there was no mail.
Jack pointed to the grocery bag in his hands. “They saw the tabloid. It’s here in the bag. That’s why they left. They were afraid possibly the neighbors or others would see it. I’m thinking they got out just in time.”
Harry gunned the Ducati, backed up, then hit the throttle. They flew out of the cul-de-sac like the Devil himself was on their heels.
Dinner over and the kitchen and terrace restored to normal, the gang headed back to the war room and took their places at the table.
“I have an idea if anyone wants to hear it,” Maggie said.
“Of course we want to hear it, dear. Tell us what it is,” Myra said as she settled herself more comfortably in her chair at the head of the table.
Maggie took a deep breath, then let it out with a loud swoosh. “Here it is. You all know the Post does a Man of the Year contest every year. We usually gear up for nominations around September and pick the leading entry at the end of December. Why can’t we start a little early under some pretext or other like this year there are so many nominations we need to start early so we can investigate the nominees. We can start by putting little announcements in the paper daily, then hit it full force a week later. Our lead nominee, of course, will be Lincoln Moss! What do you think, guys?”
“I love it!” Annie bellowed. “It’s perfect! You deserve a raise for that, Maggie!”
Maggie turned beet red as all the others congratulated her, saying it was the perfect way to get to the oh-so-private Mr. Lincoln Moss.
“Any other suggestions, plans, strategies?” Myra asked.
Dennis held up his hand as though he were back in grade school. “Jason Woods!”
“What about him, kid?” Jack asked.
“Don’t we need to know more about him? We think, don’t we, that he is the one who spirited the two women to safety? Jack, you said after you and Harry went through the house that it was both of your opinions that the women skedaddled on their own. Meaning that Lincoln Moss did not find and snatch his wife.” Jack nodded. “Then we need to find out all there is to find out about Jason Woods and the best place to do that is . . . drumroll please . . . Facebook! Young people, especially college students, live on Facebook. All they do is tweet and twitter and blog and text. I am confident we can find out everything there is to know about that young man within an hour. There is no reason to think this guy is any different. With both their cars still in the driveway, how did they get away, and don’t tell me they walked. Someone had to pick them up and take them somewhere, and my guess is Jason Woods is the one who drove them away.”
“He’s absolutely right,” Abner muttered as he tapped furiously, which just proved to everyone what he had said all along, he could do two things at once.
“Do it, kid!” Jack said. Dennis grinned, his thumbs tapping away almost as fast as Abner’s busy fingers.
“We are making progress here,” Alexis said happily as she winked at Espinosa. “So far, Isabelle, Yoko, and I are the only ones without an assignment. With the exception of Myra and Annie,” she added hastily. “Charles, what can we do?”
“What would you ladies like to do?” Charles said, turning the question right back at Alexis.
Charles pretended to think, then finally said, “This might be a good time for you girls to put pen to paper where Pearl is concerned. She doesn’t have to go anywhere to get her files since they’re all in her head. I think once we see everything there is to see as to how her underground works, names, profiles, we’ll be better equipped to go down that road. All in favor say aye!” The room burst into sound.
Pearl turned white, made a move to get up until she saw Kathryn’s hand poised midway to the tabletop. Her eyes filled as she settled back down on her chair.
“You have to give it all up right now, Pearl,” Myra said gently. “It goes without saying that all of us here will take your secrets and those of your people to our graves.”
“If you don’t, Pearl, I will shoot you myself, and you know what a good shot I am,” Annie said, her eyes sparking dangerously.
Pearl nodded, her face