Chapter Nineteen
Arrival
Other Side Of Salt Lake City
Mercenary Two’s Location
Work
It appeared that the poison mastermind was hiding in plain sight. When they’d gotten to her home, she wasn’t there, but her neighbor was nice enough to chat it up with Jagger, sharing that she owned her own business.
The elderly lady was more than happy to chitchat, once she found out that Suzette Derth’s nephew was in from Kalamazoo to visit his aunt.
She shared some stories and even offered up some cookies for the road as he headed to his ‘aunt’s’ flower shop.
Suzie had set up shop as a florist after retiring from the US government’s scientific research division. Now, she made flower arrangements for weddings, Valentine’s Day, and even something called ‘Galentines’.
Jagger had no clue what that was, nor did he care, but at least they had a location for their mad poisoner.
“Thank God we had intel on her,” Maura said, as they parked outside the little cottage shop where the woman worked. “This would have been much harder had we needed to hide in her house.”
Jagger had passed the cookies back as they headed there, and he could hear munching.
Oh, and they knew who was having a snack.
Zayn.
The man couldn’t go two hours without a food break. You’d swear he had a tapeworm.
“Yeah, I can’t say I want to hang out or touch jack shit in her house,” Jagger admitted. “She poisons people for her side hustle. Who knows who she shares her poison with? Friends, family, or neighbors,” he said, enjoying poking the Native in the back.
After all, he deserved it for being a dick most of the time when he called him short.
Suddenly, they heard hacking and turned in their seats. There was Zayn wiping off his tongue after spitting cookie remnants into the container.
“Jesus! You think the neighbor kills people?” he asked, panicked.
Maura shrugged.
“I mean, she looked sketchy to me,” she stated, knowing what her husband was doing, so she was gladly joining in.
Sometimes, Mr. TooBigForHisBritches needed to be humbled, and humbled fast.
“She did hint to me that she loved the ‘exotic’ plants that Suzie grew in their shared garden,” he said, making shit up.
Now, Zayn looked panicked.
So, of course, Gene got in on the fun.
“She did just use a fast-acting poison. I wouldn’t touch or eat anything within a five-mile radius of that place.”
Elizabeth just shook her head.
“And I thought my circus was the big circus. How are we paying this group this much money for this much bullshittery and tomfoolery?” she asked, in amusement.
Jagger just shrugged.
“What some of us lack in brains, we make up for in HEIGHT.”
Zayn got it now.
He stared at the man.
“That was a waste of a perfectly good cookie, asshole,” he stated. “Your ass is grass. You won’t know when, and you won’t know where…”
Rogue shrugged.
“We’ll smell you coming. Deodorant, Jackhole. Deodorant.”
He pointed at him.
“My sweet Stella likes the non-aluminum deodorant. I’m a prisoner to her choices. I break through. Don’t bust my balls.”
Gene pulled a stick of deodorant out of his bag and tossed it at the man.
“Use it. There is no place on this earth that you should be using non-aluminum deodorant. Trust me.”
Zayn flipped him off, but he used it, maneuvering it down his shirt and into his pits.
“Now, I smell gay.”
Gene turned around and stared at him.
“It fits. You look gay too with that girl hair, pussy.”
Elizabeth hated being a Debbie Downer, but they had fucking work to do, and she had a headache.
A mercenary one.
These dudes talked more than her husbands, kids, employees, and most of the FBI. Normally, she wouldn’t care, but today was NOT the day.
“Oh, look. A job,” she said, pointing at the florist shop. “Maybe we can work.”
Yeah, they got it.
Someone was over their bullshit.
“How do you want to do this, Mar?” Rogue asked, as he was on his laptop.
She deferred this to Elizabeth.
“Boss?” she asked.
Elizabeth considered the options.
“We need to do this face-to-face. We don’t know what she has access to in there. I have no doubt he ordered flowers and picked them up here to deliver to the FBI building. That would be the best cover.”
Yes, yes, it would be.
“Then, we have to go in and get the situation under control before she can grab anything.”
Elizabeth wasn’t playing.
“Gloved up. I don’t like fucking around and finding out after the fact.”
Yeah, they were with her on that.
“Then, I’m going in,” Maura stated. “Your face is too familiar, and while men go in to buy flowers, a woman is going to be less frightening than if we send in Gene or Zayn.”
That was a good point.
“I’ll incapacitate. You guys get gloved up. As soon as I have her locked down, I’ll turn the open sign.”
Jagger hoped his wife was careful.
“Don’t do anything crazy. Baby on board.”
She pointed at Zayn.
“I know. I’m tired of carting his fat ass around and babysitting him, too.”
Oh, Zayn flipped her off instead because he wasn’t saying shit while this close to her. It would end with him getting punched in the balls.
The bottom line was that the Major could get mean.
To cover herself, she grabbed a hoodie that Rogue handed her. When she tugged it on, it covered her guns and vest. Now, she was protected and safe.
“Don’t touch shit,” Jagger said. “Got it?”
She rolled her eyes, tossed him the keys, and pulled some cash out of her pocket.
“Got it, husband.”
With that, she headed toward the building, com in her ear, so she could hear them.
“She has a bunch of cameras,” Maura said, her com live. “I hope you’re all over them, Rogue,” she stated.
His voice came over the com.
“They are looped. She won’t see anything coming if she’s watching.”
That worked for her.
Heading in, she put a smile on her face and walked into the woman’s shop.
And it was cute.
Oh, it was also pricey-looking. Someone was making a good deal of coin selling poison.
“Hey!” a fifty-something-year-old woman said from behind the counter.
Maura had to get her away from anywhere she could have access to poison.
“Oh, hey! I hope you can help me,” she said, stopping where she was to look at the arrangements.
The woman didn’t move.
“What are you looking for?” she asked.
She was to the point.
“My sister just had a baby, and I need some flowers, but she’s married to this hoity toity dude, who is really picky. I need an arrangement, but I need it to be EXPENSIVE.”
The woman smiled.
“I actually specialize in exotic flowers that are pretty exclusive to my shop,” she said, getting up and heading around the counter.
Maura checked her out.
She was older, but she was in damn good shape. It was clear that this mercenary liked to stay fit.
Well, good.
She liked a challenge.
“Can you show me some things?” she asked, as the woman directed her to the case against the wall.
As she did, Maura moved with her.
Then, it happened.
It must have been the com in her ear, that normally, no one saw, because someone went twitchy on her.
Suzette swung, and Maura had just enough time to duck under her arm and punch her in the gut.
The woman went backward and grabbed a vase to throw it at her. Maura blocked it with her arm, and the woman came in hot, throwing punches like her life depended on it.
As she landed one on Maura’s chest, she hurt her hand.
“Vest,” Maura said. “MATE, alert!” she stated, as she blocked an elbow, and got shoved into some flowers as the door swung in.
That’s when the women went to run back around the counter. Only, Elizabeth was on her, and she grabbed her by the back of the hair, and slammed her face off the floor three times, until the woman went out.
Cold.
Jagger helped his wife up from the pile of carnations she was lying in before checking to make sure she was okay.
“What the hell?” Rogue asked.
Maura told him.
“She had to have spotted my com,” she said.
Zayn was locking the door as Rogue was behind the woman’s counter.
“Or she saw the looped footage and you not appearing on it,” he stated. “She was monitoring.”
Well, shit.
That was the problem with blockers. If you were paying attention, you absolutely were going to notice something off.
From where she was, kneeling on the prone woman’s back, Elizabeth still had a fistful of her hair.
“Let’s get her to the back. She won’t stay out long,” she admitted.
Then, she dragged her across the floor by her hair, not being the least bit merciful.
“She’s about to blow,” Jagger whispered to Gene.
He wasn’t telling him anything they didn’t know. They were all bracing for it.
“This killer is her thirteenth reason. She’s done asking questions. Now, she’s in the ‘put holes in people’ phase.”
Zayn shrugged.
“I like that better. It’s nice not to be snuck up on,” he stated.
As soon as he said that, MATE appeared behind him, and scared the shit out of him.
“BOO!”
He jumped and nearly fell into some Birds of Paradise flowers by the window.
“I hate that shit!” he stated.
Yeah, well, MATE had to be MATE.
That wasn’t going to change.
When they got to the back, Elizabeth had Suzette secured, and in a chair. She was dripping blood down her shirt, as her nose had been obliterated.
Elizabeth was pulling on leather gloves as they began tossing the place.
“Remember, be careful,” she stated.
When the woman moaned, Elizabeth punched her in the face, knocking her back out until they could get their search done.
“There’s her phone,” Jagger said, tossing it to Rogue. “It was on the counter by the security system.”
The man caught it.
When he opened it, he was grateful it was locked, but not with face ID.
Because bitch’s face wasn’t opening shit.
That was for sure.
“I need a fingerprint,” he said, going behind the chair, and getting access to the phone.
As he did, Gene pulled out his tablet and passed it off to Rogue to connect to MATE.
They needed into that phone.
ASAP.
As he began doing that, they saw that there was one thick, locked door.
“It’s steel,” Zayn admitted.
Elizabeth pulled a tiny kit from her vest and opened it up. It appeared that she was going to have to pick the lock. As she got down to do that, Rogue was in the woman’s phone, and MATE was digging around.