dining room and kitchen were a beehive of activity as everyone fell into their old routine—I cook, you all clean up. One of many rules Charles had initiated early on.
“You have no idea how I missed all of this,” Yoko said, motioning to everyone scurrying about. “We worked so well together. It was as if we could read each other’s minds.”
“Don’t you dare start boo-hooing, Yoko,” Alexis said fiercely, a catch in her voice.
Yoko sucked in her breath and smiled. “Is it time yet?”
“It is now,” Charles said as he turned the dial on the dishwasher. “Follow me.”
Their steps were light, their murmurings hushed as they followed Charles to the secret war room they’d utilized beneath the old farmhouse in the early days when they had all come together for the first time.
“It seems like forever since we’ve been here,” Alexis said as she took her old seat at the huge, round table. “This,” she said, pointing to the chair on her left, “used to be Julia’s chair. It’s Annie’s chair now. Nikki sat there, Isabelle over there. Myra was the head chair, and Yoko is sitting where she always sat,” she said for the benefit of the others, even though they were all aware of the previous seating arrangements. She was babbling, and she knew it but was unable to stop herself. “It’s like we’ve come full circle somehow. And yet…I don’t know how to explain it. It’s a feeling not unlike what I felt the first time I stepped into this room. Back then, I knew that my life as I knew it was going to change and never be the same again. I feel that way right now. This might sound trite to all of you, but I feel like I, personally, am at a crossroads this very moment. Do…do any of you feel like that?”
Every hand in the room shot in the air. Alexis sighed in relief.
“Has anyone heard from Isabelle?” Maggie asked. Every head wagged back and forth.
Myra stood up and cleared her throat. Her hands were steady on the table and not at the pearls at her throat. That fact alone told the others something serious was about to be discussed, and this meeting was not just about a video conference with Lizzie.
“Charles, I want you to sit at the table with all of us. We have some things we need to share with you before we do the video conference. I suppose it’s possible you already know of our concerns and have not voiced them to us, and it is also possible we’re going to tell you things you don’t know, things that have just come to light that concern…our little family that really isn’t all that little anymore. I’m going to turn the floor over to Maggie now.”
Maggie stood up the moment Myra sat down and started to talk. Only Charles appeared shocked, or as Annie later put it, stunned. Maggie wound down her report and motioned to the others at the table. “They’ve all tendered their resignations to Global, Charles. We’re having no luck reaching Bert, Jack, or Isabelle. If you know anything you haven’t shared, this might be a good time to speak up.”
Charles’s arms flapped in the air. He looked genuinely shocked. “I think I would have…no, correct that to, I would have known something was going on if you’re right in your thinking. Snowden has always been on top of things, along with all my other people.”
“With all due respect, Charles,” Ted said, “Jellicoe is so far up the food chain, your people are novices compared to him. That guy and his people seem to have a lock on the covert-security world. I’m talking worldwide, not just here in Alphabet City. Look at us! We’re the proof. And you didn’t know we quit until now. Admit it, and let’s move on here.” There was such a bite to Ted’s tone that, to everyone’s dismay, Charles flinched.
Myra reached over and patted Charles’s hand. “It’s all right, dear. We just found out ourselves thanks to Annie’s return and Maggie’s keen instincts. We have to figure out what is going on, and more important, why it’s going on.”
To everyone’s surprise, Espinosa, who usually observed rather than being vocal, spoke up. “Like Ted said, with all due respect, Charles, do you mind telling us what you’ve been doing for the past year and a half that you aren’t up on what’s going on? Or should we just assume that once the girls’ pardons came through, the world stopped on a dime.”
Alexis scooted her chair a little closer to Espinosa’s. The move told the others that she was on his side and she, too, wanted an answer.
“It’s a fair question, Joseph. And to a certain extent, you’re right. I did let the world stop in a way once the pardons came through. My personal life, which had been pretty much on hold, suddenly became active. I’ve been attempting to write my memoirs and taking care of…of my late son’s affairs. And, of course, seeing to the daily affairs here at the farm. I suppose that’s no excuse, but it’s the best I can offer at the moment. If any of you think that’s inadequate as an explanation, tell me.”
“I see no reason to place blame anywhere. None of us became aware of this situation, and, in all honesty, we really didn’t even know for certain we had a situation, until a few days ago. It is entirely possible we’re all overreacting. Unlikely as it seems, I am trying to be the voice of reason here,” Annie said.
Harry leaned forward. Like Espinosa, Harry was a man of few words, and when he did decide to speak, everyone paid attention. “If I’m not mistaken, aren’t you a personal friend of Hank Jellicoe’s?” Not waiting for a response, he said, “Can you get in touch with him? That would certainly take the edge off things.”
“There are friends, Harry, then there are friends. I do know Hank, have known him for years and years. I know him well enough to visit unannounced, which I did a while back. Since that visit, I have not heard from him, but that in itself does not mean anything. Years go by sometimes, and we are not in touch with the exception of the proverbial Christmas card. The Hank Jellicoe I know and respect would never do anything wrong. The man is all about God and country and family. He reveres all three. He’s that rare man you want at your side in a crisis. I don’t know what else to say.”
“Call him, Charles,” Yoko said.
Charles excused himself from the table and walked up the two steps to his workstation. He returned with his sat phone. All eyes were on him as he punched in Hank Jellicoe’s number. Those same eyes watched as he nibbled on his lower lip, and as one they knew he had reached Jellicoe’s voice mail. “Charlie, Hank. I need you to call me as soon as you get this message.”
Charles frowned. “That doesn’t have to mean anything. He could be indisposed. He could be out of range, although I think that’s unlikely. He could be on a plane and the phone is off. It could be anything. In the past he has always, and I want to stress always, returned my call within hours. I can call the farmhouse and see what his people tell me.”
“I think you should do that, dear,” Myra said. Charles nodded, went back to his workstation, and returned with a number on a pad. He punched in the number and waited. “Charles Martin here, Mr. Wylie. I’m trying to locate Hank. I’ve left a message on his phone, but this is a bit of an emergency. I was wondering if you could reach him and have him return my call if that’s possible.”
The call ended. “Mr. Wylie, Hank’s foreman and head of security at his farm, said that when he heard from Jellicoe, he would relay my message. That’s it. There is no one or anywhere else to call unless we try Avery Snowden to see what, if anything, he comes up with. I understand how all of you are feeling right now, but since you are all so edgy, I don’t see that we have anything to lose and possibly something to gain. A show of hands would be nice.” Every hand in the room shot upward. “Consider it done.”
The conversation was curt and terse. “It might take a while, possibly a few hours. So, unless there is nothing else on our agenda, I think we should move on with our video conference with Lizzie.”
“I think we should try Jack and Bert again. I’ve been texting Isabelle with no results. I don’t think any of us know how to reach Stu Franklin.” Maggie turned to Annie, and said, “What about Fish? Do you think he knows anything?”
Annie’s