In Plain Sight (Sisterhood #25) - Fern Michaels Page 0,54
world; weenies; apple juice; and your choice, oh happy days, Pop-Tarts or Little Debbie chocolate cupcakes. I, for one, can’t wait,” Maggie said, giggling.
“All that for fifty grand a pop. And I bet the First Lady got it all donated,” Jack grumbled.
“Yep.”
“Okay, folks, we are here at the farm. Who’s going to carry in Sleeping Beauty? I’m thinking the ladies will want her stashed in the cell next to the war room,” Ted said.
After a five-minute discussion, it was decided Espinosa would carry in Jane Petrie, aka Sleeping Beauty, and Ted would carry in her Gucci suitcase.
Harry ran to the kitchen door and opened it. Maggie yelled, “We’re home.” There was no response to her happy greeting.
Chapter 13
Yoko and Nikki sat on stools outside the cell where Jane Petrie slept on a hard cot. They were whispering to each other as they watched the sleeping woman. “Harry said she should be awake by now. I think she’s faking it!” Yoko hissed behind her hand.
“Hmmmm, I think you’re right. Hold on a minute, I think I know a way to find out.” Nikki was off her stool and running down the tunnel. She returned a few minutes later with a whistle around her neck and a set of bells she’d removed from the ceiling beams that held up the dungeon tunnels. “Okay, watch this! On the count of three, yell ‘FIRE!’ at the top of your lungs!” Yoko did as Nikki had instructed, joined by Nikki, who also clanged the bells, making an earsplitting sound that reverberated throughout the tunnel at the same time that they shouted, “FIRE!” Both women stepped back, overcome with the sound, but their eyes remained on Jane Petrie, who bounded off the cot like she was jet-propelled.
Nikki and Yoko waited for the sound in the tunnel where the cell was located to stop reverberating and return to normal. “Playing possum, eh?” Yoko said quietly.
Jane Petrie gripped the bars on her cell and screamed for a lawyer. “Where is this place? What am I doing here? I want a lawyer! You kidnapped me! That’s against the law.”
“So is ruining other people’s lives. How many notches do you have on that sleazy belt you wear?” Nikki demanded.
“I don’t know what you’re talking about. I want a lawyer! I have rights!”
“No, you don’t. Have rights, that is,” Yoko said. “We took them all away. The lawyer hasn’t been born yet who would take you on as a client. You’re a terrorist, pure and simple.”
Petrie’s indignation was almost comical. “I am not a terrorist. I’m French and American. What do you want from me anyway?”
“What do you think we want?” Nikki asked.
“I don’t have a clue. I want a lawyer. How many times do I have to ask for one? This will not go well for you when it all comes out. I’m a citizen, I have rights.”
“Will you please sing a different song. Get it through your head. There will be no lawyer. Period. Now, tell us what we want to know, and maybe we’ll let you go,” Yoko said.
“Yeah, like I’m really going to believe that. Put it in writing and notarize it, then maybe we can talk.”
Nikki narrowed her eyes as she stared at the young nurse. She was a pretty thing, creamy complexion, healthy, shiny hair down to her shoulders, clear blue eyes, and a nice trim figure, proof that she worked out. She didn’t know how she knew but she suspected the young woman got by on her looks. “You’re a disgrace to the nursing profession.”
Petrie tried rattling the bars of her prison cell. When nothing happened, she kicked at them, then howled in pain as she hopped around on her uninjured foot. “See what you made me do! You’re the terrorists here, not me, and for your information, I’m a damn fine nurse. I have repeat patients. I’m hungry, and I have to go to the bathroom.”
Yoko pointed to the small sink and toilet in the corner of the cell. “Tell that all to someone who cares! C’mon, Nikki, we have better things to do than spend time down here with her.”
“What! What! You’re leaving me here! I hear rats scratching on the walls. Rats carry rabies. I want a lawyer!”
“Make friends with them, one rat to another, and maybe they won’t bother you,” Nikki called over her shoulder as she followed Yoko out to the tunnel, then down another tunnel to the war room.