14. Razor Sharp

by Fern Michaels

  “You would not believe the thoroughness of this woman. She didn’t miss a trick. She had other identities with backgrounds that are impeccable. I can’t imagine living like that, but she did it. She refused to tell Cosmo what her real name was. She had a ton of money socked away. The Happy Day Camp is very high-end. Millions went into the construction and maintenance. She didn’t take in the kind of money to build such a place. When she moved to Vegas from wherever she was before, all of a sudden the land was bought, and the building went up. No one knew, and she didn’t tell Cosmo who her benefactor was, and, trust me, there was a benefactor.

  “The following day, when Cosmo was reading the morning paper he saw, I think it was on page thirty-four, that a woman named Lily Flowers was killed in a car accident. It’s on the books as an accident, a tire blowout, she hit something and died on impact. The working girl I spoke to said she and the others did not believe it was an accident because Lily would have had her car checked from top to bottom since she was leaving. They said she never left anything to chance. But, like I said, the police report lists it as an accidental death.

  “With no next of kin and no friends to claim the body, Cosmo claimed it and had Ms. Flowers cremated. We scattered the ashes in the desert yesterday. Are you all following me here? Any questions?”

  “If the madam is dead, that’s the end of it, right? Or am I missing something here?” Nikki asked.

  “On the surface one would naturally make that assumption. It depends on all of you. A woman is dead. We have to decide if she would still be alive if not for the rumor mill. She was alerted by someone soon enough to make her getaway, but we don’t know who that someone was.

  “The way things stand now, Washington is just in the whispering mode. Will it go to full audio anytime soon? I don’t know. As we all know, the FBI is involved. Bert’s main guy at the Las Vegas Field Office, Special Agent in Charge Wright, along with his fellow agents, have come up dry until early this morning, when they paid Cosmo a visit. One of Wright’s men hit on the accident that killed the madam. Because Cosmo claimed the body, they pounced on him. There’s nothing we can do about that, it’s Bert’s show out there.”

  “Then there’s nothing for us to do,” Myra said.

  “Where’s the rabbit in the hat, Lizzie?” Kathryn demanded.

  “The rabbit is the madam’s backer. The man who put the money up for the Happy Day Camp. The man who got a cut of the madam’s profits. The man who had a longstanding affair with the madam. The man who arranged that dog-and-pony show in D.C.”

  The Sisters all leaned closer to the table.

  “Who is it, do we know?” Annie asked.

  The name rolled off Lizzie’s lips like liquid silk. “Hunter Pryce.”

  The Sisters sat in stunned silence, all of them speechless.

  It was Kathryn who finally managed to gasp, “The vice president of the United States?”

  “The one and only,” came Lizzie’s response.

  “Hard proof?” Nikki asked.

  “Solid gold. Two sources,” Lizzie said.

  “But…but the media and Martine herself finally admitted she was seeing Mr. Pryce. She said they had a relationship, and Mr. Pryce confirmed it. The media had a field day with that information when it got out,” Myra said as she fingered the pearls at her neck. “Good Lord, what does this all mean? The vice president!”

  “It certainly doesn’t mean anything good, that’s for sure,” Lizzie said.

  “It explains the president’s reason for wanting us to take on the madam and not the clients,” Nikki said, her voice ringing with anger. “We were such fools, we put her in office! She promised us a pardon!”

  The others weighed in, their outrage as strong as Nikki’s.

  “Where does all of this leave us, Lizzie? Do we keep quiet? Do we go after Hunter Pryce and the others?” Myra demanded.

  “That’s why I’m here, Myra. I didn’t want to trust that the vp’s name is going to get out. Cosmo knows. Maggie knows and so do Jack, Harry, and Bert. You’re the last to know, and I apologize for that, but it had to be this way. But to answer your question, now that you know everything I know, the decision has to be yours. Always remember, a woman is dead. We don’t know if it was foul play and we may never know that. So think hard before you come to a final decision.”

  “It will ruin Martine Connor. The first female president, and she goes down in a sex scandal. She’ll either resign or be impeached and convicted. You can always count on that old devil sex to rear its ugly head at the most inopportune times,” Annie grumbled.

  “Unless we step in and take him out and keep the rest quiet. Or, we could also take out a couple of those senators as well as Ambassador Kierson at the same time,” Kathryn said.

  “Maggie told me a while back, maybe a month or so ago, that the political gossip in D.C. was that the prez was still seeing the vice prez. I thought that came to a screeching halt when they were sworn in in January,” Nikki said.

  “If anyone would know, it’s Maggie. She’s up on all things political, especially the gossip end of it. Big mistake on Martine’s part if it is true. I’m having a hard time believing she’d be that stupid for a roll in the hay. I think that was just political fodder for the gossip columnists,” Lizzie said.

  “Hunter Pryce was such a good pick for vice president. He’s got charisma, he’s still young, has all his hair, a killer smile, and all that money he inherited from his railroad-tycoon granddaddy. He’s probably more politically savvy than Martine on her best day.”

  “He was the perfect choice,” Isabelle said. “Unless…unless, she really did break it off somewhere along the way, and he blackmailed her. Don’t look at me like that, it is a very good possibility because Connor is not a stupid woman. She had to have seen the handwriting on the wall. Yeah, yeah, I bet that’s what happened.”

  The Sisters looked doubtful, but as they started to spin it, they all came to the same conclusion: Isabelle was probably right.

  “Now it makes sense,” Annie said. “The president contacted Lizzie to get us to intervene. If we took out all the party campers, then no one would be looking at Hunter Pryce unless one of his buddies gave him up. Pin it all on the madam or kill her off, and Pryce is free and clear. Oh, that is so terrible I don’t even want to think about it. That poor Flowers woman. I wonder if she was still in love with him. I bet he’s the one who tipped her off. If so, that just makes it all the more terrible.”

  Yoko turned to the others, her body rigid, her eyes sparking dangerously. “We all know how much money is involved in this kind of thing. Just remember back to my father and what was going on when we went after him. Maybe Lily Flowers, or whatever her name really was or is, was coerced into doing what she did. We should keep our minds open where that is concerned. Some women will go to extreme lengths and do anything for the man they love.”

  Her Sisters nodded in agreement.

  “I’ve got to get moving, as much as I don’t want to, girls. I told you I have one stop to make before I take the red-eye back to Vegas. It’s a long drive to the White House from here. I tried to get a ticket, but both flights were sold out. So, I have to drive.”

  “Just like that, you’re going to the White House?” Annie gasped.

  Lizzie’s eyes twinkled. “I am going to call ahead, as I don’t have an appointment. Since nothing exciting is going on in the world, there is every chance Martine will fit me into her busy schedule. What do you want me to tell her?”

  Myra looked around the table at Annie and the girls. “Everybody has a vote.”

  Twenty minutes later, just as Lizzie was slipping into her gorgeous white cashmere coat, Annie said, “We’ll do it. We’ll come up with a plan, but you have to get back to us with a time frame. The minute you do that, we’ll be ready to act.”

  Lizzie was halfway to the cable car when Yoko sprinted after her with a plastic container. “Your wedding cake!”

  Lizzie’s smile made the early-afternoon ligh
t that much brighter as she accepted the container and pressed the button that would take her to the foot of the mountain. “I might need an act of Congress to get this through security.”

  “You’re going to the right place to make that happen,” Yoko shouted, her voice carrying on the wind.

  Lizzie’s tinkling laugh ricocheted across the mountain.

  Back inside, the women gathered up their jackets as they prepared to go to the war room to work out the details of the impending mission.

  Rather than go to her own house, Lizzie headed for Jack Emery’s the minute she hit Washington. Jack had promised to be home by the time she got there when she’d called him from the road. Her second call had been to Maggie, who said she had some kind of mess to clear up and would get there as soon as she could. The rest of her driving time was spent talking to Cosmo about everything and nothing and telling him all about the wedding cake she had to put under her pillow. She finally ended the call when Cosmo said his last client of the day had arrived, but not before she told him about the Sisters’ spectacular wedding gift. “I’ll see you in time for an early breakfast on your time, my darling.”

  Ninety minutes later, Lizzie managed to find a parking space directly in front of Jack’s house. She was surprised to see Jack standing in the open doorway waiting for her. He waved.

  Good host that he was, Jack had takeout on the kitchen table. Lizzie waved it off and told him to go ahead and eat while she talked. Jack was finished with his chow mein and crunchy noodles by the time Lizzie brought him up-to-date.

  Jack was about to attack one of the deep-fried sugar donuts the Pagoda Restaurant was known for when Lizzie dropped the vice president’s name. “I’m speechless, Lizzie. How the hell could that woman be so stupid?”

  Lizzie shrugged. “Sometimes love is blind, Jack. As the girls pointed out to me, some women will go to any lengths and do anything to keep the men they’re in love with. The girls were talking about the Vegas madam at the time, but it would appear it also seems that the president is cut from the same mold. I hate it, Jack. Listen, I have to call her right now, try to wangle a meeting with her, then get to the airport to catch the red-eye back to Vegas.”

  “Anything I can do?”

  “You’re the first person I’d call if there was. Shhh,” she said, putting her finger to her lips as she pressed the digits of Martine Connor’s private number. She shrugged for Jack’s benefit to show she didn’t think the president would actually answer the phone. Her silvery eyebrows shot upward when she heard Connor’s voice.

  “It’s Lizzie, Madam President. I’m calling to ask if I can take you up on your offer of a girl-to-girl visit. I have to tell you I’m on the red-eye back to Vegas so if you have some free time about now, I can be there in fifteen minutes. Did I say it’s crucial that we talk, Madam President?” Lizzie drummed her fingers on the table. The waiting was unnerving.

  “I’ll have one of my agents meet you at the West Wing gate, and he’ll bring you to my quarters. This will be so nice, an old friend dropping by to stay in touch. I miss that. It’s a nice evening, perhaps we could take a stroll through the Rose Garden.”

  “That would be very nice. I’ll see you in fifteen minutes, Madam President. Good-bye.”

  “Jesus, just like that the president agreed to see you!”

  “That’s because she wants something, and she thinks I can help her. Don’t be impressed, okay?” Lizzie belted her coat and gathered up her purse and briefcase. “If Maggie shows up, fill her in. She pretty much knows everything, but there are a few blanks. Tell her to call the mountain and talk to the girls.”

  “Lizzie, what are you…are you sure…?”

  “Jack, I’m going to lay it out for her. That’s all I can do.”

  “Good luck. And congratulations again. Be happy, Lizzie. I mean that.”

  “I know you do, Jack. Before you know it, I’ll be the one congratulating you and Nikki. Believe that, okay?”

  “Sure.” Jack hugged her so tight she growled but with delight.

  “I’ll call the minute I’m away from the White House.”

  “Be careful, Lizzie.”

  “Always, Jack. Always.”

  Jack watched from the open door until her taillights were just tiny specks in the distance. He closed and locked the door, his gut churning. He should call Harry while he waited to see if Maggie was going to show up. Or, maybe he should just call Maggie to see what time she would be knocking on his door. If it was much later, he could hop in the car and drive over to Harry’s dojo. When Maggie didn’t answer her cell, and the call to Harry went straight to voice mail, Jack went back into the house and ate all six of the sugary donuts. He washed them down with a bottle of rice beer.

  Chapter 17

  The Sisters were four hours into the planning stages of their mission, and the war room gave testament to that fact. File folders and stray papers were everywhere, some in midair. Murphy and Grady gracefully gave up their positions at Kathryn’s and Alexis’s feet and sauntered over to the doorway to get out of the way of the blizzard of paper that seemed to be sailing in every direction. However, they remained alert to these strange goings-on.

  Myra looked around in dismay. “Now that we’ve created this mess, what have we come up with that will enable us to take on the vp and his cohorts?”

  “We know a little more now than we did before we started,” Annie said cheerfully. “What I don’t understand is how Hunter Pryce got through the vetting process with nothing coming to light other than his romance with Martine Connor.”

  “Puh-leeze!” Nikki said. “The media wanted another Camelot, and Connor and Pryce were Jack and Jackie. The country was in dire need of some good news. First female president. Would the president marry the vice president? The country couldn’t wait to find out. The photo ops were out of this world. Maggie doubled her circulation for months with all those photos. And then, bam, nothing!”

  “None of us were able to track Pryce, and if it wasn’t for Little Fish, we would still be back at square one. The good news is Pryce thinks he’s safe. We’re going to puncture his little bubble of security as soon as Lizzie gets back to us,” Kathryn said.

  “What if the president doesn’t confide in Lizzie, what happens then?” Yoko asked.

  Annie made a very unladylike sound. “Girls, do you really think Lizzie will leave the White House empty-handed? Actually, she isn’t going to be holding anything in her hands. She’s going there to…to inform the president of the current situation. The Lizzie I know will leave the White House with exactly what she wants, in this case permission to sock it to Hunter Pryce.”

  Myra looked dubious as she started to separate and stack the scattered papers on the table. “Let’s all be clear on our temporary plan. Lizzie will ask Martine Connor for the personal e-mail addresses of the men in question as well as their personal cell phone numbers. I don’t see the president withholding that information. Once Lizzie tells Martine everything there is to tell about Hunter Pryce, assuming, of course, that Martine doesn’t already know, she won’t have a choice. Once we have that information, we will make contact with the men and arrange a meeting, at which point we will do what we have to do.”

  “I contacted Avery Snowden earlier,” Annie said. “He said he would have his people briefed and ready to go the moment we get back to him.” Annie looked down at the Mickey Mouse watch on her wrist, and said, “That was six hours ago, so he should have a plan in place by now.”

  “Bert called in and said the FBI sketch artist had completed the picture of Lily Flowers, and the networks are flooding the airwaves. It went out over the Net at the same time,” Nikki said. “Since there are no actual pictures of Crystal Clark, the artist could only work with what he had by way of descriptions that were sketchy at best. Bert said there is no resemblance between Ms. Flowers and the sketch. If nothing goes awry, Bert should be pulling the plug in less than thirty-six hours, possibly sooner.”

  “What exactly does that
mean to us?” Alexis asked.

  Annie did one of those tsk-tsk things with her tongue. “It means the madam is answering to a higher authority, and we don’t need to concern ourselves with her. We’re going to go after her clients to even up the score for her. According to Lizzie, Cosmo said Lily Flowers would have turned herself in if she were guaranteed to be treated legally the same way the clients were treated. She was willing to take her punishment. But it didn’t work out that way, they went gunning for her. I for one want to know if Pryce is the one who tipped her off so she could take it on the lam.”

  “Who else could it have been?” Kathryn asked. “You don’t think for one minute he trusted her to keep quiet where he was concerned, regardless of her feelings for him? The man is in a rather exalted position right now and could at some point in the future be our next president if anything were to happen to Martine Connor. The first one who talks and shares is the one who gets to cut a deal. When you’re looking at prison time, it pays to try to cut one. Bottom line, he was covering his own butt, not hers. He just did what he felt he had to do. By the way, has anyone given any thought to the possibility this was a plan by the vp all along to destroy Martine Connor so he could step up to the presidency? He had everything buried so deep that it didn’t come to light when he was vetted. Another thing, do we know what Pryce’s net worth is?”

  “Three hundred and eighty million plus railroad stock and a whole bunch of real estate,” Isabelle said.

  “He’s got a yacht and a fleet of antique cars. I think you could safely say the guy is solvent,” Nikki said.

  “Not shabby, Kathryn! What a brilliant deduction!” Annie chortled. “Think about it, girls! It does make sense. But would he risk killing Lily Flowers, or was her demise just a tragic accident? We should find out where he was at the time Ms. Flowers met with her accident. Even though it’s unlikely he would have done the deed himself.”

  “Maybe it was all a ruse, the part about his alerting her and getting her out of town to someplace where she couldn’t be found. She would have thought…God knows what the poor woman thought, but she was getting out of town. I suppose she trusted the man,” Myra said.