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“Alexis, when you go for the job interview, ask for a tour of the facility. Check for opportunities to access the building after hours,” Fergus said.
“Now, what about the bank?” Charles asked.
“I think Myra and I should fly down there ourselves. I’ll phone Mac, the manager at Cayman National, and invite him to lunch,” Annie said.
“How do you suppose you’ll get him to divulge confidential information?” Charles asked.
Fergus guffawed. “It’s Annie, remember?”
Myra folded her arms. “After all this time, you gentlemen still underestimate us?”
Fergus and Charles threw up their hands. “Oh no, love!” Charles backpedaled and Fergus murmured his agreement.
“That’s better.” Myra gave them an expressionless stare.
Annie assembled the list of each person’s respective assignment:
1. Maggie: research building failures for last ten years
2. Zoe: get list of job postings and send to Alexis; we’ll doctor up her résumé to fit one of the positions
3. Alexis: get disguises ready
4. Charles & Fergus: keep digging into financials of Fielder and REBAR; see if Eileen is available
5. Maggie & Alexis: off to Santo Domingo
6. Annie & Myra: get the Gulfstream ready, make hotel arrangements, contact Mac at Cayman National. Then off to Grand Cayman in two days.
“Is this all doable?” Izzie asked.
The women and two men looked at one another in their boxes on the screen.
Alexis was the first to answer. “I don’t see why not.”
Charles and Fergus nodded; they were already on their assignment. Maggie had also started her research earlier that day.
“I don’t want to use my laptop to do my part,” Zoe said. “If they are shadowing me, I don’t want a job search coming up at this hour. So I’ll get into the office early tomorrow and use my assistant Kyle’s computer instead.”
“Very good thinking,” Charles said.
“All good, everyone?” Annie asked.
“All good!” was returned in unison.
“Tomorrow night, then. Same time, same station!” Annie said. They said their goodnights and signed off.
Zoe leaned back in her chair. It occurred to her that she truly had been living a solitary life up until now. It had been nothing but work, work, work. Which wasn’t unusual for an upwardly mobile corporate executive. That’s how she’d gotten to where she was. But where was she, exactly? The more she thought about it, the more she realized she had bonded more deeply with this new handful of strangers than with anyone else over the past ten years living in the city. It was so odd. New York was the biggest, liveliest city in the country, probably the world, yet most people remained strangers. Who did she socialize with? People from work when required. Where did she vacation? Vacation—what was that? She was in her late thirties and what did she have to show for herself outside of her career? She looked over at her two cats lounging on the sofa. “You two! You are the reason I live!” She smiled and wiggled herself between the two furry creatures. “Am I becoming a crazy cat lady?” She rubbed her face in their fur. “Who cares?”
Then there was Mason. He had caught her attention, and it felt good. A rush of warmth poured through her. Maybe there was something there, and maybe she would pursue it. Her gut was telling her that her days at REBAR were probably numbered. If there was a scandal, the company would go down like the Titanic. One way or another she knew there was going to be a big change coming. But what kind? Zoe felt confident the future would be better than what was going on in her life now—which wasn’t much. She was ready to take down Donald Walsh and his puppet master. She was certain Malcolm Fielder was the one pulling the strings. Now to prove it. After what she’d experienced in less than forty-eight hours, she was confident that if anyone could succeed, it would be the Sisters with their tight network of associates.
The government should run this well.
Zoe checked the clock on the far wall and saw it was eleven fifteen. She was shocked at how quickly the past two hours had gone by. She nudged her companions. “Come on, guys. Time for nighty-night.” She powered down the tablet, switched off the lights and checked the alarm system. ARMED glowed red on the small box in the hallway. The same message appeared on the box in her bedroom. She pulled down the comforter and Buster and Betty commandeered their usual spots at the foot of the bed. As soon as her head hit the pillow she was out like a light.
She was almost comatose when a loud beeping came from her alarm panel. She sprang up in horror as sweat poured from her neck. Someone was trying to break into her apartment. Zoe dashed to the panel, ready to press the red emergency button when she heard footsteps hurry away from her door. She peered through the peep hole, but the hall was empty Her pulse was racing almost as fast as her thoughts. She took several deep breaths and thanked her lucky stars Avery had been there earlier that day and installed a highly sensitive system that could detect any hint of intrusion. But another brush with danger was putting Zoe’s nerves on edge. She sent a text to Izzie, who promised Charles would check the security footage from Zoe’s building. Hacking into that system was a walk in the park for Charles and Fergus.
The following day the only thing the security footage showed was a man of average height, a bit thick in the waist, wearing brown trousers, a flannel jacket and a cap. Zoe suspected it could be Walsh, but there was no way to prove it. She took great measures to tread carefully around him. Trying to become his pal was out of the question, but being nice to him was a possibility, as much as the idea made her skin crawl. What would he have done to her if he’d managed to break into her apartment?
