“We’re clear. I’m going to need some time. You know how it works. All the relays. Are you going to drug him? What time are you shooting for?”
“If you want him drugged, you’ll get him drugged. Whatever time works for you will work for us,” Annie said agreeably.
“I just want him sluggish, not out cold.”
“Understood,” Myra said.
Pearl finished her coffee. “Let’s shoot for midnight, to be on the safe side. Meet me at the deserted depot, where we met the last time. If things change, I’ll be in touch.”
Myra escorted Pearl to the door. Pearl merely nodded a good-bye.
“She is one tough cookie,” Yoko said.
Kathryn laughed. “When are we going to tell Garland and the law firm?”
“Not till he is out of our care. Too many things can go wrong,” Nikki said. “Tomorrow is soon enough.”
“It’s a long time till midnight. How do you all feel if Nikki and I check in at the office? We’ll come back late this afternoon,” Alexis said.
“You can all leave if you have things to do. Annie and I can hold down the fort,” Myra stated.
* * *
After the younger sisters all left, including Maggie, it was just Annie and Myra in the kitchen. Annie poured fresh coffee. “You okay with the way it all turned out, Myra?”
“I am, Annie. You?”
“I don’t see how we could have done anything differently. The only blight is that snafu with Avery Snowden. And I can forget that very easily. What exactly did we ever decide in regard to Mrs. Forrester?” Annie asked.
“Actually, we didn’t. I’m thinking we should let the law firm handle all that. We’ll make her financial situation part of our deal with the law firm. They can handle her divorce if she wants to go that route. She’s going to need some good representation with respect to Arthur’s share in the brewery. In the end, she’ll be okay—probably, all in all, better off, her own kids and the kids she helps out as well. We’ll be okay, too.
“You look exhausted, Annie. You said you were up all night. Go upstairs and take a nap. I’m going to take the dogs out for a long run. We can have ham sandwiches, if you wake up before lunch. We also have to think about dinner, if the girls are coming back out.”
“You think about it,” Annie said, stifling a yawn.
“Like I’m going to think about anything else,” Myra muttered under her breath as she opened the door for the anxious dogs.
* * *
It was nine-thirty when the sisters descended to the dungeon. Once again, Kathryn unlocked the cell door. “Time to go.” Forrester didn’t move. He looked terrible. “Someone put his meds in a bag for him.” She nodded to Yoko, who pulled a syringe out of her pocket. Kathryn hauled him upright. He didn’t fight her, but his eyes narrowed with hate. Before he knew what was happening, Yoko jammed the syringe into his arm.
“What the hell . . . What did you do to me?” Forrester bellowed.
“Oh, pipe down. It’s just something to make you relax. We’re going for a ride, and we really do not want to have to tie you up. Behave yourself, and this will be over before you know it,” Kathryn said.
Forrester wanted to fight, but his body just wouldn’t cooperate. He had no choice but to let the crazy women push and shove him up a set of steps, which smelled moldy and were slippery under his feet. Then he heard dogs barking and saw a herd of them heading in his direction. They circled him, sniffing him and growling. Then he was outside and walking across stones. Strong arms held tight to his upper arms. Finally he was being pushed into some kind of vehicle. It smelled familiar. Probably it was the same vehicle in which he had been brought here, wherever here was.
“Where is this place?” he asked, his mouth dry. His tongue felt too big for his mouth. He’d never been more miserable in his life, and he didn’t even care. All he wanted was to go to sleep.
Forrester sat down in the van, aware that someone was on each side of him. The van started to move. He closed his eyes.
An hour later, the Post van came to a stop in the parking lot of the deserted depot. Maggie turned off the engine and the lights as well. Ten minutes later, headlights lit up the parking area. Annie got out of the van to greet two men, who looked like sumo wrestlers. Pearl brought up the rear. “Is he ready?”
“He’s ready. What that means is he’s sound asleep. I don’t know for how long he’ll be sluggish when you wake him up. He didn’t put up a fight. He’s resigned to whatever is going to happen from here on out. Do not tell him anything.”
“Understood.”
“Okay, here he is,” Annie said as Nikki and Kathryn stood alongside Arthur Forrester in the open doorway. “He’s all yours!”
One of the wrestler types picked Forrester up like he was a rag doll. He put him in a fireman’s carry and stomped his way to what looked like a Hummer.
The sisters stood in the spill of light from the Hummer’s headlights and watched until the boxy vehicle was out of sight.
The sisters high-fived one another, then grinned.
“We did it!” Annie chortled.
“Did you doubt this would be the outcome?” Yoko asked.
“Not for a minute. Let’s go home and celebrate. All in favor, say aye!”
The empty lot rang with the happy sound of laughter.
Epilogue
The sisters were seated around the dining-room table at Pinewood. It was a little past noon. They were about to make a toast to the mission they had just brought to a successful conclusion.
“I still can’t believe that the Ballard, Ballard and Quinlan law firm wanted to pay us for all our help. I have here in my briefcase all the documents everyone signed off on. Do you believe they didn’t want to know where Arthur Forrester is? Not that I would have told them. All they wanted was my assurance that he would never rear his ugly head in their direction. They fell all over themselves, and though I had to decline their offer of payment, I did want their promise, in writing, that they would take care of Nala Forrester pro bono. They were happy to sign off on that. Arthur’s share in the brewery, along with her own money, will take care of Mrs. Forrester and her family for the rest of their lives. I left it up to them to get in touch with her. I trust them to follow through. Henry Ballard and the others were ecstatic,” Nikki said.
“How much did they want to pay us?” Isabelle asked.
“It doesn’t matter, I turned it down. It was the right thing to do,” Nikki responded.
“I have something to share with all of you,” Myra said as she reached behind her for two envelopes on the sideboard. She made a big production of opening them, until Kathryn, who had zero patience, snatched one of them right out of her hand, opened it, then let out a loud whoop. “This is a check for five million dollars and made out to cash! It’s from Garland Lee. There is a note that says if we send it back, she’ll just send it again. I say we keep it, as that’s what she wants. Raise your hand if you agree!” Every hand in the room shot high in the air.
“And this beautiful square envelope is an invitation to a private concert at Garland’s personal recording studio. One month from today. It’s for one hundred of her closest friends. It’s her private retirement concert. It’s for all of us, plus we can each bring a guest. And the dogs, too, if we want.”
The girls were ecstatic, saying that nothing and no one could keep them from attending.
“I hate to be the first one to leave, but leave I must. I have a date,” Kathryn said as the girls stood up to leave the table.
“It’s okay, girls, Annie and I will clean up here. Go. Go. We’ll catch up when Annie and I get back from our trip.”
“Have fun on your trip,” Nikki called over her shoulder. The sisters all burst out laughing.
“Oh, we will,” Annie said.
And then pandemonium broke loose as Lady and her pups pushed past the girls as they raced to the kitchen door.
Yoko turned, and hissed, “It’s Charles and Fergus.”
“Ah, yes, I thought they would be back around this time,” Myra said as she started to gather up the cake plates and champagne glasses. She carried them into the kitchen. “Hello, dear. You’re just in time to clean this up. Annie and I are pressed for time right now.” She turned and bolted for the door, Annie behind her, as she blew kisses to Fergus.
Nonplussed, Charles looked at Fergus and shrugged. He rolled up his shirtsleeves as he prepared to clean up the sisters’ dishes.
“They’re up to something, Charlie. I can actually smell their excitement.”
Fifteen minutes later, Charles looked around at his kitchen. Spick-and-span. Just the way he liked it. “Coffee, Fergus?”
“Sounds good. We haven’t had a good cup of coffee since we left.”
Lady bounded to her feet the moment she heard her mistress’s footsteps on the stairs. She waited, panting, to see if maybe she was going on a car trip. When Lady saw the small travel bag Myra was wheeling behind her, she knew she was being left behind at Pinewood.
Charles pushed the coffeemaker’s ON button just as Myra and Annie came into his line of vision. He saw the travel bags at the same moment that Fergus saw them. He looked at his beloved. Not for the world was he going to ask her where she was going. He would never lower himself to question her. Absolutely not.
“Where are you going, dear?” he asked cheerfully.
Myra looked at Annie.
Annie, whose hand was on the doorknob, looked back at Myra.
Myra smiled from ear to ear. “Why do you ask, dear?”
“Because I want to know. We always tell each other when we go on a trip.”
“That’s not quite true, Charles. I can recall three different times when you didn’t follow your own rule.” Myra was still smiling.
“Myra, where are you going?” Charles asked a second time.
“Barbados.”
Charles absorbed that one-word response, just as Fergus did.
“Did Myra just . . . ?”
“Yes, Ferg. They’re going to Barbados.”
“Isn’t that where . . . ?”
Charles nodded; then he laughed out loud. “Looks to me like we’re going to be bachelors again for a few days. I know my wife. They’re going to Las Vegas. Trust me on that. Annie loves going to Vegas to stir up trouble, once a mission is finished.”
Fergus looked doubtful, but he had to admit that Charles was usually right.
An hour later, Annie and Myra stepped off the portable stairway of her private Gulfstream and entered the plane. Her pilot greeted them, and said, “They’re having perfect weather in Barbados, ma’am.”
“That’s nice to know. I’m tired of all the rain we’ve had,” Annie said as she headed toward the luxurious seating area and buckled up.
“I’m excited. Are you excited, Annie?”
“I am. I’ve never been to Barbados. Have you?”
“I have not.”
“You do realize that Charles and Fergus think we’re going to Las Vegas, even though you told them the truth, right? It all comes down to need to know in the end.” Annie laughed so hard, Myra had to slap her on the back, so she could catch her breath.
When Annie’s breathing was back under control, the two women high-fived each other.
“You did call ahead for an appointment?”
“I did.”
“I think life is going to get interesting real quick.” Myra giggled.
“That it is, my friend, that it is.”
The stars of Fern Michaels’s Godmothers series, Toots, Ida, Mavis, and Sophie have been there for each other through thick and thin. Be sure not to miss all of the Godmothers series, including
BREAKING NEWS
Life Is Full of Surprises
Teresa “Toots” Amelia Loudenberry has her quirks, but no one would ever question her loyalty. So it’s no surprise when Toots decides to extend her stay in Charleston to help care for her ailing housekeeper.
Though the Charleston air is drenched with azalea and honeysuckle, and there’s always a pitcher of sweet tea close to hand, the ladies have little time for relaxing. Ida’s new line of cosmetics is about to launch, and Toots, Mavis, and Sophie are relishing new careers as models. And Abby, Toots’s daughter, is getting hitched. In the middle of so much change, Toots is almost too busy to notice her own unexpected romance. After eight husbands, she’s sworn never to get involved again. But fate—and her friends—may have other plans. And every godmother, fairy or otherwise, loves a story that ends with happily-ever-after . . .
Keep reading for a special look!
“Should we wake Bernice?” Ida asked. “I’m only going to tell this story once.”
“Leave her alone. She doesn’t give a rat’s ass what you do,” Sophie said. “Hurry it up, Ida. I’m dying to go smoke.”
Toots nodded. Though she and Sophie had managed to cut down on their habit, big-time, they both still required a puff or two in the morning. Pretty soon they’d be down to only a single cigarette a day. When that day finally arrived, they had both vowed to toss their cigarettes away for good.
Ida looked down her slim, patrician nose. “All right, I suppose you all have a right to know.” She gazed at the three other women seated around the table. “I’ve just learned that I’m going to have an opportunity to audition my new line of cosmetics for The Home Shopping Club.” There, now it was out.
Toots looked at Ida as though she had a horn growing out of her head. Sophie curled her lip in disgust. Even Mavis looked shocked. Jamie, ever the diplomat, busied herself washing the baking sheet.
Toots finally took control. “Ida, darling, I realize how successful you’ve become, and I completely respect and admire you for all you’ve achieved.” She paused, thinking of what to say next. “But this . . . There are limits to one’s entrepreneurship! Don’t you think this is taking your cosmetics just a bit too far?” For a brief second, Toots had to wonder if Ida had totally lost her marbles.
Ida rolled her eyes. “I am not referring to Drop-Dead Gorgeous. Good grief. Did you actually think I would . . . Oh, never mind. Of course you would think that.”
Sophie pulled her chair away from the table and got up. “I’m going outside. Now. Something tells me that whatever is about to come out of her mouth is about as important as this hot smoke I’m about to suck into my lungs.”
“Sophie, you’re being rude,” Mavis said. “Now, sit back down and let us hear what Ida has to say. She would do it for you, wouldn’t you, Ida?” Mavis sent an overly sweet smile winging across the table.
Ida raised her perfectly arched eyebrows. “Truthfully? Probably not, so go ahead and blacken your lungs. I want another cup of coffee, anyway.” Ida got up and brought the pot of coffee over to the table. Meanwhile, Sophie scurried out the door, where she lit a cigarette and took several quick puffs before stepping back inside.
“Quick, grab a camera,” Sophie said as she made her way over to the table. “This must be special, because I don’t think I have ever seen Ida carry a coffeepot. Period.”
They all laughed. Even Ida smirked as she took her seat again.
“Shut up, Soph. Let’s hear what Ida has to say,” Toots declared, becoming impatient with the silly bantering.
“Okay, but don’t expect a drumroll from me,” Sophie said as she plopped back down on her chair.
More rolling of eyes around the table. Jamie, who still had not said a word, continued to scrub the baking sheet until it gleamed.
Ida straightened in her chair and adjusted her shoulders before responding. “You all act like a bunch of teenagers. I swear, it’s hard to believe you’re as old as you are.”
“And you’re just as old, so go on. Spit it out. I have things I have to do today,” Sophie said, her voice full of annoyance.
“Sophie’s right. We all have a busy day ahead. I have to take Bernice to rehab today. Spill it, Ida, so we can all go on with our day.”
“The Home Shopping Club is interested in my new line of co
smetics, and before you say another word, they’re for the living. The long-lived, actually. I’m going to call the new line Seasons.”
For a few seconds, the kitchen was totally silent. Then they all started talking at once.
“When did this happen?”
“How did you manage to do this without our knowing?”
“It’s the best news I’ve heard all day,” Mavis finished.
“It’s early, Mavis,” Sophie added. “Just wait. Maybe they’ll find a cure for cancer this afternoon.”
Toots actually clapped her hands. “Girls, be quiet! Ida, that’s fantastic news. Of course you’ll share the details,” Toots said, more a question than a statement.
“I’ve been trying to tell you for the past ten minutes. If someone”—Ida looked across the table at Sophie—“can keep her thoughts to herself for a moment, I will be able to tell you exactly what I know.”
The three women and Jamie waited for Ida to continue.
“I’ve been working with a group of top-notch chemists. We’ve come up with a line of creams and cosmetics that promises to improve wrinkles.”
“Oh, for crying out loud, Ida, there are a gazillion products on the market that make such stupid promises. What makes you think that your cosmetics are any better? You need scientific proof before you can legally make such claims. Doesn’t the FDA have some kind of say in these kinds of products? These are for the living, right?” Toots said, all traces of her earlier humor gone. The last thing any of them needed was legal issues.
Sitting on the edges of their seats, Mavis and Sophie waited with bated breath for Ida to explain her new venture to Toots.
“Toots, do I look like an idiot?” Ida asked.
“Oh, is that ever a loaded question,” Sophie teased. “And yes, there was a time when you did look like an idiot. Am I the only one who remembers the hot pink hair?”
Need to Know Page 24
