Exploding Sputters

“I wouldn’t do that if I were you.” The whine from Hitomi’s gauntlet got louder as she and Alana moved into the room. The man looked belligerently at the two women as then came into view.
“Who the hell are you? This isn’t your business. Get out.”
“Yeah, I don’t think we can do that. Now lower your gun.”
“Or what? Zap me with your ray gun?” The man sneered.
“That or I shoot you with a good old fashioned pistol,” Alana chimed in.
Joop looked at them blearily, “Oh, thank God.”
“Shut up, Patrick!” Veins started sticking out on the man’s reddened face. “I can still kill you and them!”
“Do you believe this guy?” Hitomi whispered to Alana.
“It’s over Kyle. These women are Interpol agents.”
Kyle raised his gun at the women. “Stay away.”
“You do realize there’s two of us?” Alana glanced sideways at Hitomi, who shrugged.
Kyle didn’t even respond, just reddened more and made inarticulate noises.
“Sir, please lower your weapon and step away from Mr. Joop. We will not warn you again.” Hitomi had slipped back into the accent, she looked unruffled, but Alana couldn’t help but pick up on a worried vibe from her.
Alana kept her pistol trained on Kyle who looked about ready to explode, went over to Joop and worked at untying him. “We’ll have you free in a second.”
That must have been the straw that broke the camel’s back, as Kyle roared and charged at Alana and Joop. Hitomi yelled for them to look out and fired a blaster shot, knocking him back against the wall. He sank to the floor and didn’t move.
“Is he?”
“Don’t worry, Mr. Joop, he’s just unconscious.”
“Oh, where did this take such a turn?” Joop moaned and held his head in is hands.
“What’s been going on here?” Alana pulled a water bottle from her pack.
“He was my partner in the museum, Kyle March. He told me he was an antique toy enthusiast just like me. Soon he became obsessed with finding something among the toys. I caught him taking a hammer to some of the older pieces. Those were the toys I lost when I left this warehouse. I couldn’t afford it after I dissolved our partnership.”
“That would have been something you could have mentioned when we interviewed you before, Mister Joop.” Hitomi looked at him sternly.
“I’m sorry, but I wanted to put it behind me. I don’t even know why he kidnapped me. I honestly thought he was delusional! He kept yelling and sputtering about how I was hiding the secret from him. I was as surprised as anyone when that little Mona Lisa came apart and had a map inside.”
“What’s done is done, now. Mr. March will be going to jail now.”
“One thing, I know this sounds silly, but if you can, ask him where he got those wonderful matryoshka dolls.”
Hitomi and Alana exchanged glances, “Okay, you don’t know?”
“No, that I was telling the whole truth about.”
“Right, we’ll see what we can do, Mr. Joop.”
Alana turned to Hitomi, and was about to suggest they truss up March, when she saw, too late, March on his knees with his gun up. There was thunder, a scream, then she felt like a white hot spike had been driven through her shoulder. She crumpled to the floor. As shock set in, she couldn’t help but notice ants were swarming around what looked like a dead mouse.
“How about that?” she whispered, then blacked out.