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At the entrance to the room a statue of Lady Justice stood boldly. As each of them entered, they saluted the symbol of justice. Zoe quickly caught on and followed suit. Charles hit a few switches and the room lit up like NASA’s Mission Operation Control Room. Zoe was in disbelief. She sure wasn’t in Kansas anymore. Or West Virginia. She resisted the temptation to ask. All she could do was gawk. There were a dozen monitors of various sizes lit with a logo she didn’t recognize. All she could make out were the letters W. I. T. in a beautiful script. Soon she would come to know it stood for “Whatever It Takes.” It was the Sisterhood’s very own motto. There were two ten-by-eight-foot walls that appeared to be made of plexiglass but were actually video screens where the Sisters could download maps. Maps from anywhere in the world. Zoe was dazed and very confused.
Alexis, Izzie, Maggie, and Yoko pulled out their chairs at the large conference table. In front of each seat was a monitor embedded in the table. Myra indicated where Zoe should sit while Fergus and Charles stationed themselves on the other side of the room, fiddling with something electronic. Annie stood at the head of the table and addressed the assembly.
“Zoe, you may have guessed by now that we are a very unusual group of people.”
Zoe nodded slowly as her eyes circled the table of friendly faces set in the most highly technological room she had ever seen. The running joke was it could make the Pentagon blush.
“All of us have a backstory,” Myra continued. “A story that brought lives to the brink of ruin, and in one case death.” A moment of silence fell across the room as they remembered their fallen sister Julia, who had died of AIDS she contracted from her philandering, politically ambitious husband. “We can’t fix every injustice in the world, nor can we fix the broken system that perpetrates these injustices. We can, however, fix one at a time.” Annie paused to give Zoe an opportunity to comprehend the magnitude of this secret organization.
“Each of the women who sits before you experienced great loss and anguish at the hands of others. Offenders who slipped through the system or were quickly released, even praised. You may recall Izzie’s horrific experience when her colleague framed her.”
Zoe nodded. “I do.”
Izzie was the next to speak. “I have everyone in this room to thank, and a few others who were unavailable tonight, for the reconstruction of my life.” She stopped and giggled. “Sorry. No pun intended. It’s these people”—Izzie motioned to the group—“to whom I owe my deepest gratitude.”
Annie spoke next. “It’s because of your relationship with Izzie, and her concern for your well-being, that we are gathered here tonight.”
Charles and Fergus had their backs to the rest of the group as they huddled over their computers. Charles turned. “Excuse me. REBAR, ya say?”
Zoe nodded her head. “Yes.”
“Offices in New York, San Francisco, London, São Paulo, and Rome?”
“Yes. Those are mostly sales offices. That’s where I went when I was still traveling for the company.”
Charles turned back to whatever he and Fergus were doing.
Annie went on. “Each of us has a specialty or two. Once we are made aware of the problem, we arrange for the solution. At that time the appropriate people will be assigned a task. Or two. Or more. It depends on how complicated the problem is, how internationally it spreads, and how ruthless the perpetrators are.”
Myra took over at that point. “Izzie tells me you have some documents with you?”
Zoe opened the portfolio. “I wanted to check the progress of my jobs and see what stage they were in and if everything was going according to the timeline I laid out.”
Fergus spun around in his chair. “According to what we found, REBAR is a multinational company, with offices in the aforementioned cities. They do, however, have accounts at banks in several other countries.” He cleared his throat. “That in itself isn’t unusual to facilitate financial transactions, but ultimately the money trail should lead to the main accounts associated with the various divisions.”
“Correct,” Zoe said. “But?”
“But it appears there could be a few detours.”
Zoe pursed her lips. “I had a feeling about that.” She began to explain what she suspected. “As you know, REBAR has two divisions—steel and masonry. Our clients are major commercial contractors building hotels, condominiums, and bridges. The contractors would send us their plans and then I would review them and give them a bid, using the highest standards of safety. It could take weeks to compile the information, and then I would meet with the client and discuss the specifications, per codes and ordinances.”
“That all sounds like it was on the up-and-up,” Charles said.
“As far as I knew it had always been that way.”
“When did things start to get dodgy? Or, I should say, when did you notice?” Fergus asked.
“It was the beginning of this year. When I was in London and got pulled off the job. Something didn’t seem right. A colleague of mine, Mason Chapman, is the executive director of Frogmore House. He told me our company had pulled out of the bidding for another job. A job I knew nothing about.”
“And that other job was something you should have known about?” Annie asked.
“Correct. I thought he might be mistaken so I pushed him on the issue, and he said while there was no official memo, several of the directors of historical buildings were cautioned.”
“By your company?” Charles furrowed his brow.
“Unofficially. But all bids for renovations would be put on hold.” She paused. “And I was officially sent back to New York.”
“And that’s when you started doing some digging?” Alexis asked.
