CHAPTER SIXTEEN

C HAPTER S IXTEEN

Back At The Grand Hotel

M yra and Annie went back to the hotel to meet up with Maggie and Izzie. It was a couple of hours before Kathryn would arrive. Annie ordered lunch. A lot of it. She didn’t want to hear Maggie whining. Annie had no idea where that girl put all the food she ate. She was barely a hundred and ten pounds, and much of that was her curly red hair.

Sometime after one o’clock, the two women arrived. The bellman brought Maggie and Izzie’s luggage to their room while Maggie and Izzie went to Annie and Myra’s. Lots of hugs, high fives, and fist bumps—otherwise, it just wouldn’t be “a proper greeting,” as Charles would say.

Maggie flopped herself down on the sofa and grabbed a handful of grapes that were sitting on the coffee table. She held a bunch out in front of her. “See? Healthier.”

“For now,” Izzie teased.

“Oh, shut it.”

“You should have seen her on the plane,” Izzie mocked. “Annie, you’d better tell the flight crew they’re going to have to stock up on snacks.”

Maggie rolled her eyes. “And beverages. Geez. I’ve been here for what, like four minutes, and it’s dogpile on Maggie.”

Everyone laughed. It was an ongoing joke. You’d think they’d get tired of teasing her, but it was just too easy.

“As long as you wash your hands first.” Annie shot her a look.

“Oops.” Maggie dashed toward the bathroom. “I used to be so vigilant during the pandemic, but everyone seems to have slacked off, including me. Be right back.” She brought the grapes with her.

Several minutes later, the phone rang, informing Annie that their lunch was being delivered. Myra opened the door. “Oh, my. Is all of that for us?” She stared at the tray piled with boxed lunches.

Annie cleared her throat and jerked her finger toward the bathroom.

“I heard that!” Maggie called from inside.

“I didn’t say a word,” Annie chided.

As soon as Maggie returned to the seating area, Annie and Myra fired up their laptops. Myra spoke. “Girls, you may want to log in, as well. We can catch Kathryn up when she gets here.”

Maggie and Izzie followed suit and pulled their laptops out from their tote bags.

Everyone logged in to the VPN, and within a few seconds, all of them were connected to Charles and Fergus via a secure chatroom. They exchanged greetings; then Annie ran the meeting.

“This morning we located Vanessa Rowan, the missing fourteen-year-old. She’s doing okay.”

Gasps of excitement filled the cyber airwaves. “Where? How?” Maggie’s journalist instincts kicked in.

Annie explained how she’d discovered Vanessa in the hospital stairwell. The girl had managed to escape the night before and was found by a woman in the woods. The woman brought Vanessa to her house, where she and her husband decided to take her to the hospital. But Vanessa noticed the truck had an S.E.I. logo, the same logo she’d seen when she was abducted. She panicked and ran off through the hospital. “I spotted her as she was about to exit onto the floor where Milton’s room was, but she bolted back into the stairwell. I was able to convince her that I was there to help. Myra and I smuggled her out of the hospital, phoned her parents and her PCP. She explained that she was hitchhiking and got into a pickup truck. There was a box on the seat, but it caught on something and the top ripped off, exposing bags of white pills. The man punched her in the face, and when she regained consciousness, she was being held in a basement room.” Annie went on to finish Vanessa’s story of her escape, explaining that she and her family have been reunited and are en route to Lake Tahoe.

“So she ran from the couple because she saw the logo.” Maggie was taking copious notes.

“Yes, she didn’t know if she could trust them.”

“But they brought her to the hospital,” Izzie mused.

“Keep in mind she had been terribly traumatized. I probably would have done the same thing,” Maggie added.

“True.”

“Has anyone notified the police that she’s been found?” Izzie asked.

“Not yet. We think there is more to unveil, and if the Spanglers are involved, they may have their tentacles everywhere,” Myra replied.

Charles chimed in. “Fergus is running some background on the sons. So far, Benjamin has come up clean as a whistle, but Oliver seems to have been able to get his hands on a lot of cash over the past two years. We don’t believe it’s due to genius investing, as there is no paper trail. Just lots of receipts for high-end goods.”

“Not surprising,” Annie said.

“We’re also taking a look at the company’s transactions. There are some questionable purchases that do not appear to be in accordance with their business enterprises,” Fergus added.

“What do you mean?” Myra asked.

“There’s an invoice for four-piperidone hydrochloride,” Fergus replied.

“What is that exactly?” Myra asked.

“It’s a chemical used in the synthetic manufacturing of opioids. Fentanyl, to be exact.”

“The pills,” Myra and Annie said in unison.

“So, what’s next?” Izzie asked.

Annie began to tick off the next few steps:

“Myra is going to ask Milton to offer you a job as the regional facilities director for the Cascade Inns. That will give you the opportunity to scope them out. Download the blueprints and surreptitiously check them against the physical buildings.”

“What about Oliver? Isn’t he in charge of them?” Maggie asked.

“We’re going to use the same story we came up with for Kathryn,” Myra added. “Since Milton is recuperating, he wants his sons to have some backup. Enter Kathryn in transportation, and Izzie at the Cascade Inns.”

Annie continued. “Maggie, you’re going to re-interview everyone. You’re doing a follow-up story about runaways. That will fit in with the latest disappearance of Lori George.”

“Does Milton know about it?” Izzie asked.

“I’m not sure. The news broke the night he was taken to the hospital, and he didn’t mention it this morning. We left around noon, but that’s a good point,” Myra said. “We’ll take a quick ride over to the hospital and let him know about the news. Or maybe that’s not a good idea. It may upset him.”

“Yes, but he has to be part of the ruse. He has to tell his sons he wants additional staffing until he’s up and about. It’s the only way Izzie can be introduced into the scheme.”

“Do you think he’ll go for it?” Charles asked.

“He doesn’t have a choice. He knows something isn’t right, and I know he wants answers,” Myra said.

“He may not like what we find out,” Izzie added.

“It’s better that he knows the truth than have things blow up in his face,” Myra pointed out.

“And he knows about us?” Maggie pointed to everyone.

“More or less,” Myra replied. “Surely not everything, but he trusts me enough.”

“He specifically asked for Myra. He had his wife call her.” Charles had a mischievous look in his eyes.

Myra pushed her face closer to the camera on her laptop. “You put a lid on it, mister.”

“Lid on what?” Maggie asked.

“None of your business.” Myra and Annie, again, in unison.

“Oooh.” Maggie pursed her lips.

Annie shot her a look that emphasized drop it . She quickly changed the subject. “What about a lab? We have to find out if there was anything in his drink.”

“Right,” Charles said. “We’re waiting for a call-back from a place just north of Salem. Should be shortly.”

“Do you want Avery to send his people?” Fergus asked.

Everyone glanced around the room. Fergus continued. “Probably a good idea. We’re still digging into the financials. Oliver has been spending a lot of money on renovations for the Cascade Inns. We’re checking invoices for anything dodgy.”

“What about employees? Those two in the hallway this morning that got run off by Oliver—Dickie and Bart. Need to get a handle on them,” Annie added.

“Sasha and Eileen?”

“Probably a good bet,” Charles said. “Put one of them on that Dickie fellow, and the other on Bart. Any man who would hit a young girl needs some follow-up.”

“We’ll get there, Charles.” Myra raised her eyebrows. “But what about Oliver? Someone needs to track him.”

Annie waved her hand. “He likes fast cars. I like fast cars. I’ll ask him to take me to the speedway and try to get a peek at his daily routine. Maybe we’ll go test-drive a few Maseratis or Ferraris. He’ll love it. I’ll be his best chum.”

“Brilliant!” Fergus chimed in. “Let someone else wet his pants while you drive.” Everyone broke out laughing. Most of them never wanted to be in a car when Annie was behind the wheel. Not that she was careless. She simply liked to put the pedal to the metal and zoom off. Even her golf cart was built with a fast engine for her trips back and forth to Myra and Charles’s house.

Annie checked the time. “We should go back to the hospital and get Milton up to speed.”

“See? That word again.” Fergus chuckled.

“Maggie, Izzie, you guys hang out here. Go to the spa while you have the chance. Tomorrow we’re going to hit the ground running,” Annie said. “By the way, the Spanglers will refer to you as ‘Isabelle,’ and Kathryn, you’re going to be ‘Kat.’”

“That’s leaves me,” Myra said. “How should I play it?”

“Spend some time with Benjamin and Danielle, especially Danielle. Nothing like getting insight from an in-law. Get her take on the family,” Maggie suggested.

“Excellent idea. Maybe I’ll suggest we have lunch while Benjamin is at the office.” Myra nodded.

“What time is Kathryn arriving?” Charles asked.

“Around five,” Annie answered.

“Right. Go on, then. We’ll catch up, say, nine o’clock? That will give us time to check in with Avery,” Charles said.

“Midnight, your time, correct?” Myra wanted to confirm.

“Correct, my dear. I’ll stay up late for you any night.” Charles gave her a wicked grin.

“Oh, Charles, you’re going to make me blush.” Myra giggled.

“Alrighty. Go on then.” Charles signed off.

Fergus followed with “Mind as you go.”

“Alright. Let’s head over to the hospital. We’ll be back in an hour or so,” Annie said.

“Just in time for a massage,” Izzie added.

“I’m doing a facial,” Maggie said. “My face keeps breaking out. I thought this would end after my teens.”

“It will end when you give up junk food.” Annie smirked.

“Yeah. Yeah.” Maggie huffed.

“See you in a few,” Annie said as she grabbed her tote. Myra followed.

* * *

When they arrived at the hospital, Patricia was on her way out. “I need to pick up a few things for Milton. They are going to keep him for two more days, and then he can go home. But he cannot go back to work. Not even part-time.” Patricia sighed. “Lately, he’s been rather antsy. I don’t think he’ll be able to follow his doctor’s instructions.”

Perfect timing, Myra thought. “Perhaps he can take on some temporary help.”

“Yes, he mentioned something about a woman who was going to be an on-call driver. I’m not sure what that means, but if it helps Oliver, then it should be fine.”

Myra noticed she made no remark about Benjamin.

“You can hide his phone.” Annie smiled.

Patricia still had that same vacuous expression on her face that she’d worn for almost two days. She turned and walked away without saying goodbye.

“I wonder what’s going on with her besides Milton’s health scare? She should be happy he’ll be going home,” Annie whispered to Myra.

“I was thinking the same thing.” Myra stroked her pearls.

The two women entered the private suite, where Milton was sitting up in his bed. “Hello, ladies.” He smiled. “Is it still alright to call you ‘ladies’?”

Myra and Annie gave each other a quizzical look. “Yes, it’s fine.”

“Well, you never know these days. People are very touchy. You can’t even tell a woman she looks pretty without getting yourself into trouble,” Milton replied.

“You can tell us we’re pretty any time. In fact, you can call us gals, too!” Annie laughed.

“Or girls.” Myra grinned.

Myra turned and closed the door. Milton tilted his head. “What are the two of you up to?”

“You need to call a meeting with Benjamin and Oliver.”

“I tried that two nights ago, and look where it got me.” He lifted the arm that was attached to an I.V. drip.

“Exactly,” Annie said. “You had a reason to meet with them, correct?”

Myra placed her hand on Annie’s forearm. “Be careful. We don’t want him to get riled up.” She looked at his heart monitor. It was steady.

Milton took a big inhale and let it out slowly. “If you must know, there have been some strange purchases lately. Our business manager brought it to my attention. They were charged to the Cascade Inn account. It had something to do with the renovations. I wanted to see if Oliver or Benjamin were aware of them.”

“Did Oliver know that’s what you were going to discuss?”

“I told the boys I wanted to go over the costs for the renovations, but I didn’t mention the specific charges.”

Annie thought about the brandy tumbler. Charles and Fergus had to find a lab quickly before anything that could be of use degraded.

“Milton, did you see the news last night?”

“No. Why?”

“A young woman from Eugene is missing,” Annie said cautiously.

“A woman? Another one?” He struggled to rearrange his position.

“Yes, unfortunately.” Myra was fussing with her pearls again.

“Wait a minute.” Milton winced. “Oliver told me one of our employees walked off the job. In Eugene.”

“Not exactly, Milton.” Myra was going at a careful pace. “It was a young woman. Lori George. She punched in, but no one saw her.”

Milton furrowed his brow. “What do you mean no one saw her? Oliver told me she punched her timecard and then walked out.”

“Not according to her parents.” Myra waited for a reaction.

“So the woman showed up at the inn in Eugene, but then left without telling anyone?” Milton was having difficulty reconciling what his son had told him with what Myra was telling him. “But Oliver said . . .”

“Maybe he didn’t want to upset you,” Myra added.

“This is terrible news. Two missing girls that are associated with our company.” He shook his head. “Are you sure?”

“We saw her parents on TV last night. You know the police won’t let you file a missing persons report until the person has been gone for over twenty-four hours. So her parents took to social media, and the local television station picked up the story. Her parents insisted Lori would never vanish into thin air. She’s of Kalapuya heritage. They think it could be a cultural incident. They may call in the Bureau of Indian Affairs.”

“Oh, dear. We can’t let that happen.” Milton’s monitor bleeped.

“What if you have Benjamin meet with her family and let them know you are doing everything in your power to help find her?”

“A lot of good it did when I announced the reward for the Rowan girl.” He sighed heavily.

Annie looked at Myra. Maybe it was time to tell Milton that the girl had been found and was being kept in a safe place. Annie shook her head slightly. The fewer people who knew, the better. “Maggie is going to do a follow-up story. Vanessa had friends in Portland. Maybe she’s staying with one of them on the Q.T.”

“That would be a good resolution to this situation,” Milton replied. “I don’t know how her parents are coping.”

“Let’s keep thinking good thoughts,” Myra said softly.

“So now what is it exactly you need me to do?” Milton snapped to attention.

“In addition to Kat Lamont in transportation, you are going to hire Isabelle Fleming to be your regional properties manager. Their last names have been slightly altered. We don’t want anyone to try to do a search on either of them,” Annie explained. “You know how people can be when someone new comes on the scene. They get paranoid that their jobs might be in jeopardy. We’re simply being cautious.”

Milton nodded. “You gals sure know how to plan some kind of operation.”

If he only knew . Myra and Annie had the same thought at the same time.

“We want you to call a meeting with Benjamin and Oliver and tell them your latest request. We’ll bring Izzie here tomorrow so you can meet with her first, then introduce her to Benjamin and Oliver. Meanwhile, Annie and I will disappear, because we don’t want your sons to think we’re running things.”

“Alright. My life is in your hands.” Milton smiled.

“Uh, that would be a big no . Your life is in your doctor’s hands. We’ll take care of business.”

“I knew there was a reason I asked Patricia to call you.” Milton smiled at Myra.

“And I thought it was because you missed me,” Myra teased.

“Always.”

“We’ll see you in the morning. Say, ten o’clock?” Myra asked.

“You’re the boss. Bosses.” Milton saluted; the I.V. tube slapped against the bed.

* * *

Myra and Annie returned to the hotel. Maggie and Izzie were still at the spa. Annie decided to order dinner for everyone. Kathryn would be arriving shortly, and it would give them a chance to catch up inside their soundproof room.

Annie called Bentley’s, the famed restaurant at the hotel. She ordered steaks for everyone, baked potatoes, creamed spinach, and a couple of wedge salads. “Yes, the works for the baked potatoes.” She knew it would put Maggie over the moon. She opted to skip dessert. For everyone. Maggie didn’t need another pimple, and no one needed the sugar. Too bad if somebody made a fuss. There were still a few grapes on the table.

* * *

Izzie and Maggie returned to the room wearing plush spa robes and slippers. “You didn’t really walk through the lobby looking like that, did you?” Myra asked.

“Ha. What if we did?” Maggie joked.

“I wouldn’t be the least bit surprised.” Annie snickered. “Are you going to change into something else?”

“Oh, no! This is too comfortable.” Maggie rubbed the plush sleeve against her newly restored complexion.

“Don’t keep touching your face,” Annie reminded her.

“Don’t touch your face. Don’t chew your nails. Don’t eat sweets. Boy, are you a bunch of killjoys.” Maggie feigned despair.

“Well, cheer up, kiddo. We’re having steak with the works for dinner!” Annie announced.

“Yippee!” Maggie was overjoyed. “I could use a dose of good, red meat.”

“I think we could all use a dose after this morning.” Myra sighed.

Annie’s cell phone chimed. It was Kathryn, letting her know she had arrived and should be at the hotel in twenty minutes. “Kathryn will be here shortly.” She looked over at Maggie and Izzie, lounging in their comfy spa attire. “You may want to change into something worthy of a Zoom call later. Charles, Fergus, and Avery will be on the call.”

“Good thinkin’.” Maggie got up. “Come on, Izzie. Let’s go get more respectable.”

“Bummer. I was enjoying the plush.” Izzie chuckled.

“You can plush all you want later. We have dinner coming, and we have to bring everyone up to speed. Go. Vamoose!” Annie clapped her hands.

“Be back in a flash,” Maggie said.

“Just don’t go flashing anyone in the hallway,” Myra called out.

Twenty minutes later, Kathryn rang from her room, which was also down the hall. “I have arrived. Ready for duty!”

“Excellent. Come on down to the suite,” Annie said.

The three women whooped it up in the hallway, high-fiving and fist-bumping. “Here we go!” Izzie said as she knocked on the suite door.

Annie greeted Kathryn with a big bear hug. There was no other kind when it came to Kathryn. Even Myra, who was slightly thinner than Annie, managed to wrap her arms around the biggest member of the crew. A lot of chatter followed until Annie took the reins. “Okay, Sisters! As you know, we are here to investigate two missing women. One a teen, and the other in her early twenties. I am happy to report that the first girl, Vanessa Rowan, has been found and is with her parents. But before we get down to business, we should have dinner, and then we can get busy.”

Everyone applauded. “But,” Annie cautioned, “we have not notified anyone, including Milton.”

There was a knock at the door, announcing room service had arrived. The server rolled the cart against the dining room table. “You can leave it there. Thank you.” Myra signed the check and gave the man a cash tip.

Everyone took a seat at the dining room table while Myra handed out the piles of steak and potatoes. The side dishes went on the table for everyone to help themselves.

There was a lot of chatter, and then Myra hushed the group to say Grace. Maggie finished the prayer with her usual irreverent, “Let’s eat!”

During dinner, they discussed the latest news, or lack thereof, in their lives. “I feel like my life is boring,” Izzie said. “Don’t get me wrong. I love my work, but by the time I’m finished with a project, I am ready to take a nap. Like, for a few days.” She went on. “Abner has been traveling a lot, so it’s me and Rufus. A girl can take just so many walks with a big oaf like him.”

“I thought you said Abner was traveling,” Kathryn teased. Everyone burst out laughing.

Izzie rolled her eyes. “I’m going to have to put one of them on a diet.”

When they finished their meal, they piled the dishes back on the cart and wheeled it out into the hallway. Annie called room service and asked them to send someone to pick it up. “We don’t want anyone disturbing us once we get started.”

* * *

When the table was clear, the women opened their laptops, grabbed pads and pens. Annie went through the story of Vanessa’s ordeal and how she’d come to find the girl at the hospital. “She and her parents should be arriving in Lake Tahoe shortly. We are keeping everything under wraps until we can make the connection between Vanessa’s abduction and what we believe could be an illegal pill distribution network.”

Myra chimed in. “Unfortunately, there is a very strong reason to believe Spangler Enterprises is involved, but we don’t know to what extent. You may have already heard that a woman disappeared from the Cascade Inn in Eugene yesterday. Izzie, that’s where you come in.”

Izzie nodded.

“Tomorrow morning, you and Kathryn will go to the hospital and visit Milton. It will be your interview .” Myra used air quotes. “Izzie, you will be taking the role of Regional Facilities Manager for the Cascade Inns. Kathryn, you will be on-call driver.”

“Obviously, we want both of you to keep your eyes and ears peeled for anything that may look out of the ordinary,” Annie said.

“Is there anything in particular?” Izzie asked.

“We were able to get some information from Vanessa about the man who abducted her. Bart something. Charles and Fergus are looking into him.” Annie continued. “When we were visiting Milton earlier, the two men showed up but were hustled away by Oliver, Mill’s younger son.”

“Oliver also has very expensive tastes,” Myra added. “Not that there’s anything wrong with that, but according to Charles, Oliver has spent a huge chunk of money on luxury items. With cash.”

Murmurs swept the room.

“These pills that Vanessa got a glimpse of, could she tell what they were?” Izzie asked.

“Unfortunately, no. Mr. Bart-something knocked her out. When she regained consciousness, she was in a basement,” Myra replied.

“So far, we think we should proceed like this: Maggie, you go back and interview everyone again. Then go and interview the George family. It’s their daughter Lori who disappeared from work.”

“Got it.” Maggie typed something into the search engine.

“I suggest you start at the Salem Cascade Inn. We don’t want to jump at the Eugene location too soon. It might spook whoever is doing whatever.”

“But we also don’t want them to have enough time to clear out if they think someone is on to them,” Maggie said.

“Good point,” Myra responded. “Annie, what do you suggest?”

“I agree with Maggie. I think we should strike while the iron’s hot. Besides, they’re not going to know we’re about to show up until we do.”

“But what about Oliver? He’s going to have to know, and if he’s involved in any way, he’ll have the place swept.”

Annie snapped her fingers. “I’ll get Fergus to tap into their security system.” She looked at Myra. “What do you think Mill will say?”

“I am sure he’ll cooperate. But we need to keep as many people out of this as possible.”

“It’s got to be an easy hack for Fergus and Charles. I can make a go of it if you want,” Izzie offered.

“We need you to concentrate on the structure of the building,” Myra said. “Or maybe Mill will be able to tell us how to access the system without going through his IT department.”

“I’m sure Charles and Fergus can find a workaround. I’ll put it on my list.” Annie wrote on a lined pad of paper.

* * *

Paper was a requirement during their missions. No matter how secure a techno-system is, paper is a lot easier to destroy than an electronic trail. Once the material is set loose on the information superhighway, it can be detoured by a good, slick hacker.

Even with the advanced technology the Sisters had at their disposal, Charles and Fergus were updating passwords, QR codes, erasing data, and rerouting connections on a daily basis. It was something they’d learned when Fergus was at Scotland Yard and Charles was with MI6. There is a reason for the use of the word craft in spy-craft. Like any kind of skill, it required constant attention if it was to be maintained and further developed. Some people painted. Some did woodworking, while others built model ships inside bottles. Fergus and Charles shared a craft in counterintelligence.

Until the Sisters were able to uncover who was doing what, to whom, and why, secrecy and discretion were of the utmost importance. They had to be particularly careful since they were working remotely. Most missions required two, sometimes three Sisters to be dispatched to various locations, while the rest worked from the war room, far below Myra and Charles’s Pinewood farm. This time, there were four of them, all in the same place, thousands of miles from their headquarters and the other Sisters.

During their missions, the Sisters would communicate using burner phones. A new one every day. Annie picked up a briefcase and placed it on the table. Inside were over a dozen phones. Each of the women would use one per day. The dates were etched into the back, and the phones were programmed with everyone’s phone number, each assigned to a speed-dial letter, based on their first initial, with the exception of Myra. She had both M and R in order to distinguish hers from Maggie’s. Once Sasha and Eileen arrived, they would also get pre-programmed phones to enable them to communicate with the Sisters. They had their own cellular system with their boss Avery, who had his line connected with Charles and Fergus.

* * *

Annie’s personal phone buzzed. It was a text from Mark Rowan:

Arrived safely. The place is beautiful. Cannot thank you enough. Mark, Julie, V.

Annie responded with a simple: Stay safe.

She looked up at the group. “The Rowans are settled in.”

“Yay!” Maggie clapped.

Everyone’s laptop began to broadcast the tune of “We Are Family,” signaling Charles and Fergus were coming on screen. The women were chair-dancing to the music, singing the famous lyrics, high-fiving, and fist-bumping. Charles and Fergus sat back with their arms folded, watching the moving and grooving, and grinning from ear to ear.

“Well done!” Charles clapped.

“Bloody brilliant!” Fergus added.

Neither of the men ever tired of the women’s gusto and excitement.

“Hello, love.” Charles looked directly at Myra. “And the rest of you lovelies.”

Everyone sent their greetings across the screens.

Fergus chimed in with “’elo, mates!”

Izzie noted the time. “You guys are up late.”

“Truth be told, I’m a bit knackered, but we’ve got to carry on, eh?”

“Indeed. Let’s get to it,” Myra said.

Annie repeated the highlights of Vanessa’s reunion with her family, her condition, and whereabouts.

Charles began to give them information about Dickie Morton. “Dickie, Richard Morton. Age fifty. Divorced. Two adult children live in Idaho. High school graduate. VOTEC education in automobile engines. Now he is transportation supervisor for S.E.I. Directly reports to Oliver. We’ve been working on his financials. Seems Mr. Morton has a very nice cabin near Silver Falls State Park. He paid over a hundred grand for it at the beginning of this year. Cash.”

“And you said Oliver bought his apartment, car, and several watches with cash, as well,” Myra confirmed.

“Yes.” Charles was informing everyone of what he and Fergus had discovered during the day. “All cash transactions.”

“What about insurance on his acquisitions?” Izzie asked.

“Just the condo and the car.”

“Why wouldn’t someone want to insure watches worth nearly twenty grand each?” Kathryn asked.

“Paper and electronic transaction trails.”

“Do you think the stuff was hot?”

“Oliver is a player. He wants people to know how much he paid. We phoned the high-end jewelry store in the area. Lovely woman. Said Mr. Oliver Spangler was one of their best customers. Always paid cash.”

“Well, there’s a trail,” Maggie said.

“True, but they are local businesspeople. Insurance companies are a different breed. Everything is logged, catalogued, and logged again. We were lucky the nice woman on the phone was so generous with information.”

“Oh, Charles, I am willing to bet that you schmoozed her with your accent. You probably laid it on as thick as a slab of bacon,” Myra teased.

“I do my best to accommodate your wishes, love.” Charles grinned. “I simply mentioned that I had drinks with Oliver and was admiring his watch. He told me where he bought it, and Bob’s your uncle.”

“What about this Bart person?” Annie asked. She was still fuming at the thought that he’d punched that girl in the face, never mind the entire abduction thing.

“Ah. Bart Nichols. Age forty. Got a bit of a blot on his record. Hot-wired a car, but because of his age, he wasn’t charged with a felony. Was in youth detention for a year. Entered a program for rehabilitating teens, then got a job at Geiser Lumbermill. Not the brightest bulb in the chandelier. Seems he’s mostly Dickie Morton’s gopher. He’s also Dickie’s cousin.”

“So, can we assume they are working together?” Myra asked.

“Well, love, you know I never like to assume anything; however, Bart reports directly to Dickie, so there is a fine chance they are involved in a rum do.”

“Something unscrupulous.” Myra nodded.

“We’ll do more digging, but we should consider the three men are involved in something untoward,” Fergus added.

Annie ran down the list she and Myra had compiled:

1. Sasha will tail Bart.

2. Eileen will tail Dickie.

3. Myra will spend time with Benjamin’s wife, Danielle, see if she can get the daughter-in-law’s point of view. Watch how Benjamin behaves at home.

4. Annie enlists Oliver’s fast-car expertise to keep an eye on his movements and get a handle on his routines.

5. Kathryn clocks in at the main office, stealthily checks dispatch records. She stays in the apartment on the top floor of the office building so she can be on-call.

6. Izzie visits the five Cascade Inns as facilities manager.

7. Maggie interviews families, starting with the George family.

8. Mill tells Benjamin to also meet with the George family and assure them the company is doing its own investigating.

“What about Benjamin?” Fergus asked. “How much does he know about your involvement?”

“Just that we’re old friends,” Myra said, almost blushing.

“And Milton?” Charles pushed his face closer to the camera.

“He’s onboard with our intervention. He took our advice concerning Kathryn and Isabelle. He mentioned concerning invoices, but I don’t think he has any idea about the drugs.”

“That will be a rude awakening for him, I suspect,” Charles said.

“I am sure it will be. But he needs to know the truth,” Myra replied.

“Everyone up to speed?” Annie asked.

“Yes!”

“Yep!”

“You bet!”

“Good all. We’ll continue to sort the financials and see if we can find out who is funding what, and who has the most to gain, and lose,” Charles said, as he turned a camera on the statue of Lady Liberty, who stood proudly in their War Room.

“Let’s do it!” Annie whooped.

“Aye-aye!” they said in unison, and saluted the symbol they lived to serve.