Authors: Fern Michaels
Both agents stood at attention, but neither said a word.
“Okay, let’s pretend that you’re in the fifth grade, and I’m going to ask you questions. Who the fuck is Virgil Anders? Why did the vigilantes go to see a man in a wheelchair?”
“I don’t know, sir. The guard at the gate told us Mr. Anders was wheelchair bound and has lived there for over thirty years. It was the two older women who went to visit him, Rutledge and de Silva. They told the guard to tell Anders they had papers for him to sign. When he was first called, Anders said that he didn’t want to meet them. That’s when they told him if he didn’t meet with them, he would have to move out tomorrow, so Anders agreed to the meeting. The guard called for the golf cart to transport the two ladies.
“Visitors have to park their cars outside the security gate and be driven to wherever they’re going. It’s a rule of Cresfield Villas. That was all the guard could remember. The other five women stayed in town and went to the gym. Finn stayed in town when they separated, and I followed Rutledge and de Silva.”
Yantzy’s face was still a mottled purple. “Get out of here, both of you. I want a report in triplicate on my desk within the hour. I will call you when I want you back here.”
If they’d had tails, those tails would have been between their respective hind legs as they slunk from the director’s office.
Yantzy made a fist and socked it into the palm of his left hand, again and again, until the pain in his hand shot all the way up to his elbow. He cursed long and loud as he looked at the calendar on his desk. The minute he’d heard what had gone down, he’d sent out a BOLO (be-on-lookout) far and wide. But the damn vigilantes were, as usual, one step ahead of him, and by the time he sent in a second team to clean up the first team’s mess, Virgil Anders was gone, and the housekeeper, who professed to know nothing, was packing her belongings to move in with her sister in Bowie. And here he was holding a bag of shit with nowhere to dump it.
Yantzy’s gaze went back to the calendar. “Span is going to have a field day with this tomorrow. Unless …”
The night was soft and dark, with a balmy breeze. The trees whispered among themselves, a lullaby to the chirping birds who had gone silent for the night. Overhead, a full moon lit up the lush garden, the stars twinkling overhead.
“This is the perfect ending to a … very interesting day,” Nikki said, sipping from a frosty glass of lemonade.
“What I find interesting is that no one has showed up to arrest us,” Kathryn said. “We did render two FBI agents helpless. All right, all right, we assaulted them.”
“Tomorrow is another day,” Alexis quipped.
“Darling, Director Yantzy stepped over the line. He’s not going to come out here, nor is he going to arrest any of us,” Myra said. “Do you agree, Charles?”
“I do. For several reasons. One, as you said, he stepped over the line. Two, you girls took them on, made fools of his two agents, and walked away. Three, is or isn’t Director Yantzy going to tell Director Span about that little episode? I think not. His agents certainly did not cooperate with the locals when it came to identifying you, since if they had, you would have already had Virginia police out here. But, girls, we do have a large area of concern. The FBI now knows about Virgil Anders.
“We were lucky in that we relocated Mr. Anders to safer quarters, thanks to your quick thinking and actions. Mr. Anders is
not
off-limits to the FBI. I can guarantee the Bureau is on top of that with every available agent at its disposal. Eventually, they will find Margie Evans, Mr. Anders’s former fiancée. We don’t know how much Mr. Anders confided in Miss Evans. I would think he shared everything, as young people do who are in love. My people are searching the entire Baltimore area for her as we speak.
“We do have an edge in that respect. It might take the Bureau a while to find her, whereas we were on it immediately. And, don’t forget, it’s been over thirty-five years. All trails go cold after so much time. He’s going to have to work fast.”
“Do you think Hank Jellicoe knows about Margie Evans?” Isabelle asked.
“Absolutely he knows,” Charles said. “That’s why time is of the essence in locating Miss Evans. I’m certain my people will prevail. The only problem I foresee is the lady balking and not caring about Mr. Anders after so many years. From her point of view, he dumped her and disappeared from her life. She could be married with children and grandchildren and not want to get involved in Mr. Anders’s problems at this point in time.” Charles smiled at Myra. “However, there are some loves that endure for all time.”
“Do you think there is even the remotest possibility that Hank Jellicoe would somehow use Mr. Anders? I guess what I’m asking is, would he do something like that not knowing that we know about the book Anders was writing?” Myra asked.
“Of course. Mr. Anders is the equivalent of a safe house in Hank’s mind. If he wanted to, he could hide out at Cresfield Villas for years, and no one would be the wiser. Remember, he’s the one who set all that up. He’d make it work for him in some way. Just in case. Hedging his bets, so to speak. But once he finds out the book is out, he’ll scratch that location and not go near it,” Charles said.
“But, Charles, might not he think that what you just said is how we would all think? He wouldn’t go near the place when that’s exactly where he would go?” Annie asked. “Did that make sense?”
“Yes, I know what you mean. Of course there is always that possibility. It’s the same principle as keep your friends close, your enemies closer. He’d lie low in the beginning, stake out the place for a while, watch and wait for the authorities to back off, then he’d make his move.
“Having said that, I don’t think he’ll go that route. The reason I say that is Cresfield is not around the corner. All the action will be here and in the District, which he knows like the back of his hand.
“If there’s nothing else, girls, I’m going to get back to work.”
The girls waved him off.
“All of this is not computing for me,” Isabelle grumbled. “Maggie hasn’t called. I almost expected her to come out here to the farm this evening. She’s always full of ideas. I wonder if something is wrong.”
“I can top that. I haven’t heard from Jack since I sent him the manuscript,” Nikki said. “Someone should have called us by now to comment on the book.”
Kathryn started to laugh and couldn’t stop. Gasping, she said, “This is just my opinion, but I think the guys are trying to give us what they think is a dose of our own medicine.” The others went off into peals of laughter as they gathered up the glasses and snack plates to carry them into the kitchen.
“Time for bed,” Annie said. “Good night, Gracie.” She snickered under her breath, knowing that none of them would understand the reference except Myra, who’d been a great fan of George Burns.
When the Sisters convened for breakfast the next morning, the pleasant aroma of soap, hair spray, and subtle perfume fought with the tantalizing aromas from what Charles was concocting. With all the chatter going on, it was obvious the Sisters were leaving Pinewood.
“Time for me to check in. Today, the last of Lizzie’s files has to be incorporated into our system. Alexis has her work cut out for her, so the sooner we get that out of the way, the sooner we can take over Lizzie’s ongoing cases,” Nikki said. Alexis agreed.
“I’m going to my office and work on the blueprints. I want to have something to show you, Annie, by the weekend,” Isabelle said.
“I’ll be in Vegas, so don’t rush on my account. I’m sure I will approve whatever you come up with. I think I’m going to leave tonight now that we’ve taken care of Mr. Anders. Charles can handle anything that comes up in regard to Miss Evans and whatever else is going on. You haven’t changed your mind about going, have you, Myra?”
“No, I can be packed in twenty minutes. I’m looking forward to the bells, whistles, and bright lights. We can be back here in four hours if you need us.”
“Well, since we’re splitting up, I think I’ll call the depot and hire on for a run,” Kathryn said as she fished a strip of bacon from the platter that Charles was holding out.
“Don’t forget to give me enough notice when you want me to take your slot machines in for repair.”
“I will, dear,” Annie said. “What do you have planned, Yoko?”
“A solid day’s work at the nursery. I have to put my order in for the autumn chrysanthemums. I’m actually late doing so. We need to stay in touch.”
Ever the worrier, Annie asked again if anyone had heard from Maggie. The Sisters shook their heads. “As long as you’re all going back into the District, someone should stop and check on her.”
“I can do that,” Nikki said.
“And no one has heard from the boys, is that right?” Myra said. Again the Sisters shook their heads. Her face puckering with worry, she looked over at Charles and asked him if anyone had checked in after receiving Virgil Anders’s manuscript.
“No one has checked in, Myra. I thought it a little strange myself.” He expertly flipped pancakes, his expression so neutral that Myra felt compelled to say, “Do you know something you haven’t shared with us, by any chance?”
“No, dear.” He held out a plate that Myra reached for.
Eating in the kitchen meant the Sisters didn’t have to obey Charles’s rule of not discussing business while dining. “What do you think that means?” Isabelle asked.
Kathryn grinned. “Boys being boys would be my guess. I’m not worried about them, but I am concerned about Maggie.” She looked down at her plate and handed it over to Charles to refill with his airy buttermilk pancakes.
“What are the boys going to do once they’re finished with Lizzie’s office?” Annie asked.
“I think that’s part of the problem. Speaking for Jack, he doesn’t know what he wants to do. He could go back to his old office, they want him, but he’s dragging his feet,” Nikki said.
“Bert has been talking about opening his own office, but I think it’s just talk. He’s like Jack; he doesn’t quite know where he fits these days,” Kathryn said.
“Harry’s fine,” Yoko said. “He’s acting normal. Well, normal for Harry. He hasn’t said anything to me at all about the boys. Normally, he tells me everything. Maybe they all need an assignment from us, something for them to sink their teeth into.”
“I can’t worry about that now, I want to get on the road and back to the office. It’s going to be a busy day. Alexis, are you ready?” Nikki asked.
“I’ll be right behind you. The only thing left for me to do is oversee the cleaning crew I hired to come in this morning to shampoo the carpets and clean the windows, that kind of thing. I want the offices to smell nice and fresh when the new lawyers take over. After that’s done, I’ll take my things to the office and set up shop.”
“Bye, everyone. Sorry to leave you with the cleanup,” Isabelle said as she reached for her bag, which had several rolls of blueprints sticking out of it.
Yoko hugged Myra and Annie, then Charles. “I’m sorry about not helping with the cleanup. I’ll call when I get to the nursery.”
Kathryn was the last to gather up her things. She whistled for Murphy, who was lost without Grady. He barked at the door and pawed it to get out. Kathryn whistled again, and he settled down.
Lady and her four rambunctious pups yipped and yelped as they realized all their friends were leaving them. “They’ll be back,” Myra said soothingly. She handed out bits of bacon to appease the dogs.
“We’ll clean up. Charles, go along to your lair,” Annie said, opening the dishwasher in preparation to loading it.
When Charles was out of sight, and the dogs were romping in the yard, Myra looked at Annie, and said, “Is there a reason why you volunteered to have us clean up this mess?”
“Shame on you, Myra. The girls were in a hurry to get back to town; they do have lives, you know. Charles cooked. Who does that leave but us? I wish you would stop thinking everything I do is devious.”
“You are devious, Annie. Admit it!”
“And you aren’t?” Annie sniped.
Myra knew she could never win an argument with Annie. She threw her hands into the air. “Now, why are we cleaning up the kitchen? What do you want to talk about?”
“Maggie. I’m worried about Maggie. She has
never
ever not returned my phone calls. The moment I got up this morning, I went online to read the
Post.
There wasn’t a word in the paper about any of this. She had the information at noon yesterday. That was more than enough time to put some kind of teaser in the paper, but I didn’t see anything. That’s why I’m worried. Maggie never sloughs anything off if the order comes from me.”
“What do you think it is?” Myra asked as she dropped two tablets into the dishwasher.
“That’s just it, Myra, I don’t know. Maggie has always been like an open book. I would like to know what it is if we’re going through with our plans to leave for Las Vegas this evening.”
Myra opened the door for Lady and her pups to come back indoors. “I think, Annie, we should go ahead with our plans. Nikki will ferret out whatever is wrong. I’m sure of it.”
“I hope you’re right. What time do you want to leave? I have to call the pilot to get the plane ready.”
“How does eight o’clock sound? We’ll get there for the shank of the evening with the time change. Who knows, tonight might be our lucky night, and we’ll take Babylon for a pokeful of money.”
“Keep dreaming, Myra. Keep dreaming.”
N
ikki breezed into Maggie’s office and flopped down on the chair facing the EIC of the
Post.
“Hey, how’s it going, Maggie? We missed you out at the farm. I volunteered to stop by and see if anything was wrong when you didn’t respond to any of our texts and phone calls. Is something wrong, Maggie? You look terrible, so I guess I just answered my own question. You want to talk about it?” It was all said in one long, breathless outburst.
Maggie leaned forward and pointed to her desk drawer, which she opened. Nikki stared down at Maggie’s emerald-cut engagement ring nestled among a slew of candy wrappers. Her eyebrows shot upward. “Ah, man trouble. Join the club, girlfriend. What happened?”