Revenant in Death
Chapter 10
by Technomad
Rayleen Straffo
The next few days were uneventful. Rayleen concentrated fully on her role as "Jane Mollenbeek," living the New York high life, albeit as a paid assistant rather than by right, absorbing all that Mame Burnside could teach her about financial manipulation and self-enrichment, and enjoying passionate caresses with Agnes Gooch by night. She was careful to show no overt interest in the doings or movements of Eve Dallas. However, she knew that Eve Dallas regularly lectured at the Police Academy, and she knew where that was. All she needed was the schedule. Any mention of her old nemesis got her undivided attention. Sooner or later, she would have what she needed to know to put her plans together. The main outline was already in place.
She received regular coded messages from Willow Mackie. Using the false identification that she had procured for her, Willow had located a range with rental lasers available at a reasonable price, not far from Rayleen's old mini-apt and reachable by public transpo. That was one big advantage of living on the outer edges of the metro; while the conveniences of the big city were not far away, neither were the things that a more rural environment offered. And shooting ranges were not available in Greater New York City itself. Once Rayleen had set Willow up with a false ID that would pass muster at the range, since her own one would not do, Willow was soon a regular there, and getting her old skill back rapidly.
Rayleen's salary was easily enough to pay the rent on the mini-apt, and cover Willow's expenses. Since Rayleen was eating at Mame's table and sleeping in her house, her salary was more than adequate to help support Willow. Particularly since, having been judged "mentally unfit for work," Willow received a stipend from the government. Willow did not have very expensive tastes. The austerities of prison life had been less of a hardship for her than they had been for Rayleen. Rayleen herself liked the good life, but she got plenty of that through her employer, and was content on that front, at least for the moment.
The problem of finding out when Eve Dallas would be speaking at the Police Academy was a difficult one to solve, though. Asking about any such thing, particularly if Eve Dallas turned up murdered soon afterward, would raise red flags in people's minds. While Mame Burnside and Agnes Gooch didn't suspect her of any ill intent toward anybody, they were both more than shrewd enough to put two and two together if anything happened to ex-Lieutenant Dallas and "dear Jane" had been asking all sorts of questions about matters of no legitimate interest to her.
Rayleen was putting a plan together, but she had to make very sure that nobody (other than Willow) knew anything at all about what she was really up to. Eve Dallas was still the wife of one of the wealthiest men in the world, and Rayleen had researched Roarke more than enough to know that if something happened to his wife, Roarke would leave no stone unturned in finding the perpetrator. And he still had many connections on the shady side of the street, even if he had gone legit since his marriage.
When they struck, she and Willow would have to have backup plans, and an emergency escape route all ready to go. While there had never been an assassination attempt against Eve Dallas, Rayleen knew that just as a matter of routine, Roarke would have security people on hand. And if Dallas' police friends were on the scene as well, they would definitely take a hand in pursuit.
However, the very fact that nobody had tried for Eve Dallas since her retirement meant that her security, while top-notch and on-the-job, wouldn't be as alert as they would be had there been previous attempts on her life. A well-placed shot or two, from a sufficiently-distant point, would probably throw them into confusion, allowing the shooter to make her escape. Forsyth's remarks in The Day of the Jackal about the "dos" and "don'ts" of assassination had made a deep impression on Rayleen, and on Willow, when Rayleen had drawn her attention to the book.
After a couple of weeks, Rayleen asked for another day off, which Mame granted her willingly. "You're such a hard worker, I sometimes worry about you! But you're so useful, I can hardly imagine doing without you! I hope you stay with me for a long time!" That pleased Rayleen enormously. Working for Mame was a very soft billet indeed, and paid well. She thought that after she and Willow took out their nemesis, she, at least, might stay on with Mame, and kiss Willow a fond goodbye.
For all that they shared a common loathing of the woman who had sent them to prison for what had been meant to be the rest of their natural lives, Rayleen and Willow were very different people. Rayleen loved the arts, while Willow was bored by them. Willow could chatter on for hours (in a low voice, while they were still in custody; the powers-that-were frowned heavily on such discussions) about the merits and demerits of various tools of mayhem, not noticing or caring that Rayleen's eyes were glazing over.
While teaming up and hiring out their services as assassins was one attractive idea, it was not the only one Rayleen had had. She thought that Willow could find a niche for herself in one of the private military companies that operated in the backwaters of the world. They could always use another sniper, and once she showed what she could do, her dodgy ID papers and lack of formal qualifications would not matter much. Rayleen, herself, much preferred the attractions of civilization. With Mame's guidance, knowing or unknowing, she thought she could be on the way to wealth of her own and the life she had always rightfully deserved.
Of course, that would come after they had put an end to the career of one Eve Dallas, and, ideally, taken out Rayleen's birth family. And for that, their combined talents and skills would be needed.
Rayleen's seemingly-random ramble that day took her to the place where the New Police Academy stood. It replaced the old one, which had been gutted and ruined in the Urban Wars. Standing proud and tall, it towered over a small park that had been made out of the rubble-strewn wreckage that had been there at the end of the Urbans. A fountain played gently in the middle of the park, and Rayleen read on a plaque on the side of the fountain that it was dedicated to all the "brave police, fire fighters and ambulance workers who lost their lives in the Urban Insurrection."
Inside herself, Rayleen quirked a grin. She knew fully well that the police, fire department, and emergency services had been as divided by the Urban Wars as the rest of the country. She had noticed that the inscription did not mention which of several sides' casualties were being honored. That way, people with attachments to all sides could come and look and remember.
However, she was not there to play tourist. She was on business, however little she looked like she was. She studied the buildings around the park with narrowed eyes, trying to find one that suited her purpose. After a few minutes, she smiled openly. She'd seen just what she needed. A large hotel, with many windows overlooking the main entrance to the Academy. She knew Willow would drool when she was told about this find.
She walked on around the park, the picture of a youngish woman on a day off from her job, out to enjoy the park and the sunshiny day. When she passed the hotel, she examined it very carefully, while making sure that nobody noticed her doing so. It was called the Davis Hotel, and she was happy to note that it was not one of Roarke's properties. Roarke always marked his own holdings, feeling that his reputation was an asset he could trade on.
The hotel not belonging to her target's pestilential, too-rich-for-his-own-good husband meant that it would take that little bit longer for responders to get in and get the information they needed. Rayleen had looked up a lot of Eve Dallas' cases, and had noticed to her discomfort that her husband's great wealth and ownership of much of New York had often facilitated pursuit of whichever poor soul had got into Eve Dallas' cross-hairs. As the owner of the building, and the ultimate employer of those who worked there, he could demand instant cooperation much faster than the police could get search warrants or warrants to enter private premises.
Rayleen made careful mental notes. She had always had a good memory, and after her imprisonmenet, she had learned that memory, while a poor substitute for written information, could not be found or taken from her in a search. She had learned about the "memory palace" method in a book she'd come across, and learned to use it to her own advantage. What she wanted to remember, she would remember.
Back at Mame Burnside's place, Rayleen found she had the premises to herself. Mame and Agnes Gooch were off somewhere, and a note told her that they wouldn't be back till that evening. With a reasonable assurance of privacy, she fired up her personal computer and began researching the Davis Hotel.
The more she found, the more she liked what she saw. The Davis catered to out-of-towners on a budget, so getting a room there would not be impossibly expensive, or attract particular attention. There were pictures of the layout of the rooms, and some of them showed the view out the windows, which often included very good shots of the Police Academy. Rayleen sent an innocuous-looking message to Willow, saying that she knew of a good hotel for "that visit to New York you were planning," and including the URL for the Davis Hotel's website. She knew that Willow was more than smart enough to figure out what she had in mind.
Closing down the computer and stretching out to enjoy a few hours of quiet, Rayleen thought gleefully that Willow couldn't have asked for a better sniper perch to take out their enemy if she had designed one herself to her own specifications!
Eve Dallas
Eve was going over her notes, getting ready for her next talk at the Police Academy. It was three weeks away, but she was a big believer in thorough preparation. She had found out, the hard way, that even though they lacked her experience and record, cadets were prone to asking some tricky questions. And quite a few cadets had background she didn't have and knowledge she had never attained.
She planned to discuss some of her biggest busts. The Icove case, of course, was on the agenda, but so were some of the others. Her two run-ins with Isaac McQueen would be prominently featured, as would the case where she had first met Nixie Swisher. There were so many other cases, it was hard to choose.
For some reason, she started to think about the time she had taken down her youngest murderer ever, Rayleen Straffo. She had been hoodwinked at first, blinded by the girl's youth and apparent innocence. However, once she had started investigating, she had found that behind Rayleen's appealing outward appearance was a personality as twisted, cold and callous as any she had ever encountered. The memory of sitting there quietly, listening, as Rayleen boasted of how she had killed her baby brother, and why, made her shudder.
Knowing that dear Rayleen was safely locked up, and would never breathe free air again, made Eve feel a little better. She idly checked to see that Rayleen was still where she was supposed to be, and drew in a sharp breath when the records told her that she had been transferred planetside some time ago. Shaking her head, she went on, reading disbelievingly about how Rayleen had qualified for increased privileges and less rigorous confinement by displaying remorse and contrition, and by being in all respects a model prisoner.
Are they mad? How did this happen? Eve felt cold chills down her back as she remembered the ten-year-old girl she had exposed so long ago. She knew, none better, that Rayleen Straffo could present an image of perfect innocence, the very picture of a good girl, studious, quiet, intelligent and well-mannered.
Dear God, where is she now? Eve tore through the records, and sighed with relief to find that Rayleen had had an accident in her last place of confinement, and was in a coma that the doctors said would almost certainly last the rest of her life. Eve did not normally wish ill upon anybody, but in Rayleen's case, she would make an exception. Rayleen Straffo was as dangerous a person as Eve had ever met, the more so because she seemed so very harmless. The thought that she might have got loose somehow would haunt her.
And, she decided, she would include Rayleen's case in her talk to the cadets. On the street, they would meet many kinds of criminals, and the most dangerous of them were often the ones who looked least like criminals. Rayleen Straffo was one example, but so was Isaac McQueen, and so were quite a few other murderers she had met and caught.
Rayleen Straffo
Rayleen had sent Willow a coded message, telling her that they needed to meet up, and setting a date and time. When the time came, Rayleen was waiting in Central Park, ostensibly enjoying the day and ignoring the attempts of several men to flirt with her. She leaned her head back, breathing the free air, looking up at the blue, blue sky overhead, and enjoying every minute of it. Even the thought of the pestilential Eve Dallas couldn't put her in a bad mood.
Willow came up, and smiled to see her. "Jane," Willow said, with a wink. Ever since Rayleen had cautioned her to not use her birth name, Willow had been very good about not doing so even when they were alone. If the name her parents had given her had been less unique, Rayleen might not have minded, but as it was, she was the only one that bore it, as far as she knew, and she didn't want the sound of it to set anybody thinking. She had learned, in her years in confinement, that attention to little details often made the difference between the success or failure of a plot to get around the authorities' restrictions.
Rayleen winked at her old cellmate. "Will," she answered. She looked Willow up and down, and approved of what she saw. Like she had, Willow had cut her hair short, to facilitate wearing a wig if necessary to throw pursuers off her trail. She was currently wearing clothes that could pass as male or female, and since she had a lean figure, she looked very androgynous. However, Willow could put on different clothes and be seen as completely female, as Rayleen knew. That would make what they planned to do easier, particularly the aftermath, when evasion would be critical.
Rayleen was working on several different sets of false ID for Willow, some for males, others for females. They wouldn't stand up under serious scrutiny, but for something as routine as checking into a hotel, they would be more than sufficient. And if they were "blown" after the event, as long as there was enough time to get away, it wouldn't much matter.
"You have something you want to show me, Jane?" Rayleen smiled and got up, taking Willow by the hand.
"Sure do. I think you'll like it. Come on!" She led Willow toward a nearby transpo station, so they could get to and from their destination in the time they had. While Willow's time was her own, Rayleen just had the afternoon off, and didn't want to attract Mame's attention even by something as minor as getting back late. So far, she had been a model employee in all ways, and she wanted to continue that act for as long as possible, since Mame was so very useful.
Half an hour later, they were getting down out of the transpo in the little park in front of the Police Academy. Rayleen stood there quietly, letting Willow take in the scene. As she thought would happen, Willow focussed on the Davis Hotel. She let out a long, low whistle of pure appreciation. "Jane, you may not have my skills, but you can be my spotter any time you want! That place looks to be completely perfect!"
"Let me show you the inside!" Rayleen led her friend on in, walking straight to the elevators to the upper floors with all the aplomb of someone who had every right to be there. Since a couple of levels of the hotel were given over to conference rooms that were rented out for various purposes, nobody stopped them. Rayleen knew that if they had tried skulking in, someone would have noticed something wrong and they would have been caught, which would have been embarassing, at least.
One thing both women had learned during their years of incarceration was that acting bold and as though they were doing something completely normal often was all that was needed to bluff their way past potential trouble. And the desk clerks at the Davis Hotel were much less alert than the personnel of the various prisons they had been in.
Rayleen pressed the button for the fourth floor. Since they were alone, she said: "I want to show you the view from the fourth floor mezzanine. That'll give you an idea of what you're dealing with." While Rayleen considered herself, with justification, the brains of their little two-woman outfit, she was more than smart enough to allow Willow to use her own professional judgement, particularly since Willow would be doing the heavy lifting.
On the fourth floor, they got out, and were standing in an airy place with halls leading off it to guest rooms in three directions. In front of them was a large window, and they stepped up to it, looking down. Below them, the park spread out, with people walking to and fro, and policemen and cadets hurrying in and out of the Police Academy. Willow's eyes went wide, and she gave Rayleen a predatory smile.
"Oh, yes, this will be absolutely perfect!" That was all that needed to be said; they were always aware that if they were out of Rayleen's mini-apt, or some other place they were sure was safe, that the fewer words they used between themselves, the better.
"I can reserve you a room, a few days before the event," Rayleen said, once they were back in the elevator. "Stay in the room and eat from room service. I don't want you to be seen by anybody that doesn't have to see you."
"Gotcha," Willow said, nodding. "We can arrange what we'll need in the time we have. But we'd better get crackin'!" That struck Rayleen as excellent advice, and once they were back on the ground, they split up, Willow heading back to Rayleen's mini-apt, and Rayleen heading back to Mame's mansion to check back in with her boss.
END Chapter 10