The Housewife Assassin's Relationship Survival Guide by Josie Brown

waiting for them to contact Donna,” Jack explains. “Instead, why don’t we contact them and invite them to an event they wouldn’t want to miss?”
    Emma snickers. “That should be easy. All we’d have to say is that sex is involved.”
     “Wow,” Arnie murmurs. “Talk about the ultimate Quorum-palooza!”
    I shake my head. “Nope, I don’t think so! As much as I’d like to get away from all these kinky blind dates, I’ve got to draw the line at an orgy.”
    Jack laughs. “That’s not exactly what I had in mind. If we word the invitation correctly, they’ll all be expecting an intimate encounter with their dream girls, not some sort of group gang bang.” He shrugs. “At least, not all of them. Okay, I take that back. Maybe that is the ultimate fantasy of some of them. But what they’ll get instead is a one-on-one interrogation by an FBI agent.”
    Ryan nods. “Works for me. But the agents will still need reconnaissance to put the screws to our mystery men.”
    “That’s where Donna comes in.” Jack puts his hand on my shoulder. “As Sugar CEO’s concierge, she’ll greet each man personally. You know, take his coat, offer him a drink, give him the key to his room and walk him to the elevator, that sort of thing. It will also give her the face time that Arnie and Emma need to ID them. When she looks them in the eye, her lens feeds us video for an iris scan. Every time they open their mouths, we get a chance at voice recognition. Whenever they hit the elevator button or take her up on an offer for a libation, we have their fingerprints.”
    I smile at his brilliance. “So, where does this soirée take place?”
    “It’ll have to be a secluded venue, one away from any civilians,” Ryan murmurs. 
    Arnie clicks away on his iPad. “Hey, I think I’ve got just the right place. There’s a posh new hotel, practically next door to LAX. It’s just passed the city inspection, furnishings are already being delivered, and the grand opening is still three weeks off.”
    “Great find, Arnie,” Ryan says. Arnie gives him a silent nod, but his gaze falls on Emma to make sure she heard the boss man’s kudos. Apparently not, since she’s too busy combing through my pajama drawer. If Arnie doesn’t make his move before this mission is over, he may lose Emma to his competition. I’ve got to give that boy another pep talk.
    “Perfect! Acme will rent it out for an evening prior to the opening. The hotel’s management will love making some pre-opening revenue. They will be told it’s for a private corporate event, and that no onsite personnel will be needed because we’ll be bringing in our own wait staff,” Ryan says. “Sugar CEO will send a limo, courtesy of Abu. That way, there’s no chance of them getting lost, and we can monitor any communication they have in transit.” 
    “How will you break the news to the DOJ that I’m taking part in the mission?”
    Ryan ponders that for a moment. “It was his grand scheme to use you as the canary in the Quorum mine shaft. If he wants to strike gold, it’s time to move you to a different tunnel.” 
    I’m almost afraid to ask, but someone has to say it. “How can we ensure the assassin won’t get wind of this?”
    “Our guess is that he’s also tapped into the Sugar CEO database,” Ryan explains. “If so, Arnie will have to create a sentry to block him from anything that signals future activity on their accounts.”
    “With Reynolds' watchdogs out front, won’t I have to pass on all the fun?”
    “If he thinks you’re here, he won’t be any wiser to your true whereabouts, Jack says. “Besides Emma’s window dressing—or I should say, undressing—we’ll transmit an audio feed from the house, so that he thinks he’s hearing you talking to the children. Instead, it will be a recording.”
    For the first time in quite a while, Ryan graces us with a smile. “Should he show up at the hotel anyway, between the Feds and us he’ll have quite