Weekend Warriors (Sisterhood #1)(45)

“Yes, he’s power hungry. He likes being on the news and he likes getting his picture taken with the mayor and the police commissioner. So do a lot of other guys. He just made it happen for himself. He’s pretty much going by the book and we’re the ones that threw the book out.”

“That was a sterling testimonial, Nikki. That tells me you are still very much in love with Jack Emery.”

“I’ll get over it.”

“What do you think he’ll do next, dear?”

Nikki threw her hands in the air. “My guess would be the first thing he’ll do is change his underwear. The word lawsuit against the office is a really dirty word. He’s going to have to call the D.A., the mayor and then the police commissioner. Then he’s going to go to the office and run those license plates if he did take them down. Jack has a mind like a steel trap. There is one good thing about Jack in regard to his career and his profession, though. He keeps everything to himself, you know, close to his vest. Part of it is that wild ambition of his and it’s also part of the thoroughness of him. What that means, Myra, is he gets all his ducks in a row first and then he pounces.”

Myra sat down with a thump. She longed for Charles as she struggled for the right words. “Dear, does that mean we’ll have to…take him out?”

Nikki doubled over laughing at the expression on Myra’s face. She sobered almost instantly. “It just might come to that, Myra.”





“Last minute check, sisters,” Alexis said as she jammed her canvas bags in the trunk of her car. “Yoko, you’re driving my car and I’m riding with Kathryn. That’s in keeping with what Kathryn told Miz Slick, that you were just going as far as San Francisco.”

“Is everything wiped clean?” Julia asked.

Yoko adjusted the blue bandanna wrapped around her forehead, allowing her long silky hair to cascade down her back. “I wiped everything twice,” she said, peeling off the latex gloves. “With alcohol from Julia’s bag,” she added as an afterthought.

“We all checked out using the automatic room check-out. That’s all taken care of. Yoko, did you clean off the remote controls?”

“Yes, I did, Kathryn. We’re leaving the rooms cleaner than they were when we checked in.”

Kathryn looked at the Dag watch on her wrist. It did everything but talk to her. “Time to rock and roll, sisters.” Yoko giggled. “Stay close behind me and whatever you do, don’t speed or call attention to yourself. We’re driving straight through, so there won’t be any stops. Anyone have to use the bathroom?”

“No, Mother,” Julia grinned.

“Let’s go. We’re only forty-five minutes behind schedule. Jeez, wait a minute! Did someone remember to go to Home Depot to pick up the folding table? We do need an operating table.”

“That was my job. I picked it up on my way in. It’s in the trunk. I took it out of the box, so my fingerprints are all over it. If we leave it somewhere, remind me to wipe it clean,” Julia said.

“I’ll remember, Julia,” Yoko said. She slid into the car. The moment she put the key in the ignition, she let out a yelp. “This is a stick shift! I do not know how to drive with gears.”

“Oh shit!” Alexis said. “It was the only one left. Okay, okay, crash five-minute course. See this, it’s in the shape of an H. Middle is neutral. Low, straight up is second, down to neutral, top of the H is reverse and then down again to third which is high and you cruise in high. You need to use both feet. At the same time, Yoko. You ease up on the clutch, feed a little gas and shift, low to second to third. Each time you have to use the clutch. For each gear, Yoko. You got that? Now, if you hit a hill, you have to be careful or you’ll slide backward. Julia, you drive behind her in case that happens. That way she’ll only slide into you. Try it, Yoko, once around the parking lot. If you get stuck, drive in first. We’ll keep an eye on you.”

“I’d say this is a glitch. That’s two so far. Three, if you actually count the surgery,” Kathryn said grimly. She watched with the others as the Ford Taurus bucked and chugged forward, then backward and came to a dead stop a foot from them. The car bucked and stalled.

“I think I got it. I’m ready. I can do this, Kathryn.”

“I know you can, kiddo. Think wagon train, sisters,” Kathryn said, hoisting herself up into the cab. She started to sing, “Rolling, rolling, rolling…”

They were ninety minutes out of Los Angeles when Kathryn’s personal cell phone rang.

“You can’t answer it, Kathryn. You’re supposed to be in Bermuda,” Alexis said.

“I know. It’s a Nextel. It takes messages. When it stops ringing, I’ll walk you through the process to retrieve the message.”

“I have the same phone. I know how to do it. It’s Sam Slick.” Alexis said, raising her eyebrows. “She said Bugle Beagle wants you to call him. Some district attorney wants to talk to you ASAP. She said you have his number. The call is out to all truckers to give you the message. She said if you need her to call any time of the day or night. That’s it,” Alexis said, hitting the power button to turn off the cell phone.

“Glitch number four. Call Myra on the cell phone Charles gave you. Repeat the conversation verbatim. I’m sure the D.A. is the one that came to the house. He ran a check on the license plate. I knew it. I had a bad feeling the day he came to Myra’s house. Easy, Murphy, easy. It’s okay,” she said to the big dog who had picked up on the anxiousness in her voice.