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  Epilogue

  Five days later

  Big Pine Mountain

  It was a beautiful, warm summer day with blue sky, a scattering of puffy white clouds and tubs of colorful flowers all about the rustic terrace, a picture postcard kind of day on top of Big Pine Mountain. Murphy and Grady played with tennis balls on the spiky green grass to the left of the terrace where the Ladies of Pinewood were having late-afternoon cocktails.

  “It really is beautiful here,” Kathryn said. “And it’s not lost on me that this is Big Pine Mountain and we came from Pinewood in Virginia. I bet that means something but I’m not sure what it is. Of course, the states are different but it doesn’t matter. We’re back in the good old U.S. of A.”

  The women whooped and hollered as they clinked their glasses to toast their new residence, the beautiful surroundings and their safety.

  “And we’re getting company shortly,” Nikki said happily. Meaning, of course, that Jack, Harry and Bert Navarro were going to come calling.

  The women clinked their glasses again.

  “Oh, here comes Charles and look what he has…newspapers! I can’t wait to see our write-ups,” Alexis said, her eyes on one of the gardeners whose muscles rippled as he circled the dogs on the power mower.

  The girls poked one another at the way their sister was staring at the newest addition to the staff.

  “He’s hot!” Annie said. “I mean hot! I wish I was thirty years younger!”

  “You know it. Know this, though. I would fight you for him,” Alexis hissed. “Charles said he’s ex-CIA. Something went awry and he was almost caught doing something covert. This is just a reprieve for him until his people can get him safely away. Maybe he’ll stay.”

  “Ladies! Ladies! Time for business. I see you’ve all been celebrating and that’s a good thing. You did well. So, let’s get down to business before our guests come up on the cable car. It’s all rather like Annie’s sanctuary in Spain, is it not?” Charles asked, waving his arms about.

  “We voted and we like this place better,” Isabelle said as she poured a cocktail for Charles. “So what are the papers saying about us? I like seeing a paper as opposed to watching the news on television. But before you tell us that, is there any news on Maggie and Lizzie?”

  “I have good news and I have sad news. The good news is that there has been no fallout from your visit to the nation’s capital. Ted Robinson and his partner, Joseph Espinosa, are on unpaid leave from the Post. Jack told me after the meeting in Director Cummings’s office that he, Jack, whispered in Ted’s ear that you walked away right under his nose dressed as police officers. Jack said he could see the wheels turning in Ted’s head, visualizing just how it all happened. Not that he could do anything about it. But he is now more determined than ever to bring you all to justice. Jack said he needed to do that but vehemently denied saying it when Ted felt duty bound to announce that message to the director. Jack said the whole thing was quite amusing.

  “The sad news is yesterday Justice Barnes tendered her resignation to the Supreme Court. She gave one interview to Maggie Spritzer. She said she wants to spend more time with her daughter and granddaughter. She said she’s relocating back to her father’s roots at the old Alabama homestead. She refused to discuss the breakup of her longtime relationship with Grant Conlon. She will have two helpers from here on in. Can anyone guess who those two helpers are? No? Maggie and Lizzie.

  “So what that means to all of us is we’ve lost our second string back in McLean. Judge Easter can’t operate on her own and Jack and Harry have to keep a low profile. Lizzie is giving up the practice of law to help Pearl. Pearl tells me that Lizzie said she’s sick of defending criminals and wants to help women and children. You can’t argue with that. She’ll be a huge asset to Pearl, since Conlon is no longer in the picture, and, no, you don’t need to know where he and Hughes are. All you need to know is neither man will ever bother Pearl again nor will either besmirch her reputation. She said to tell you she will be forever grateful for your intervention.

  “Maggie had a bit of a meltdown but Jack got to her in time. A small matter of conflicting loyalties, which is understandable. Jack says she has her head on straight now. Any questions?”

  “Well, I have one,” Annie said. “What do the papers say about the first part of the concert?”

  “The terms ‘outrageous,’ ‘classy,’ ‘over-the-top’ and ‘awesome’ were used freely in all the papers. There wasn’t one word about melting latex. The girls raised a boatload of money for AIDS Relief.”

  Myra clapped her hands. “Then our mission was successful. What’s on our agenda, darling?”

  Charles straightened his shoulders, his expression serious. “A very frightening one, ladies. That’s if you’re up to it. It will take at least six weeks of preparation on my part if…”

  “What? What?” the women chorused as one.

  “The World Bank!”

  “Oh, dear God,” Myra said, fingering her pearls. “Are we supposed to rob it?”

  “Now, that’s a caper if I ever heard one. Count me in,” Annie said exuberantly.

  “No, not at all. It seems there’s some funny business going on with the funds. Those funds are not being dispersed the way they should be. You’ll be special investigators. And then, of course, you’ll do what you do best, bring the culprits to justice. In your own way, of course.”

  The sound of the cable car rising from the foot of the mountain sounded loud and clear. Yoko, Kathryn and Nikki ran to the platform but managed to call over their shoulders. “Count me in!”

  “I guess that’s my cue to get to work. Remember, Myra, we have a date later to view the video.”

  Myra blushed a rosy hue. “I haven’t forgotten, dear. I think perhaps you might regret it later.”

  “On that note, I think I’m going to coax the gardener to let me ride on his mower. See you all for dinner,” Alexis said.

  “Whatever shall we three do now?” Annie asked as she pointed to Isabelle and Myra.

  “What we always do when we complete a successful mission, rest on our laurels,” Myra said happily.

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  Copyright © 2007 by Fern Michaels

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