"Yes. Yes, I do."

"I mean"-I took a deep breath and repeated what I'd told her in private a half hour ago-"we could find a way of tying the two family businesses together."

Leonie laughed and shook her head. "Yeah. Like that would work."

She went ahead and signed her name, then handed the forms over to the confused banker. Selling Crummy's had been her idea. I thought maybe we could tie in the funeral home with the assassination business, but we never did figure out how. Oh, well.

"And what business are you in, Mr. Bombay?" Morgan frowned at me again.

"Oh," I said with a grin at my wife, "I'm in marketing."

Nine months later Leonie gave birth to a perfect little girl we named Sofia. You might think we were breaking the rules of place names in the Bombay family, but just look at a map of Bulgaria.

Louis was thrilled with the new house we bought just down the street from Gin and Diego. The condo association had kind of frowned on the fact that I'd had break-ins. Go figure.

At any rate, the kids needed a house. Louis loved his new bedroom, backyard, and chemistry lab in the basement. He was doing great in school, and even won the Boy Scouts' pine wood derby. The judges suspected something was up (and they were right), but couldn't prove anything. I'll never tell.

Leonie lives in semiretirement. She helps me with the occasional assignment, just to keep her skills from getting rusty. Her specialty? Well, she came up with this method of embalming someone while they're still alive. I think there might be some issues with her childhood there, but she seems happy.

As for the Bombays, we're still doing business but with a few changes. The new and improved Council relaxed a lot of the stricter rules from the past, making us all sleep a little bit better at night. And the number of jobs was limited to two per year, and not within the same six months of each other. Of course, there might be circumstances in the future that would take exception to that, but you'd have that.

The new Council kept a lot of the same traditions, but seemed to have a softer approach to things. And it all seemed to be working out pretty smoothly.

What happened to the old Council members? Oh, they were still around. Just retired. Mom, Pete, and the others put them in a nice little maximum-security nursing home in Greenland, where the staff consists of large, nonEnglish speaking, angry Inuit women. I heard that Lou tried to escape last month after turning his wooden ice cream spoon into a shiv. He spent a month in solitary, sharing a locked room with an incontinent retired sumo wrestler who liked to give "big hugs."

And me? Do I miss the old days of the freewheeling Dakster? Not at all. My small but lethal family is enough to keep me on my toes for the rest of my life. And in this family, you never know how long that may be.

Other Making It Making It titles by Leslie Langtry: titles by Leslie Langtry: 'SCUSE ME WHILE I KILL THIS GUY

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS.

I'd like to thank my incredible editor, Leah, my fabulous agent, Kristin, my amazing husband, Tom and my super-talented children, Margaret & Jack and the rest of my family (the Cederoths, Johnsons, Smileys, Boquets and Thompsons), the Scoobies, Girl Scout Troop #8630 (you guys rock!) and my fabulous friends Michelle & Bernie Sapp'who generously loaned me their son, Ian, for this book.

PRAISE FOR LESLIE LANGTRY AND.

'Scuse Me While I Kill This Guy!

"With an irreverent, tell-it-like-it-is, suburban-mom-assassin narrator, Leslie Langtry's 'Scuse Me While I Kill This Guy 'Scuse Me While I Kill This Guy delivers wild and wicked fun." delivers wild and wicked fun."

-Julie Kenner, USA Today USA Today Bestselling Author of Bestselling Author of California Demon California Demon "Leslie Langtry has penned a cleverly fresh and glib mystery with just the right touch of romance in 'Scuse Me While I Kill This Guy 'Scuse Me While I Kill This Guy....It kept me totally entertained first page to last."

-Tanzey Cutter, Fresh Fiction "Darkly funny and wildly over the top, this mystery answers the burning question, 'Do assassin skills and Girl Scout merit badges mix?' One truly original and wacky novel!"

-Romantic Times BOOKreviews "Imagine La Femme Nikita as a PTA mom, and you might have an idea of what to expect. This is a fun read, a true guilty pleasure."

-Huntress Reviews "Those who like dark humor will enjoy a look into the deadliest female assassin and PTA mom's life."

-Parkersburg News "The fast-paced romantic suspense chick lit thriller is over the top, but fans will want to follow suit as Leslie Langtry provides a satirical fa mily d rama."

-Midwest Book Reviews "Mixing a deadly sense of humor and plenty of sexy sizzle, Leslie Langtry creates a brilliantly original, laughter-rich mix of contemporary romance and suspense in 'Scuse Me While I Kill This Guy 'Scuse Me While I Kill This Guy."

-Chicago Tribune