Missions of the Retrieval Team - A Kilt By Any Other Name

[davedove]

Okay everyone, here's a little teaser:

[davedove]

Opening Scene

Pink Cheetah Gentlemen’s Club

The limo we were riding in came to a stop in front of the club. The blond driver got out and opened the door for me.

“Thank you, Ms. Falcon,” I said to her softly. I was dressed in simple slacks and sport jacket for this assignment. I reached back into the car to retrieve my briefcase. In it was five hundred thousand dollars, cash.

We had been tracking a stolen brooch for several weeks. This brooch was a family heirloom with a history. It was rumored that Queen Victoria herself had given this brooch as a gift to the family.

This brooch was very valuable even without its history. It was solid gold and set with several rubies, including one that was almost an inch in diameter. Whoever had stolen it had fenced it quickly, and it passed through several hands before winding up in the possession of one Anthony Gorgonzola, or Tony the Cheese to his underworld associates.

Tony had realized that it was something very valuable and had sought bids for the item. We had caught wind of the auction and managed to put in the top bid. Of course, once Ms. Swan discovered the other bids in Tony’s computer system, it was easy to outbid them.

We had chosen the Pink Cheetah to complete our transaction. It was a public place, but not too public.

I turned back to the car to assist my companion. The tall redhead placed her long legs out of the car and gave me her hand. She rose from the car as I helped her.

“Ms. Hawk,” I said to her, “You look stunning.”

She did look incredible. The green mini-dress she wore brought out the color of her eyes and set off her hair color perfectly.

“Thank you,” she said, with a bit of a twinkle in her eye. She took my arm and we turned to enter the club.

“Keep the car ready,” I said to Ms. Falcon. “We may have to leave quickly.”

We entered the club and were immediately stopped by the woman at the door. She accepted our cover charge as though we had never met. We had met, however. She was Ms. Starling, one of my associates.

She discretely pointed across the club. When I looked where she was pointing, I saw Tony and several of his henchmen sitting on the far side of the stage. They were all busy watching the scantily clad women dance on the stage in front of them.

Ms. Hawk and I walked directly towards them. When we drew near, one of Tony’s companions got his attention and pointed to me. Tony got up from his chair to greet us.

“Mr. Dove, I assume,” he said to me, extending his hand.

I shook the hand he offered. “Yes, and you must be Mr. Gorgonzola.”

“Please, we’re all friends here, call me Tony.”

“Of course, and you may call me Alexander, or Alex if you would like. This is my associate, Ms. Hawk.”

Tony had been watching Ms. Hawk closely and now turned to her with a lecherous glare in his eyes. “Well now, I am very pleased to meet you,” he said to her.

He was obviously a man who was used to having women at his beck and call. As he started to put his arm around Ms. Hawk, I knew he would be getting a lesson.

The second his hand touched her hip, she grabbed his wrist and twisted it into a submission hold. Tony gasped in pain.

“I decide when someone touches me,” she said to him, in a calm but threatening voice. “And you don’t have that privilege yet.”

She released his arm and Tony shook it to get the feeling back.

“I forgot to mention,” I said, “Ms. Hawk is also my bodyguard.”

“I see,” was all Tony could say to that. “Please, have a seat,” he told us.

I sat in the chair to Tony’s right and Ms. Hawk sat to my right. All of Tony’s men were on his left.

“Let me see it,” I told him.

“Alex, please, relax. Have a drink first, on me.” He waved his hand and the waitress appeared. A petite woman of oriental ancestry came over with her tray. Although she was wearing a very tiny dress and incredibly high heels, I knew this woman. She was Ms. Swan, another of my associates.

“Yes, sir?” she asked Tony.

He reached his hand around her hips and grabbed her, pulling her close. “Give my friend here whatever he wants.” He slipped a twenty into her tip cup.

Ms. Swan did a remarkable job of ignoring Tony’s hands as she turned to me. “Sir?” she asked me.

“Scotch, single malt.”

“Right away sir.” She twisted away from Tony, who only laughed.

“Only the good stuff when someone else is buying, eh, Alex?” he asked me.

“You know it,” I said with a smile. “Now, about the item.”

“Of course, as you wish, business before pleasure.” He gestured to one of his men, who pulled a small package from his coat and handed it to Tony. Tony opened the package and showed me the contents. The brooch shone brightly from within. “I assume you have the money?”

I reached down beside me and picked up the briefcase. I opened it and showed Tony the cash inside. I handed him the briefcase and he gave me the package. I quickly stuffed it into my jacket.

Before he could close the case, a woman’s voice spoke from the stage. “I don’t suppose I could convince you to part with some of that?”

We all looked up to see who had spoken. The woman standing on the stage had long blond hair and incredible blue eyes. The long sparkling dress she wore hugged every curve of her body, except for what was left open by the neckline and side slits, both of which reached to her waist. She stood there confidently in the strapped six-inch heels.

My associate, Ms. Thrush, was easily the sexiest woman in the club. She knelt on the stage and leaned over Tony, her hands resting on the arms of his chair. She spoke again into his ear. “I said, could I convince you to part with some of that.”

Tony had played this game before. “What are you going to do to earn it?” he asked with a lecherous smile.

Ms. Thrush leaned back from him and smiled with all the promise in the world. Tony quickly closed the briefcase and placed it on the floor beside him. Ms. Thrush stepped down from the stage and straddled his legs, sitting on his lap facing him. She grabbed his head and pulled it to herself, burying his face in her cleavage.

Tony’s men all roared in approval, slapping Tony’s back to encourage him.

None of them noticed when Ms. Swan returned to bring my drink. They also didn’t notice when she swapped an identical briefcase for the one at Tony’s side. She walked away quickly.

Tony quickly stuffed a few bills into Ms. Thrush’s dress. She got up off Tony and leaned down to him. “My name’s Veronica. Be sure to ask for me.” She stepped back up on the stage and blew Tony a kiss before she walked back to the dressing rooms.

“Well, Tony,” I said to him, “I can see that you’re going to be occupied for a while, so I won’t stay here to bother you. A pleasure doing business with you.”

“What? Oh, yeah, sure,” he answered. He stood and shook my hand. “Let us know if we can do anything else for you.”

Tony settled back into his chair to wait for Veronica to come back out.

Ms. Hawk and I quickly made our way to the door. As we exited, I nodded to Ms. Starling.

[davedove]

It seems my opening scene was too long.

Opening Scene (continued)

Ms. Falcon opened the door for us and we climbed inside the limo. “Take it around back,” I told her.

She quickly pulled the car around to the back of the club. Waiting there were Ms. Starling, Ms. Swan, and Ms. Thrush. Ms. Swan held the briefcase she had swapped from Tony. They all climbed inside when I opened the door.

As Ms. Falcon pulled into the street, Ms. Starling spoke, “The police have been notified.”

“And the product?” I asked.

“It’s in the briefcase,” said Ms. Swan, “Enough cocaine to put him away for several years, stolen from his own shop by Ms. Raven.”

“Good work team,” I said. “Just one more thing, Ms. Thrush?”

“Yes.”

“I don’t suppose you could wear that dress for me sometime?” I asked with a smile.

[Dirk Skene]

Could this be the brooch that was rumored to be the 1st kilt pin

[Panache]

Take your seats folks the show is starting! Too bad we don't get kilted previews for other movies.

Could this be the brooch that was rumored to be the 1st kilt pin

Very unlikely as that particular pin (and the solider it was pinned to!) vanished soon after the incident at Balmoral castle. The details of this incident may become public in the future elsewhere.


Cheers

Jamie

[KiltedSkeleton]

I give it two aprons way up.

[sharpdressedscot]

I'm interested. Good story so far, even though it's barely began.

[davedove]

Commercial Break

A bar

Three gentlemen are seated at a bar drinking beer. The beer in their glasses is a very pale yellow, obviously a typical mass-produced beer.

The first man takes a drink, and then sets the glass down with a disappointed look on his face.

“This beer is as bland as the last one.”

“Yeah,” says the second man, “they all taste the same.”

“It doesn’t taste like anything,” says the third man.

The bartender steps over. He is wearing a tartan kilt.

“Something wrong with the beer gents?” he asks them.

“This beer is so bland,” says the first man.

“It has no flavor,” says the second man.

“It tastes like water,” says the third.

“I’ve got something you might like better,” says the bartender. He reaches under the bar and pulls out three bottles. On the label is the name ‘X Brew’.

The first man reads the label. “X Brew?” he asks.

“What’s that?” asks the second man.

“We never heard of it,” says the third.

“It’s a little known Scottish Ale brewed at a secret location in the mountains of South Carolina. Try it; it’ll set your taste buds free.”

The three men shrug and pour the beer into their glasses. They lift the glasses and take a drink.

There is a flash of light and when it clears the three men are all wearing kilts. They set their glasses down with big smiles on their faces.

“That’s amazing!” says the first.

“So full of flavor!” says the second.

“Absolutely incredible!” says the third.

“I’m glad you like it,” says the bartender. “Say, where are you guys off to this afternoon, back to the office?”

“No way, I’m going out to play the bagpipes!” exclaims the first.

“And I’m going to toss the caber around!” announces the second.

“And I’m going to hunt some haggis!” says the third.

As the three men leave, the bartender picks up a bottle of X Brew and speaks to the audience. “X Brew, it sets your taste buds and your life free.”

[davedove]

Scene 1

Mountain Chalet in Colorado

I relaxed on the deck of my chalet, looking out over the mountains.

Ms. Stork sat in the chair beside me. She read the book in her lap, something about pre-Roman highland mythology.

I didn’t comment on the topic of her reading. Her knowledge of obscure subjects had saved the team more than once.

I heard the gunfire from the firing range down the hill. Ms. Hawk had her own idea of relaxing after a job.

I heard both swearing and yells of joy from the room just inside the doors to the deck. Ms. Swan and Ms. Raven were playing some sort of video game. From the sound of it, they were pretty evenly matched on this one.

Ms. Starling and Ms. Thrush were reclined in the hot tub on the deck. “Thank you Jonathan,” Ms. Thrush said as our butler brought drinks to them.

As Jonathan went inside, he passed Ms. Falcon on her way out. She was wiping her hands in a rag and had a bit of grease smudged on her cheek.

“How’s it coming?” I asked.

“I’m all done. If I’m right, we should get about an eight percent increase in speed from the engine now.”

My other associate, Ms. Wren, was on an extended leave of absence from the team. It seemed that her reunion with her husband had a welcome consequence. There would be a little wren coming soon.

Jonathan came back out with the phone. “Phone call for you sir,” he said to me. Mr. Panache.”

“Thank you Jonathan,” I said, taking the receiver. I spoke into it, “Hi Jamie, what can I do for you?”

“You can get here as soon as possible is what you can do,” he said. “We have a situation here at the Great Hall.”

I immediately sat up. The ladies all saw my expression and began moving themselves. Ms. Starling spoke into the radio she always kept handy, “Hawk, come back now.”

“What is it Jamie?” I asked. “Is it Globo-Fashion again?”

“No,” he answered. “But it’s something just as serious. Just get here.”

“We’re on our way,” I told him and hung up the phone.

“Jonathan,” I said. “We need to depart as quickly as possible. Help whoever needs it to pack up a quick bag and load it into the car. The chalet is yours until we return.”

“Yes sir,” he said, spinning around to make the preparations.

“What is it?” asked Ms. Starling.

“He wouldn’t say, but it’s big. I want everyone ready to go in ten minutes.”

[12stones]

Ahh...another great start. Well done, Dave.