Chapter 19
Annie looked at Myra’s kitchen clock. In fifteen minutes, it would be the witching hour. “I think it’s time to head downstairs and get the promised festivities under way. It’s almost midnight. The perfect time to get a party in motion.”
“Where’s the galvanized tub?” Yoko asked.
“Nikki fetched it from the barn earlier. It’s in the laundry room. We are forgoing the apples, aren’t we? Or are we going with the charade of bobbing for apples?” Alexis asked.
“Bring some if it will make you feel better. Personally, I don’t see the point, since we already alerted Forrester to the waterboarding,” Isabelle said as she rooted around inside the vegetable bin for some apples. Finding some, she tossed them into a grocery sack. She wiggled her eyebrows and rolled her eyes, just for the fun of it.
“If luck is with us, we might not even need any of this,” Myra said, motioning to the galvanized tub and the sack of apples Isabelle was holding. “By that, I mean he’s had almost seven more hours of bright lights and blasting sound. If we’re lucky, he might be ready to give up the ghost by now. I’m pretty sure I would be if I were in his shoes.”
Maggie scoffed. “That guy is going to hold out until the bitter end. Part of it is us. He got skinned by a bunch of women. Right now, in my opinion, his greed is secondary.”
“He’s got to be one huge mass of pain. It must be true what they say, that greed is the most powerful motivator in the world. I know I couldn’t handle what he’s going through, and I’m no wimp,” Nikki said.
“What choice does the man have? Really, think about it. He signs off and he’s got nothing left, except a few dollars and his Social Security, and I do believe he has a pension. That’s it. He assumes he’s going to be set free, so he’s looking at living in a one-bedroom garden apartment and driving a pickup truck. How would he explain that to his very wealthy brothers? That’s his thinking. I could be wrong, but I don’t think so,” Myra said.
“Then let’s put it to the test,” Annie said. She picked up the tub and headed for the secret stairway.
The time on the digital kitchen clock read: 11:55.
Arthur Forrester heard them coming. His stomach muscles started to spasm. Garland Lee turned silent just as the lights were lowered. Hardly daring to breathe, he waited for the women to approach. The moment he saw the huge, galvanized tub, he grew light-headed. He noticed the handsome legal briefcase one of the women was carrying. Ostrich skin. Ostrich cost a fortune. He should know, since he’d actually priced them last year. Plus, his brother’s medical bag was made out of ostrich skin. She must be a lawyer was his second thought. They were talking, but he couldn’t hear what they were saying. One of the women pointed to her ears. He felt stupid when he reached up to remove the toilet-tissue plugs he’d jammed into his own.
Kathryn unlocked the cell door, told him to step aside, then attached a hose to the faucet. She threaded it through the bars. Maggie turned on the nozzle, and the tub started to fill with water.
Forrester’s mind raced. He’d read somewhere that a person could die in just a few inches of water. He wondered if it was true. It looked to him like they were filling the tub to the brim. He blinked when he saw one of the women drop four apples into the water. He’d always liked apples. Nala said apples were good for you, something about the pectin in them. When it came to health and vitamins, his wife was usually spot-on. I’d give anything right now, Nala, if you were here right next to me. What totally stunned him was that he realized he meant it.
He waited; then he flinched as he watched the tall, mouthy female turn off the faucet. This was his moment of reckoning. He sucked in a deep breath.
“When was the last time you dunked for apples, Mr. Forrester?” Nikki asked.
Forrester didn’t respond because he simply couldn’t remember if he’d ever dunked for apples or not. What he did say, and he said it with no authority, was “It’s against the law to waterboard a person.”
As one, all eight women pointed to the apples bobbing up and down in the tub of water.
“Flexicuff his hands behind his back,” Isabelle said. “Otherwise, he’ll try to fight it.”
In the blink of an eye, Alexis had Forrester’s hands secured behind his back. She jerked him forward.
“Wait!” Nikki said. She unzipped the ostrich briefcase and withdrew a sheaf of papers. She advanced and waved them under Forrester’s nose. “All you have to do is sign your name. And this will all be over.”
“And you’re going to let me walk out of here, wherever here is, right?”
“Absolutely,” Annie lied with a straight face.
“Bullshit.”
“So that’s a no?” Nikki asked.
“Goddamn right that’s a no. And all you will get out of me from now until doomsday is a no. Go ahead, do your waterboarding. But you better know this, I am not going to hold my breath, so I’m going to drown. You crazy people said you don’t kill people. I guess I’ll be your first kill. Let’s just get this over with.”
The sisters looked at one another.
Kathryn moved faster than a streak of lightning. “It’s instinctive to hold your breath,” she said as she shoved Forrester’s head into the water. “Count, Yoko!”
Kathryn yanked him out of the water on the count of ten. She waited until he stopped sputtering and gulped in a huge mouthful of air. His head hit the water immediately. Yoko counted again. Kathryn let her get to eleven before she pulled him out. He was shaking as he sputtered and spit out water. He struggled to take deep breaths. “Give up?” Kathryn asked.
Forrester cursed. Down went his head. Yoko did the number count in a singsong.
This time, Kathryn yanked him out on the count of twelve. The lawyer slipped out of her grip and fell to the floor, where he coughed and sputtered, spitting out water he had inadvertently swallowed.
“Okay, I give up,” he gasped. Alexis removed the flexicuffs. He rolled over, vomiting water.
There was no moment of joy among the women.
Isabelle tossed Forrester a towel. “Dry your head. Be careful because you are bleeding.”
“We brought ointment for you to put on your head where the tape was. It’s not looking good, Mr. Forrester. Your face appears to be raw. We’re going to allow you to use your medicine. The moment you sign the papers we have for you, the stereo will be turned off. Garland Lee will just be a memory. The lights will be dimmed. We’re going to give you a decent meal, and then you are going to be permitted to sleep. When you wake up, we’ll tell you all about what will happen next. You did the right thing, Mr. Forrester,” Myra said quietly.
“Sit him upright, Kathryn,” Nikki said as she held out a clipboard and pen. “Sign your name where you see an X. Make sure your signature is legible. We don’t want any signatures that look like a doctor’s signature when he writes out a prescription. Don’t screw up now. We can wait a few minutes if you feel your hands are too shaky. Alexis is a notary public. She will witness Annie’s and Myra’s signatures as witnesses, and then affix her stamp to all the documents.”
Ten minutes crawled by before Arthur Forrester reached for the pen Nikki was holding out to him. He signed his name six times, making sure his signature was legible and met with the women’s approval. Annie and Myra signed their names just as carefully and handed each document to Alexis, so she could fill out her information and affix her notary stamp.
“We’ll bring your dinner down in a few minutes. And then you can sleep, Mr. Forrester,” Annie said.
Forrester sighed. “Don’t bother. I’m not hungry.”
Kathryn’s touch was gentle when she led the lawyer to his bunk. She eased him down gently. “Sleep well, Mr. Forrester. We’ll see you in the morning.” She exited the cell, locked it, then checked it by rattling it to see that it was indeed securely locked.
“We’re done, girls.”
There was no hand clapping, no high-fiving. No smiles, no laughter. Instead, the women simply turned and made their way to the war room, then out to the stone steps that would take them to the main floor of the house.
The time was one-thirty, and it was a new day.
The girls sat around the table while they waited for Myra to get glasses and a full bottle of her favorite Kentucky bourbon out of the overhead cabinet. Annie dropped ice cubes into the glasses as Myra poured generously.
“Here’s to the completion of another successful mission. Well done, girls!” Nikki said.
Eight glasses clinked against each other. It was a pleasant, successful sound.
* * *
The sisters straggled into the kitchen, one by one, to find Maggie making breakfast. “Pancakes and bacon. I’m not Charles, guys. I can only do two things at a time. Coffee is ready, and so is the juice. There is blueberry pancakes with blueberry syrup.”
“That sounds lovely, dear,” Myra said.
“Anything sounds lovely to you, Myra, as long as you don’t have to cook it,” Annie said, tongue in cheek.
“You should talk. If it were your turn to make breakfast, you’d call IHOP and have them deliver it,” Myra snapped in return.
“Are we serving breakfast to Mr. Forrester? I still have some batter left,” Maggie asked.
“Yes, we’ll take it down with us. He passed on dinner last evening. I’m sure he’s hungry, unless he plans on going on a hunger strike,” Nikki said as she dived into her stack of pancakes.
Kathryn waved her fork in the air as she posed the second question of the morning. “We need to make a decision here. Do we call Mr. Snowden for the relocation, or do we go with our original plan?”
“I, for one, have given it a lot of thought, since I didn’t sleep well. I think we should finish up on our own. That’s a personal thought, however. My reasoning is that I think our original intention was to prove we didn’t need Mr. Snowden to complete our mission. We can still do that, even though we had to pivot and apologize. We should take a vote, and, as always, majority rules.”
The sisters stopped eating. Even Maggie. “Raise your hand if you want Mr. Snowden to . . . um . . . relocate our guest.” No hands were raised.
“Raise your hand if you vote to finish up on our own.” Eight hands shot high in the air.
“Well, all right, then. Who wants to make the call?”
Kathryn grinned. “I will!” The sisters groaned good-naturedly. “As soon as I finish these delicious pancakes.”
The sisters started to giggle as they watched Kathryn psych herself for the upcoming call.
Five minutes later, Kathryn got up and carried her plate to the sink and rummaged in her rucksack for her cell phone. She scrolled down until she found what she wanted and punched in the numbers. She had the sisters’ undivided attention.
The phone rang five times before there was a response. The response was guarded, cautious. “Pearl! This is Kathryn Lucas. I’m out at Pinewood with the girls. We need your help. Like right now.”
As if on cue, the sisters took a deep breath. They all knew about Kathryn and Pearl’s contentious relationship. They all leaned forward to hear Pearl’s response.
“Define what you mean by ‘like right now,’ Kathryn?”
“Right now means right now. That means you get into that SUV of yours and head on out here to Pinewood. There are no excuses that will be accepted. Are you locking up and getting under way?”
Pearl Barnes knew better than to argue with Kathryn Lucas. “I am. I have to stop for gas. I should get there in ninety minutes, give or take a few.” Kathryn looked down at the phone and laughed out loud as she clicked END.
Years ago, Pearl Barnes had retired from the Supreme Court to organize an underground railroad network that, instead of transporting freed slaves, protected abused women and children. Pearl had left the Court after her only daughter had been threatened by her vindictive and abusive husband. Working on her own, Pearl had secretly transported her daughter and her granddaughter to a safe haven. Since her son-in-law had legal rights to his daughter—Pearl’s granddaughter—she knew that what she was doing was illegal, so she’d resigned from the Court. Within a year, she had established a workable network, which was now in its twelfth year. To date, over that period of time, she had managed to arrange a safe haven for over seven thousand bruised and battered women and children.
The only problem with Pearl and her very successful network surfaced when she approached Myra and Annie for help when things got too dicey for her to handle on her own. When they asked for records and background, Pearl refused to divulge any details and said it was all in her head, saying the reason her underground worked was because she couldn’t trust anyone but herself. To Pearl’s dismay, the sisters refused to help her, saying they didn’t work blind. Kathryn took it one step further and threatened to turn her in to the authorities unless she gave up the records, so she could be helped. Pearl took one look at Kathryn and buckled. The records had been produced and were at that very moment locked in Charles’s safe.
“She’s going to have a bird when she sees what she is transporting,” Alexis said.
“I don’t think any of us cares about that. Right now, she’s working on credit with us. We bailed her butt out on three separate occasions. To put it in plain and simple language, she owes us,” Kathryn said. The sisters all agreed.
* * *
Maggie finished the last of the pancake batter and fixed a plate for Arthur Forrester. The sisters got up and, with their usual efficiency, had the kitchen looking in record time as good as if Charles had left it.
“Time to check on our guest,” Annie said gleefully as she led the parade to the secret staircase.
“It’s so quiet,” Yoko said as she turned on the lights.
They approached the spacious cell to see Arthur Forrester sitting on the edge, staring at his feet. “We brought you some breakfast. You need to eat something before your trip.”
Forrester was about to say he didn’t want any breakfast, when it dawned on him what the woman had said. “Did you say a trip?” His voice sounded like he had a frog in his throat. “Are you releasing me?”
“In a manner of speaking. It won’t be till tonight, however. We work best in the dark. I’m sure you understand that.”
Kathryn opened the cell. Maggie set the tray down on top of the lone metal chair, which was bolted to the floor. Kathryn relocked the cell door. She followed the sisters to the war room, where they all saluted Lady Justice, before they headed back upstairs to the main part of the old farmhouse to wait for Pearl Barnes. Pearl was as good as her word and arrived in eighty-seven minutes.
* * *
Pearl Barnes was a slim woman, wiry, actually, with a crop of curly gray hair. One look at her, and you knew she was a capable person, up to any task she undertook. Annie said it was in her DNA. There were no hugs, no special greetings, because, as Pearl said, she did not cotton to displays of affection. The only thing she did was make certain she was nowhere near Kathryn Lucas.
Annie poured coffee as Nikki explained the situation. “We’ll bring him to you tonight. Just tell us where to meet you. He’s never to return here—that has to be understood. We don’t care if you ship him out of the country or not, and we know you have contacts who can handle that end of things. Are we clear on this, Pearl? If he ever surfaces, we will come after you and show you no mercy. So, are we clear?”
“We’re clear. I’m going to need some time. You know how it works. All the relays. Are you going to drug him? What time are you shooting for?”
“If you want him drugged, you’ll get him drugged. Whatever time works for you will work for us,” Annie said agreeably.
“I just want him sluggish, not out cold.”
“Understood,” Myra said.
Pearl finished her coffee. “Let’s shoot for midnight, to be on the safe side. Meet me at the deserted depot, where we met the last time. If things change, I’ll be in touch.”
Myra escorted Pearl to the door. Pearl merely nodded a good-bye.
“She is one tough cookie,” Yoko said.
Kathryn laughed. “When are we going to tell Garland and the law firm?”
“Not till he is out of our care. Too many things can go wrong,” Nikki said. “Tomorrow is soon enough.”
“It’s a long time till midnight. How do you all feel if Nikki and I check in at the office? We’ll come back late this afternoon,” Alexis said.
“You can all leave if you have things to do. Annie and I can hold down the fort,” Myra stated.
* * *
After the younger sisters all left, including Maggie, it was just Annie and Myra in the kitchen. Annie poured fresh coffee. “You okay with the way it all turned out, Myra?”
“I am, Annie. You?”
“I don’t see how we could have done anything differently. The only blight is that snafu with Avery Snowden. And I can forget that very easily. What exactly did we ever decide in regard to Mrs. Forrester?” Annie asked.
“Actually, we didn’t. I’m thinking we should let the law firm handle all that. We’ll make her financial situation part of our deal with the law firm. They can handle her divorce if she wants to go that route. She’s going to need some good representation with respect to Arthur’s share in the brewery. In the end, she’ll be okay—probably, all in all, better off, her own kids and the kids she helps out as well. We’ll be okay, too.
“You look exhausted, Annie. You said you were up all night. Go upstairs and take a nap. I’m going to take the dogs out for a long run. We can have ham sandwiches, if you wake up before lunch. We also have to think about dinner, if the girls are coming back out.”
“You think about it,” Annie said, stifling a yawn.
“Like I’m going to think about anything else,” Myra muttered under her breath as she opened the door for the anxious dogs.
* * *
It was nine-thirty when the sisters descended to the dungeon. Once again, Kathryn unlocked the cell door. “Time to go.” Forrester didn’t move. He looked terrible. “Someone put his meds in a bag for him.” She nodded to Yoko, who pulled a syringe out of her pocket. Kathryn hauled him upright. He didn’t fight her, but his eyes narrowed with hate. Before he knew what was happening, Yoko jammed the syringe into his arm.
“What the hell . . . What did you do to me?” Forrester bellowed.
“Oh, pipe down. It’s just something to make you relax. We’re going for a ride, and we really do not want to have to tie you up. Behave yourself, and this will be over before you know it,” Kathryn said.
Forrester wanted to fight, but his body just wouldn’t cooperate. He had no choice but to let the crazy women push and shove him up a set of steps, which smelled moldy and were slippery under his feet. Then he heard dogs barking and saw a herd of them heading in his direction. They circled him, sniffing him and growling. Then he was outside and walking across stones. Strong arms held tight to his upper arms. Finally he was being pushed into some kind of vehicle. It smelled familiar. Probably it was the same vehicle in which he had been brought here, wherever here was.
“Where is this place?” he asked, his mouth dry. His tongue felt too big for his mouth. He’d never been more miserable in his life, and he didn’t even care. All he wanted was to go to sleep.
Forrester sat down in the van, aware that someone was on each side of him. The van started to move. He closed his eyes.
An hour later, the Post van came to a stop in the parking lot of the deserted depot. Maggie turned off the engine and the lights as well. Ten minutes later, headlights lit up the parking area. Annie got out of the van to greet two men, who looked like sumo wrestlers. Pearl brought up the rear. “Is he ready?”
“He’s ready. What that means is he’s sound asleep. I don’t know for how long he’ll be sluggish when you wake him up. He didn’t put up a fight. He’s resigned to whatever is going to happen from here on out. Do not tell him anything.”
“Understood.”
“Okay, here he is,” Annie said as Nikki and Kathryn stood alongside Arthur Forrester in the open doorway. “He’s all yours!”
One of the wrestler types picked Forrester up like he was a rag doll. He put him in a fireman’s carry and stomped his way to what looked like a Hummer.
The sisters stood in the spill of light from the Hummer’s headlights and watched until the boxy vehicle was out of sight.
The sisters high-fived one another, then grinned.
“We did it!” Annie chortled.
“Did you doubt this would be the outcome?” Yoko asked.
“Not for a minute. Let’s go home and celebrate. All in favor, say aye!”
The empty lot rang with the happy sound of laughter.