Weekend Warriors (Sisterhood #1)(20)
“I think you’re right. I think you were their one shot, Kathryn. The time was right for them. The situation felt right, where you parked, your incapacitated husband, the whole thing. If they’re pillars of their community and they probably are, they wouldn’t risk doing something that terrible again and again. What you’re going to need, Kathryn, is an airtight alibi for the time in question. Isabelle is about your height. Alexis can make her look enough like you to pass muster. We can have her go to a resort or something, register under your name, use your credit card. She’ll make herself scarce so people don’t get a good look at her. A good red wig, a little patching here and there with some spirit gum and voilà, she’s you. Can you deal with that, Kathryn?”
“Absolutely.”
Almost to the minute of Charles’s prediction, the e-mail pinged. “Oh, excuse me, incoming mail,” Nikki said, getting up from the table.
Nikki pressed download and waited for the sent material to complete the transition. She then clicked Print and waited. Page after page shot out of the printer with amazing speed. She scooped up the pages before she transferred them to the copy machine and printed out nine copies. One copy for everyone plus one extra. She was about to hit the Delete button a second later when the e-mail disappeared in front of her eyes. She felt a chill wash up her spine. She added the extra set of papers to the bottom of her own report.
“My goodness,” Myra said. “This is so thorough. I suggest we read them in silence and then discuss each man. Do you all approve?” The women nodded as they lowered their heads to read the reports in front of them.
A long time later, Myra removed her glasses and looked around at the women.
“This is the most amazing thing I’ve ever read. These men are such upstanding citizens it boggles my mind. They sit on various charitable boards. They donate handsomely to many worthy causes. All three are incredibly wealthy. Their children go to Ivy League colleges. Their wives do volunteer work. They all donate one day a week at a free clinic. They go to church on Sunday with their wives. They play golf one day a month. Two weekends a month they take road trips with the Weekend Warriors. They’ve never been caught in an uncompromising position and there is no hint of scandal attached to them in any way. The three of them have been friends since college days. They’re well thought of with their patients and have a thriving, lucrative practice. They do not falsify insurance records and they don’t cheat on their income taxes.
“Each of them has an Indian and something called a Harley Hog. That about sums it up, sisters.”
“That’s a pretty impressive report,” Kathryn said quietly. She looked at the faces staring at her. “I’m not saying they aren’t all those things. They raped me and the one named Lee sodomized me. That should be added to the report.” Her voice turned desperate-sounding when she said, “They stripped me naked and knew my husband was watching when they did all those things to me. That makes them no better than wild animals in my eyes.”
“I think your gums just started to recede, Kathryn. I’ll call and make an appointment for you. In the meantime, we have the rest of the day to fine-tune our plan. Choose your partners for this project and tell me when you feel you’ll be ready to leave. You have a month to complete this project. You must be back here by the first Monday of the month, at which time we’ll pick our second case.”
“I need to take Murphy outside. He needs some exercise. Is it okay?” Kathryn asked.
“Of course. Come along, dear. I think we could all use a break about now. I can make some coffee and some tea for Yoko. The phone lines might be repaired and hopefully, the power is on. Charles said he was going to gas up the kitchen generator so let’s hope he did or we’ll be drinking soda pop.”
Kathryn headed for the front door, Isabelle and Alexis headed for the stairs and the upstairs bathroom while Myra, Nikki, Yoko and Julia walked toward the kitchen.
Outside in the bright sunshine, Kathryn walked alongside her dog. She raised her eyes once to look upward. She muttered under her breath, words she’d said thousands of times, always under her breath. Except that one time when Alan had his last seizure and she’d screamed at the top of her lungs because she couldn’t take it one day longer. Her husband had just stared at her and then closed his eyes. She knew in that one split second that he’d finally given up. Two hours later she held him in her arms and kissed him for the last time.
“I hope you can hear me, Alan. It’s payback time!”
Murphy nudged her leg.
“I’m okay, Murphy. I’m okay now.”
Chapter Five
The TV wall monitor blossomed to light with a zzzzzing sound. The figure of the scales of justice consumed the entire screen within seconds. Kathryn felt like she should stand up and voice a loud cheer. She thought about it a second longer and then she did it, a look of pure joy on her face. “Hey, she’s my kind of lady! I’m taking that blindfold to mean she’s looking the other way because the other way sucks. Okay, that’s it, that’s all I have to say.” Her voice was sheepish-sounding. The others smiled.
Charles hit the computer keys, the clicking sound loud in the quiet room. A map of the state of California appeared. He clicked again and again, localizing different areas, talking and explaining as map after map took over the screen. “You need to decide on a specific area for your proposed road trip. Once you’ve settled on a route, we can fine-tune it so we don’t have any glitches. I took the liberty of making a list of twelve possible candidates for the trip. I selected four Road Warriors and eight Weekend Warriors plus the three ‘special guests.’ We’ll have a total of fifteen cycles on the trip. Since our three nefarious cyclists live in the Los Angeles area, it would seem logical to start the trip there.