In Sheep's Clothing by David Archer Page A

problem,” Neil said. “My Spanish is pretty good, and the computer can make me sound like somebody from their neck of the woods.”
    “Good. As soon as we get the nanny and kids locked away here, I'll notify Queen Allison that they're ready for pickup. We'll wait about three hours after the abduction, give it time to let the news spread about it, and if nothing is happening, then the first load of flowers can be delivered. Neil, you be sure to use a similar voice to order flowers from two or three other flower shops around town, get them delivered as quickly as possible to the Gomez house. An hour or so later, Moose, you can take the last batch of flowers to them.”
    “Got it, Boss.”
    “Sarah, once we drop the nanny and kids off here, we get into the car and just start circling around that area of the city. The idea is to be as close as possible when the gathering begins. Neil, you'll be keeping tabs on who's going in and out of that house, I want to get as many of them as possible inside. If we miss any, Moose and I will have to track them down and take them out one by one.”
    “They all got together when that one guy was killed,” Neil said, “so I figure they'll do it again over Mrs. Gomez losing her kids. They're all supposed to be pretty close, so it would make sense.”
    Noah nodded in agreement. “I think you're right, but we have to prepare for contingencies. Keep your eye on as many of those cameras as you can, I need to know about any of the targets who manage not to get caught in the trap.”
    “Will do.”

FIVE
     
    T he day dragged on, but finally a big brown delivery truck appeared. Noah had put Sarah at the reception desk in the front office of the warehouse, and she smiled at the driver as he carried a box inside.
    “Is this Avalon Floral?”
    “It sure is,” Sarah said cheerfully. “Got something for me?”
    The driver smiled and set the box on the counter in front of her, then held out a device and asked her to use a stylus to sign for the package. She quickly scribbled “Rosemary Wingo” and handed it back. The driver smiled once more, winked at her and then headed back to his truck and drove away.
    Sarah grabbed the box and headed out into the warehouse, where Moose took it from her and began to open it up. The wedding dress he lifted out of it was small, but very pretty.
    “Wow,” Sarah said, “that's pretty nice. If it was a little bigger, I could wear it.”
    Neil spun in his chair to look at her, his eyes wide. “You guys getting married?”
    Sarah's eyes were suddenly even wider than his. “What? No! No, I just meant—I mean, I was just saying—oh, shut up, Neil!”
    Moose started laughing. “I wish you could see your face, Sarah,” he said. “I don't think I've ever seen you turn quite so red before.”
    “You shut up, too!”
    “Okay, okay,” Moose said. “You want to come help dress up Bony Girl? Even if you're not getting married, you probably know more about how to put on a wedding dress than we do.”
    Sarah stared at him blankly for a moment, then grinned. “Yeah, probably,” she said. “I doubt any of you have ever been near one before now.” She walked over to the table and began looking it over. “Remember, this is just a costume, it doesn't even fasten like a real wedding gown. It's got these three little hooks in the back instead of a zipper or buttons. Set the skeleton down on the floor, please?”
    Moose did as she asked, and Sarah slid the dress down over its head, fumbling to get the bony arms into the sleeves without ripping the lace. It took her only a couple of minutes, and then she stood back and looked at it.
    “Okay, let's get the jewelry on her.” She began picking through the pile they had made the day before, adding different ornaments to the figure as she went along.
    “We missed something,” Neil said, “actually a couple of things. Santa Muerte is supposed to be holding a couple of objects, mainly a scythe—she's Death,