Pretenses by Keith Lee Johnson

leave them hidden somewhere for the FBI to find. She had another room. That’swhere she put them. Then led us away from the hotel. I bet she went right back after she ditched us.”
    â€œExactly. She had gotten rid of the disguise. She could waltz right back in there, and no one would suspect her. We gotta tell Ford and Flynn. They can view the videotapes. Maybe they’ll spot her. And if we’re truly lucky, she’ll still be there.”
    â€œWhy wouldn’t she be? She thinks she’s so much smarter than us.”
    â€œWell, she is pretty damn smart, Phoenix.”
    â€œI know; I just don’t want to admit it.” I laughed.
    â€œWhat do we do if she’s not there?”
    â€œThen we concentrate on the judge. We find out who had a grudge against the judge and who had the money to pay an expensive girl like Susan Lucci.” It was the only name we had for her. Might as well use it until we got more information. “We should probably make some calls to Japan and see if they know anything about ninjas for hire.”
    â€œYou really think she’s a ninja, Phoenix?”
    â€œI think it’s highly possible. Even if she’s not a ninja, she’s definitely a highly skilled martial artist. That much I know for certain. You don’t maintain the kind of control she exhibited when you’re thrown fifty or sixty feet over the front of a car you’ve just rear-ended if you’re just a regular Jane. She’s probably trained all her life, which also explains how she can keep a cool head while riding a bike at full speed through a busy intersection.”
    â€œIf it comes down to it, do you think you can take her?”
    â€œI don’t know, Kelly. She doesn’t have the same value system I have. And that gives her a huge advantage. For example, if it were necessary, she would have shot innocent civilians in the lobby of the hotel with the Uzi she was carrying.”
    â€œToo bad it melted in the explosion. We might have gotten a print.”
    â€œThat’s another thing she has going for her—she’s lucky.”
    â€œShe’ll make a mistake. They always do.”
    â€œYeah, but we have to catch her before the last hit. Otherwise, she’s gone forever.”
    Simon and Keyth were coming back to the table. They hadn’t been gone very long. The fight must have been over quickly, I thought.
    â€œLook who’s coming back, Kelly. What do you bet they’re gonna want to go upstairs and do it again?”
    â€œNo bet. I know Simon, and I know me. Even if it isn’t on his mind, it’s on mine.”
    â€œMine, too.”
    Keyth had the strangest look on his face when he reached the table. He sat down and took my hand into his. I looked into his eyes and saw that they were welling with tears. Whatever it was, it was serious.
    â€œIt’s your father, Phoenix. The Assassin got him.”

CHAPTER 33
    W ASHINGTON , D.C., was a sweltering 98 degrees when we returned. Keyth’s mother, Dorothy, and Savannah met us at Dulles International. Savannah ran to us, screaming, “Mommy and Daddy!” Keyth picked her up and hugged her. I just didn’t have the energy. I still felt as if I’d been hit in the stomach with a sledgehammer.
    â€œHow was your trip to St. Thomas?” Savannah asked. “I told all the kids in my class where you were.”
    â€œWe had a good time, honey,” I heard Keyth tell her.
    Dorothy drove, and my husband and daughter rode up front. I needed the entire back seat to myself. My father was dead, and I had never, ever thought of him dying. And to die at the hands of that homicidal nymphomaniac? Images of law enforcement officers standing over his dead body, making the wisecracks we tended to make, irritated me. I was so hurt that my pain consumed my anger at the killer. Tears rolled down my cheeks like a waterfall. I opened my eyes and saw that my daughter was staring at