“Dear girl, can you stop the blubbering and sit your arse down?” Charles winked at her. “This cassoulet is not waiting.”
Maggie dabbed her eyes with the napkin and began to giggle. She took her seat and hugged Yoko and Alexis, who were sitting on either side of her.
“That’s better, dear.” Myra reached across the table and patted her hand.
“I believe that has to be the first time you were the last one at the table.” Annie chortled, asked Maggie if she would say grace, and when that was done, passed the fresh-from-the-oven bread.
Myra looked up at Maggie. “You’ve been a bit weepy. It’s not like you.”
“Yeah. Hormones, maybe?” Maggie snorted, the women roared, and Fergus and Charles rolled their eyes.
“Or maybe it’s because you’re concerned about your friend,” Myra offered.
“What friend?” Yoko asked.
“That’s why we’re here tonight,” Annie announced. “One of Maggie’s college friends seems to have gone missing.”
Everyone stopped eating. “Well, that’s the thing,” Maggie interjected. “I’m not sure if she’s really missing.”
“Rules, girls. We’ll take this up after dinner.” Charles lifted a glass of wine. “Here’s to those who have seen us at our best, and seen us at our worst, and can’t tell the difference!”
Alexis almost choked on her drink. Maggie’s came out of her nose. The women couldn’t seem to get control of themselves.
Fergus looked at Charles, begging for an answer. “Is it a full moon, old chap?”
Charles raised his glass again and made a circle in the air, indicating to the women, who were all in hysterics, “It’s always a full moon when this bunch gets together here.”
At this point, Myra and Annie were doubled over. Even the dogs were howling. “Oh, Maggie, I’m so terribly sorry.” Myra was brushing her hair away from her face. “I don’t know what’s gotten into all of us tonight.” She took a short inhale. “All right. Let’s enjoy our dinner before it gets cold. We certainly don’t want to insult the chef!”
“Certainly not,” Charles added. The rest of the dinner was relaxed in spite of Maggie’s bouncing her knee. That was something she did when she was nervous. A habit she couldn’t seem to break. She had gained some control over her nail biting, but the restless knee was yet to be conquered.
“Charles, that was delicious.” Myra gave him a peck on the cheek as she handed her dish to Nikki, who was helping to clear the table.
“Yes. Fantastic!” Maggie added. Alexis and Yoko expressed their appreciation as well.
Within the usual thirteen minutes, the table was cleared, dishes done and out of sight, and not a crumb to be found.
They marched down the old dungeon-like steps to the basement of the farmhouse. In the mid-1850s, during the struggle between the North and the South, Pinewood had become part of the Underground Railroad. Many of the tunnels and outer buildings remained.
Tonight, as on many nights before, the women entered the space where they would investigate, explore, and examine a situation, then establish a plan for righting a wrong. It was called the War Room. It was, indeed, one of the most highly sophisticated technological hubs outside of the military. The missions they had been able to pull off were highly complex, sometimes having to deal with high-ranking people in the government and at other times having to outwit law-enforcement authorities trying to stop the infamous vigilantes. So far they had been able to stay one step ahead, leaving nothing in their wake. It was some kind of magic trick. Or so it seemed.
As the women entered the room, they saluted the statue of Lady Justice, a ritual they engaged in on every occasion. Coming and going.
The women took their seats, and Charles powered up the large TV screens that covered the walls. Maggie uploaded her notes onto the screens, and onto everyone else’s laptop.
All of them had met Gabby on several occasions when Gabby was an intern at the Post. She was sweet, bright, and lovely. Those qualities could easily work against her in the world of journalism. Evidently, they had. Maggie reiterated the story about Gabby’s looking for a higher purpose and moving to an ashram-like community. If it qualified as a community. There was little information about who owned the property. There were shell companies up the wazoo. The brothers came from a once-wealthy, now-disgraced Chicago family. Prep school, father gone bad and in jail, mother skidoos to Europe, boys have to fend for themselves.
“I’ll have Interpol do a check on the shell companies,” Charles offered.
“We’ll do a poke around for the mum,” Fergus added.
“Do you think we should send Avery or one of his people down there to check it out?”
Myra stroked her pearls. It helped her to think. “Let’s wait until we gather what intel we can. Once we get a clearer picture, perhaps we’ll know enough about the outfit to give Avery some direction.”
“Nikki and Alexis, see if you can find out more about the brothers. Where were they between the time their father was hauled off to jail and now? Where did they work? Live? Study? Who are their known associates?” Annie started writing a list. “Nikki, I know you have a trial coming up, so whatever you can’t handle, send it over to me and Maggie,” Annie instructed.
“I thought I should go down there and check it out,” Maggie offered.
“Not until we have more information. If they can make Gabby disappear, then we don’t know what we would be walking into.”
“Gotcha,” Maggie had to agree. “Okay. I’ll dig up some of the family history. It’s good to get background.”
“Yoko, get in touch with some of your botanical friends down there and see if they have any info,” Myra directed.
After everyone stopped jotting down notes, or entering information into their laptops, Myra and Annie stood. “When should we meet again?”
“The sooner the better.” Maggie was almost begging.
“I can get on this first thing,” Alexis said.
“Ditto,” Yoko added.
Nikki chimed in with, “Let’s plan to meet late tomorrow afternoon. Say five o’clock. War Room first, then dinner. We’ll work with what we can find and keep digging.”
Fist pumps filled the circle. “Woo-hoo!” they chanted.
“And woo-woo, too-too,” Annie couldn’t resist saying. Once the giggling had stopped, Annie reminded them that, technically speaking, they hadn’t voted. “Can I assume we’re all in?” In unison, fists were pumped in the air with each of them declaring “All in!” Then high fives went around the table.
Maggie tried to hold back her tears of gratitude, but they dribbled down her cheeks. Annie took one look at her, and said, “Girl, you better stop all that blubbering. We have work to do!”
You could feel the energy in the room. The sisters had a mission—find Gabby ... and uncover what unsavory situation she had stumbled into.
As the women left the room, they saluted Lady Justice and climbed up the stairs. Lady and her pups were waiting in a straight line, tails wagging. The dogs loved having the sisters around. Besides the good vibrations, they got lots of treats.
Chapter Eleven
The Haven