“Do you think we can make it an even twenty?” Annie said.
Lincoln raised his hand. “I’m good for another five hundred.”
Annie stared straight at Norma.
“Oh, me! We’ll kick in another five, also!” Norma was waving her arms wildly, but Annie could see the color leave Julian’s face.
“And for you few Yanks, that’s twenty-four thousand US—at least last time I checked.” A rumble of chuckles came from the guests. “Again, thank you for coming. I hope to see you again soon!” Annie put down the mic.
The guests gave a huge round of applause and bellowed, “Hip, hip, hooray! Hip, hip, hooray! Hip, hip, hooray!”
The crowd began to thin, with more alternating cheek kisses, hugs, and handshakes. Lincoln was the last guest to leave. Annie and Myra scooted to the other side of the room so Charlotte and Lincoln could say good night. Lincoln handed Charlotte his card and kissed the back of her hand. Charlotte was glowing. Most likely blushing.
Annie was quite pleased with the entire evening. It had been a bit dodgy, but it had all worked out, and then some. Time to head back to the brownstone and report in.
Myra and Annie purposely sat Charlotte between them in the limo. “So?” they demanded in unison. Charlotte was blushing.
“He is very nice. He told me he was familiar with my books. He read them to his grandchildren! Imagine that!” Charlotte had a dreamy look on her face.
“Okay, girlfriend. When are you seeing him again?” Annie pushed.
“I didn’t make any plans.” She qualified her answer. “Yet. Not until our mission is complete.”
“Spoken like a true sister.” Myra squeezed Charlotte’s arm affectionately. “So what did you tell him?”
“I said I would very much like to see him again and would be in touch once I got my bearings and checked with everyone else’s schedule.”
“You’re a quick study!” Annie remarked.
“I’ve been trained by the best!” Charlotte reminded them.
The car pulled in front of the brownstone, and the women piled out. Before they settled in for the conference call, they got into comfortable clothes. Annie and Myra were accustomed to sitting on the floor and snuggling with the dogs when they got home, but here they had to settle for each other’s company.
An hour after arriving at the brownstone, they entered the drawing room. Byron and Jessica were in their own quarters on the other side of the building, and Annie had bolted the door in the hallway that led to the annex. They had complete privacy.
After powering up their tablets and laptops, they signed into their private network. Annie updated the others on the jewelry exchange and told the story of Norma putting on the necklace and not noticing that it was a fake, once again mentioning Lincoln’s superb craftsmanship. She looked at Charlotte and gave her a wink.
Annie had sent the vial from Marcus’s office to a lab. It was a combination of vitamin B12 and niacin. Innocent enough. It was probably what kept the women’s red blood cell count even. It was the rest of those supplements that were so deadly.
Charles informed them that Sasha, Avery’s operative in Sag Harbor, had confirmed that the private showing of the Chagall was to be held in three days.
Myra fingered her pearls. “Do we have enough time to pull all this together?”
“Whatever it takes!” was the cheer that came from all the sisters on the conference call.
Charles gave Myra the rundown on Dr. Steinwood. He would be invited to Oscar Davis’s world-renowned sports car museum in New Jersey for a private tour. It was the largest of its kind and contained some of the most valuable cars in the world. Davis had made the New York Times when he bought a rare Ferrari for $14.3 million at an auction. Steinwood wouldn’t be able to resist that offer. Fergus would make the arrangements with Oscar’s family and would send the ticket and invitation to Steinwood. While Steinwood was at the museum, Kathryn’s crew of behind-the-scenes art haulers would swap Steinwood’s collection for stolen cars. They would need Avery to jam the cameras one more time.
Regarding Dr. Corbett, they would swap the original Chagall with the reproduction at the customs neutral zone. They had plans for the original. But Corbett would be showing off the forgery. Charles and Fergus had contacted Interpol. They, too, would unwittingly be part of the mission.
As far as Dr. Marcus, it would be a very short matter of time before Franny O’Rourke was handed paste instead of diamonds.