Truth and Justice - Fern Michaels Page 0,64
with him and his team acquiring little to no information. His stomach felt like it was curdling.
Of course, he wasn’t returning here to Pinewood totally empty-handed. He did have reams of paper, forms, contracts, legal this and not so legal that. Everything in the military was either hurry up and wait or fill it out in triplicate, then in triplicate again because you were given the wrong forms the first time around. He had eleven banker boxes filled to the brim so tight he’d had to use duct tape to seal the covers. And that was just Sara Windsor’s stuff. That woman had to be the busiest person in the universe. There were another nine cartons alongside Sara’s stuff that related solely to Major Andrew Nolan. There were only two padded manila envelopes that contained information on Bella Ames Nolan, Major Nolan’s widow.
Snowden shook his head to clear his thoughts. He was about to press in the four digits on the keypad that would allow the massive gates to move so he could drive through when his cell phone chirped. “Snowden!” He barked a greeting, hoping against hope that the call would contain some good news. He listened, his jaw dropping. Finally, he managed to get a word in to his operative on the other end of the phone. “Get here as soon as you can. Just tell me one thing. Are you totally, one hundred percent sure about all this? Because if you are, it means we’ve hit the mother lode?”
The voice on the other end of the phone assured Snowden the information he had was pure gold, and he was less than twenty-five miles away and would be there as soon as traffic would allow.
The old spy’s shoulder’s slumped as he sighed in relief at his operative’s words. He squinted at the keypad before he pressed the numbers needed to gain entrance to Myra’s compound. He drove through the open gate and waited until it closed completely before driving to the lot where guests parked. With the engine running, he spent ten full minutes staring into the mini forest with his special night-vision goggles that turned the world green. He saw no heat signatures, which meant that other than wildlife, there was no one there who was trespassing and surveilling Myra’s farmhouse.
Snowden parked his SUV, climbed out, and made his way to the kitchen door, which opened just as he put his hand on the knob.
“What took you so long, Avery?” Annie barked. “Coffee?”
“I’m right on schedule, so don’t try throwing a guilt trip on me, and you know damn well I don’t drink coffee. Tea will do nicely, along with four sugars. If you’re having a bad day, get over it, because until ten minutes ago, mine was probably ten times worse than yours. So . . . let’s start over. I’m on time, I have good news and bad news, depending on your point of view. I could use the tea, like right now, if you don’t mind. I also do not want to go through my report until my man gets here. He’s the one bringing the good news. Does that work for you, Countess? By the way, where are the dogs? I didn’t hear even one bark.”
“They’re at the clinic. This is the week they get their yearly physicals, so they all go at the same time. Takes four days from start to finish, and this is only day three,” Myra said.
“Why are you so . . . grumpy, Avery?” Annie asked as she placed a cup of tea in front of the old spy.
Avery threw his hands in the air. “Until roughly twenty minutes ago, I was fit to be tied. I’ve had six operatives plus myself on this case for over ten days, and while I have a truckload of files, folders, contracts, you name it, I was bringing nothing here to help you on this mission. This woman . . . Sara whatever name she wants to go by, Major Nolan’s . . . I don’t even know what to call her. She’s no blood relative, but she lived with the major and his family and was treated as a sister even though she was not a blood relative to anyone in the Nolan household and certainly not to Major Nolan. Her life is so muddied and mucked up that none of us could make sense of it.”
“So what happened twenty minutes ago?” Isabelle asked, coming into the room. “I’m only