LITMIR.BIZ

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going?”

      “Very well, General. We may be getting somewhere.”

      “Good. Is Mamoud involved in this?”

      “Not the attacks on my home. The colonel used Zamani and a man named Kayle for that.”

      “The butcher?”

      “I don’t think he will be bothering me anymore.”

      “How do you know that?”

      “Something we heard.”

      “At the Army base?”

      “Yes, sir.”

      “Is someone near you that you can’t talk right now?”

      “Yes, sir.”

      “Call me later. I’m in Ottawa at my office.”

      “I will, General.”

      Rita closed her phone, looked at Dianne. “I should go. Thanks for the coffee.”

      “You’re welcome, Rita. Call me, okay?”

      Rita put her cup on the counter; felt a strong urge to kiss her on the mouth. “I’ll try.”

      “I look forward to it. And to talking with your son tomorrow.”

      Dianne moved close, stood on her tip toes and kissed Rita on the lips. Rita kissed her back for a few seconds, then drew away. Suddenly pulled Dianne close and kissed her deeply for several seconds, her body touching, tingling, the neglected part of her rising to the surface. She broke off the kiss.

      Dianne stared at her. “Wow.”

      Rita smiled. “Sorry I did that.”

      “I’m not.”

      “I really have to go now.”

      Dianne wrapped her arms around Rita’s waist, kissed her again. A long deep kiss.

      Rita eased away from her. Held her at arm’s length. “We have to stop this, right now.”

      “Why?”

      “I have work to do.”

      “Can’t it wait for a couple hours? You might enjoy yourself.”

      Rita backed away. “I’m sure I would. I’ll call you.”

      Dianne smiled. “You have to promise, Rita.”

      She looked the attractive woman up and down quickly. Forced herself to turn around and walk away. “I promise I’ll call.”

      Rita walked out of the store, ran down the sidewalk extremely aroused, the kiss still alive on her lips. She spotted a bench in the shadows, sat down and composed herself, then called the general. Explained everything she knew so far. General Arnold was angry when he heard everything. He wanted Rita to arrest both the colonel and the lieutenant this evening. He was sending a man to interrogate both of them. He’d get the truth. His man very good at getting information from people. Rita wasn’t so sure. She told the general if Mamoud got wind that the colonel was arrested he would disappear again. After a back and forth, the general decided to do it Rita’s way. They would wait a while longer and see where it led.

      Rita walked into the office, smiled at Dixie and Cathy.

      Dixie said, “Your cheeks are red, Major.”

      “Are they?”

      Cathy agreed. “You’re glowing, Major.”

      “Glowing? Must be the sun.”

      Cathy looked at her. Said nothing. Rita walked into her office. A different trooper was now manning the listening devices.

      “Hi Major. I found where Kayle was talking from.”

      “Where?”

      “Victoria. I don’t know where in Victoria though. I do have the cell number.”

      “Well, at least we know he’s close. Anything else on this Kayle?”

      “Its conflicted. Some of his alleged activities don’t add up. I found two instances where he would have had to be in two places at once.”

      “What kind of activities?”

      “He’s wanted for questioning in two murders. He couldn’t have done that. The times don’t add up. Another instance of bringing in illegal entries. Again, sketchy. His whole file is vague and sketchy. He’s only wanted for questioning at the moment.”

      “Is there a photo of him?”

      The trooper picked up a piece of paper and handed it to Rita. “This is supposedly Kayle, but it doesn’t show much of his face.”

      Rita studied the grainy image of a tall looking slender man in a light colored suit. His hair slicked back. Dark glasses. Sharp features. She thought he looked like a mobster in his early forties perhaps. This wasn’t a very good picture. She placed it on the desk.

      “Good work, Trooper. We’ll just sit on this for now.”

      By the end of the day, Rita was satisfied she’d done all she could for the time being. Captain Yates was tailing the colonel. Patsy, the other trooper, was all set to video the lieutenant tonight. Maybe later tonight or tomorrow the colonel would contact Mamoud. Nothing to do but wait.

      Rita rode her motorcycle home, decided to barbecue tonight. Alex was still not home but Rita visited with a trooper named Andrea Forsythe, who was now staying in the house with Sergeant Verity Moore, the other woman watching over Alex. All was quiet on the home front.

      Just after six Alex walked into the house splattered with several flavors of paint.

      “Hi Rita.”

      She grinned. “You’re a mess.”

      “I know. I finished though. He even paid me a hundred and fifty dollars.”

      “I’m sure you earned every penny too. What are you going to do with all your money?”

      “I want to pay you back for buying me all the nice clothes.”

      She shook her head. “No, I don’t want any money. You save it for a rainy day. Are you going to see Dianne in the morning?”

      “I’ll see what she wants me to paint, but I may wait until Wednesday to paint her place. Amanda is off tomorrow. We were going to hang out. Maybe draw stuff.”

      “Go have a shower and I’ll put on the burgers and hot dogs. I’ll bet you’re hungry.”

      He nodded. “Starved.” He looked at her. “I was thinking today. Thinking about my mother and dad and things like that. Would you mind if I called you my mom?”

      Rita was deeply touched. “You have a mom, Picasso.”

      “I know, but you’re more of a mom than she ever was.”

      Rita’s eyes filled with tears. She touched his face. “Okay, Picasso. You can call me mom.”

      He smiled, kissed her cheek and went to clean up. Rita stood in the kitchen, tears streaming down her cheeks. Never in her life had she had this feeling she had now. A mom? She liked it.

      About nine o’clock that evening, Trooper Patsy called Rita. She had everything on disk and was certain Lieutenant Sweet hadn’t suspected a thing. She said he carried two heavy looking bags to a van, then drove to an old warehouse. Rita thanked her for a job well done.

      At midnight, Captain Yates called Rita. She told Rita the colonel had carried two bags from a warehouse and put them in his car after the lieutenant had dropped them off. The colonel had made two stops, dropping a bag at each stop, then going home to bed. Rita thanked the captain and told her to get some sleep.

      Rita stayed awake trying to put the pieces together. She guessed Mamoud sold the drugs to the colonel, who in turn sold

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