Chapter 34

It was Thursday evening. There had been a note at the dead drop, so the assassin used his scrambled phone to call his handler. “Yes?”

“I assume that you don’t have the Morrison woman,” the voice on the other end declaimed.

“The Feds have stashed her somewhere,” the assassin replied.

“Our principal in this project has met his demise,” the handler told the assassin. “While I find the idea of him reaching out from the grave for her amusing, it is a waste of time and money. The contract is withdrawn. In any case, all we were on the hook for was the abduction and eventual cleanup – our principal was to do the wet work himself. It’s just another reason not to bother.”

“I don’t give refunds,” the assassin insisted.

“Consider it a deposit against your next contract,” the handler replied. “We’re putting something together as we speak. The details should be in the usual drop on Monday.”

“Very well.”

The assassin hung up – and Delaney Morrison’s life was her own again, not that she knew it.

Friday came and started out rainy, but it promised to clear by game time. Toby went to the clubhouse before school and saw to it that Camilla was fed and again allowed to have a mattress. While doing so, he got the update on Ron’s punishment session from the mind of the victim in the process.

“She’ll probably see some kind of attention tonight,” Toby advised Abby, “so she should be fed. I’ll ask Tyrone to come by and supervise her cleanup this evening, if possible, so she’s presentable. She’s been real good, so maybe it is time to test her by letting up and seeing what she does.”

Abby nodded and that was it.

Hadleyville was a run for the team, so the schedule was adjusted to hold the pep rally earlier than usual, resulting in a day that was pretty broken up. In some cases, it was possible that people making decisions at the last minute and not being able to communicate would miss out on something, but that was par for the course, more or less. The team, cheerleaders, and coaching staff were on the road before school let out, and those who were going to the game had to rush some. As a result, Tyrone didn’t get to the house for Camilla, since he needed to be in Hadleyville for Cindy, so Abby brought her a tub of water, a washcloth and a towel and called it a day. Camilla was happy enough to have warm water.

There was a flap when Toni approached Jasmine after the pep rally and said, “Can’t go to the game. We got no ride.”

Jasmine went to Amy and Amy called Randy, and since Bernice was in on the invitation, he agreed to make the trip in the van. Toni Farber, Monique Black and Jolene Turner rode with Jasmine in the back; Bernice rode shotgun up front. Toby drove himself, Jeffrey, and Myron. Amy rode in the other van, which Iris volunteered to drive at the last minute, along with several club girls who had boyfriends on the team, including Misha, of course, and Carmela and Isobel.

The Hurricanes were a breeze. Up fourteen points at the end of the first quarter, Coach Garber again put his quarterbacks to work on their weak points, having Tad concentrate on passing and Damian on the ground game. That slowed things down, but didn’t stop them. Hadleyville had a big front line, but they were slow, and whether it was reacting to the rush or trying to keep receivers from getting downfield, their line was like Swiss cheese. Sacks weren’t possible; the two times someone got close, Tad outran the attacker for big gains rather than throwing the ball away. Generally, he had PLENTY of time to pass. Damian, under only moderate pressure, fine-tuned his handoffs and fakes. Ben Ellis and Bobby Beckwith slid through the Hurricane line again and again and Clint Reed and Mark Torres had no problem getting downfield to make big catches. The final was thirty-five to fourteen; the Eagles remained undefeated.

Iris took the new van back to the school and let off most of the girls, as they would be riding to the clubhouse with their boyfriends. Randy took his load directly to the clubhouse, where Abby took charge of them but kept them on the first floor. Toni Farber pressed her a bit, saying, “I hear that this ain’t all there is to the place,” but Abby replied, “Others are coming. We’re not ready to deal with that yet. There will be an announcement. Enjoy the facilities here on the first floor until then.” Toni didn’t like it, but she had no choice.

Jiang Yi was supervising the kitchen and the food layout. Toni hit her up, too, but Jiang Yi was properly prepared. “It is a club,” she explained. “You will be offered membership. There are dues to be paid and maybe an initiation. It is not for me to say more.” Misha and Isobel arrived with Iris at that point, and Toni put the heat on them, but they, too, were protected.

Tyrone and Otis were together, commuting in Tyrone’s car. They swung by the Simpson residence and picked up Antoine, then met Slick, Rudy, Marcel and Frog at their pimpmobile – the van they’d tricked out for carrying Patty and Simone – outside the diner that they were using as a bordello on Friday nights in partnership with Big Jack Osborn, the diner’s manager.

Slick grinned at Tyrone. “Otis said there’s fresh meat at the clubhouse tonight?”

“Yeah,” Tyrone agreed. “I could tell you, but maybe it’s better as a surprise. We’re thinking that white chick who likes gangbangs will be there, too, and of course there is the one out in the barn or whatever. There will be some other older stuff, too. Put Patty and Simone out and go on down.”

Marcel eyed Slick. “You go on down. I’ll keep an eye on Fat Connie and the girls. You get your fill and come on back and I’ll hit it up late.”

“Cool. I’ll be back for prime time.” Slick opened the van doors. “Time to go to work, girls.” He waved Patty and Simone out. Marcel took charge of them and pointed them at the diner. It wasn’t a problem – they knew the drill. Slick, Frog, and Rudy mounted the van and headed for the clubhouse.

Louise and Fred arrived, got a briefing from Abby regarding the new girls, and Louise went in to run interference while Fred went to check on things on the second floor, where Candace was currently presiding. When Tyrone and Otis arrived, they stuck Antoine in a second-floor bedroom to await Vince. Slick, Rudy and Frog stayed on the first floor, checking out the arrivals and awaiting developments. Jiang Yi’s food layout was especially welcome to Frog, so he hung out there, picking over the appetizers.

Bobby Beckwith and Trish Horner headed for Bobby’s house – and on their arrival, his parents left for the clubhouse. Robert Senior planned to get his first piece of black pussy while allowing Arlene to feed her fixation on dark meat. Officially, Robert was rewarding his wife for being a ‘good girl.’ Unofficially, it would give her something fresh to be guilty about.

“Mom! Hurry UP!” Nicky Mangia whined.

“Nicky, Darling, let Momma finish her makeup!” Myra Mangia chided.

“You had ALL NIGHT, Mom!” Nicky whined.