4. The Jury Page 9

  Myra tapped Charles on the arm. “Fine, name me one. Just one, Charles.”

  Charles whispered in her ear. She blushed a bright pink and then laughed. “Oh, yes, that!”

  The sun was creeping over the horizon when Jack Emery and Mark Lane exited the hospital. Both were gritty-eyed and tired as they trudged to the parking lot to pick up their cars.

  “Want to get some breakfast?” Mark asked.

  “No. I just want to go home to take a shower. I’ll make some toast. Look, Mark, thanks for coming and hanging out with me. I need to do some real hard thinking, and I need to be alone to do that. I also want to go by Ted’s place and feed his cats. I took his clothes and keys,” he said, pointing to the plastic bag he was carrying.

  “Then I guess I’ll go home and eat last night’s Chinese. It sucks the next day, but what the hell. We can talk later. Call me.”

  “Yeah…Mark?”

  “What?”

  “What do you think about the owner of the paper showing up to see Ted?”

  “Well, hell, Jack, the guy got the shit beat out of him on his watch. Taking out someone’s spleen isn’t like getting your tonsils out. I think I’d be pretty damn upset if he didn’t show up.”

  “Aside from that. I think he’s gonna get behind Ted if Ted pursues this. Or he’s going to call him off totally. Papers are all for scoops. Can’t you just see the headlines if Ted defies these guys and goes all out? If the paper gets behind Ted, Myra and her gang are dead in the water and I don’t think it will make one bit of difference if Myra knows the governor or not.”

  Mark stared at his friend with narrowed eyes. “If my vote counts, I say we forget we ever heard the names of Myra Rutledge and Charles Martin. I’ll meet you back here later this afternoon. I want to hear with my own ears what Ted has to say.”

  “Yeah, OK. See ya.”

  Mark sat in his SUV for a long time after Jack peeled out of the parking lot. His original intention was to follow his friend, but Jack would have picked up the tail in a heartbeat. He knew in his gut where he was going: Nikki Quinn’s house in Georgetown. He threw his hands in the air. “The hell with it!” he muttered.

  Jack spent half the drive to Georgetown looking in his rearview mirror. He fully expected to see Mark following him. His shoulders slumped when he made it all the way to Nikki’s house without a tail.

  Inside, he showered, changed, dressed in clean clothes and cleaned up after himself before he made toast and coffee. He swilled down the coffee and gobbled the toast before he grabbed the plastic bag to head to Ted’s apartment. There he fed the two hissing, snarling cats, cleaned out the litter boxes, carried the contents to the trash, locked up and was back in Nikki’s house in ninety minutes. The first thing he did was dial Nikki’s cell phone. He smiled at her sleepy voice that turned instantly alert when she heard him.

  “Can you come into the District and meet me in Rock Creek Park, Nik? If you can’t manage that, how about if I head out to McLean? We can meet by the monument.”

  “I’ll call you back, Jack. I just woke up. Off the top of my head, if I can swing it, it will have to be late in the afternoon. I’ll do my best.”

  “If that’s the best you can do it will have to do. I want to go back to the hospital. I promised to meet Mark later this afternoon. Call me and let me know what works for you. My day’s pretty much open with the exception of going to the hospital. I love you, Nik. With all my heart.”

  “I love you too, Jack. With the whole of my heart.”

  Jack felt like he was walking on pure air for all of sixty seconds before he came back down to earth with a hard thump. All he could think about was Ted Robinson and how white and still he’d looked in the hospital bed. Ted was going to be all right, although his recovery wouldn’t happen overnight. Nor would Ted be running any marathons for a long time, something he loved to do. Someone had to pay for what was done to his friend. If he was the only one willing to step up to the plate, well, tough shit. If it took him the rest of his life, he was going to find a way to shove a red-hot poker up those gold shields’ asses, but not until he ripped their arms out of their sockets. All three of them.

  Jack felt like his brain was on fire as idea after idea invaded his head. Revenge had to be the sweetest aphrodisiac of all. He stopped in his tracks and blinked, his eyes rolling back in his head. So, this was what that little band of gutsy women felt like when they took on the bad guys. Well, hot damn!

  Ten

  “Girls! Girls! Come inside,” Myra called from the kitchen door. “Julia is on the phone. I’ll put her on the speaker and we can all talk to her.”

  The women on the terrace raced down the steps and over to the kitchen door, pushing and shoving each other in excitement. As one they babbled a greeting.

  “How are you all? I am so sorry I’m not there, but my doctors are telling me I can possibly travel in as little as two weeks. I’m fine, don’t go worrying about me now. I want to hear all about you, one at a time. I’ll be able to read between the lines, but be careful just the same. First things first, how is my plant?”

  The relief on the women’s faces, even Myra’s, was comical. Julia was dear to them all. As one, they shouted, “The plant is thriving!”

  One by one, they brought Julia up to date on the mundane things in their lives. No mention was made of Nikki’s mission or anything else pertaining to the Sisterhood.

  Nikki brought the conversation to an end by saying, “Charles promised to make pecan-crusted salmon this evening with shoestring sweet potatoes. Myra brought in the last of the peas from the greenhouse and Yoko and I shelled them. Alexis is going to make cheese biscuits, her specialty. Oh, one other thing. We have a huge pumpkin on the front porch that Myra and Charles carved. We light the candle inside every night. If you make it home in a few weeks, we’ll get a fresh pumpkin and carve your initials in it to welcome you home. We’re all up for a Halloween party, how about you, Julia?”

  Julia laughed. “I’m up for anything at this point. I guess I better hang up. My love to you all, and hug Charles for me. Kathryn, give Murphy an extra biscuit and don’t forget Grady. Bye, all.”

  They started to babble again, their comments running into each other.

  “She sounds good. I thought she was upbeat. Did you hear her laugh? Two weeks and she might be here. We really need a very large pumpkin!”

  Nikki sneaked a look at her watch. She had to leave now if she was going to meet Jack. What excuse could she possibly give? She clenched her teeth. Why did she have to give anyone an excuse? She could offer up an explanation if she wanted to, but that was it.

  Nikki looked around at the sisters. “Since this is free time, I think I’ll go into town. I need to pick up a few things. Can I bring anything back for any of you?” Before she knew it, requests were coming in fast and she had to get a pencil and paper to write down the list because she didn’t trust her memory.

  “Anything for you, Myra?” Nikki asked cheerfully.

  Myra fingered the pearls around her neck. “I don’t think so, dear, but thank you for asking. Oh, wait, I think Charles might need some shaving cream. Noxzema is what he uses.”

  “Got it. If you think of anything else, call me on my cell phone. Listen, I have an idea. Two weeks isn’t that long. Let’s all go out to the farm stand and get a scarecrow and decorate the porch for Julia’s arrival.” Nikki looked over at Myra and smiled. “Myra always did it for Barb and me when we were little. We’d jump off the school bus and race up to see the Halloween display. She did the same thing at Christmas. It always smelled so good. Isabelle, you’re the architect, measure the front porch and draw us a diagram and we’ll do the rest.”

  “OK. It will give me something to do. Do you want to include the steps and the doorway?”

  “Well sure, the whole nine yards. Lots and lots of pumpkins,” Nikki said.

  “You got it. I’ll get right on it. I’m open to suggestions if you have any.”

  The girls started to offer
their input. Nikki reached for her button-down sweatshirt that was hanging on the coat rack by the back door.

  “If I’m not back by dinnertime, go ahead without me. Depending on traffic, I might go to see Jenny. Bye!”

  My darling girl is up to something, Myra thought. She turned away, puzzled at Nikki’s high mood. Then the blood rushed to her neck when she heard Kathryn say, “Nikki isn’t one of us in the true sense of the word. She’s our mouthpiece. I wish it were otherwise. She worries me.”

  Myra whirled around. In a voice that was so stern, so sharp that the others winced, she said, “I don’t ever want to hear anything like that again from any of you. Is that understood? None of you would be here if it weren’t for Nikki, and don’t you ever forget it. I’m disappointed, Kathryn, that you feel the way you do.”

  Kathryn didn’t back down. “It’s how I feel, Myra. Would you rather I whispered among the others? That’s not my style. If I feel the need to say something, I’ll say it. I hope I’m wrong, but I don’t think I am. Nikki’s heart is not in this the way our hearts are in it. It’s that simple. You could take a vote, Myra,” Kathryn challenged.

  Myra was about to respond when Charles entered the kitchen, saving her from saying something she might come to regret later.

  The women scattered because Charles’s first rule was that no one clutters his kitchen while he cooks. Myra winked at him as she made her way to the second floor via the kitchen staircase, but only after she brought him up to date on Julia’s phone call. She was tempted to say something about Nikki, but decided to keep her thoughts to herself. Because they were just thoughts, nothing more. Nikki would never compromise the group in any way. She was so certain, she didn’t give Kathryn’s words another thought.

  With time to spare, Nikki entered Santelli’s drugstore and bought everything on her list plus a bag full of stuff for herself that she didn’t need. She returned to her car to wait for Jack. She knew she had a good forty minutes to wait so she called Jenny to see how she was feeling.

  “You know, Jenny, I was going to drive into town to see you, but it’s getting late and I know how tired you get at the end of the day. How are you feeling? Is there anything I can do for you?”

  The voice on the other end of the phone sounded tired and weary. “Thanks, Nik, but no. Brad waits on me hand and foot. Mom is staying with us and she just keeps saying I’m not the first woman to have a baby and to stop whining. It’s hard not to whine when you have to pee every two minutes. You’re right about one thing, though. At this time of day, all I want to do is sleep. My feet and ankles are swollen so badly I can barely walk and I have heartburn twenty-four-seven. I’m thinking of just moving into the bathroom and sleeping in the tub. My doctor told me if I don’t deliver in the next two days he will induce labor…But let’s not talk about me, it’s too depressing. How are you? What’s going on? What about the firm?”

  Nikki leaned back in the driver’s seat and drew a deep breath. “I’m fine. My suntan is about gone. Nothing is really going on. The firm…Well, I fired Allison Banks and then I got a little physical and broke her nose. She said she’s going to sue all the members of the firm and will own it when she’s done. How’s that for news?”

  “Wow! You actually broke that cute little rhino-plasty nose of hers! Now, I would have paid to see that! What got into you, Nik? That’s something Barb would have done. You were always the level-headed peacemaker.”

  Nikki sighed. “That was then; this is now. She gave me some lip and I didn’t like it. I want someone to tell me where she got the money to buy eleven Armani suits. I know that sounds like a petty thing, but it is important. No new clients have walked through the doors according to Maddie. We have very little business. I’m glad you’re taking off the entire six weeks because I can’t afford to pay you. I’m hoping it’s not too late to build the firm back up. I’m having a hard time believing some of our oldest clients deserted us.”

  “There was something out of sync with Allison. We all felt it. She wasn’t a team player. No one liked her. I hate to ask this, Nik, but just how worried are you?”

  Nikki closed her eyes. “I’m worried. I know the others will stay on, but what’s the point if we don’t have clients? If she brings a suit against us, we’ll lose the few clients we have left. I’m going to go out aggressively and start giving interviews to the papers if they want them.”

  “I’m behind you all the way; so is Maddie. No one is going to leave you, Nikki, even if you can’t pay them. They’ll hunker down and stick it out. It’s called loyalty.”

  Nikki choked up. “Thanks, Jenny. Let’s hope it doesn’t come to that. So, have you picked a definite name for the baby yet?”

  “Sort of. Brad gets to pick the name if it’s a boy; I get to pick the name if we have a girl. Brad wants Joshua Adam. If it’s a girl, it’s going to be Barbara Caroline. We didn’t tell Myra yet. Do you think that will please her?”

  “Jenny, she will be over the moon. You’ll probably have to fight her and your mother off with sticks, as they’ll want to babysit all the time. Isn’t your mom going to retire soon?”

  “She was. In fact she was so wired up I was actually starting to dread the day she walked away from the courthouse. Then she switched and said she wasn’t ready to step down from the bench. I’m glad because she isn’t the type to retire so she can putter around in the garden. She’d go nuts in two weeks. Listen, Nik, as much as I love talking to you, I have to hang up now. Time for my trek to the bathroom. Make sure you come to the hospital to see me. My doctor said I can stay two days! Two! Mom said when she had me, she stayed in the hospital for ten whole days.”

  “Times have changed. I don’t have anything else to say anyway. I’ll call you tomorrow. Have a good night. Bye, Jenny.”

  Nikki fiddled with the dial on the radio until she found a station that played soothing music — if Frank Sinatra music could be called soothing. Her eyes closed and she was mouthing the words to a song when she felt a tap on the window. She jolted upright to look into Jack’s angry face. Her heart started to thump inside her chest. She got out of the car and stood uncertainly, her eyes full of questions, until Jack reached for her.

  “Let’s leave our cars here and walk over to the Sweet Grass Café,” Jack suggested.

  “How’s your friend?”

  “I just called. He’s doing OK. Not good, but OK. Mark is there now. I’ll stop to see him when I get back. Who is Charles Martin, Nik?”

  “He’s Myra’s longtime lover. He’s also Barbara’s biological father. They don’t know I know that. Barbara knew, too, but never let on that she did. That story has nothing to do with our present circumstances and I don’t feel right talking to you about their personal lives. Charles used to be an MI6 operative in Her Majesty’s Service. He and the Queen were personal friends. She knighted him. When he was compromised, they spirited him out of the country for his own safety. He went to work for Myra’s candy company as head of security. He has friends all over the world who are helping him with…with our…situation. Even in retirement, Charles is a very powerful man.”

  Jack digested the information as a frown appeared between his brows. He held the door to the café open for Nikki. He squeezed her arm to show her he appreciated that she was telling him the truth.

  Seated, they ordered coffee, burgers and fries. They held hands across the table. “Look at me, Nik. They have too much power. They could have killed Ted.”

  “I know. I’m sorry, Jack. Look, you opened the can of worms. Why in God’s name did you involve someone else?”

  Jack leaned across the table, his voice a low hiss. “Because you were all breaking the goddamn law, that’s why. You’re still breaking the law, but I’m pretending I don’t know that because I am hopelessly in love with you. I needed help and Ted listened to me. Now he’s minus a spleen and in the hospital. I can’t ignore that, Nikki, and I don’t think you expect me to.”

  Nikki chewed on her lower lip. “Get him to back off, Jac
k. I don’t care how you do it, just do it.”

  “Listen to me, and read my lips: it’s too late. The paper is going to get behind Ted. That’s a given. It’s all going to blow up in your face and there’s nothing I can do. Oh, yeah, I can tell Ted to blow it off, but he isn’t going to listen. Someone has to pay for Ted losing his spleen.”

  Nikki continued to nibble on her bottom lip. She was still holding Jack’s hand. She squeezed it. “There’s nothing I can do, Jack.”

  “I know that. I’m going to do what needs to be done, but…I need you to do something for me. I want you to tell Charles Martin that the paper is getting behind Ted, and that when Ted is out of the hospital, he’s going to pick up where he left off. Scare the crap out of him, Nik. I want to flush those gold shields out into the open one more time. That’s all you need to know. Will you do it?”

  Nikki didn’t hesitate. “Yes, I’ll do it. They won’t go easy on you this time. You know that, right?”

  “Yep. Our food is here. It’s like old times, eh, Nik? Burgers, fries, coffee. Holding hands across the table. How are you going to do it?”

  Nikki poured ketchup all over her fries. “I’ll say you called me on my way home from town. I want you to call me on my cell so the number shows up. I know what to do. I agree with you about those gold shields.”

  Jack grimaced. “Now I know how you ladies feel about getting revenge. It’s all I can think about. No one should have that kind of power and have no one to answer to. That’s the part I can’t deal with. Good burger, huh?”

  Nikki wiped at a smear of ketchup on her chin. She laughed. “The best, Jack, the very best. Charles is making pecan-crusted salmon and shoestring sweet potatoes for dinner. I’ll take a burger any day.”

  Nikki finished her coffee and motioned to the waitress for a refill. “I called Jenny while I was waiting for you. She’s really miserable and can’t wait to deliver. Did you know her mother changed her mind about retiring?”