The following day
Friday
West Ridge
"Are you wearing a bra?" Curtis enquired with a smirk.
"Maybe," Megan responded, looking a little shy.
"First bra – got it yesterday!" Paige whispered to me.
"Oh!" I replied.
"She wants to wear one; says it makes her feel grown up, but she hates wearing it! She does need one though."
"I know – been there!" I grimaced.
"We all have! What fun we are going to have – I just think back to myself at that age and I know what I've got to look forward to!" Paige said unhappily.
Later that morning
The five kids looked a little unsure about what was about to happen to them.
Dave and I were driving them out to the west of Chicago in our nice, shiny new LR4 SUV.
"Right," I said as Dave pulled up at a deserted section of road. "All of you – out!"
"Okay, the weather is good and the forecast is good. Now, I want all your cell phones and any other electrical equipment that you have on you," Dave said.
"What!" Megan exclaimed.
Dave just held out a bag. First Josh, then Chloe dumped their cell phones, closely followed by Curtis and Tommy, then lastly and most reluctantly, Megan.
Each kid was wearing good, strong hiking boots on their feet and wore a t-shirt and shorts, plus a waterproof jacket. They had been purposely limited in what kit they could bring to ensure that there would be more of a challenge.
"Think yourselves lucky; Mindy considered sending you out naked!" Dave advised them. "She seemed to think that you couldn't be trusted not to cheat!"
"Would I?" Megan asked with her innocent smile.
I threw each kid a small rucksack.
"Oh yeah!" I replied as I walked away. "You need to walk on a course of zero-nine-seven and you will find somebody waiting with your lunch. In the packs are maps and compasses. You will also find adequate water – don't waste it, or you will run out."
"Be good – no diving into bushes, eh!" Dave quipped before getting back into the SUV.
We watched as the kids vanished into the wilderness.
It had been an eventful couple of days since returning to Chicago. Medic had helped Mathilda back to her SUV and then Erika had followed her home on her own motorcycle. That had been in the early hours.
We knew where Mathilda lived, which was very useful, so now I had to figure out what to do with her. Would I allow her to join us? Not yet, I would need to find out a lot more about her first and that would involve a visit to Marcus as he might know more about what happened in New York.
"I think little madam is busted!" Dave chuckled, his eyes glued to a sniping scope.
"The fucking sneaky bitch, I knew it!" I growled. "Cell phone?"
"Yeah!" Dave answered. "Not a problem though."
"Why is it not a problem...?" I paused as Dave smirked. It was an evil smirk.
"Hidden in Megan's pack, is one of Marty's miniature signal jammers!" Dave said simply.
"Bastard cell!"
"I thought you said you would be able to get us out of this!" Chloe demanded.
"I can't get a fucking signal so get off my fucking back!"
"Told you Mindy wouldn't let you cheat!" Josh chuckled.
Megan glared at Josh, but never said a word; she just turned and stalked off in the rough direction of lunch.
"Come on, Tommy, let's go wind her up," I suggested, heading off after Megan.
Those cunts; they did something!
The cell worked perfectly, earlier. The plan had been to find out where we were and call for a taxi, if possible. The maps that we had been given told us very little about where we actually were and we had been forced to wear blindfolds in the SUV!
I hated to admit it, but Dave and Mindy planned for almost every eventuality, but I was not beaten yet.
I would prevail!
Three hours later
Seven miles away
The kids had not yet arrived!
I trusted them about as far as I could throw them; I even kept the doors of the Jeep locked. My cell rang; it was Mindy.
"Hi, Mindy!"
"They there, yet, Cathy?" Mindy asked.
"No; I think they are planning to cause trouble."
"Cathy, follow plan B and leave their lunch as agreed, then leave the area," Mindy ordered.
"She just dumped the food and left?"
"Yes, Megan, that's what I said," Curtis insisted.
"My reputation precedes me!" I laughed and ran out of the trees and down towards the food.
The intention had been to assault whoever was waiting for us and take the vehicle. It had been Dr Bennett, but she had gone within several minutes of us arriving. I heard someone shouting after me, but could not hear the words, not that I was bothered; I was hungry!
I was only feet from the food when I saw something strange, then my feet seemed to have nothing beneath them and I fell into...
"I warned you!"
"Get me the fuck out of this mud, assholes!" Megan almost screamed.
I just laughed. Chloe and I had seen the trap, Mindy would not allow the food to be abandoned, nor would she make it easy for us to get it. Megan was up to her waist in mud and water. The food was on a plank of wood that stuck out from the other side of the bog, and had been camouflaged.
"Way to go, girl!" Curtis laughed.
Megan smiled, seeing the funny side.
Four hours later
Four miles away
I smirked.
It was evil, but I was also proud. All the kids had made it. Megan was covered in mud from above her waist downwards and Josh showed evidence of mud from having helped Megan out of the bog. They all seemed in high spirits though.
They gathered around the SUV.
"My cell isn't working!" I stated innocently.
"Mine neither," Dave replied.
I saw Megan scowling.
"Almost forgot!" Dave said. "Megan pass me your pack."
Megan did so, looking confused. I reached in and lifted the false bottom, lifting out a small black box. Megan looked livid. I flicked the switch on the side.
"You can use your cell now, Megan!"
The following morning
Sunday
West Columbia
"So, to what do I owe this mass invasion?" Marcus asked with a grin as Dave and I trooped into the living room.
"New York City," I stated simply.
"Yes, I know it well, what's left of it, anyway!"
I ignored Marcus' implication and ploughed on.
"Think back about six years, before Daddy died..."
"Okay..."
"... I'm looking for a strange occurrence..."
"Okay..."
"... That did not involve me or Daddy," I clarified quickly. "An assassin maybe?"
Marcus seemed to pause for a few minutes before he answered.
"There was an incident in Brooklyn, involved SWAT. Would have been right up your street!"
"He's getting funnier as he gets older!" I groaned.
"It involved the DEA, I think they had a dirty agent and there was a standoff, in an apartment building, then a massive firefight and finally a large explosion, which seemed to kill the assassin, who was the original target and the dirty agent.
"Rumours were that it was an assassin called 'The Professional'. We were aware of him, but he lived up to his name and he was a professional, always several steps ahead of us. To some extent we liked him! He only killed the scum of the earth, much like you guys; he never once hurt a woman or a child.
"Nobody even knew what he looked like! However, after that day, we never heard of him again... Although, that is not technically true, there was a report or two from a few years back that showed somebody following his MO, in operation in the City."
"Now, it's interesting that you should bring that up, as just the other night that same MO seemed to appear at a building on the Southside, but only so far... The rest of the MO looked like Hit Girl! You know, total death and destruction, that sort of thing!"
"Definitely getting funnier as he gets older!"
"Considering all was quiet here, while you were sinking boats all over the Great Lakes, it just seemed a little suspicious that things started to go to hell within hours of you stepping ashore from your battleship!"
I really did not know where to start!
"I was not... I did not... How..." I blustered.
"She looks so cute when she gets all flustered!" Dave chuckled, stepping back out of arms reach.
"I am not flustered, Ass-Kick!" I retorted.
"Definitely not!" Marcus said sarcastically.
That evening
West Ridge
"So, to what do I owe this mass invasion?" I asked with a grin as Marcus, Paige and Megan trooped into the living room.
"New York City," Marcus stated simply.
We all sat down and Marcus passed me a file.
"You never saw that!" He said, pointedly.
"Saw what?" I replied with an innocent smile.
The file was not very thick, but was full of freshly printed documents. It appeared to be an NYPD report, which concerned the murder of an entire family, in New York, some six years or so previously, in March 2009. The family had been gunned down, during the day. It had been something to do with drugs apparently. Which would explain how the DEA got involved.
I was a little shocked by what I read. The Lando family had been all, but exterminated. The father, the mother, an older teenaged girl and a very young boy. They had all been shot dead, some in the back while trying to escape. That sent a wave of rage through me; you did not kill children at all, let alone by shooting them in the fucking back; only a coward did that!
Apparently, there had been a fifth family member, a girl of around twelve or thirteen. She had vanished; and had then been presumed dead. What was the missing girl's name? I dug through the report.
There it was in black and white, Mathilda Lando!
..._...
I looked up at Marcus.
"Horrific reading; even for you!" Marcus stated.
"It is – that bastard who killed those kids..." I was raging.
"It was not nice, but the guy died, blown up by a grenade, or two, I understand," Marcus added.
"My family was destroyed in a vicious manner, but nothing like that..."
"Anything I need to know?" Marcus asked.
"I'll let you know, but nothing for now!"
"Hey, can I look?" Megan asked, eyeing the file.
"Above your pay grade, kid!" I chuckled.
"I don't get paid!" Megan retorted.
"But, I do; lots and lots of money!" Paige teased and started flipping through the file.
"Yeah, a large chunk is compensation for looking after you!" I laughed.
"That's low, even for you, Macready!" Megan bristled.
"Save it for the streets, Wild Kitten!"