the various locations and the arrests. In the case of Marcus, the press covered the ambulance ride from the scene of his beating to the hospital. There was still no word on who was responsible.
The video was almost five minutes of police raids, helicopters, newscasters, and medical correspondents, interspersed with the recent third-day grunge photos of Steinwood and Corbett, interspersed with the mangled Marcus. They would be forced to watch the same five minutes of their undoing over and over while their bodies were being pumped with their homemade “supplements.” The sisters would keep them on this regimen until the men wished they were dead. They were less concerned about Marcus’s fate. He would have to avoid Franny O’Rourke, even with a constable outside his door. Franny had a lot of contacts. Almost as many as Annie, but not quite, and certainly not in the same circles.
The sisters watched the video several times, while Charles and Fergus went back to the kitchen to fetch the special stew Charles had prepared. A huge round of applause and fist pumps filled the room.
“Woo-hoo!” Kathryn bellowed. “Do you think we can enter this in a film festival?”
Everyone hooted.
Myra was the first to speak. “I would like to be the one who pulls the duct tape off Corbett’s face.”
“And I want Steinwood,” Annie chirped.
“And we want to watch,” Maggie said with glee.
“Me toos” from all around the table.
Charles stood. “Shall we begin?” He handed Myra the remote control that would start the video loop in the cells. There was also a closed-circuit camera in each cell that would record Corbett and Steinwood; and anyone could get a live look at any time.
The women marched past Lady Justice and saluted. One by one they walked to the first cell. Corbett squirmed at the jangle of keys and the sound of the door opening. It sounded like several people had entered the tight space.
Myra pulled the bag off his head. He had a blank expression on his face.
“Good evening, Dr. Corbett. I call you Dr. Corbett, but since you have never been licensed to practice medicine, are you really and truly a doctor? Nor is what you practiced on your patients really medicine. So perhaps I should just call you Mr. Corbett. But whatever I call you, you are not an honest or decent human being. You embody at least four of the seven deadly sins, greed being number one on the list. Not only did you cheat hundreds of women out of millions of dollars, but you were also cheating your criminal partners. I’m talking about that little side business you had. You were the supplier to a very elite prep school in New York City, fostering drug addiction among teenagers. Yes, the young man confessed. Clearly, you don’t discriminate, since you have no regard for anyone, of any age. As long as your dupes had enough money, you were happy to provide them with your wares.
“We are going to remove the zip tie, but don’t try anything stupid. If you think you’ve had a rough few days, let me assure you that fighting back will only make things worse. Nod if you understand.”
Corbett vigorously nodded. He had no fight left in him. He would have to regroup somehow, find a way out, or convince his captors to show some mercy.
Myra held her breath as she got close to his face. “Think of it like a Band-Aid. Best to be removed with one quick pull.” The blank expression turned to horror as she reached for the tape and ripped it off his face. A low growl of agony came from his throat. “See? All better.”
Kathryn pulled him off the floor and held him tightly as Fergus cut the zip tie.
Myra stepped back and pressed the button on the remote. “And now for your dining pleasure. Enjoy.”
Charles handed him the bowl of his special stew. “Eat up, champ.”
Before Corbett could utter a word, everyone retreated from the space and the door was slammed shut and locked.
Corbett sat in horror as he watched his life crumble before him. How had this happened?
Who had betrayed them, and why? Everyone had been making plenty of money. They had had a tight group. He started to wail like a baby. Why? Why? Why? Where am I? Who are these people?
A short time later, he realized he had cried himself to sleep. He didn’t know how long ago he had nodded off. What he did know was that he needed to