It was only May but the sun was ceaseless in it's intensity.  Hamish had already taken off his hat and now he had his jacket slung over his shoulder. He blotted his forehead with his handkerchief and stepped into the tea shop he and his brother ran.  It was much cooler inside due to the installation of air conditioning, which had cost them a pretty penny but kept the shop much less humid in the heat.  There were a few women milling about in the loose leaf tea aisle, and a couple sitting at a small table eating what looked like shortbread biscuits.  He nodded to the man behind the counter as he passed and headed into the back room.  After a short jaunt up the stairs he nodded to a bodyguard and asked for a cup of coffee.  There was paperwork to do, which suited him because Honey tended to customers and Hamish was not as social as his little brother. 

It was several hours and three cups of coffee later when Hank, his favorite bodyguard came bounding up the stairs.  Hamish looked up and lowered his glasses. THis had to be important if Hank was handling it.  The tall, well built man in front of him looked winded.  Hamish waited until Hank had caught his breath to question him. 

"What is it Hank?  What's going on?"  For a brief moment panic welled in his heart, wondering about Honey's safety, but what Hank said next was much worse. 

"Sir, it's Cherry.  The Fontaines kidnapped her from school."  In an instant Hamish had leapt to his feet, knocking over his chair.  

"Does Honey know yet?"  

"No sir, I came here first."  Hank held out a thick, cream coloured envelope.  "Fontaine's bodyguard was waiting with this."  Hamish snatched the envelope and grabbed the phone on his desk. 

"I'm calling Honey.  You go get the crew."  Hank nodded then disappeared down the stairs.  Hamish tried not to bark orders at the operator and waited for the call to connect.  A bleary voice came over the line. 

"Robert, get to the shop. Immediately."  Hamish hung up and grabbed a letter opener.  What the hell wa Fontaine thinking? 

The one day Honey had taken to himself in weeks was a welcome respite. He sat in his favorite lounge chair, cat resting on his lap, and sipped his tea. Ham was busy at the office for the day and Cherry was at school where she seemed to be flourishing. She had a few friends and often brought them homemade treats from the tea shop. He sighed, nestling back into the plush chair and closed his eyes, feeling the rhythmic purr of the cat under his hand as it lazily flicked it's tail. He was just dozing off when the phone rang loudly. He jumped up, dumping the cat unceremoniously on the ground with an undignified chirp as he strode to the receiver, his voice still thick from dozing off. 

"Hullo?" He could hear Ham at the other end of the line, his words strained and direct. 

"Be right there." He muttered, hanging the phone up with a click. 

"Sorry sweetheart, guess we can't finish that nap. I'll be home later, be nice to your brother." He leaned down to scratch the tabby under her chin just before pulling the door shut and locking it. Once outside, he started up the car and rumbled down the road towards town and the shop. Hamish hadn't told him why he was needed but he figured it was important with how his older brother had sounded. Twenty minutes later he was inside the shop and taking the stairs two at a time.

"Ham, what's the fuss? You sounded urgent so I came soon as I could."

Hamish had opened the letter and read it several times.  He controlled his breathing in order to talk to his brother, one hand holding the letter out to Honey, the other clenched tight in a fist. 

"Labelle Fontaine wants a little sister to play with.  Apparently Buddy Fontaine decided Cherry was a perfect choice."  He wasn't sure if he'd communicated clearly so he thrust the letter to Honey.  Robert skimmed it, raised an eyebrow and handed the letter back.  

"What. The Hell."  Hamish snatched the letter back and read it aloud. 

"To the McCrannon Brothers.  We've taken the liberty of picking your sister Cherry up from school today.  Our sister Labelle requests the pleasure of her company.  Forever.  Signed, Buddy Fontaine." 

"This is bad" Honey said. "Buddy Fontaine is completely unhinged.  Who the hell knows what this means.  Does he even have a sister?" 

Hamish nodded. 

"Labelle and Michelle Fontaine are twins. They're a year older than Cherry.  Apparently when they were five, Labelle pushed Michelle out of their treehouse and Michelle was never the same.  Labelle takes after Buddy, her friends don't last long." 

"Fuck." Honey cursed. "We have to get her!" 

"Yes, but carefully. Buddy Fontaine would kill his own mother to make Labelle happy.  We need to make a plan and get going before Cherry is subjected to any more of the Fontaine's insanity." 

Honey ran his fingers through his hair, pulling at it as he took his hand away. That whole family was like every villain or bad guy in the movies combined. Buddy had visited his shop a few times and despite doing no physical harm, he couldn’t shake the creeps he got every time he oozed in. The little girl was an absolute menace as well, she was strident and demanding and caused chaos wherever she went and the adults just let her rampage. Having their kids sister in the clutches of that little beast was like telling a person that a snarling tiger with huge fangs that were dripping blood was just playing. 
 

“So how are we going to do this? That whole group is like opening a box of chocolates but finding out it’s cockroaches instead”

Ham grimaced and Honey shrugged, plunking himself down in a chair to think. They needed a solid plan and Honey was coming up blank. Anything direct would be too noticeable so deliveries from their company were out. He wasn’t sure what kind of things Labelle liked and he didn’t really have a way to get inside intel, and time was limited. 
 

“Too bad we can’t just blow their shit up sky high. We don’t want to put Cherry at risk but it’d be so satisfying to see them squeal like pigs.” 

Honey frowned, thinking of the possibilities. Gross bodily harm was out but there were ways to take out key players without putting Cherry in jeopardy. It took hours of planning and a few well timed phone calls for backup, they finally had a plan that seemed tenable. They would go after Buddy first, try to get to him when he was away from the toddler tyrant. Buddy was rarely without her but on Thursday’s, Labelle went with her nanny and her sister to go shop. She was a sucker for fashion and Buddy took that opportunity to get some work done in his office. 
 

“We’ve got two days to get this together and we’ll only have an hour or so, you think we can pull it off?”