Payback (6 page)

“Nikki has returned from Lynchburg. I thought it wise to send her on a scouting mission to make sure our facts are on the money. You’ll all be given a copy of her report. I regret to say that Senator Webster is not responsible for Janet Bradshaw’s death. Julia already told us that but I didn’t want to leave anything to chance. Nikki and Julia both spoke with the young girl’s mother. There is no point to going into detail. DNA doesn’t lie. Senator Webster did have an affair with the young girl but he was not the father of the child she was carrying. Yes, the man is a philanderer. Yes, he has a shady background. But he did not kill anyone. I want to be sure we’re all clear on the matter. Nikki was unsuccessful in locating any stray members of the senator’s real family. What that means to all of us at the moment is the senator gave himself a make-believe background which in itself is not really a crime. What he did to Julia is the crime. We need to be clear on that.

“That leaves us with Julia’s immediate problem. We cannot turn the senator over to the authorities for manufacturing a phony background. Millions of people do it every day. The fact that the man is a United States senator does, however, make a difference because that means the man duped the very people who put him into office. Will that matter? I doubt it.

“All we can do now is go after Senator Webster for what he’s done to his wife. And to other women we don’t know about at this point in time.” Charles held up his hand for silence as he turned up the volume on the huge television set. “Listen!”

The evening news anchor looked gleeful when he said, “Just hours ago we received Governor Cartwright’s short list for his running mate in the presidential race. Heading the list is Senator Mitchell Webster. What was up to this point an unsubstantiated rumor has now been confirmed. Channel Five tried to reach the senator for comment before airtime but we were unsuccessful.” Charles turned the volume down.

“Well, that’s never going to happen!” Julia shouted. In a lower tone, she said, “Is it, Charles?”

Myra reached across the table to pat Julia’s hand. “No, dear, that is not going to happen.”

Charles took up his usual position behind Myra’s chair. “We have five days before Governor Cartwright’s party where he will make his announcement. We have one foot in the door with the flowers. What that’s going to get us is not quite clear yet but I am working on it. Julia will, of course, be there along with her husband. Our first leak to the tabloids will hit the paper the day before the event, the second, the day after the event when the senator is on a roll.

“Now, this is where it’s really going to get interesting. The Monarch family, owners of the three HMOs we discussed previously, will be at the party. What that means is all three of them will be at their mansion in Manassas prior to the event. At the moment they’re in their other mansion up in Peekskill. They’re due to arrive in town tomorrow or the day after.”

“Oh, Charles, hurry and tell them the best part,” Myra said, excitement ringing in her voice.

Charles laughed, a robust sound. “Myra received an invitation to attend the party. If she had opened last week’s mail last week, we would have known sooner. Now, what that means to the Sisterhood is this. You’re all going to attend. We’re creating new identities for all of you. You’ll be considered heavy hitters with pockets full of money. The only thing politicians love more than themselves is people with money. Alexis, with her magnificent bag of tricks, will alter your appearance so you don’t look like yourselves. Simply put, you’ll be going in disguise. Myra has ordered exquisite fashions for all of you. And, as I said, Julia will be there on the arm of her husband.”

Kathryn slapped the table with the palm of her hand. “Way to go, Charles!”

“Then what happens?” Nikki asked.

Charles waited a minute before he spoke. “Then we snatch them all!”

“Oh, girls, don’t you just love the way that sounds?” Myra bubbled.

“Kidnaping is…it’s…” Isabelle struggled for the proper word.

“Against the law? Well, of course it is. So was slicing off those guys’ balls who raped me but we did it anyway. What’s a little kidnaping charge?” Kathryn growled.

“Then what? Where? How? Details, Charles, details,” Nikki said.

“All in good time. We have five days and I will need every bit of that time to fine-tune everything. As you all know, the devil is in the details.”

Julia raised her hand. “What will we do with them when we…snatch them? Do you have even a vague idea of where we’ll take them?”

“The revenge is yours, Julia. You and the others have to decide what their punishment is to be. I’m just your backup. I think you all might need the five days that are coming up. The one thing you can count on is that the location will be secure.”

Charles walked back to his station. He returned with an armful of stapled bundles. “What this is,” he said, handing each woman a document, “is the list of all the Monarch HMO subscribers. It’s a bit mind-boggling at first, but go to the summary at the end where I’ve listed those claims that were denied, the deaths of the subscribers due to denial of claims, pending cases, closed cases. It’s all broken down by age groups. The last page is Monarch’s P&L sheet. You might want to keep those numbers front and center when you decide on the family’s punishment.”

Kathryn was the first one to bellow, “This is outrageous!”

“Scum of the earth,” Nikki said.

“It’s pitiful,” Myra said.

“I didn’t know it was this bad,” Julia said.

“We should kill them all,” Yoko said heatedly.

“Killing them is too good. They need to be punished and I do mean punished. They need to suffer,” Alexis said angrily.

“I think we’re ready to adjourn for the evening, girls. Let’s head for the kitchen and some nice hot cocoa. Charles, would you care for some cocoa?”

“Not right now, Myra. I have hours of work ahead of me. We’ll meet again in the morning at eight-thirty.”

They were a somber group as they meandered around the kitchen getting in Myra’s way as she tried to prepare the hot cocoa. When Nikki’s cell phone chirped, their gaze whirled to the clock over the stove. They listened as Nikki clicked the on button.

“Hello,” Nikki said quietly.

“Nik?”

“That’s my name. What do
you
want? Do you know what time it is?”

“Of course I know what time it is, it’s almost midnight. Guess your Tiddly Wink game is over for the night or are you guys having a sleepover? Kind of old for that kind of thing, aren’t you, Nik? What’d you go to Lynchburg for? Never mind, I already know. When is everyone going to leave?”

“You sneak! You’re spying on me, aren’t you? I’m going to file a harassment charge against you, Jack. Don’t call me again, either.”

“Come on, Nik. You know you love me. I know what you’re doing. Give it up before I have to arrest you.”

“I’m not doing anything but playing cards. If you want to make an ass of yourself by trying to arrest me, go ahead. I’ll fry your ass and I won’t need any help doing it either. You’ll be the one who gets arrested. You’re out there, aren’t you, you son of a bitch! I bet if I went outside and waved you’d see me, wouldn’t you?”

“Why does Myra suddenly need six vicious Dobermans, Nik? What kind of gig are you women running out there at ye old farm,
Nik
?” His voice was so sarcastic Nikki shivered.

Nikki sucked in her breath. Her heart started to pound in her chest. “We aren’t running any kind of gig out here and the reason Myra got the Dobermans is to keep people like you off her property.” Without waiting for a reply, Nikki clicked the off button.

The women clamored for an explanation at the angry look on Nikki’s face. She stuttered and sputtered until she got every word of Jack’s phone call out.

“So what you’re saying is Jack is
on to us
,” Julia said.

Nikki gulped her hot cocoa and then bellowed when she burned her throat. Her eyes watering, she gasped, “What it means is, he
thinks
he’s on to us. Yeah, he’s on to us.”

Yoko, the gentlest, the quietest of all the women, started to pace around the kitchen table. “Then we have to…eliminate him, is that not right?”

Kathryn slapped Yoko on the back. “God, we’re corrupting you, Yoko. What’s gotten into you? You were a pacifist when we first met!”

Yoko squared her slim shoulders. “He’s spying on us so he can send us to prison. I do not like that. That’s what they do in countries where there is no democracy. And, he’s broken Nikki’s heart. Now he’s threatening all of us. We have to do something!”

Myra spoke in a soothing voice. “Our plates are rather full right now, Yoko. I don’t see how we can…perhaps we should invite Mr. Emery for tea.”

“Mr Emery doesn’t sound like a reasonable man, Myra,” Alexis said. “We can’t let him keep doing what he’s doing, which is spying on us. Eventually, he’s going to nail one of us. I’ll kill myself before I let anyone send me back to prison.”

“Shhh. You aren’t going back to prison,” Nikki said. “I’ll take care of Mr. Emery. You know, Myra, inviting Jack for tea isn’t such a bad idea.”

“What will we do with him?” the new Yoko demanded.

“We could have those vicious dogs guard him,” Julia volunteered. “Yes, I think that’s a viable solution. But, that means Myra will have to make arrangements for the dogs twenty-four seven. Perhaps we should vote on it.”

Nikki’s mind raced. Did they dare snatch Jack? She looked around at the women. She saw panic and anger in their faces. Even Myra looked…disturbed. But tea? Yes, Myra would invite him for tea but would Jack take her up on the invitation? For some reason she didn’t think so. Jack was out for blood. Still, it was worth a chance.

“Should we do it, dear?” Myra asked. “I think we should…what’s that saying police officers use all the time? Oh, yes, chop him off at the knees. That’s what we need to do. Should we tell Charles?”

“Absolutely we should tell Charles,” Nikki shot back. “I’ll do it now.”

“More cocoa, girls?”

“No!” the women chorused.

“Then why don’t we all smoke a cigarette. Does anyone have a cigarette?”

“No!” the women chorused.

One by one they trooped out of the kitchen, muttering a good night as they passed Myra’s chair. Left alone with her thoughts, Myra’s shoulders slumped. Her eyes filled with tears. Jack Emery couldn’t be allowed to compromise what they were doing. He just couldn’t.

Myra got up and reached into the cabinet over the sink for the bottle of brandy she kept handy for medicinal purposes. If ever there was a medicinal moment, this was it. She didn’t bother with a glass but upended the bottle and took a hearty gulp. Her throat burned and her eyes started to water. She took another huge gulp before she corked the bottle and set it back in the cabinet. She tottered to her chair and plopped down. She started to cry. “Oh, Barbara, honey, I think I might be failing you. If Jack catches us, all this will be in vain. I only set this whole thing up to avenge your death. Now, it’s more than that. I want to help the others, too. What a silly old woman I am to think I could make this all happen. Just a silly old woman.”

“Mom, there’s nothing silly about it. Stop worrying.”

“Barbara, is that you? Darling girl, talk to me. Are you at peace? I think about you every day. I miss you so. The others have made my loss bearable, but now with Jack out there somewhere,” Myra said, waving her arm in the general direction of the back door. “I don’t know if we can hang on. Nikki’s living here now, you know.” Dear God, she was babbling to her daughter’s ghost.

“I know, Mom. I’m glad she’s here with you. Trust her. She can handle Jack. I have to go, Mom. Nikki and Charles are coming back to the kitchen. I love you, Mom. Mom, lay off the sauce, OK?”

“Where are you going, honey?”

“Upstairs to cuddle with Willie for a little while.”

A wild
swoosh
of air circled Myra and then the kitchen was still.

Nikki stood in the doorway. She, too, felt the swoosh of air. She knew instantly that Barbara had paid a visit to her mother.

“Talk to you later, Nik.”

Nikki knew when she went upstairs to bed that Barbara would be sitting in her old rocker with Willie in her lap. They’d talk like they did sometimes about everything and anything.

Charles stopped in his tracks. “Was that…”

“Yeah,” Nikki whispered.

“Oh.”

Myra looked up, her lips trembling, her eyes moist. “I think I’m going to go to bed. I had…What I mean is, I drank some brandy. Maybe it was a lot. Is everything all right?” she asked as an afterthought. “Oh, would you like me to make you both some hot cocoa?”

“Good God, no, Myra. You make terrible cocoa,” Charles said.

The heiress to a Fortune 500 company sniffed as she got up from her chair to go upstairs. “So what if cooking isn’t one of my strong points. I have other talents, don’t I, Charles?” She giggled like a schoolgirl as she sashayed past Nikki who did her best to hide her smile. Charles’s ears turned pink. Myra whirled around and almost fell. “Should I wait for you, dear?”

In spite of himself, Charles chuckled. “Is that an invitation, Myra?”

Myra drew herself up to her full height. “Damn straight it is, Charles.”

This time, Nikki did laugh aloud. “Go!” she said. “Before she kills herself going up the steps.”

Nikki sat for a long time at the kitchen table. She felt like the weight of the world was on her shoulders. What was she going to do about Jack? If they snatched him, the D.A.’s office would start to look for him. Appealing to his sense of decency was not an option. Jack was a bull dog with the instincts of a bloodhound. And he was angry with her. That alone was motivation enough for him to want to put the screws to her and the others. She wondered how much he really knew and how far he was willing to go to nail all of them.

Nikki fished her cell phone out of the pocket of her slacks, turned it on and dialed Jack’s number. A cell phone ringing in the woods. How funny was that? She almost laughed when a vision of the ADA, sitting high in a tree, his binoculars trained on the house, appeared before her.