Note: This is Part 4 of the Miss stories, after MissPlacement (Part 1), MissTake (Part 2), and MissJudge (Part 3).
In the baseball stadium's skybox suite, Tara Cunningham inconspicuously watched her boss's new associate speak with the would-be target. This Kelli Kennedy was quite the reputable scammer according to every source she could find about the infamous MissPlacement. The kind of scams she ran sounded very good, too good to be true. And with that logic, Tara disbelieved that she was that good just with hypnosis, or that hypnosis was really that palpable. She thought sending Kelli in to deal with Judge Kowalski was a genius stroke in motivating the drafted hypnotist, and that whatever Kelli was using to get to her was less so. Not wanting a possibly-known associate of Richie McClung to be seen anywhere near a judge, Tara could only see the back of their heads, and only imagine the tactics Kelli used to mind-fuck a judge. Extortion, clever threats, drugs, whatever she was using to aid the supposed pure mind-play, seemed to be working as Kowalski seemed totally fixated on Kelli, none the wiser about why.
Watching Kelli get up and leave, having the judge follow looking mostly aware felt surreal; following a few paces behind, Tara guessed a spiked drink had won the strategic victory of beginning to get some of Richie's hooks into Kowalski. Tara with a skeptical smile greeted Kelli, asking her to follow to where Richie would be waiting; Kelli gave the same smile she got, watching small indicators of disbelief on the mob assistant's face as Judge Kowalski rose at near sleepwalking speed, just enough to look normal, following directly behind the hypnotist. All three made it to the huge stadium parking lot, where Richie sat waiting in his oversized SUV. Tara and Kelli both approached the SUV, while Kowalski stood by the main entrance, checking her phone.
The back passenger window rolled down to show Richie had changed clothes, the sports regalia gone and dressed dapper in suit jacket with a black turtleneck underneath. Kelli greeted her interim boss with good news. "Congrats, you now have a judge's ear," Kelli pointed to the entrance where the judge was standing, as if waiting for something.
"What is she doing with her phone?" Tara asked with concern of Kelli's influential potency.
"Rose is playing a game on her phone with bright colors, colors that keep her fixed on the suggestions I've given her so far, opening her up to more."
Tara looked over at the judge totally fixated on her phone. Rather than typing, it looked like she was touching different parts of the screen, making the game-playing explanation believable, and making Tara wonder what kind of drug was involved to get her to that point.
Richie, searching his pockets, looking annoyed as he found a small matchbox to light a cigarette, lit the end of the stick and took a long drag. The expression on his face described the happiest criminal she'd ever seen.
"I may have seriously underestimated what an investment I have in you, Miss Kennedy."
That made both young women standing next to the SUV take considerable notice of Richie's words.
"Investment?"
"Back in the stands, I was honestly wondering how good a sales pitch I needed to give. Threats sounded too contrite. Bribing sounded too desperate at that point. Daring you to do the impossible would've been fun, but at this point, unnecessary."
"So...what are you saying?" Kelli asked the question both women were thinking.
"I'm saying I feel like you would've done this for the same reason you do everything you do as MissPlacement - for the love of the game."
Tara dared not to show any trace of jealousy slowly springing up in her.
"It's not often you meet someone who's got the talent and sportsmanship, doing it all for sport, to be the MVP of their own sport. I was the best thief around before I came up in the world, because I loved the sport so much. It's a sport most couldn't fathom, let alone compete in; you should have a stadium full of fans cheering for what you've pulled off for me today."
Not letting compliments override her sense of paranoia, she took his words in stride. "Appreciated, but like I said before, the work isn't done. More time is still needed to get at exactly what you want."
"Which is why you and Tara will be accompanying the sleepy judge home, to see she gets some good rest, and-"
"Isn't she already ready for Monday?" Tara interjected.
"Not nearly, the agreement was for the weekend," Kelli looked between the two, gauging the miscommunication.
"It should already be done; isn't your thing to warp their brains?"
"Not permanently. I can leave anyone in a state of confusion for a few minutes while taking a few things they won't remember is missing right away. You want enough control for her to do something days later, which needs more time," Kelli explained, baffled that she had to.
Tara tried to keep herself from huffing. "The judge's itinerary has her hosting a private fundraising event tomorrow at her home, and there could be more visitors coming before that. It's going to look strange if she's not present."
"It's going to seem even stranger come Monday if you need her to do something specific like a court ruling. Lots of outside influences, especially people at this event, can throw the control I've only started to establish on the fritz."
"Then you two will have to make a weekend of it. See what you can do before the party, and hopefully keep an eye on her during. I seriously hope that it isn't too optimistic for all of us, including the judge, to dream about a particular outcome come Monday morning. And after that, there's an illustrious job waiting for you once it's done, with benefits that are definitely nothing to sneeze at."
"An offer I can't refuse?" Kelli joked, her voice laced with grave seriousness.
"Your perceptive talents continue to impress, because why would you want to?"
He left with a satisfied smile, as the window rolled up and the car pulled out into traffic, leaving both women to stare at one another.
"Have her bring her car around. We'll all ride in it together," Tara told Kelli.
"Couldn't that draw unnecessary attention, all of us in the car?"
"I didn't ask you what was necessary, I'm telling you what is, which is just what I told you to do, what Richie wants done."
Tara couldn't help but add a little uncompromising iron to her velvet glove, despite name-dropping the real authority, not wanting to kowtow to the unassuming-looking mental manipulator.
"Are you sure no one is going to notice either of us driving a judge's car? I guarantee her honor is in no shape to drive anywhere right now."
Tara's expression remained even, to not let it get to her about the complicated logistics her plan didn't account for.
"Guess that means I'm driving," Kelli sighed.
"No, I'm driving," Tara's even tone was quickly fading, veering into anger for the loss of control.
"I'll need every moment I can get to program her before a party, that means trancing during the ride. That won't work if you end up crashing the car because you got caught up in what I'm doing to her."
