Truth and Justice

by Fern Michaels

  No one did.

  “Hold on, people, I’m getting a text from Matt. Oh oh!”

  “What? What?” The Sisters crowded around the old spy to see what he was seeing on his special sat phone.

  “Matt and Duke are following her. She backed her car out of the garage and roared down the road. He said the weather conditions are horrible. Right now he has no clue where she’s going. They’re right behind her. Don’t worry, they won’t lose her.”

  “Something must have happened,” Annie said.

  “On a night like this? What could happen? She got spooked watching TV? What? Could she be coming here to harm Bella? Avery, call Matt back and ask him which direction she’s going, this way or into D.C.?”

  Avery did as instructed. He listened, then clicked off. “She pulled into a strip mall and parked in a handicapped space in front of an urgent care facility. Matt is right behind her. She’s getting out. Oh, this isn’t good. Matt said she’s leaving a trail of . . . of blood. Someone is at the door helping her. That’s it. She’s inside and out of sight. Matt and Duke will go in in a few minutes and pretend to be a relative to see what they can find out.”

  “No!” the Sisters shouted as one.

  “That will spook her, prove to her someone is watching her. They can’t go in until she leaves. If she leaves. They might decide to keep her for twenty-four hours for observation,” Annie said. “I’m thinking right now that we’re all thinking the same thing. She is probably having a miscarriage. Avery is right, this is not good for her but might solve our problem,” Annie said.

  Kathryn jumped up. “Come on, girls, we gotta go. This is the perfect opportunity to go to her house and go through it.”

  The girls raced to the stairs, leaving Myra, Annie, and Avery behind.

  Myra looked over at Annie. “We’d just be in the way, Annie. They move a lot faster than we do.”

  “Like it or not, Annie, Myra is right. Why do you think I let the young bucks do all the heavy lifting? There’s a lot to be said for standing on the sidelines and calling the shots.”

  “Oh yeah, name me one thing!” Annie shot back. “Just one thing, Avery!” There was such menace in Annie’s voice, the old spy trembled.

  “I was just trying to make you feel better. I hate it that I can’t be in on the action anymore. I admit it, it’s hell getting old. This is the next best thing, and as far as I can see, there are no other options.”

  Myra laughed.

  Annie grimaced. “When you’re right, you’re right. I wonder what they’ll find. Do you think we should tell Bella?”

  This time Avery and Myra laughed.

  “Ah, I see. You are assuming the two of them are . . . busy.”

  “I’m not going to pretend I’m a seer or anything like that, but I do not see Bella jumping into a romance. I also think it’s a given that she is attracted to Paul Montrose and he to her, but they will fight their feelings. Bella has to come to terms with what she felt for Andy. I heard her talking to Yoko the other day. She was crying and saying she knew almost nothing about the man she married and was having trouble remembering what he looked like. And then there is that business of her signing her divorce papers the same day she found out her husband was dead. That’s a lot of weight for that young woman to be carrying around on those slim shoulders of hers. I do think she’ll be okay in the end; I really do. She has a good head on her shoulders, and I think Paul Montrose is a stand-up guy,” Myra said.

  Myra was stunned when Annie and Avery both said they agreed with her.

  “All right then, we’ll keep this to ourselves for now. Why don’t we go upstairs and see about a late lunch. Those pancakes Maggie made were a long time ago.”

  “Weenies?” Annie asked hopefully.

  “Spot on, sister.” Myra giggled.

  “I like hot dogs,” Avery said.

  “Then let’s do it,” Annie said, rushing to the stairs. “Boiled, fried, or grilled?”

  “Grilled,” Myra and Avery shouted at the same time.

  “Three dogs coming right up,” Annie shouted happily.

  * * *

  The girls sat in the Post van outside Sara’s house in Kalorama. The rain was pounding down. “We’ll be soaked before we get to the door, which means we’ll be leaving puddles all over the house,” Kathryn said.

  “I don’t think any of us care, Kathryn. Can you tell if the alarm is on? If it is, it will be glowing red. She left in a hurry, so hopefully she forgot to set it. I can pick this lock, but before we open the door, we need to know about the alarm. Look through the side window and tell me what you see,” Nikki directed.

  “It’s green,” Maggie said.

  “Hot damn,” Nikki said, working the pick-lock the way Annie had taught her.

  “Move! Move! Move!” Kathryn shouted to be heard over the heavy rainfall. “Quick! Lock the door. Let’s split up and go over this house with a fine-toothed comb. I know that’s an old, tired cliché, but this woman is one smart cookie, and we do not want to miss anything. This house has to be at least six thousand square feet. Almost a mansion. If you let your mind jump ahead with seven or eight sperm donations, this would be a house for seven or eight kids.”

  “She hasn’t furnished it all yet. It’s giving off a kind of temporary feel to me,” Yoko said.

  “I’m picking up on that, too,” Isabelle said.

  “Considering her life these past years, I think this is how she lives. There is no permanency to this place, at least not that I’m feeling,” Maggie added.

  “Let’s branch out. I’ll take the second floor with Maggie,” Nikki said.

  “Yoko and I will take the kitchen and dining room. The family room is empty, no furniture, nothing on the shelves, no carpeting to rip up. Just closed blinds on the windows. Did you all notice that all the blinds are closed?” Kathryn asked. The Sisters all said they had noticed. Sara with a million aliases was a very private person.

  “I’ll take the makeshift office, which is here off the kitchen in this alcove. That’s where her computer is,” Isabelle said.

  “I guess that leaves the garage for me,” Alexis said. “Let’s get to it, girls. For all we know, the urgent care facility could release her and just order bed rest. Maybe someone should turn down her bed just in case.”

  The Sisters hooted and hollered to show what they thought of that idea.

  It took only an hour before the girls met up in the kitchen. “Let’s hear it,” Maggie said.

  “Refrigerator is full of healthy food. There’s a row of vitamin bottles on the windowsill over the sink. Prominent among said vitamins is a bottle of prenatal vitamins. Everything appears to be new. Nothing looks used. Very little in the way of pantry goods. No alcohol to be seen. Cleaning supplies under the sink. That’s about it.

  “The master bedroom is all girly and fancy, lots of ribbons and doodads. To me it looked like the bedroom of a seventeen-year-old. Lots of perfume bottles, lots of jewelry, looks real to me. All kinds of clothes, designer and off-the-rack plus rummage-sale items. She’s ready for whatever comes her way. All the bedrooms are empty. All have bathrooms. Nothing. But there are paint and cloth swatches, both pink and blue, in one of the bedrooms. There was nothing on the second floor of any interest to us.

  “Garage is clean as a whistle. You know, like someone just moved in who didn’t have anything to put in a garage but a car. No paint cans, no Weedwacker, nothing. A lightbulb, that’s it, plus an oil stain on the garage floor,” Alexis said.

  Isabelle held up Sara’s laptop. “I can’t crack this here. We have to take it with us. I’m going to need Phil’s help. There are a few receipts in the cubbyholes in this little desk. All in the name of Sara Nolan. Everything I’ve seen says Sara Nolan. I wonder if she actually changed her name legally.”

  “Where’s her stuff?” Maggie demanded. “Where’s her life? You know, the stuff you never leave home without. Like my backpack. I would never leave that unless my house was burning down and I couldn’
t get to it. It’s not here, so she must have taken it with her. Someone text Avery and have him ask his people if they saw her take anything into urgent care? If she didn’t, have him tell them to ransack her car. And tell them to hurry it up.”

  “I’ll do it,” Kathryn volunteered. She started to tap the keys on her phone in a near frenzy.

  Twenty-five minutes later, Kathryn received a text from the old spy. “She went into urgent care empty-handed. Her car is clean. The only thing they found was a box of tissues and a pair of sunglasses. Okay, girls, fan out and search every inch of this house. There’s a bag or a box here somewhere with, as Maggie said, her stuff. For all we know she could have a built-in safe somewhere. Fine-tooth comb, inch by inch. Take your time and be careful.”

  The Sisters muttered and mumbled as they searched the house Sara with a million aliases lived in. Two hours later, they once again met in the kitchen, hands up in the air to indicate nothing had been found.

  “I don’t believe this. I don’t think she’d bury it outside. Every time she wanted something, she’d have to dig it up to get it. Maybe she rented one of those oversize safe deposit boxes at a bank. But that is more or less like burying something outside, she’d have to get in her car, go to the bank, and get into the vault. No, it’s got to be here. She’s no fool. In fact, I think she’s supersmart. Let’s all just stand here, close our eyes, visualize all the rooms, and ask ourselves where you would hide your stuff,” Kathryn suggested.

  The girls did as instructed. Ten minutes went by, then another ten, before Maggie bellowed at the top of her lungs. “There is no place. She hid it somewhere else. We’re beating a dead horse here!”

  “No, we’re not! I think I know where it is,” Nikki said, excitement ringing in her voice.

  “Where? Where?” the girls shouted.

  “Look around, girls, what do you see?” Nikki asked.

  “Well, since we’re in the kitchen, a table and chairs and a bunch of basically empty cabinets. We went through them all. Canned soup, macaroni, cereal,” Maggie said.

  “What’s under the sink? What did you see?” Nikki asked.

  “Cleaning supplies, trash bags, dishwasher soap, dust mitten, duct tape. That’s it. I have that same stuff under my own sink at home,” Alexis said.

  “How much duct tape?” Nikki asked.

  “Maybe a quarter of a roll. There wasn’t much left on it.” To prove her point, Alexis opened the sink cabinet and pulled out the remains of a roll of gray duct tape. “So what are you saying? She taped something somewhere? But we took this house apart and didn’t find a thing,” she said.

  “That’s because we didn’t look in the right place. Girls, grab hold of the kitchen table and be careful, it’s solid oak and heavy, turn it over, and tell me what you see!” Nikki said, bubbling with excitement.

  The expletives rang loud and clear in the cavernous kitchen as the Sisters stared at all the ziplock bags duct-taped to the underside of the table. They ripped at them in a frenzy. “I always put my roasts or a big chicken in this size ziplock bag and put them in the freezer so they don’t get freezer burn,” Nikki said.

  “These bags sure are jam-packed,” Nikki added. “Sara what’s her name was one busy lady. Just look at this stuff. Quick, let’s fold it all up and get out of here before she gets back here. Make sure the table is in the exact same spot so she doesn’t see anything amiss.”

  “If she even suspects something, she’s going to take off. But considering the circumstances right now, she might not be in any condition to go anywhere but home to bed,” Alexis said.

  “We need to make sure we’re not leaving any signs we were here. Check for water in the foyer, we did drip when we got here,” Kathryn said.

  “I cleaned it up,” Yoko said, “but Kathryn is right, fan out and check everything you might have touched and didn’t put back in the right place.”

  Ten minutes later, the Sisters were at the front door. “It’s still pouring rain. If anyone is looking out their window, they’ll be hard-pressed to identify any of us. Everyone, make a mad dash for the van; keep the door open and the engine running for me. I have to lock up,” Nikki said.

  The girls followed Nikki’s instructions.

  Within minutes, Maggie was careening down the road, her horn blasting for no reason.

  “Why are you blowing your horn?” Kathryn shouted.

  “I don’t know, Kathryn, I just felt like I should. You know, success and all that. It was a dumb thing to do, I admit it.”

  “A text is coming in from Avery,” Isabelle said. “Sara is still inside urgent care. He said Matt said they have a lot of emergencies right now. Mostly car accidents. He said Duke went inside and looked around and tried to talk up one of the aides. He said he was trying to find out if a buddy of his was brought in. And then he did a bit of flirting and learned that prior to the sudden rush, only one patient came in and her condition wasn’t life-threatening. He said she would be discharged shortly. Duke thinks it’s Sara. He now has a dinner date for Saturday night with the nurse’s aide.”

  The girls burst out laughing. “At least some good came out of this little caper,” Nikki said, and giggled. “And we got the brass ring in the bargain.”

  “We need to decide what we’re going to do from here on in. As soon as we get to the farm, we’ll let Avery go through all these ziplock bags while we decide if Sara deserves the punishment we had planned for her. We have to keep in mind that she did not physically harm anyone. Yes, she’s a thief. We’re going on pure instinct when we say we think she was going to harm Bella. I do believe that is so, and for that reason I’m still okay on the punishment. We all agreed that she literally stole Bella’s eggs and Andy’s sperm. Obviously, the first insemination didn’t work. Who knows if the other six or seven will work. Regardless, Bella gave us our marching orders. She is the legal custodian of her husband’s donations and she wants them destroyed. Now, having said that, once Sara realizes the jig is up, if we don’t intervene, she’s going to go after Bella because there is no one else for her to blame,” Nikki said.

  Myra, Annie, and Avery clustered around the rain-soaked women. Nikki handed over the ziplock bags, and the group ran up to the second floor to put on dry clothes.

  “Is it all you thought it would be? Is it enough, Avery?” Annie asked anxiously.

  “Enough plus more. I assume you want my people to continue with the surveillance. By the way, Matt just sent a text saying that Sara is on her way home, and they’re right behind her at a safe distance. Obviously, she’s going to be fine. If you no longer need my services, I’ll take my leave of you all. I’ll have my people stay on surveillance until you notify me otherwise.”

  “One more thing before you go, Avery. Is there a way for you to jam Sara’s phone around seven o’clock this evening? Better yet, make it six o’clock,” Annie said.

  “Not a problem. Does that mean I should be ready with my people for the send-off?”

  “Eight o’clock will be fine,” Annie said primly. “We will call you. You can see yourself out while we retire to the war room. Thanks for your help on this mission.” The Sisters all echoed Annie’s thanks.

  Yoko locked and double-bolted the kitchen door.

  The mad scramble to the dungeons left the Sisters giggling hysterically. They had prevailed. Now all they had to do was finalize the plan, and Bella’s world would be right side up again.

  Each of the women snapped off a crisp salute to Lady Justice before they took their seat at the table. Myra called the meeting to order. “Girls, this is going to be one of our shortest meetings on record. So, let’s get to it so we can all go out for some surf and turf and a barrel of margaritas. I guarantee all of us a safe ride home.”

  “Hear! Hear!” the girls shouted.

  * * *

  “It’s all packed in the van. It’s almost six, girls. We should be on our way. Avery said he would jam Sara’s phone at six, so we can break and enter at will. Does anyone have any ques
tions?” Alexis asked.

  There were no questions.

  Ten minutes later, Maggie had the van on the road and they were on their way to the house where Sara with a million aliases lived.

  When they arrived at the house in Kalorama, Maggie backed the van up to the garage doors and hopped out as Kathryn, with her steel-toed boots, kicked in the front door.

  “I was going to pick the lock, Kathryn,” Nikki grumbled.

  “Takes too long. Look, it’s open! Let’s go, girls! The prize is standing right there in the kitchen. Let’s make this quick.”

  And quick it was. Yoko did her whirligig dance, and before Sara could blink or demand to know what was going on, Nikki and Alexis had her tied and were dragging her to the garage, where Kathryn decided to pick her up and throw her over her shoulder. She marched to the van and dumped Sara in the back.

  “I closed up everything. We were never here,” Isabelle said.

  “What time is it?” Alexis asked.

  Annie looked down at the Mickey Mouse watch that was her prize possession, and urged, “Drive faster, Maggie, we only have seventeen minutes. Don’t worry about speeding.”

  In the back of the van, Sara started to scream. “Who are you? This is kidnapping! That little snot sent you to kill me, didn’t she? She’s sick and deranged. She put you up to this. I know she did. Let me go, I’ll pay you whatever you want, ten times whatever she paid you.”

  The Sisters laughed. “Impossible,” Isabelle said. “We already took all your money. We found all your stuff under the kitchen table. You sure did use a lot of duct tape.”

  Sara started to curse at the top of her lungs. She didn’t stop until Nikki whacked her across the face with the back of her hand.

  Sara started to cry. “Who are you crazy people? I just got out of the clinic. I’m sick. How can you treat me like this?”