Vendetta (3 page)

Jack swigged from his beer bottle. His feet thumped down on the floor. “Five months and there’s been no word on Senator Webster or his wife, Dr. Webster. No one but Nikki has gone near the farm. That’s the same MO they used when Marie Lewellen disappeared on my watch. They lie low, let the smoke settle, and then those damn women spring up like jack-in-the-boxes.”

“They were all at the farm today except for Dr. Webster,” Mark said.

“What? You’re just telling me this now?” Jack exploded.

“Look, hot shot, it came just this minute in this email. Garrity is reporting in. All of them except Dr. Webster got there around seven o’clock. It’s almost midnight and they’re still there. Guess they’re going to spend the night. Garrity says the house is dark.”

“Son of a bitch! Didn’t I tell you? They lie low, wait four or five months, and then they meet up. Then…then they do
something
. Right this damn minute they’re in there hatching and planning. I know it! I feel it! We have to figure out a way to plant some bugs in that house.”

“Forget it. Those Dobermans are still out there and there’s no way I’m messing with that guy Charles Martin. You want another visit from those guys with the shields?” Mark winced, remembering the elite presidential task force that had beaten Jack within an inch of his life for interfering with Charles Martin.

Jack ignored the rhetorical question as he looked across his desk at his friend, the ex-
FBI
agent. “Something has been bothering me for a long time now. I couldn’t get a handle on it. It was something I knew I should remember but couldn’t, that kind of thing. I finally remembered it, Mark. There
is
a way into Pinewood.”

Mark grimaced. “Don’t go there, Jack. Please.”

“No, no. Listen. The tunnels. That’s our way in and out. Nikki and Barbara used to play in the tunnels when they were children. Nikki told me that Myra hung bells at the different intersections so they wouldn’t get lost. In the old days they used to spirit out the slaves to a safe place by way of the tunnels. Nikki said there was an exit in the barn and one tunnel that went all the way to some other farmhouse. I can’t remember which house it was, though. I can’t be sure, but I think she said the other people closed their section off. Shit, I wish I could remember exactly what she said. If we can figure it out, we can get in that way.”

Mark stared at a seascape hanging on the wall across the room. “What’s with that
we
stuff? I’m not crawling through any two-hundred-year-old tunnels. I’m strictly a computer nerd who’s willing to do surveillance from time to time. In addition, I’m claustrophobic. You’re nuts, Jack!”

“Yeah, well, if you can come up with a better way to get inside, I’m all ears. We’re just spinning our wheels here. If we can’t get inside we might as well give it all up. I’m not willing to do that. I know I’m right about those women. You know I’m right about those women. Those guys who beat me up know I’m on to something where those chicks are concerned, otherwise they wouldn’t have threatened me and then almost killed me. I’m willing to do the breaking and entering. I just need you to cover my ass.”

“I can do that. Cover your ass, I mean.”

“Good. Now, before we leave, see if you can find out the best way to tranquilize those Dobermans. We’ll need to post Garrity out there on a permanent basis so he can tell us when everyone is out of the house. Don’t look at me like that, Mark, it’s all doable. I’m the one who will do it. This is it. I can feel it in my bones. Yahoo!”

“Yeah, yahoo,” Mark said, clicking at the keys in front of him.

Five miles away, even though the house was totally dark, the war room was alight not only with wattage, but also with smiles and hope.

Charles walked among the women, handing out packets of information. “I want you all to familiarize yourselves with China. I want you to understand the people, the customs and the terrain. I’m going to say this once and then I won’t mention it again. If any one of you feels this is above and beyond what you’ve all signed up to do, you can withdraw now and none of us here will hold it against you.” He waited for a response. What he got was a group nod, which meant that they were all
in
and no one wanted
out
.

They jumped as one when Charles’s encrypted phone rang. No one seemed surprised when Charles carried on his end of the conversation in Chinese. He truly was a man of many talents. All eyes were on Yoko to see if she was following the conversation. She was. She nodded from time to time before she held her thumb upright. She whispered in English, “We’re going. He will allow us to use his airstrip. They are making plans now.”

“Oh, this is so wonderful. I can’t think of anything to say,” Myra bubbled.

When Charles ended his call, he approached the sisters, the light of battle in his eyes. “We have a deal with Li, ladies. You leave for China tomorrow afternoon. Li will clear the way for us. That’s all I’m going to say at the moment. In the morning, I’ll have a plan all worked out. It’s late, get a good night’s rest. We’ll meet up again in the morning.”

Myra stayed behind, her face puckered with worry. “The deal, Charles — will it keep the girls safe?”

Charles looked down into the eyes of the woman he’d loved all his life. He could no more tell her a lie than he could stop breathing. “I don’t know, Myra. Li is an honorable man. I believe he will do everything in his power to make things right for us. It’s the best I can do, my darling. The girls are willing to take the risk.”

“I think we should go with them, Charles. At least I want to go.”

“Out of the question. No, Myra, I mean it. No is no.”

“I think I’ll go anyway. Goodnight, Charles. Oh, I mean it, too.”

The following morning Charles Martin, the man of many talents, looked at the skimpy breakfast he was setting out for Myra’s guests. He almost felt ashamed. Almost.

The small group trickled into the kitchen, where they all looked at the toasted muffins, sliced oranges and bananas, juice and coffee. They didn’t say a word as they picked up their paper plates and paper napkins. Charles apologized for the meager fare and throwaway dishes. No one seemed to care, even Myra, who was a stickler for a well-set table and fine food. Lunch, Charles explained, was going to be worse. Bologna and cheese sandwiches. Maybe some pickles and chips if they had them. The women did groan about that.

“Eat up, ladies. We’ll meet in the war room in exactly,” he looked at his watch — “twenty-five minutes.” Then he was gone. Murphy barked at this strange behavior. He continued to bark, wondering where the bacon was, his share of the pancakes, or the eggs everyone usually slipped him. Kathryn refused to feed him dog food, saying he ate what she ate. Murphy even liked beer and could belch with the best of them.

“Did you all read up on China?” Nikki asked as she rubbed her temples. She’d had a horrible night, her sleep invaded by dreams of Jack Emery. Even a late-night visit from Barbara couldn’t calm her down. There had been no time this morning to cover the dark circles under her eyes. She hoped the others didn’t notice.

“We’re not all going to China, are we?” Kathryn asked.

Nikki shrugged. “Charles said he was going to work on that through the night. It’s his decision, but if you want my guess, I don’t think we’re all going.”

“Well, I’m going,” Myra said firmly. “I’ve waited too long for this moment to sit on the sidelines.”

Isabelle got up and looked around. She looked at her watch. “No time to clear this away, our twenty-five minutes are up. Come on, let’s go, troops!”

Outside, across the vast lawn covered with frost, and high in one of the old oaks, a man named Garrity brought his high-powered binoculars to his eyes and whistled softly. He could see into Myra Rutledge’s kitchen so clearly, he could have been a few feet away. He watched the scrambling exit and frowned. Where the hell were they all going in such a hurry? The old gent had left earlier while the women ate. There had been no sign of him since. With nothing else to occupy him, Garrity crunched down on a granola bar — his breakfast. He pulled out his cellphone when he’d finished the crunchy bar and called Jack Emery. His report was simple. The Dobermans had been picked up, the women had eaten and then disappeared. He was told to sit it out even though he said he was freezing his ass off. Emery promised him time and a half to stay. Garrity agreed.

In the war room, all hell was breaking loose. Charles looked flustered while the women could only stare at Myra, their eyes big, their jaws slack, as she went into a tirade.

“I’m going, and that’s final. Don’t think for one minute that I am going to stay here worrying. I’ve waited too long for this moment. For you to think I would be content to sit here on…on…my ass while you all do my dirty work is unthinkable. Do not make me angry, Charles. I’m not a nice person when I’m angry. Did you hear me? I’m going and that’s final. Girls, tell him I’m going!”

The women looked at one another and then at Charles, hoping for him to intervene.

“Myra, listen to me,” Charles said. “You cannot go. The reason you cannot go is because of Jack Emery. You need to remain here to keep up appearances. It’s crucial. We are going to bring John Chai to you. If you want, we’ll wrap him in gold ribbon when we hand-deliver him.

“Yesterday you said we were getting old. That means our reflexes are off. We’re slow, we don’t think as fast as we have in the past, and we don’t move as fast either. It’s the way it has to be, Myra. If you insist, then you’ll leave me no other recourse than to cancel this mission.”

“But…”

“There are no buts, Myra. Unintentionally, you could make a mistake and put the girls in danger. I know you don’t want that to happen.”

“Charles is right, Myra,” Nikki said. The others agreed.

Myra seethed. She had the last word though. “This
sucks
, Charles.”

Charles turned away to hide his smile. The battle was over and he’d won this round. He turned around again before he flipped a switch. An airstrip appeared on the large screen, followed by a picture of Li’s home. More pictures followed — the grounds of Li’s estate, the floor plan of the house, and then pictures of the servants. He pressed another button and the pictures printed out. He passed them to Nikki, who handed them to the others.

“Nikki, Yoko, Alexis and I will be going to China. Isabelle will stay here at Pinewood with Myra but will go back and forth to the city for a few hours each day. Kathryn has a delivery of Christmas trees scheduled. She’ll be going to Oregon and from Oregon to Delaware.”

Yoko looked excited but agitated. “How long will we be away? I need to tell my husband…”

“If things go right, it’s going to be a smash and grab. That means in and out. Not counting the travel time, five days tops. If things go awry, we’ll just have to…ah…wing it.”

“When do we leave?” Nikki asked briskly.

Charles looked at his watch. “In five hours.”

“Five hours!” Alexis bellowed. “It will take me that long to pack up my red bag, not to mention my own personal bag.”

“Then I suggest you get a move on. Ladies, we’ll meet up in the kitchen in five hours. Run along, I have some last-minute details to take care of.”

Jack Emery’s cellphone rang at twelve minutes past two in the afternoon. He barked a greeting. “Garrity! I hope you have some good news.”

“Good news, bad news, who the hell knows? What I do know is my dick is frozen. How much longer do I have to stay up in this goddamn tree?”

“Till I tell you to come down. I stayed up there for four whole days. If I could do it, so can you. Think about warm, sandy beaches, golden sunshine. What’s happening?”

“OK, they all come barreling back into the kitchen an hour after they split. They go off in all directions. Then nothing until just now. Three women and the gent pile into one of those big black, Chevy Suburbans. They had luggage. It was the black girl, your old girlfriend, the Asian girl, and that guy Charles. He drove, by the way. The big rig is still there and so is the architect’s car. Mrs Rutledge is inside.”

“I suppose it’s too much to hope that you picked up some conversation?”

“You’re right, Jack, that’s too much to hope for. If your next question is where are they going, I’d say an airport, but then again they could be headed for Union Station in D.C. I called Dennison and he said he’d start tailing the Suburban as soon as they hit the highway.”

“OK, stay on it. Call me as soon as there’s any movement at the farm.”

Jack’s phone rang almost immediately when he ended his call with Garrity.

“It’s me, boss, Dennison. I’m on the Suburban. I think they’re headed for Baltimore-Washington Airport.”

“Call me back as soon as you know for certain. That’s where Myra Rutledge keeps the company Gulfstream. I want to know where they’re going, Dennison.”

The call over, Jack huddled with Mark. “Things are moving, buddy. Told you this was their MO.”

The passengers were jolted awake as the Gulfstream’s wheels hit the runway. They looked at one another. Their eyes said
We’re in China!

Charles looked down at his watch. With the eight-hour time difference plus the sixteen-hour flight, he calculated that they were a day behind in Hong Kong. Not that it mattered. At this moment, time was not their problem. Later, time, right down to the nanosecond, could become a deadly enemy. Thank God for Li’s help, which had cut through all the bureaucratic red tape. Even the pilot was one of Li’s men. Somehow he would find a way to make this all up to Li.

It had been years since he’d been in China. He had never thought he would return, especially under these unusual circumstances. He gazed out the window as the aircraft taxied to a complete stop. The countryside was lush, verdant, just as he remembered. Li had said he lived in the middle of nowhere. This certainly looked like nowhere. All he could see was a sea of green — hundreds, maybe thousands of trees, grass as high as he was tall, and the occasional shimmer of what he assumed to be small ponds as far as the eye could see.

Yoko unbuckled her seatbelt. “I love the countryside. It is beautiful, this place called Hong Kong.”