood. Melissa didn’t like it here and she gave them a reason to leave and hightail it to Florida. Before she could counter argue, Taylor decided she wanted to ride her motorcycle. “I think it’s time for me to burn some rubber with my baby!” “Uh…Fine. But I’m ridin’ with ya!” Sarah said. Taylor gave no objections and simply handed Sarah her bike helmet. “I figured ya wanted to.” Veronika came down stairs carrying backpacks and bags filled with their stuff. Taylor offered to help her but Veronika grumbled that she didn’t need her help. She tossed the bags into the back of the truck and slammed the truck door when she sat down inside. Turning to Lidia, Sarah whispered, “Keep the peace between them until we reach Florida.” Lidia nodded and sat up front in the passenger seat. Taylor and Sarah opened the warehouse doors and quickly hopped on Taylor’s bike. Then, they were off and their long journey to Florida began. “Ugh…why are bike seats so uncomfortable?” Sarah whined. Taylor didn’t answer. She was too busy feeling the air rush through her ears, hearing the car horns, and smelling the gasoline. This was her life; living in the fast lane. Sarah just never understood her love for dangerous stunts, sweaty hands, oil covered shoes, and grimy grease stains. For those who knew them, this was one of the few traits that separated the twins. Sarah leaned further in and asked, “Are we there yet?” “When we get there you’ll be the first to know!” Taylor hollered. She wasn’t sure if Sarah had heard her comment. Sarah seemed edgy and even a little uneasy. She kept glancing behind the bike searching for something or someone. “What are you looking at?” “Don’t look now but I think someone’s tailin’ us!” Sarah yelled. “If someone was followin’ us, Melissa would’ve warned us by now.” Taylor argued. Sarah tugged her twin’s jacket to keep her attention. “Melissa is preoccupied with Veronika’s anger and the money trail.” Taylor still shook her head in disbelief. However, her instinct told her that Sarah was right. The black Sudan had been following them ever since Virginia. The car pulled up in the lane next to them but instead of speeding pass the motorcycle, the Sudan swerved slightly. Sarah screamed and hugged her sister tighter. Taylor swerved and gunned the motor enough (and just in time) to dodge the Sudan. “You’re right, they were tailin’ us! Now we gotta run them off the road.” Taylor said as she gritted her teeth. Shooting people on the highway on a motorcycle would be a difficult task. Sarah swung around the side, hanging on to Taylor like a baby monkey; she reached out towards the front of the motorcycle and opened the secret compartment under the handle bars. A small handgun popped out and she lifted herself back into position. “Don’t jerk the bike or make any sudden turns alright?” Sarah hollered. She slowly turned and lifted herself so that she was sitting backwards facing the Sudan which was behind them in the other lane. Her eyes became focused as she aimed for the tires. Taylor braced her ears for the noise but Sarah didn’t fire. “Why aren’t you firing?” She yelled. “If I fire too soon, it will cause a major accident and I don’t want that to happen.” Sarah yelled back. Taylor rolled her eyes. Leave it to Sarah to wait for the precise moment to do a simple job. Finally, Sarah fired the gun and Taylor heard the loud pop of a busted tire and the screech of breaks. She felt Sarah turn back around and took the gun from her. Taylor placed it back in the bike compartment.
----- CHAPTER BREAK -----
Finally, after crossing many states in record time, they made it to Pensacola Florida and, when they reached the bayou, they left the truck and motorcycle in the parking area and stole a small, fast boat. They reached Marvin’s house and got out of the boat. “Uncle Marvin!” Melissa called. A man covered in leaves and cameo gear jumped out of the bushes with a cross bow. “Oh…it’s just you.” Marvin groaned. Melissa sneered and stuck her tongue out at him. “Nice to see you too.” She sarcastically jeered. He lowered his crossbow and his shoulders dropped. Then, he walked to his car trunk and opened it up. “Well, are you and your friends coming?” He asked. “Naw! We’ll head into my home and we’ll join you in a few minutes.” She replied as she walked to the hood of the Marvin’s car. She opened it up and tossed a bag down. “Taronamo!” She hollered. Then she gestured to Veronika who huffed and descended down the stairs. Sarah grabbed Lidia and began to whisper. “How was the ride over?” “Veronika only yelled once. The rest was fine.” “Really, I’d expect more Kaboom!” “You thought wrong.” Lidia resituated the bag on her shoulder and went down the stairs. Sarah rolled her eyes and also went down the stairs leaving Melissa to go last and in charge of shutting the door. Melissa’s “house” was an underground hole filled with miss matched furniture. There were posters and papers scattered on the wall of her cute, online comic characters, a big TV, a giant vault, an orange fridge, a few chairs and one couch, an orange and red lava lamp, and an over cluttered desk piled high with stray papers and CDs. Lidia went to the fridge and grabbed some waters and tossed them at the rest of the girls. Melissa strolled over to her desk and, with one swift movement of her arm, she pushed everything off her desk onto the floor and a few papers fell into the trash can. Flopping the folder onto the desk, she stared at it as the other girls surrounded her. The vanilla colored folder taunted them, practically begged them to open it. “Open it!” Taylor cried when the suspense became too much. Even Veronika and Lidia were growing impatient. “Ok, Ok! Hold your petunias!” Melissa complied and opened the folder. Then she proceeded to read it allowed with the other girls sitting around her. It was like a kid Christmas story reading time. When Melissa was done, the girls waited for someone to speak. “That was dumb.” Lidia leaned back into her beanbag chair. “I’ll zay!” Veronika agreed. “They don’t have enough evidence to support any of their claims!” Sarah protested. “Yeah, we could disclaim every one of their statements with the evidence we’ve gathered!” Taylor shook her fist in frustration. “Then why not fill this folder with all the right evidence!” Melissa proposed. The girls hesitated. “Come on! We technically never tampered with the evidence if this is only a copy filled with helpful suggestions for the FBI.” “Well, when ya put it that way…” Sarah said. She reached into her pocket and pulled out a small tape recorder. The others looked stunned as she set it next to the folder. “It’s Kayleen Ugfo’s confession about being a false witness for money.” “Sarah, have I ever told you how much I love you!” Her twin sister ambushed her with a hug. “Bravo!” Melissa applauded. Veronika seemed less enthusiastic but still pleased that Sarah managed to save their necks. “What other evidence do we have to contribute?” “Let’s see…” Sarah wondered. They examined the evidence in folder and scribbled throughout it adding in their opposing evidence until almost every bit of evidence was disclaimed. The folder was now filled with witty comments, such as ‘Do they really think we are that stupid?’, and scraps of evidence that they personally collected. “Nowh that buzinezz iz over, vhat nowh?” “I suppose we shall wait until we find new evidence, but as far as where to look, I have not a clue.” Melissa sighed and closed the folder. “Well, I have a picture of the guy that was tailing us and a picture of the license plate.” Lidia dug into her bag and pulled out her camera and showed everyone the picture. “Well, let me just type that number into the computer…” Melissa’s computer was out of her bag in a flash and her fingers were flying across the keys in no time. However, the frown on her face told a grim story. She sighed as she closed her computer. “I’m afraid the plates are from a stolen car.” The other girls shook their heads. Clearly, they were dealing with a professional. “What about the photo of the guy?” Taylor asked. “It’s a little blurry and it’s not the best picture but it’ll do.” Sarah commented. “Well I did the best I could!” “I’m sure you did. Hey, you got a picture of me shooting the tire.” “Yeah, I did.” “I look like I’m about to shoot the passengers or the driver. I look deranged!” “Yep.” “Alright! Enough talk about deranged monkeys and puny vocabularies. We have got to examine the picture.” Melissa chimed in. “Unless your uncle has facial recognition software, we can’t exactly do that right now.” Sarah chimed in. “Ve can go toh my houze.” “Yeah, I’d like that.” Taylor agreed. “The FBI finds us there they can’t arrest us!” “Actually, our current Russian-American treaty states that…” “Melissa, let me enjoy my comfort and peace-of-mind for once!” “Well, I guess we should head back to Washington.” Sarah began to pack up everything they unpacked. “DINNER!” Marvin called. “Right after dinner and a good night sleep!” “Ugh! My legs and butt can’t handle another cross-country road trip. Can we try to stay in D.C. this time?” Sarah complained as she lifted herself from the motorcycle and removed her helmet. Her hair was almost coming out of her ponytail. “Hey sis, helmet hair doesn’t suit you.” Taylor chuckled. Sarah tossed her yellow helmet at Taylor who barely caught it. “Ha ha ha! You’re a regular comedian.” “Now girls, let us not forget what we came here to do. We are in Washington and must step lightly. Now, Veronika, if you please.” Melissa stepped aside and Veronika rolled her eyes. Here was Melissa, the least discrete of the group, telling everyone to “step lightly”. What she did in the storage house was still ingrained in Veronika’s mind, and she would surely punish Melissa properly for that slip up. But, Veronika choose not to argue and she stepped up to the door. “Thiz iz Zilver leader and gueztz. Ve requzt entry.” A long silence before there was a beep. “Come in.” The voice said. The doors unlocked and the girl’s walked in. An army of Russian men descended upon the girls the moment they entered. Of course, Taylor, Sarah, Melissa, and Lidia were all accustomed to the swarm of Russian soldiers. They usually chatted with them but this time, they just stood there absentmindedly waiting for Veronika’s father or sister. It was not long before the pudgy, stout Russian with grey hair and a blonde girl with blue, green eyes and pale skin came through the elevator. The blonde girl, Elizabeth, rushed past the soldiers and hugged Veronika. “I zo glad you made it love.” Elizabeth cried in her dual Russian and British accent. Veronika gave her a pat on the back. “Don’t vorry. Ve here nov.” Veronika smiled. ‘Home at lazt.’ Then, her dad spoke. “Men, dat’s all.” The soldiers lowered their guns and disappeared through the doors they had come through. After they left, Ivan extended his arms. “Hov iz my lovely daughter and her друг?” Veronika hugged her father. “Ve are fine.” “Goohd. I vaz gehtting vorried.” Then, he turned to the other girls. “I apologize fohr the gaurdz. Feel free to, hov do youh zay, crazh in da bazement.” “Dad….don’t ever zay that again.” Ivan just chuckled and walked over to the elevator. Elizabeth and Veronika guided the weary, tired girls to a staircase and they descended until they reached a dark, grey room with nothing but two chairs around a metal table. Veronika sighed. “Vaht a borhing bazement.” She pushed a side button and everything in the basement rearranged. A TV screen appeared on the big wall, a couch arose from the ground, random decorations flopped out from the ceiling and all the doors opened reviling a fridge, more comfortable chairs, and a king sized fold out bed. Sarah, without hesitation, dropped her bag and flopped onto the bed. “Sweet, sweet, wonderful bed. Oh, how I missed you.” Melissa was about to run to the bed and jump on it to scare Sarah, but Veronika grabbed her arm. “Ve goht zome unfinized buzinezz.” Veronika growled as she gave her famous “you’re dead” glare. Melissa frantically tried to escape Veronika’s grasp but the more Melissa squirmed, the tighter Veronika’s hand squeezed her wrist. Dragging her towards one of the uncomfortable chairs, Veronika shoved her down and pulled out her twist ties and duct tape from her supply bag. As she began tying her down, Taylor, Lidia, and Elizabeth watched in amusement. “So that’s why she wanted duct tape and twist ties.” Taylor realized. “Yep.” “Wow. They must have had a terrible argument.” Elizabeth said. “You have no idea.” Lidia replied. “I demand to know what the meaning of this is. How dare you strap me to this ridiculously, ungodly uncomfortable, cold, miserable metal chair that your father used to torture people in. Let me go!” “And fohr the final touch.” Veronika smugly smiled as she gagged Melissa so that she could not talk and she duct taped Melissa’s head to where she could not turn. Melissa tried to holler but her sounds were muffled by the duct tape. “Nov, Lidia, pazt me the Twilight moviez.” Lidia handed her a few packages of never-been-opened-before DVDs and Veronika laughed as she ripped off the wrappings and inserted the DVD into the player. While Veronika enjoyed Melissa’s torture, Taylor felt a grumble and she clutched her stomach. “Um…is there anything we can eat? I’m starving.” “Don’t worry love, I’ll order us some pies. Who wants what?” “Pepperoni.” “Cheeze pleaze.” “I don’t care.” “Pepperoni and sausage.” “MMMMMMMHHHHHHHHH!!!” “And that’s a supreme pizza for Melissa.” Sarah translated. “Hmmmmmmmm…” “With cheese filled crust.” Elizabeth nodded as she listened to the orders and grabbed a wall phone. The girls could almost smell the pizza and taste the stringy cheese on their tongue. They patiently waited until the pizza came. Sarah stayed on the bed tossing and turning. Lidia began unpacking her bag. Taylor tapped her foot as she leaned against the wall. Veronika continued laughing at Melissa while making sure that every time Melissa closed her eyes, Veronika would give her a swift kick in the shins. Melissa loudly protested through the duct tape. “MMMMMMMMMHHHHHHHH!!!” “She says she’ll find a way to get you back for this.” Sarah said without even opening her eyes. “Thiz iz payback fohr the storage roohm!” “MMMMMMMMMHHHHHHHHH!!!” Veronika looked toward Sarah for her interpretation. This time, Sarah sat up and her eyes were wide open. “I’m not gonna repeat that.” Before Veronika could protest or respond, Elizabeth’s voice rang out from the top of the stairs. “The pies are here!” Taylor stopped pacing and dashed up the stairs. In no time, Elizabeth and Taylor were down in the basement carting bottles of soda and four large boxes that smelled of baked cheese and pizza sauce. The girl’s mouths watered as their pizzas were distributed and they began to chow down. Well, all of them except for Melissa who stared at her box with wide eyes while moaning. “Uh….Veronika. Shouldn’t you take the duct tape off Melissa so she can eat?” Sarah questioned. “Zhe zhould zuffer.” “Starvin’ her to death won’t solve your problem.” “Fine.” Veronika grumbled as she ripped the duct tape off of Melissa’s mouth. “Finally I am free!” And without hesitation, Melissa leaned over and began eating the pizza with her mouth like a dog. After staring at her a few moments, the other girls continued eating as well. The conversation stalled for a while before Elizabeth picked up the ball. “So, what brings you back to D.C. and the embassy?” “Facial recognition.” Lidia answered. “You got a pic?” “Yep.” “She also gotta pic of me which I’ll destroy in due time.” Sarah said. Then, she took a bite of her pizza and the cheese began to fall off. She worked hard to balance the pizza slice and cut the cheese with her teeth. Pizza sauce drizzled down her fingers and dripped into the box. “Vhat a mezzy eater.” “You should see her with spaghetti.” Taylor chuckled, hoping no one noticed her hands were also covered in pizza sauce also. “Hey! You’re just as bad as me! You were doin’ the same thin’ two seconds ago!” Sarah commented. “Dearies, can we stay on topic?” Sarah and Taylor stopped pointing their fingers and reached for napkins. But then, Melissa came up and her face was covered in pizza sauce like a baby eating her food. Taylor and Sarah had to work hard not to burst out laughing. “Here” Lidia said as she passed a napkin Melissa’s way. Melissa started at the napkin like it was an alien. “As much as I would love to use the napkin you have so graciously provided me with, I am afraid my hands are unavailable at the present moment due to a grudge.” She paused in her rant as she eyed Veronika. “However, if someone were to take the napkin and remove the sauce from my face for me, I would not protest. Any nominees?” “I volunteer Veronika!” Taylor shouted as her hand shot in the air. “I second the motion.” Sarah said as her hand also shot up. “Vhy me?” “Because it was your idea to torture her.” Lidia justified. Veronika sighed as she picked up the napkin and wiped Melissa’s face with it. “Thank you.” Melissa gave Veronika a huge, toothy grin. But Veronika responded by quickly lashing out with a piece of duct tape and Melissa was reduced to mumbling again. “MMMMMMMMMMHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!” “Youhr Velcome.” Veronika laughed. “So, you guys need to use the software?” Elizabeth asked. The girls nodded. “Well then, what are we waiting for?” She opened her laptop and began attacking the keys as she pulled the software up. Then, once it was up, she motioned for the picture. Lidia handed her the picture and Elizabeth placed it in the scanner. Immediately, the software began comparing the picture to the picture database. “Now, this could take a while love…” But as soon as she said that, they heard a loud beeping coming from the computer. The software had found a match. “Wow…his name is Vince Miller. He lives in D. C., he works as a private investigator for hire, and he has recently purchased a revolver.” “You got all that from his face?” Lidia asked in surprise. “I also know that he drives a black Sudan and he is divorced.” Elizabeth smiled. “Wow…great job. So, know that we know who’s chasin’ us, what’s our next move?” Taylor wondered. “That’z zimple. Return to da zcene of da crime.” “Won’t Vice Miller be expectin’ us to show up there at some point? I mean, he’s a PI so he can track people without ‘em knowin’ ‘bout it.” Sarah interjected. “Ve are trained. Ve know vhen people follov uz.” “Yeah. Like the black Sudan.” “MMMMMMMMMHHHHHHHH!” “Melissa says that Veronika is right. We should go to the crime scene. Obviously, Mr. Professional PI has it out for us and we need to confront him.” Sarah yawned after relaying what Melissa had said to the other girls. “Can’t we wait til mornin’? I’m beat.” Without even waiting for an answer, Sarah dumped her plate in the garbage and pulled her yellow duck pillow out of her bag. Then, she went straight back to the bed and flopped down again. “MMMMMMMMMMHHHHHHHHHHH!” “Yeah Melissa. I did get the duck.” “Awwwwwwwwwww…speakin’ of sleepin’, I’m beat too.” Taylor yawned. She grabbed her wolf pillow from her bag and also flopped down on the bed next to her sister. “Vell, I’ll be torturing fohr a fev morhe hourz. Then I’ll zleep.” Despite saying this, Veronika reached into her bag and pulled out her red panda pillow. “MMMMMMMMMHHHHHHHHH!” “Melissa says your pillow never ceases to amaze her, and she wonders if she can at least have hers.” “You mean dis pillov?” Veronika grinned as she held up Melissa’s prized platypus pillow. Melissa violently nodded yes. “You vill geht it vhen torture iz over.” “Well, I might as well sleep too. We have a long day tomorrow.” Lidia sighed as she took out her owl pillow and curled up at the end of the bed with Taylor and Sarah. “And I will stay up and see if I can pinpoint the vacation house’s location. Sleep well dearies.” Only Melissa and Veronika had heard Elizabeth’s words. The rest were already fast asleep.
----- CHAPTER BREAK -----
“So much for stayin’ in D.C.” Taylor mumbled as she hopped off her motorcycle. “How ‘bout next you don’t try an’ kill me several times.” Sarah argued. “I told you I was gonna miss that car we were weavin’ between but you always worry. It kinda threw me off.” “Well I am of the firm belief that ANYTHING, at this point, is exponentially better than watching those dreadful Twilight movies again.” Melissa shivered at the thought of re-experiencing last night’s horrors. “Vell, next time don’t blov our location!” “Guys.” Lidia said. “What?” They all asked in unison. “Are we going in or what?” “Fine.” They sighed. Having the brilliant idea to park the truck and motorcycle at least a couple of houses down, the girls casually made their way to the house. They watched for suspicious characters, anybody who was staring at them, and, most importantly, the black Sudan. Thankfully, they saw none of them. Figuring that breaking down the front door in broad daylight was not the smartest idea, the girls, once they reached the vacation house, quickly ducked inside the backyard fence. Sarah whipped out her knives and patrolled the backyard while Lidia opened her lock picking kit and picked the lock on the back door. The door swung open and they entered. The house seemed vacant. There was no furniture, no appliances, no pictures, the house was bare. Sarah and Taylor wrinkled their noses. They could still smell the blood. Lidia pointed to the floor and the girls all saw the dried pool of blood. “No one’s has been here since the killing and gathering evidence.” Lidia observed. “Ya think someone would come an’ clean up by now.” Taylor commented. “Unlezz it’z bad, it’z the familiez job to clean up.” “One would think his wife would have called a cleaning service to scrub this place spotless.” Melissa added. “Well, doesn’t she still wanna sell the house?” Sarah wondered. “Perhaps not.” Lidia froze and tilted her head towards the other end of the house. “We are not alone.” She whispered. The others sprang into action. Veronika pulled out her BB-gun and stood behind a wall. Melissa cocked her small handgun and ducked behind the island in the kitchen. Taylor loaded her favorite gun and hid in the door to the laundry room. Lidia held her handgun tightly and squatted behind a wall opposite of Veronika. Sarah, since she did not have a gun, clutched her knives as she dashed into the nearby bathroom. Each girl tensed at the sound of the front door opening and the echoing sound of heavy footsteps. Then, the footsteps stopped and a booming, male voice called out. “I know you are here.” The loud voice filled the entire empty house. Lidia held her breath. She could not help but glance at Veronika. Veronika was on her knees sitting perfectly motionless with her BB-gun in position. She had a fearless gaze and an unemotional face, ready to strike if the man dared to walk towards them. Lidia wished she could at least look as brave as Veronika did, but her thoughts were interrupted by the man. “You five girls are extremely hard to get rid of. I’m impressed you’ve made it this far with only a few mistakes. Unfortunately, for you, this is your worst mistake. Coming back to where you killed Mr. Coarslyn. Bad move.” Melissa was the first to speak. “Technically, we never killed anybody.” “Not according to the FBI.” The man chuckled as he took one step forward. Veronika pulled the trigger and shot. The BB whizzed past his head. “Dat vaz a varning zhot. The next one von’t mizz.” “Oh, now I’m terrified.” The man glanced down the long hallway and caught sight of Lidia’s and Veronika’s shadows. “You can look at me. I won’t shoot.” He tempted. Veronika did not budge but Lidia fought hard not to look. “And I know you won’t shoot to kill because the FBI is looking for you for two murders. You can’t afford a third one.” Lidia knew he was right. Another murder and then the FBI would think they were serial killers. The man took another step and Veronika shot him in the leg. But he continued walking as if he hadn’t been shot. “Your BB’s don’t phase me. I wasn’t stopped when you put the bullet in me back at Mrs. Ugfo’s house.” “That explains it.” Taylor whispered to herself as she held her gun. She stood with her gun pointing at the door in case he decided to come in. The man’s footsteps continued to move to the other end of the hallway where Veronika and Lidia sat. Lidia became frustrated at the fact she could not see the man’s face. Her direct confrontations approach screamed, “LOOK AT HIM AND SHOOT HIM NOW!” Finally, Lidia noticed the only furniture still in the house and got an idea. It was a golden mirror propped up behind her. Intricate leaves and branches consisted of the frame and it was in the perfect position. She glimpsed at him. He wore a tight, grey T-shirt that emphasized his muscles. He carried a Colt handgun -which he held gloved hands-and he had an old, beat up brown bag slung over his large shoulder. He was an identical match to his picture; 6 ft 3 in., light brown, buzz cut hair, green brown eyes, a strong chin, and tan skin. A demented smile was across his face and his wild eyed look signaled to Lidia that he was an adrenalin junky who was thrilled to chase them. He stood still for a moment and then laughed. “What’s the matter? I’m not going to kill you and you aren’t going to kill me so I see no reason to keep up this charade.” “That Colt tells a different story.” Lidia growled. “So, you did catch a glimpse of me. Well…I suppose that means I’ll have to run.” Without warning, he whirled around and dashed for the front door. Lidia and Veronika quickly stood up and Taylor rushed out of the closet. They all sprinted after Vince. His powerful leg muscles propelled him forward and the bag flopped against his side as he ran. The three girls tried to keep up but each succumbed to asthma and fatigue. As they stood there panting, Vince hopped into his Black Sudan and, with tires screeching, drove out of the neighborhood. The Sudan was only a few feet behind Melissa’s truck. They slowly walked back to the vacation house attempting to catch their breath. When they walked inside, they noticed Melissa and Sarah did not follow them in the chase.“Zarah! Hov come you did noht help catch him?” Veronika yelled. Sarah knew that if any of them had a chance of catching Vince Miller, she would have to run after him. Instead, Veronika saw her and Melissa crouched down close to the ground looking at something. Sarah, who was kneeling on the carpet floor, stood up and tugged on her brown ponytail.“Wow…that’s just…..wow.”“What do ya mean wow?” Taylor asked. “Yohu did not anzver my queztion!” “Forget your question for a moment Veronika. Sarah and I have a game changer on our hands.” Melissa stated as she also stood up and held out her two gloved hands. In one hand, there was an unraveled, recently crumpled up piece of paper with a phone number underlined. The words “client” was written next to the number and next to Mark Coarslyn name was the word “target”. The other hand held a small company pin for the company Coren Incorporated. “We shut Coren Inc. down. Who would still carry these pins?” Lidia observed. Melissa shrugged as she carefully dropped the items into the plastic bag in Sarah’s hand. Then, Melissa paper clipped the bag to the folder as Sarah rubbed her chin. “Well, I’m more curious as to who’s number that is.” Sarah dug into her pocket and pulled out her phone. She put it on speaker and dialed the number. “Hello. This is the former CEO of Coren Inc. I’m not available right now, so please leave me a message.” A women’s voice said. “I wonder who the former CEO is.” Taylor pondered. Melissa already had her computer out and she was typing like a mad women. Finally, she sighed and turned her computer. “This strange turn of events has even me baffled and speechless.” The girls all stared at the computer screen and their jaws dropped. “That’s twisted.” Sarah cried. “Yep.” “Who would do that?” “Apparently zhe vould.” “Ladies, we need to stock up a.s.a.p. Any suggestions?” Melissa asked. “Our house has weapons and food.” Sarah spoke up. “Sure. Why not?” Lidia agreed. “Wait, don’t we need to figure out where we are gonna stop her and tell the FBI?” Taylor objected.“Hmmmm….she’ll be…at the play tonight.” Sarah replied.“That’z vhen ve ztrike.” “Brilliant, ingenious, remarkable, dramatic, fantastic, memorable, and so crazy, it just might work.” Melissa raved.“Ok, here’s the plan.” Lidia said as the other girls listened.
----- CHAPTER BREAK -----
FBI agents surrounded the house. Sarah stared at her home through the window and wrinkled her nose. How she missed the comfort of her bedroom, her funny bird, and her knife collection. The taxi cab driver parked and said, “That’ll be ten dollars.” Sarah reached into her tiny purse and fished out a ten dollar bill. She thanked him and got out of the taxi. She lightly scratched her wrinkled hands, because the skin gloves were irritating, and took a deep breath. Unlike other times, this disguise made her nervous. What if Mom and Dad don’t realize who I am? Sarah shook that thought out of her head and hunched slightly over. Prodding the cement with her cane, she reached the front door and rang the doorbell. A FBI agent opened the door and answered. “Who are you?” He questioned. Sarah, in her best old lady voice, answered. “I’m Sarah and Taylor’s grandmother!” She pointed a shaky finger at the young agent. “And I demand to know why you won’t let me in! Who is in charge around here? I’d like to give ‘im a piece of my mind.” Sarah squinted and wrinkled her nose. By now, Mr. and Mrs. Moses had rushed to the front door. The FBI agent looked back at them. “This your mother?” Frank began to open his mouth but Mrs. Moses interrupted him. “Mom! I thought we told you not to come.” She ushered Sarah into the house. “Where’s your bags?” “Bags, Bleh. Who needs bags when you’re just visitin’ for a few hours?” Sarah said as she patted her mother’s cheeks. “Frances, you’re lookin’…well, rather, what are the kids sayin’ these days, peachy. Now, where are my two precious granddaughters?” “They’re not here Mom.” Mrs. Moses replied. Sarah frowned and glanced at the FBI agent. “Honey, would you get me some coffee? It does my old bones some good.” Mrs. Moses nodded and went to the kitchen. Mr. Moses stared at Sarah as she hobbled over to the couch and sat down. “How unusual of you to come without calling.” He pressed. Sarah smiled. Good, he doesn’t think its grandma. “I’m a grandma sonny…I know when there’s trouble concernin’ my granddaughters.” Mr. Moses’s expression sank and he plopped down on the couch. Sarah reached over and grasped his hand. “Don’t worry; I’m sure they’re fine.” Mrs. Moses came in with a mug filled with coffee. Meanwhile, Veronika and Melissa had snuck to the backyard of the neighbor’s house and started to set off fireworks they had got in Veronika’s garage. Just as they had planned, FBI agents from all over the place all ran into the backyard where Lidia was waiting for them. Using her karate skills, she jumped out of the neighbor’s tree and began to disarm all the agents. Back in the house, Sarah and Mr. and Mrs. Moses heard the blast from the fireworks. “Oh my…kids these days.” Sarah said as she took the cup her mother handed her and blew on it just like she had watched her grandmother do a hundred times before. Then she took a huge gulp. While she was drinking the coffee, an FBI agent ran into the house through the front door. “Trouble in the backyard! Let’s move!” He hollered. The agent nodded and they both ran outside. As soon as the FBI agent left the room, Sarah spit the coffee out of her mouth. When they got outside, they were ambushed by Veronika and Melissa who fought one on one with them. Veronika punched one in the nose and he punched back, Melissa wrapped her arms around the man’s head and he elbowed her in the gut. Finally, the two managed to overcome the agents and knocked them out. They cheered and high-fived and then they glanced at Lidia to see if she needed some help. Lidia swiftly kicked one agent in the chest and flipped him while avoiding the kick from another agent who she then grabbed the agents leg and sent flying to the ground. Satisfied, Lidia brushed the dirt off of her hands and, grabbing the pepper spray, whirled around and sprayed it in the man’s eye. He ran around and slammed into the tree, falling unconscious to the grass. Melissa and Veronika stood with their mouths gapping. Lidia caught their look and gave them a smug smile. “I’ve been practicing.” She explained. Melissa, after recovering from her awe, whistled loudly signaling to Taylor that the coast was clear. Taylor climbed into the neighbor’s tree, which had a branched that reached all the way to their bedroom window, and shimmied all the way to the window. She proceeded to pick the lock, as she had done so before, and she heard Kovu bark a few times. A smile crossed her lips. It felt good to be home. Back inside the house, Sarah’s mom was panicking. “Mom, you didn’t like the coffee? Was it too hot? Too cold? Wasn’t your favorite brand? Why’d you spit it out? Look at the carpet! Mother what am I going to do with you?” “Blah! That awful taste! I almost forgot how much I hate coffee!” Sarah grabbed a couple of candies from the candy dish on the coffee table and ate them in an attempt to get the taste to disappear. Mrs. Moses gasped. She was shocked that her mother suddenly hated coffee and sounded young. “Who are you?” Frank asked suspiciously. “Hi Mom. Hi Dad!” Someone call from the stairs. They looked up to find Taylor smiling and standing on the top step. She rushed down while they rushed to the stairs to greet her. Taylor’s parents hugged her and kissed her until she finally protested. “Ok, ok! Can’t you attack her with your hugs and kisses now?” Taylor pointed to Sarah. “But we don’t even know who she is.” “Mom, Dad, really? Am I that good that I can trick you guys?” Sarah laughed. Now she was the one being smothered in hugs and kisses. “Ok, ok!” “It was really dangerous to come here! Why did you?” Mr. Moses asked. “Well, Sarah needs her costume, I need my favorite gun, and we all needed extra supplies.” Taylor informed. “Plus, we wanted to see our wonderful parents.” Sarah smiled and rushed upstairs to grab her costume and see her bird. Lidia, Veronika, and Melissa walked in from the backyard and greeted the Moses too. “I can’t believe y’all came here.” Mrs. Moses said. “But since you’re here…” She ran into the kitchen and came back with a few grocery bags full of food. “Here” She handed the bags to Taylor. Sarah, after stroking her bird a few times and fumbling around her room, found her costume and packed it into a bag. Then, she joined the others downstairs. “Thanks Mrs. M for the goodie bag.” “You’re welcome Melissa.” “Now you girls be careful and don’t go to that play.” Mr. Moses ensured. “But dad…” Sarah groaned. “We hafta go to the play. It’s part of our plan.” “Bad plan.” “No…we know who it is. Just promise me you’ll come to the play and tip off the FBI, please!” Sarah smiled really big and batted her eyelashes. “Fine.” Mr. Moses agreed. The girls thanked them and ran into the truck. Lidia threw the bags in the back and climbed into the front passenger seat. “Strap in and let’s go do some damage.” Melissa laughed as she started the truck. On the lawn, one of the FBI agents had regained consciousness and was watching the old women in the truck. He saw her say something that looked like, “Hold on, let me take…..off.” Then she ripped off her wrinkled skin revealing a teenager. As the truck sped off, the FBI agent got on the intercom. “They were just here sir.” “Did you get them?” An angry voice on the other end shouted. “No sir. They escaped again. Plus, they took out all of our agents.” A moment of silence came from the other end. “Sir?” “I am this close to firing all of you!” He screamed. Detective Thornston shut off the intercom and laid his head on the desk. Then his personal phone rang. Assuming it was his wife, he opened it and answered. “Hello.” “Gettin’ tired of bein’ one step behind us yet?” A young, female voice replied. “You….” Detective Thornston motioned for the geek next to him to trace the call. “Yep! It is us. We are all present underneath the Christmas tree. Hahaha! Get it? Christmas presents.” After a few moments of silence from wrestling, someone else began to talk. “Focus on drivin’ Melissa! We don’t wanna die! Anyways, we just wanted you to know that we’ll all be at the high school play tonight at 7 pm.” “Really? You’re just telling me where you’re going to be? What’s the catch?” “No catch detective. We just are tired of bein’ the mice. Have a nice day.” With a click of a button, they were gone again. Detective Thornston looked at the computer analyst but he shrugged saying he did not get a solid trace. “Well, guess we’ll just have to wait ‘til seven then.”
----- CHAPTER BREAK -----
Mrs. Acorn paced back and forth while biting her nails and clutching her clipboard. Where could Sarah be? She was one of the important main characters! What will I do without Mrs. Peacock? Mrs. Acorn thought. “Mrs. Acorn, we’re on in five minutes.” One of the backstage students informed her. “How could you say that? We cannot, absolutely cannot, start this play without Sarah!” Mrs. Acorn cried. The student backed away and allowed Mrs. Acorn to quiver and shake in frustration and panic. She took off her brown hat and twisted it in her hands. “This show can’t go on.” She whispered. “Sorry I’m late Mrs. Acorn.” A familiar voice apologized. Mrs. Acorn turned around. It was Sarah! She was dressed in her costume. The blue dress that wrapped around one of her shoulders and the silk green shawl made her eyes pop. Her white gloves, fake diamond ring, white feather boa, black high heels, silver dangling necklace, green and blue purse and peacock feather headband completed the outfit. Mrs. Acorn’s eyes swelled with tears. She dropped her hat and clipboard and attacked Sarah with a hug. “Thank goodness it’s you! I thought I was going to cancel the play. Clue just isn’t the same without Mrs. Peacock!” Mrs. Acorn sobbed. “Ok Mrs. Acorn. That’s enough cryin’.” “Unfortunately Mrs. Acorn, Mrs. Peacock is coming with us.” A gruff voice huffed. Mrs. Acorn immediately stopped sobbing and turned around to face Detective Thornston. Her nostrils flared and she clenched her fists. “Nobody is going anywhere until this play is over.” She hissed. Mr. Thornston tried to explain but she threw up her hand and cut him off. “Do you understand how much work goes into a play? Not one of my actors or actresses leaves until they have completed the play, understand?” Detective Thornston eyed Sarah, who shrugged, and looked back at Mrs. Acorn. “Fine.” He waved his men back and they retreated to the back of the auditorium. Mrs. Acorn turned around and gave Sarah a push signaling her to get ready for her cue. Meanwhile, the others were getting into their positions. It had been decided that Melissa and Veronika would mount Veronika’s BB gun and Melissa’s handgun on the catwalk in a small, obscure corner where they were barely visible. Lidia and Taylor took two empty seats next to each other two rows behind the front row. “I hope that Sarah knows what she’s doin’.” Taylor worried. “She’s your twin. She knows.” Lidia reminded. Then, the lights dimmed and the stage was ablaze with yellow light. A man in a tux entered from the left. He hung up his coat and the play began.********************** “So, the person who killed Mr. Body also killed the taxi man, the police officer, and the mail man!” A dramatic male voice, belonging to the butler, shouted. “Gee, thanks for the update Sherlock.” The girl playing Mrs. Scarlett answered as she lifted her shoulder and casually pretended to light her cigarette. Up in the catwalk, Melissa was watching the colorful characters clustered together on the stage observing the four “dead” bodies. “I am enjoying the play; however, if I were the director, I would not have casted Allen for Cornel Mustard because he hardly has any idea how to project his voice in an auditorium such as this one.” Veronika turned around and glared at her. “What? I am just saying what everyone else is surely thinking.” Veronika, instead of making a comment, just shook her head and resumed eyeing the target. Taylor and Lidia were also keeping a close eye on the perpetrator while watching the play. They were also avoiding being spotted by their parents. Mr. Cooper and his wife sat in the far back row, Taylor’s parents sat up front, Marvin sat next to the exit, and Veronika’s parents and sister sat in the middle row. “Do you think they know we’re here?” Taylor whispered. Lidia shrugged. Just then, Veronika’s mom, Victoria, looked up and saw Veronika perched on the catwalk. She leaned over and whispered to Ivan, Veronika’s dad. “Isn’t that your daughter up on the catwalk with her BB gun?” “Not my daughter, tiz’ your daughter.” He slyly replied. While they argued, Sarah was walking around on the stage following the other actors as they “searched” the “house”. She felt her knives in their straps and she occasionally caught a glimpse of the real killer sitting in the front row. Sarah also saw the group of FBI agents waiting to arrest her and her friends. She just hoped that the idea and evidence would work. Finally, the end of the play had come. Everyone in the audience was tense and all eyes were on the butler as he said his line. “Very well, I know who the killer is.” “Well, who is it?” Gina, who was playing Mrs. White, asked. “It is someone in this…” “Auditorium!” Sarah interrupted. Everyone in the audience looked puzzled. The butler walked over to Sarah and asked what she was doing but she ignored him and stepped closer to the end of the stage. “Yes, our clever killer is hiding in the audience!” Mrs. Acorn nearly fainted when she heard the words leave Sarah’s lips. This certainly was not a part of the actual play. Sarah, to Mrs. Acorn’s horror, was improvising. In the meantime, Sarah lifted her finger and pointed to Taylor. “IT WAS YOU!” Taylor, looking confused for a brief moment, caught onto the idea and stood up. “You were in a relationship with Mr. Body and he promised you that you were his one true love! Then, you discovered that Mr. Body was lying to you and the lady officer was his true mistress and the other two victims were his blackmailing buddies. You confronted him and became furious. When Mr. Body turned off the lights in the study, you took out your gun and shot him! Then, in further seething fits of rage, you executed the others with the pistol Mr. Body had given you leaving no one to remind you of your terrible mistake.” The audience inhaled and Mr. and Mrs. Moses exchanged worried glances. “Lies!” Taylor retorted. “Ladies and Gentlemen, this is what really happened. Mrs. Peacock killed Mr. Body because she was his blackmailing partner. Everyone in the house was being blackmailed. The madam police officer, mail man, party guests, and even the taxi guy! You two had agreed on a fifty-fifty share for each of you, an even split. Then, you discovered he had decided to stop blackmailing certain people because, after years of begging, they had convinced him they were valuable as spies. This meant that you wouldn’t get your usual cut and you depended on that money to finance your husband’s dinner parties. What would people say if Mrs. Peacock couldn’t throw a lavish dinner party? So, you snuck into the dining room and stabbed Mr. Body. Now, the money was all yours. You just had to get rid of the others who knew you were in on the blackmailing and you stabbed them also whenever they were alone in the house.” People in the audience looked back and forth between the twins wondering what was happening. Then, Lidia stood up. “You guys are both wrong. This is what actually happened. It was her.” Lidia pointed to a women sitting in the front row with black wavy hair. She wore a black suit, with a white blouse underneath, a black skirt with a purple purse. She stood up in shock. “Me! What on earth do I have to do with this play?” She asked. Lidia, ignoring the women’s comment, pulled out a manila folder filled with stacks of paper. She opened the folder, handed it to the FBI agent in the isle, and she began speaking again. “Mrs. Sandra Coarslyn, owner of Coren Inc., has been a busy woman. She recently lost her company. Why? Because five teenagers were directed to find evidence of company corruption (illegal drug trafficking, stolen goods, etc.). While you were not involved with the drugs, and other stolen goods, opt, many of your committee members and employees were. Your company suffered multiple law suits and that eventually led to its shut down. When you went to work that day, you saw the five teenagers who were responsible, but you thought you would never see them again. Nevertheless, your anger stewed and boiled. A respected business woman reduced to a house mother. Not to mention the financial support fell on your husband which left you struggling to make ends meet. This obsession and anger with the five teenagers grew out of control and finally, your husband couldn’t take it anymore and he was filing for a divorce. This just added another layer of stress and worst of all; you thought you would never see the teenagers again. Well lo-and-behold, those teenagers, us, appeared to your daughter’s birthday party, and suddenly, your dreams for revenge became possible. You schemed to destroy us, and you decided your husband needed to go too. You knew he was planning on selling your vacation house in Virginia, so you paid a local hit-man to kill your husband and frame us! You wanted both your problems finished so you could restart your company. Yes ma’am, it was you who signed the paper killing Mark Coarslyn and framing us!” Lidia explained. Elizabeth stood up too. “So that’s how she did it!” She said, adding to the play like script. “Wow! I’ve never heard her say that much in her life!” Sarah gawked. Detective Thornston snatched the folder out of the agent’s hand and skimmed it. He saw that the teenagers were telling the truth due to the overwhelming amount of evidence they had gathered. He motioned to his agents and they began to mobilize. Mrs. Coarslyn’s face went from stunned to furious. Her golden skin turned bright red from both anger and humiliation. ‘It wasn’t fair! How dare they figure it out!’ “Mom, is this true?” Gina came to the front of the stage and faced her mother. Her mother looked from Gina to Sarah and finally, she screamed. The loud, possessed scream filled the entire auditorium. Before the FBI agents in the back of the room could reach her, Mrs. Coarslyn reach into her purse, pulled out a gun, and aimed at Sarah on stage. Veronika, at nearly the same instant, fired her BB gun at Mrs. Coarslyn’s hand. Sarah stood tall and unafraid in the face of the handgun. Next thing she knew, Mrs. Coarslyn’s hand was bleeding. The BB from Veronika’s gun bounced of the seat and hit Vince in the eye. He pulled out his gun. “What the hell was that? Show yourself!” He cried. Before the two could shoot anybody, the FBI agents were on top of them and were stating their Miranda rights. The audience was still and silent for a moment. Then, Frank Moses stood up and began clapping. Mrs. Moses, Mr. Cooper (and family), Taylor and Elizabeth, Victoria and Ivan, and even Marvin joined him. Soon, the entire audience was clapping, cheering, and whistling. Sarah motioned for the other actors to join her to the edge of the stage. They all stood and took a bow. Then they stepped back and allowed for Sarah to take her own bow. Sarah lifted her shawl and pulled out her two knives. “Well, I guess I won’t need these now.” She laughed. As she bowed, she threw her knives and cut the ropes keeping the curtain back. The velvet, maroon curtain gracefully fell across the stage. The minute it fell, Sarah was bombarded by fellow cast members and backstage hands. What was that about? How did you pull that off? Was that planned? She creatively said that Mrs. Acorn had told her to improvise the first night to make the play more interesting and to attract more of an audience the next couple of weekends. Satisfied with her answer, they all dispersed except Gina and Mrs. Acorn. Mrs. Acorn grabbed Sarah and squeezed her. “Oh! I thought that was brilliant! You had a stroke of genius! I love it! You have to come back and help me write next year’s play!” She exclaimed. Sarah thanked her and, once Mrs. Acorn had left, walked over to Gina. “Gina, I’m sorry about what happened.” Sarah apologized keeping her head down. “Don’t worry Sarah. It wasn’t your fault. You had almost nothing to do with it.” Gina replied. Sarah lifted her head and looked into Gina’s brown eyes. Somehow, they seemed to reassure Sarah that Gina would be ok. Sarah gave Gina a hug and they parted. While Sarah was busy, Melissa and Veronika had come down from the catwalk and they spotted a buff football player, who had received detention and decided to work as a stage hand, struggling to pull Sarah’s knife out of the wall. They watched both amused and sorrowful. Finally, Sarah finished talking and walked over. She tapped the guy on the shoulder. “Excuse me.” She politely said. The guy stepped to the side and, with one swift motion; Sarah grabbed the knife and wrenched it out of the wall. The football player gaped at her as she went to the other wall to retrieve her other knife. Veronika went and patted his shoulder. “It’z all about finezze my friend.” She advised. They joined Sarah with their families. Sarah grabbed Lidia and hugged her like Mrs. Acorn had hugged her. “I never knew you could be so dramatic and that you could choose to stand up in front of an audience and speak that much!” “Yeah, well, whatever.” “I’m so proud!” Melissa interrupted. Taylor laughed. Then, the parents cut in. “You know how dangerous that was! Coming back and risking the FBI arresting you just so you could be in a play.” Frank ridiculed. “But dad! We didn’t get hurt and we found the real killer.” Taylor pointed out. “That you did! Congratulations!” Mr. Cooper said. “Eh-hum.” Someone coughed. They all turned and saw Mr. Thornston standing there with the tan folder. The girls stepped forward and waited for him to speak. “I……apologize for thinking that you were the killers and not investigating further. Mark was a dear friend and this case was personal. I now see the errors of my ways.” He reached out his hand hoping for a good response. Sarah smiled and shook his hand. “No harm done.” “Well, I’m just glad it’s all over!” Melissa sighed. “Now, how about a picture with the stars of the play?” Mrs. Moses pulled out a camera and raised an eyebrow. Despite a few moans, the girls gathered together by the stage and posed. Mrs. Moses snapped the picture.