Читать книгу Lethal Justice - Fern Michaels - Страница 10

The ladies of Pinewood were having cocktails on the terrace, much to Myra’s delight. She truly enjoyed seeing “her girls” and watching them interact with one another. These days they were like an extended family. It wasn’t that way in the beginning, though. Back when she’d formed the Sisterhood the young women had been hostile, suspicious, afraid to open up to one another. She hoped she was at least a small part of their blossoming, as she liked to call it.

The girls were doing what Charles called kibitzing. Myra let her mind drift as she listened to them, to the birds singing in the trees, to Kathryn’s dog Murphy and Alexis’s dog Grady barking and chasing each other around the yard.

“I bought this racy-looking dress,” Yoko said. “I have nowhere to wear it.”

Frugal, ever practical Kathryn said, “Then why did you buy it? How much was it? What color?”

“In case. I’m not telling you how much it was because you’ll say I should have put the money in the bank for a rainy day. I never go anywhere on rainy days. The dress will get ruined in the rain because it’s silk. It’s sky blue.”

Kathryn grinned. “Forget it. We have a language problem here. You wouldn’t wear the dress on a rainy day because you wouldn’t have bought the dress. Instead of buying the dress you would have put the money in the bank.”

Yoko looked perplexed. “Then I would have no dress, in case.”

Alexis jumped into the fray. “Hold on here. Is there a man somewhere in regard to this dress?”

Yoko tried to look demure. “In a manner of speaking. I was shopping in the Asian market and met a … person there. This person was buying some of the same things I was buying. He looked at me with … with …”

“Lust?” Isabelle laughed.

“Perhaps.”

“Did you get a name, a phone number?”

Yoko turned pink. “No, but he wanted mine. I didn’t give it up.” She eyed Kathryn and said, “I’m not easy. But …” Her eyes grew round. “The clerk called me when I got home and told me the man asked for my address. She gave me his name. She said he was an important man. She gave it up because she said it was time for me to … you know …”

“Hop in the sack,” Isabelle said, finishing Yoko’s sentence for a second time. The women burst out laughing, even Myra and Yoko herself.

“So, who is he?” Nikki asked.

“He’s not … pretty.”

“You mean handsome. Men are handsome, women are pretty,” Kathryn said.

“Okay, hand-some. His name is Harry Wong. He teaches martial arts to police officers.”

Nikki was glad there was nothing in her hands because she would have dropped it. Harry Wong was Jack’s friend. Unless there were two Harry Wongs who taught martial arts to police officers.

Kathryn leaned forward. “And this clerk at the Asian market just gave you all this info … because …”

“I grilled her,” Yoko said smartly. “I could probably teach him a thing or two. He has a dojo downtown.”

“This is so exciting,” Myra said. “Let me guess. You are going to go to the dojo and pretend you want to take lessons. It will be a chance encounter, that kind of thing. I think that’s what I would do.”

Kathryn burst out laughing. “You little devil, Myra.” Myra accepted the statement as a compliment.

“Is that what you’re going to do?” Alexis demanded.

“Yes. I scheduled an appointment. It will be very difficult to play stupid. I do not know how to do that.”

“Dumb, not stupid. There’s a difference. Don’t worry, we’ll teach you. Well, this certainly has been an interesting discussion. When is your first lesson?” Kathryn asked.

“Tomorrow, but I plan to cancel it. I want him to get wet.”

The women went off into peals of laughter. “You mean sweat.”

“Yes, sweat. I will reschedule. I may never go. I will schedule and reschedule.”

Charles appeared in the doorway leading to the terrace. “What’s so funny?”

“You don’t want to know, dear. Are you ready for us?”

Charles backed up a step. He blinked. Many thoughts flew through his mind. They were so united. So in tune with one another. So together. He wondered how he would fare if they ever turned on him. He shuddered. He took a second to look across at his lady love. Somewhere along the way, Myra had definitely become a Sister. He had no other choice but to believe it was a good thing.

Charles led the procession to a solid wall of bookshelves. The women waited while he counted down the various carvings on the intricate molding that ran the length of the bookshelves. The moment his fingers touched the lowest carving, the wall moved slowly and silently to reveal a set of stairs and a large room with wall-to-wall computers that blinked and flashed, as well as a mind-boggling, eye-level closed-circuit television screen that showed the outside security gates. Each wall seemed to be made up of television screens, their sound muted. MSNBC was playing on the south wall, CNN on the north wall, FOX on the east wall. Overhead, fans whirred softly, the only sound in the room, and there were no windows to be seen.

This underground room was the Sisterhood’s command center. Charles was the one responsible for installing the cutting-edge, solar-powered electrical system. Stored power could last a full month, Charles was proud to announce.

All the women knew the story of the tunnels underneath Pinewood. Myra had told them at their first meeting that in the old days her ancestors helped the slaves reach safety via the tunnels. Now, a modern day ventilation system had been installed but Myra was the one responsible for hanging bells at each entrance. She was fond of saying, “Just in case.”

While Charles referred to this special place as the command center, the women called it the war room. They took their seats at a round table just as Charles pressed a button. The plasma TV screens momentarily darkened to be replaced with Lady Justice towering above them. It was always a sobering moment for the women, a reminder of why they were all sitting in a top-secret room no one knew about.

There was no chitchat now, no laughter, not even a smile. Taking the law into one’s hands was a sobering experience.

Myra called the meeting to order. “Before we get down to the business of today, is there any old business that needs to be discussed?”

“Anything on the Barringtons?” Nikki asked.

Charles stepped forward. “No, Nikki, nothing. I have not given up but there are just so many hours in the day. Finding the Barringtons is still a top priority. We’ll have to leave it at that for the moment.”

Nikki leaned back in her chair, her thoughts turning toward Jack and what Yoko had said out on the terrace. Should she tell Jack about Harry Wong? Should she keep Yoko’s news to herself? She decided on the latter, having no wish to betray a sister. She didn’t have to confide everything to Jack. A woman needed to keep some things secret. She wondered how many secrets Jack kept from her. She couldn’t help but wonder if trust would ever be total. She rather doubted it.

“If there’s no other news then I suggest we move on,” Myra said. “If you’ll open your folders you can all read Alexis’s history. Our sister was a very successful securities broker at one point in her life. As they say in the business, she was up and coming. Then she took a month-long vacation, her first in six years. When she returned, she was arrested for a securities fraud she did not commit. Her employers, a man and a woman, framed Alexis and she served a year in prison. She’s a convicted felon. She lost everything, much the way Isabelle lost everything when Rosemary Hershey snatched it all away from her. Unfortunately, Alexis had to serve a year in prison. She can never get that year of her life back. As we all know, prison is not a nice place.

“In addition to Alexis’s incarceration, more tragedy followed. An elderly couple who were bilked by her employers committed suicide when they were stripped of their life savings. That monstrous pair targeted the elderly, many of whom were reduced to the poverty level. Alexis was made out to be an ogre who hated old people and showed no compassion when swindling them.

“When Alexis got out of prison, she went to see Nikki to ask if anything could be done, as Nikki’s firm does a lot of pro bono work. The best Nikki could do was get Alexis a new identity and a job outside her field. That pretty much brings us up to date. Now, it’s time for Alexis to tell us what she wants us to do by way of punishment for her previous employers.”

Alexis cleared her throat. “The first thing I want to say is, I had very poor legal representation. While I was in prison, and Myra is right, it is not a nice place, I plotted their deaths every single night. It was the only way I could go to sleep. I imagined slitting their throats, carving out their hearts, watching them drown, setting them on fire. Nothing would satisfy me. I don’t know why I thought killing them would make me feel better. I’m not a murderer but like I said, thinking like that got me through that year. Even now, the best thing I can come up with is that I want them in prison; behind bars. I want them to hear the door clang shut and know they can’t get out. I want them to suffer the way I suffered.”

Myra turned to Charles. “Tell us what you’ve come up with in regard to Alexis’s previous employers.”

Charles turned on one of the television monitors. “This,” he said, using his pointer, “is Arden Gillespie.” A picture of a beautiful woman dressed in designer wear and an elegant hairdo was smiling up at a tall, handsome, distinguished gentleman. “The man at her side is her partner, Roland Sullivan. Mr. Sullivan is married and has a son in college and a daughter who will graduate from high school in the spring. Mrs. Sullivan is a schoolteacher with a sterling reputation. From the information I was able to gather, she’s a wonderful caring mother and a good wife but she does have her own career.

“Mr. Sullivan came from humble beginnings. In his rush to get to the top of his game he’s stepped on quite a few people along the way. With no apologies. Miss Gillespie joined his firm three years before Alexis was sent to prison. Eighteen months after she was hired, Mr. Sullivan made her a full partner. At the same time, he began an affair with Miss Gillespie that is still going on. Both partners have very expensive tastes. Both like to take expensive vacations. They drive outrageously expensive cars. Miss Gillespie has a passion for diamonds. She has a high-end apartment at the Watergate that is filled with priceless antiques.

“Mrs. Sullivan is a plain woman, not into frills and jewels. According to my information, she likes to cook and bake, loves her special-needs students, adores her children, and also likes to work in the garden. She prefers family vacations and usually ends up going alone with her two children. At this point in time I think it’s safe to say that Mr. and Mrs. Sullivan have a marriage of convenience. I wasn’t able to find any evidence that Mrs. Sullivan is aware of her husband’s infidelity. She stood at his side during Alexis’s problems with the SEC when they hauled her off in handcuffs for swindling all her wealthy elderly clients. It was Gillespie and Sullivan who raped the dormant accounts, forged buy and sell orders, and covered it all up by framing Alexis. Mrs. Sullivan never offered any comments before, during, or after the trial. She distanced herself as much as she could in regard to the media.”

“How much money did they dupe their investors out of?” Isabelle asked.

“Tens and tens of millions. I was able to find properties all over the globe. There’s a beautiful ten room house in Hawaii right on the Pacific Ocean. There is a high-end chalet in Telluride, Colorado; a working ranch in Wyoming. Mr. Sullivan has a yacht named Rachel, after his daughter, I suppose. Mrs. Sullivan doesn’t like going out on the water but Miss Gillespie loves the water. She goes on cruises with Mr. Sullivan quite often. I haven’t located all the properties abroad as yet. Monies have been scattered all over the globe. We pretty much have a lock on a lot of it.

“According to some sources, Miss Gillespie put pressure on Mr. Sullivan to leave his wife and marry her. It seems he agreed and would actually have followed through but after Alexis went to prison, he backed out. The firm of Sullivan and Gillespie appears to be in a bit of disarray these days. The affair may be waning but I have no actual proof of that. Mr. Sullivan seems to be spending more time at home these days.”

“If Mr. Sullivan is staying home, where is Miss Gillespie staying?” Nikki asked.

“At her pricey Watergate apartment. My personal opinion, for whatever it’s worth, is that the two of them are blackmailing each other. All the offshore accounts carry two names so they’re tied to one another,” Charles said.

Alexis squirmed in her chair. “How are we going to get them?”

Charles smiled and the women relaxed. “Myra and I have come up with a plan. Myra has an old dear friend who lives from time to time on a large estate in Manassas. Her name is Anna Ryland de Silva.”

“Not the reclusive Anna Ryland de Silva!” Nikki said.

“The one and only. She’s in Barcelona right now living in an exquisite villa. Myra and I visited her a few years ago. She’s reclusive, a tad dotty and very opinionated. She never gives interviews and no one has actually seen her in years. She travels—when she travels, which is rare—with an entourage. She stays in contact with only a few people: Judge Easter, Myra, and a gentleman friend named Donald something or other. Donald lives in an assisted living facility that Anna pays for. She’s incredibly wealthy. Her daddy was in railroads and then automobiles. It’s impossible to gauge her late husband’s wealth. Old Spanish aristocracy, that kind of thing. Billions with a capital B,” Charles said.

“How does all that help us?” Yoko queried.

“Think, ladies. With a little makeup from Alexis’s Red Bag of Tricks, Myra can pose as Anna Ryland de Silva. If she suddenly calls the firm of Gillespie and Sullivan and says she’s interested in switching brokerage houses, what do you think will happen? I think Miss Gillespie and Mr. Sullivan will pull out all the stops to get such a robust account. They’ll both lie awake nights trying to figure ways to plunder it.”

“Charles, you are just too clever,” Kathryn squealed. “That’s perfect! We scam the scammers. I love it! Alexis, what do you think?”

“I … I don’t … I guess I must be stupid. How can all this help me get my revenge?”

“We’re going to allow them to plunder the account, allow them to forge papers, allow them to do pretty much what they want, and then we’ll … we’ll nail them. Is that the right term, Charles?” Myra asked.

“More or less. Myra and I are flying to Barcelona at first light to … ah, nail it all down. We’ll be back the day after tomorrow. While we’re gone, you can plot any additional revenge you can think of. Whatever you come up with, we’ll manage to fit it in.”

“Why don’t you just call her up instead of flying all the way to Spain?” Kathryn asked.

“Annie doesn’t like to speak on the phone. She’s a little paranoid about things like that. She doesn’t believe in email either. Unless she’s changed her habits, she looks at her mail only every couple of months. Going to Barcelona is our only option if we want to enlist her help,” Myra said.

“Do any of you see a problem with what I’ve told you so far?” Charles asked.

The women said they didn’t.

“Then, ladies, we’re adjourned. We’ll meet up here the day after tomorrow.”

In the kitchen, the women declined the offer of drinks and headed out to their cars. Standing in the doorway, Myra reached for Charles’s hand. They both laughed when the girls started ribbing Yoko about Harry Wong.

“Oh, I hope she manages to find happiness, don’t you, Charles?”

“With Harry Wong?” Charles teased.

“Why not? She’s come a long way since joining us. Remember how shy and frightened she was. Now, she’s … she’s her own person. I hope it works out. Oh, Charles, this is such a fantastic idea. I mean going to Barcelona. We have so much to talk to Annie about. I do so hope she agrees.”

“My dear, I have never yet met the person who can refuse you anything.”

“Charles, you are just too sweet for your own good.”

“Sweet, is it? Well, old gal, we’re alone. Do you want to see how really sweet I can be?”

Myra giggled. “I thought you would never ask. Lead the way, my dear.”