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"Well?" Fortune asked impatiently. "I thought the dire situation was a matter of life or death. So what's the big news?"
Ida Belle cleared her throat and nodded at Mo. "She knows."
Fortune's expression turned frigid. "Mo knows." She didn't bother to ask what it was Mo knew, she just repeated Ida Belle's blunt remark.
"Some. But by the time this is over..." Gertie deliberately didn't finish the sentence. She wasn't playing games or pretending to be the ditzy senior citizen she could act like. She wanted Fortune to realize that what Mo knew at this point could turn into a full disclosure of Fortune's background.
Fortune didn't waste any time. Her sharp eyes turned to Mo, and Mo saw a cold, impersonal look in them that she hadn't witnessed before. Mo glanced at the older women who nodded. Gertie patted her hand and said, "It's okay, Mo. She's with the good guys so tell her what you overheard."
Mo took a deep breath and began her story once again. Fortune's eyes were still hard and cold, but she didn't have them directed at Mo. She absorbed the information and processed it mentally. Every so often she'd stop Mo and ask her a question. When Mo finished, Gertie told what she knew of the men.
Fortune looked grim. "I know who they are. South American mercenaries for hire, known as Juan and Carlos... So original," she scoffed. "But their real names don't matter. What are the odds they'd show up here, of all the stupid places on earth they could be right now? Six feet under the dirt is where they should be!" She rubbed her forehead as she thought.
"One thing's for sure," Ida Belle told her. "If they start flashing around that photo, it won't be long until someone connects it to you. But they don't want anyone else poaching their game, so for now they haven't let anyone else know you're here. Plus, they don't realize we're onto them, and they think they've got all week. Let's hope they're out looking for good fishing spots for tomorrow's big pay day."
Fortune had a few choice comments to make about the situation... in more than one language. A shocked Mo accidentally grabbed one of Ida Belle's cups of coffee by accident. She took a sip, and her eyes got huge.
Gertie yelled, "Take cover!" and dropped her head down under the table. Mo spat the brew back into the coffee cup, and Ida Belle got mad.
"That was my last cup, and I was going to savor it," she complained.
"I don't think you have to worry about germs," Mo gasped. "I'm pretty sure that stuff is consuming any surviving organism in that cup. I'm shocked that you have to use curlers. I'm pretty sure my hair is going to fry off my head."
Gertie pushed a regular cup of coffee in Mo's direction and asked, "Well, what are we going to do? We can't follow Carter's suggestion and stay out of this one, for obvious reasons." She turned to Fortune. "I'm going to check their motel room, as I just happen to have a spare master key that I forgot to return once Eugene came back."
"How does that key fit a new door?" Ida Belle asked.
Mo rolled her eyes. "Thank Eugene. He salvaged the hardware from the old door and used it on the new one. That includes the door handle and lock, which survived the fire. It was a real joy to clean," she said sarcastically.
Fortune was the only one who didn't join the conversation. Her mind was busy and Mo stared in fascination as Fortune seemed aware of what was taking place in the kitchen, even though her thoughts were far off. She had serious multi-tasking skills! Then Fortune smiled as though they were all just getting together for a little gossip and coffee.
She looked at Mo. "You might want to leave the room," she advised.
Mo's eyes flipped back and forth between Ida Belle and Gertie. What's the deal? She's kicking me out and letting the two senior citizens stay?
"It's for your own protection," Gertie assured her.
"Protection against whom or what?" Mo asked. "You just told me I'm living a few doors down from known mercenaries. How is leaving the room going to protect me from that?"
"It's not," Fortune said bluntly. "But they aren't here for you and the less you know, the less involved you'll be."
"And the less accountability you'll have on your head," Ida Belle added.
"Let me ask you something," Mo said. "If I stayed in this room and heard everything that was said, would it put me in the possible position of serving time in prison?"
"If things go wrong, it's more than possible, it's probable," Fortune answered.
"But you're not in that position?" Mo asked, and Fortune shook her head. "How about Ida Belle and Gertie?"
"We already know too much," Gertie snorted. "Besides, if something goes sour, by the time they finish prosecuting us, we'll be dead."
"Let me offer a suggestion," Fortune said. "Leave and don't make a quick decision on this. I'm not giving details, but if you get as involved as these two," she nodded at Ida Belle and Gertie, "you're taking on a heavy responsibility. You need to be sure you can handle that first. If you decide you want to know, we'll fill you in. But the information comes with a price, and a greater personal risk to all of us, especially me."
Mo nodded seriously. "That's reasonable. But will you confirm you're the Redding these men were talking about?"
Fortune nodded. "I've been called Redding in the past."
"Thank you," Mo replied. "If what I overheard helps you in any way, then I'm grateful Ida Belle and Gertie knew what to do with the information. I'll think your offer over and get back to you." Mo turned to Ida Belle and Gertie. "I have a feeling you three will be making plans, so I'll walk back to the motel."
Gertie protested half-heartedly, and Mo chuckled. "I just ate a piece of casserole that was probably bigger than the whole cake Eugene bought for his celebration. A walk won't hurt me, unlike Ida Belle's version of coffee. That should be considered a chemical weapon!" She grinned as she left Fortune's house out the back door. Actually, walking and thinking were both good activities to work off her agitation.
She was a few steps down when the back door opened. It was Fortune. "Mo? I just want you to know something." She stepped out and closed the door. "For your own peace of mind, I will give you one bit of information with a warning. Once I've told you, don't go digging or it will land you in serious trouble."
"Have you been drinking Ida Belle's coffee?" Mo asked in wonder. "I don't correlate peace of mind with serious trouble."
"You will, because it's easy. I work for the government, and you are one of a very small group of people who know. See, wasn't that easy? Now just please don't go digging around or telling anyone."
"I get it. So tell me, am I covered by the whistle blower's act if I report Eugene for falsifying his income tax returns by understating his income? Do I get a reward for reporting him, Miss IRS?"
"Go take your walk," Fortune said with a grin of relief. She felt it was important that Mo knew which side of the law she was on. Because there was only one way out of this, short of having Morrow pull her out of Sinful. But Fortune wasn't telling Morrow because she didn't want to leave her friends behind when things got ugly. And knowing what she did about Juan and Carlos? It would get ugly, and deadly, before it was over.
With Mo gone, Fortune, Ida Belle, and Gertie worked on a plan to eliminate Juan and Carlos.
"You know it has to be done this way?" Fortune asked, looking for assurance that the other women understood what had to be done, and supported the decision.
"I'm glad you sent Mo home," Gertie told her. "I don't know if she'd be on board with this, given her civilian background. But the three of us? We know how the game is played."
"One of the first things we need to do is get rid of that photo and hope they don't have a digital or hard copy for backup," Fortune mused. "Gertie, can you handle that?"
Gertie just rolled her eyes. "Can Ida Belle turn down a new style of curlers?"
Fortune wiped her mouth with her hand and turned to Ida Belle. "Will you check with Walter to see what he knows about these guys, other than what they've put on the registration forms? They've likely been shopping in his store, and maybe Walter's overheard something useful."
Gertie snickered because she knew Walter had a crush on Ida Belle. Ida Belle glared. "I hope you have a maid uniform when you enter the motel room illegally," she told Gertie. "Hey, why don't you buy a blonde wig and pretend to be Fortune? They could kidnap you, and it would solve all our headaches at once!"
Gertie snorted. "If I wore a blonde wig, they'd have to auction me off as a sex slave, not an assassin. I've still got it," she said smugly.
"Not if you're wearing a thong," Ida Belle shuddered. Gertie joined Fortune and Ida Belle as they laughed at the mental picture.
"Back to business," Fortune reminded them. "If we let them go, you realize they won't stop looking, and soon more will show up in Sinful."
"Fortune, you don't have to convince us," Ida Belle assured her. "These aren't good men, and in your line of work it's necessary to put some of them permanently out of commission. What did you have in mind?"
"It's risky," Fortune warned them, then waved as Ida Belle huffed impatiently. "I know. Risk is part of the job. If we 'take them out' where the bodies can be found, there's always the chance it will come back to bite us." They all understood what Fortune's euphemism 'take them out' meant. "I think the best bet is to do it during the fishing tournament. There will be a lot of strangers here, which is good and bad. If the bodies turn up, the suspect pool is much larger. But we'll also have to be more cautious so that no one sees us."
"We'll have to lure them into an ambush," Gertie said flatly, and Ida Belle nodded.
"Here's the problem. Since I'm the bait, how can I lay in ambush for them?"
"You won't," Ida Belle told her. "I'll take them out."
Fortune sighed. "I know you could and would, Ida Belle. But I can't put this on you. If those bodies turn up with bullet holes, I won't have you putting yourself on the line for me. Besides, if it comes down to the worst case scenario, my boss just pulls me out of here and makes this go away. It will be uglier than watching Celia Arceneaux work a stripper pole, but at least I'm not going to serve jail time for killing two international criminals. I think your government issued get out of jail card expired a while ago. Mine's still active."
"So we need a decoy," Gertie said. "Maybe I should buy that blonde wig after all."
Ida Belle made a rude remark, and Fortune shook her head. "Gertie, I'm relying on your ability to handle a fishing boat and your knowledge of the bayou for a good place to ambush the men and dump the bodies. Ida Belle, you'll be on board in case of emergency."
"You mean I'll get to shoot them," Ida Belle said, sounding happy.
"That leaves us with the task of finding a decoy," Gertie reminded them.
The three women exchanged looks. "Mo?" Ida Belle asked.
"I don't think we have a choice," Fortune replied. "We can't exactly advertise for a look alike, and we certainly can't tell anyone what she already knows.
"Well, I hope those guys have a cup of Ida Belle's coffee before they get in a boat," Gertie giggled. "You and Mo both have blonde hair and blue eyes. The similarity ends there! Mo's only weapons are as much of a hindrance as they are a help, and better suited to picking men up than permanently taking them down. Unless she gives someone a heart attack."
"I don't think Mo's cooperation will be won by using that analogy," Fortune said with a smile. "Besides, this will put her in danger and she has a right to know."
Ida Belle huffed and muttered about that last sentence, but Fortune was insistent.
With a tentative plan in place, Fortune suggested Ida Belle and Gertie get started with their end of the plans.
"Who's asking Mo?" Gertie wanted to know.
"I'm still working on that," Fortune admitted reluctantly. "To be honest, that's the hardest part of the plan for me to swallow. Asking an untrained civilian to take part in this op goes against everything I know and believe."
Ida Belle patted her shoulder. "You'll figure it out. Just remember what's potentially at stake if we don't do this now." Ida Belle followed Gertie out the door and left Fortune to wrestle with her moral dilemma.