12. Final Justice

by Fern Michaels

  And Charles brought it on. Huge platters found their way from the kitchen, the aroma of garlic and onion filling the dining room.

  Sensing this particular menu was extremely important for some reason, the others chimed in about how the menu contained all their favorites, too. The moment the food was on the table they all dug in as they again reminisced about when they were kids and lived on such delectable fare.

  Within seconds, a party atmosphere took over, right down to the food fight that ensued when the last of the dessert was finished. Nikki started it by throwing a gingerbread cookie at Isabelle, who then threw her Twinkie at Jack, who reached over and stuck a piece of pizza crust in Harry's ear as Yoko raced around the dining room untying all the balloons. They all got up and tried to catch as many as they could before the balloons raced for the ceiling. As one they presented all the captured treasures to Alexis, who started to cry.

  "I'm crying because I'm so happy," she blubbered. "Only all of you would understand how important that one balloon was to me."

  There wasn't a dry eye in the dining room when they all took their seats and waited while Charles cleared the table. "No, no, you are all guests. I'll clean up even though I cooked, then we'll get to the presents. However, it's a onetime deal. As you know my rule is, I cook, you all clean up. Today is special, hence the exception."

  Annie poured more coffee as Myra walked out to the kitchen and returned with a tray of clean wine goblets. She set it on the sideboard along with a single bottle of champagne—this time the precious Louis Roederer Cristal 1990.

  Then they waited, their hands clasped in their laps for what was to come.

  Finally, Charles took his place at the table and settled himself. He looked around at the excited faces and said, "Unfortunately, we're shy two of our members, but I hooked up a webcam so Lizzie will be with us electronically. For reasons you will all understand shortly, Bert will not be a part of this private party, but he has been apprised of what we're doing. Myra has Lizzie's permission to open her package, and Bert graciously gave me permission to open his. So, without further ado, Annie will hand them out, since this is her party and the honor belongs to her."

  After setting out the packages Annie sat on her hands. She hoped her nervousness wasn't telegraphing itself to the others. She was worried. What if her little brood had changed their minds? Myra had assured her that would not be the case. Charles had echoed Myra's assurances. Still, one could never predict another's emotions. She sucked in her breath and waited for the first reaction to the packages. She risked a quick glance at Nikki, who looked devastated at not receiving a gift. Myra had said she would understand. Charles agreed. Still, Annie wished she could wipe away the strange look on the young woman's face.

  The ribbons undone, they were picking at the paper, trying not to rip it. Then they were all looking at a simple cream-colored file folder with a gold seal. Annie watched as they picked at the seal and the folders were opened and nine sets of eyes were staring at the crisp papers Lizzie had drawn up.

  Adoption papers.

  "I know it's taken longer than expected, but we finally managed to dot the last i and cross the last t. I just want to say it's ironclad. I. . .hope. . .none of you changed your minds. I think this is one of the happiest days of my life. I know I said this before, but I want to say it again, I will never try to take the place of your own mothers because that simply can't be done, ever. I don't want to be a stepmother, either. I just want to be a pretend mom. I. . .uh. . .I know how to do that because I was a mom once a long time ago. It was the most rewarding time of my life. I. . .miss being a mom. I really do. If any of you want to change your mind, I'll understand. Lizzie said we can undo this in the next few days." Annie looked around, hoping she wouldn't see anything negative in the faces of what she now considered her family. She was relieved to see a smile on Nikki's face. She understood, she had already gained a stand-in mother in Myra, who had adopted her when she was a young child.

  It was Yoko who got up first, tears streaming down her cheeks. She rushed around the table to drop to her knees. Her head fell into Annie's lap. "I never knew my mother. I know you promised to adopt me when we were in Japan but I. . .I thought perhaps you were just being kind to me because you felt sorry for me. I don't know what to say, Annie. I am honored to have you as my mother. I know Harry feels the same way."

  Then it was bedlam, with Lizzie screaming into the webcam.

  This was Annie's moment, so Pearl Barnes, Judge Easter, Charles, Nikki, and Myra moved closer to the sideboard.

  "This is so wonderful. Thank you for inviting me, Myra. I wouldn't have missed this for the world," Pearl said.

  Nellie echoed her sentiments. Charles simply beamed.

  Nikki hugged Myra. Her words were simple, and from the heart. "Everyone needs a mother, and every mother needs a child. Annie will love all of them with all her heart. I am so proud of her."

  The lawyer in Nellie came through. "Her estate. . .that vast wealth of hers? Has that been taken care of?"

  "Absolutely. Lizzie handled all the details, and while it was a bit tricky, it's all in order. All ten of her new children inherit equally," Charles said.

  "Nine children," Nellie corrected.

  "No, ten, Nellie. Annie included Nikki in her will."

  Nellie nodded. The lawyer in her kept speaking. "And the name change?"

  "Simple. Jack de Silva Emery. Harry de Silva Wong. Yoko de Silva Akio, Alexis de Silva Thorne, Isabelle de Silva Flanders, Kathryn de Silva Lucas, Elizabeth de Silva Fox, Margaret de Silva Spritzer, and Bertram de Silva Navarro.

  The lawyer in Nellie continued to speak. "That will do it, then. What are the chances of these particular adoptions ever becoming public?"

  "Zero chance. That's why everything took so long," Charles responded. "The adoptions took place in different courtrooms across the country. Lizzie knows her business. I hope she isn't feeling left out, being out in Las Vegas."

  "Look!" Nikki said, pointing to the webcam where Lizzie was talking to the others. She was laughing and holding up a glass of champagne of her own. "I think that should address your worry. Lizzie always makes things work. By the way, what was the rush to get her to Vegas, Charles?"

  Charles wagged his finger. "All in good time, my dear."

  The cork flying out of the champagne bottle sailed upward, the signal that the last toast of the evening was ready to take place. Myra carried the tray to the table, and Charles carried the champagne bottle.

  Suddenly the atmosphere turned solemn. The women all seemed to be teary-eyed, while Jack and Harry were trying hard to keep it together. Annie simply beamed, her face alight with joy.

  Charles poured the champagne carefully. He looked around the table. His mood was serious and solemn. "We need to make a toast." He took a step backward to allow the others to decide.

  In a heartbeat, Yoko stood up. She held her glass aloft, her eyes shining with tears. "To our mother."

  Harry bounded to his feet, his arm snaking around Yoko's shaking shoulders. The others were on their feet in an instant.

  And then they all got silly, laughing and crying at the same time. Annie simply basked in the love of her new family.

  "I've never seen Annie so happy," Nikki whispered to Myra.

  "There's a reason for that, dear. Annie has never been this happy. I've known her all my life, and I've never seen such love as she has for all of you. I'm so happy for everybody."

  Nikki squeezed Myra's hand to show she understood and, at the same time, telling Myra how much she loved her.

  An hour later, Charles declared the party over, telling his little flock it was time to adjourn to the main house to discuss their next mission. "Unless, of course, you feel impaired with all the bubbly you've consumed, in which case we can adjourn till tomorrow."

  Nikki threw a wadded-up napkin at Charles and ran to put on her slicker. The others followed suit.

  Annie lagged behind and was speaking to Lizzie on the webcam. "Darli
ng girl, I am so sorry you aren't here. I wanted to hug you and thank you for all you've done for all of us. I love you, dear girl."

  Lizzie laughed. "It was my pleasure, Mom. I'll be back before you know it. Or, maybe you'll be here before you know it. I'll talk to you tomorrow. Sweet dreams, Mom."

  "And the same to you, darling girl." Annie swiped at her eyes. How wonderful it all was. She looked at Myra, and said, "Imagine having nine children!"

  "Just be glad they aren't in diapers or toddling around. You have the grown-up version. I'm so happy for you, old friend. So very happy. Now, come along, we have a mission to plan. You have the rest of your life to be happy. Right now we have a childhood friend who needs our help."

  Once inside the main building on the mountain, Pearl tactfully excused herself and walked down the hall to her assigned bedroom. The others marched into the huge conference room, which they laughingly called Charles's lair.

  This room was different from the climate-controlled underground war room back in McLean. It was also different from the war room on top of Annie's mountain in Spain. While this room still had a bank of computers and wall-to-wall television monitors, all tuned to the twenty-four-hour cable news channels, it also had windows. The furniture was cushioned, soft, and easy on the eye. There was even a thick Berber carpet on the floor, on which sat a large round table and matching chairs.

  Charles pressed a button on one of the remote controls. A blow-dried, waxy-looking reporter was instantly replaced with Lady Justice and her scales. It was Charles's way of calling the meeting to order.

  Tonight there were no colored folders on the table, which meant the mission was going to be open for discussion.

  "Before we get down to business, I know all of you want to hear from Jack, Harry, Maggie, and Nellie. Maggie, I think since it began with you, you should start off."

  Maggie nodded as she looked around. "I don't know if I should start off by apologizing to all of you or not for acting independently. I knew I could help, but my window of opportunity was short, so I took matters into my own hands. I did what I could, then turned it over to Jack and Harry, who in turn enlisted Nellie's help.

  "One of my guys came to my office the day before yesterday and told me a story he got from a reliable source. The story was that Bert Navarro was not going to be confirmed by the Senate on Friday because he refused to give up his friendship with Jack and Harry. That didn't sit well with me. I knew. . .know how important it is to all of us to have Bert appointed to the top position in the FBI. Knowing how stubborn and loyal he is, I went to Jack that night and told him what was going on."

  Maggie looked across the table at Kathryn, who was picking at her cuticles as she pursed her lips, and addressed her next comment to Kathryn alone. "We opted to keep Bert in the dark, Kathryn. We wanted him to react to the event, and he did. It was all so bizarre, I don't think anyone was any the wiser. The same goes for Director Cummings. Both men were taken to the hospital, where they were checked out, treated, and released, and they're okay. Angry but okay. Now it's Jack's turn."

  Jack took the floor. "I called Harry, and together we came up with the invasion of the ninjas. Harry's people, of course. Harry needed to have an airtight alibi, which his class gave him. It was a diversion, nothing more. The media ran with it like we knew they would, right down to a fistful of human ashes from one of Harry's guy's ancestors—which are currently being analyzed. Director Cummings allowed himself to be pummeled a little more than necessary, but it just appeared that way. Bert put up a fight to defend his boss, which played out well.

  "Cummings gave all the credit to Bert, who was heard to say that Harry and I were not friends—which I, of course, confirmed, as did Harry when we did our interviews with Joe Espinosa. Harry gave a very good interview to the Post. Maggie devoted the entire front page of the paper to the incident. She played up the human-ash part big-time. The story's all in living color, I might add. Harry, you want to say anything?"

  Harry nodded. "Just that I think we pulled it off. Every member of the Senate gets a copy of the Post, so they'll read that front page in the morning with their morning coffee. What they don't know but will learn when they flip open the paper is Cummings's story. I think Judge Easter can pick up here."

  Nellie looked around and smiled. "Jack asked me to call the airlines and book two tickets to Las Vegas for Thursday, which I did. We're to leave before the president makes his announcement. One ticket in my name and one ticket in the name of Elias Cummings. Both tickets were booked, confirmed, and paid for a little after nine o'clock that same night. It seems that Elias and I are getting married in Las Vegas. It was the only way we could think of to get Elias out of town to push the president to install Bert as director as soon as the Senate confirms him on Friday. No one is going to want the FBI to be without a director even if there is an acting director, what with the brown stuff splattering all over the place."

  "You're getting married!" Annie exclaimed. "Nellie, how wonderful! I so love weddings. Goodness, what a day this has turned out to be."

  Nellie groaned. "No, Annie, I'm going to pick a fight with Elias when we get there. No marriage. Well, maybe we'll get married if we don't have anything else to do." She twinkled. "Then again. . .if things work out and time permits, Lizzie and the Post reporter are to be our witnesses if the marriage comes off."

  The room erupted in sound as the women clapped and hooted, congratulating Nellie.

  "And Elias Cummings is going to go along with all this?" Nikki asked, a frown building on her beautiful face.

  "He doesn't know yet, Nik," Jack said, doubling over with laughter. "He's going to read it in tomorrow's paper like the rest of Washington. He's no fool, he'll get the drift right away. It was the only way to get him out of town. Even the president isn't going to foul up a man's wedding plans."

  "Well, since that seems to be taken care of," Charles said, "I suggest we get down to business. Girls, how does a trip to Las Vegas sound?"

  Chapter 6

  Jack was the first to speak. "We have no backup in Vegas. Law enforcement out there doesn't mess around. Everyone knows the casino boys run that town. One little infraction, and you get locked up. Those guys kick ass and take names later. Dicey from Harry's and my perspective. That's assuming we're invited to go along."

  "It should be exciting. Ka-ching! I do love the sound of slot machines," Annie said. "The shows, the twenty-four-hour frenzy, and I understand there are no clocks in any of the casinos. Will we be high rollers? Everything is free if you're a high roller. Hotel suites, drinks, food, limousine service, the whole nine yards. I have a book on gambling I bought online. There's no way you can cheat—they have ceiling surveillance, and every casino has at least a thousand security guards," she said breathlessly. Then, as an afterthought, she added, "Count me in."

  Kathryn snorted. "Annie, Annie, get real, it's only free on the surface. Even though they give all those perks to you, and if you add it up for, say, a two-day, even a three-day weekend, the tab might be three grand, tops. The chances of your only losing three grand is about nil. If you're a high roller, you're guaranteed to gamble a hundred times that amount. There are no free lunches, Annie."

  To Annie's chagrin, Kathryn directed her next comment to Charles. "What's in Vegas, and why are our services needed? It seems like an odd place for the vigilantes to go. All that sharp-eyed security is going to make me very nervous."

  The others nodded but waited patiently for Charles to spell it all out for them.

  "A message came through to Nikki's law firm. It was pretty straightforward, a request for our help, but contact was needed for the details. Then a second request came through a few days later. It was the same party. There was a note of desperation in both pleas. Nikki had her old office manager call the sender for details, which I'm about to share with you. Before I do that, though, this person is someone Annie and Myra used to know when they were little girls, although the sender did not trade on that relationship. I came across it w
hen I ran a check on the sender of both requests just to make certain it was the same person. Myra and Annie confirmed the childhood friendship. Neither Annie nor Myra has seen the woman in over fifty years. Nor have they had any contact.

  "Then two other messages came in through the message boards. I can't be one hundred percent certain, but I think they came from Las Vegas and were not from Myra and Annie's old friend. I have people working on that end of it."

  "What does she want?" Isabelle asked.

  "Nothing for herself. It's her daughter who needs the help. That's why Lizzie is in Las Vegas. First, let me tell you about the woman who is seeking your help. The name she signed on her request was Beatrice Basson. Basson was her maiden name and is the name Myra and Annie knew her by. She's been married nine times. Her latest husband's name was Alonzo Preston. The Preston shipping lines," he added for clarification.

  Annie poked Myra's arm. "Nine times! Mercy! I never thought she could snare even one man. How'd that happen, Myra? Beats, as we called her, didn't have much going for her." Myra just rolled her eyes. "Remember how she said she was from 'Loo-zee-anna'?" To the others she said, "That's how she talked. She was from Louisiana. Beats came to McLean to her granddaddy's plantation for the summer. Four summers, is what I remember. I think we were eleven the first time she came. I remember that the summer I turned fifteen, she wasn't there for my birthday party, but she came for a visit a few weeks later. We never saw her again after that or even heard anything about her that I can recall."

  "That's pretty much how I remember it," Myra said. "Her grandparents died when we were sixteen, and the farm sat empty for years and years. I remember my father talking about titles that weren't clear and land grants, that kind of thing. As a youngster it simply didn't interest me."

  "What happened to the nine husbands?" Nikki asked.

  "They all died. Natural deaths, before you can ask. All were extremely rich. There were a few lawsuits with some of the husbands' families because Beatrice, as the wife, inherited the bulk of all their fortunes. Everything was eventually settled, and everyone walked away happy, especially Beatrice. She only had one child, with her second husband, a girl named Marble Rose Barnes.