Deja Vu - Fern Michaels Sisterhood

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Avenue that’s a work in progress. I rescued two cats from the SPCA, Lily and Lennie. And I got a fish tank. I haven’t gotten any fish yet. Like I said, small steps.”

      Maggie held up her left hand, her emerald-cut diamond engagement ring sparkling in the sunlight. “Ted and I are happier than two pigs in a mudslide. We might get married someday, then again, we might not. Time will tell.”

      “Elias and I are very contented. Well, he is; he sleeps most of the time. I do my thing with the shopping channel, he feeds all the cats and oils the lawn mower for the gardener. My new hips are working out well. I’ve been able to ride as of last month. Not much, but it’s a start. Like Isabelle said, small steps,” Nellie said.

      “Charles and I just putter around. We have the dogs now, and with Annie here, it’s wonderful. So, what we’re all saying is we are reasonably happy and content, at least for now, is that it?”

      The Sisters jumped in with, well, there’s happy and there is happy and similar remarks ending with yes, they were all reasonably content.

      “What we’re really saying without saying it is, we’re missing the adrenaline rush,” Annie said.

      “We’re still on the Big Five’s payroll, and we have all that glorious immunity that we can activate anytime we want,” Myra said slyly.

      Annie chewed on her lower lip. “That only applies to Henry, call me Hank, Jellicoe. Do you girls really think he’s going to come after us? By the way, last night I had a dream that there was a line of people outside Myra’s gate begging us to help them. We were getting ready to vote on it when I woke up. Maybe it wasn’t a dream but a nightmare,” Annie said fretfully.

      The Sisters as one said there was no doubt in their minds that Hank Jellicoe, even though he was on the run, would somehow, some way, come after them.

      “I heard Global was being sold off, division by division,” Kathryn said. “It was on the news last week. That means to me that Jellicoe has no one to call on to help him. We took all his money, so he has to scavenge for funds. I’m sure he’s got safe houses all over the world he can hide out in until things cool down. The man could be anywhere. For all we know, he could be living down the road from Myra, and we’d never know it. As far as the public goes, he’s already just a memory. I don’t know what his priority is in the spook world. My gut tells me he is not at the top of anyone’s list but ours. I could be wrong, but I don’t think so.”

      “Did you see his face when Nikki said, ‘Hello, Mr. Graverson’ back there on Dolphin Drive? It was so priceless I don’t think I’ll ever forget it,” Isabelle said. “He literally didn’t bat an eye when Kathryn crashed her truck through his house, and he didn’t seem surprised to see us all come off the Jet Skis at his dock. Nope, it was that we knew who he really was. In a million years he never thought we’d find that out, and we wouldn’t have except for Emma Doty,” Isabelle said.

      “He also didn’t figure that you and Annie would incapacitate Fish and Stu as quickly as you did,” Myra said. “He was counting on them to keep him safe. What a silly, stupid man he is.”

      “Ah, here come the boys,” Maggie said. “Do we need more coffee? Dessert?”

      “I’ll have another piece of that banana pineapple upside-down cake,” Elias said.

      “No, he won’t. He’ll have a sugar-free mint,” Nellie said.

      To Annie’s dismay, the conversation returned to her date with Fergus Duffy. She turned a bright pink as everyone chimed in at once to offer additional advice. When she had had enough teasing, Annie held up both hands, a signal that all conversation should cease.

      “Listen up, all of you. I think I can handle Fergus Duffy all by myself. If I need any of you, you’re just a phone call away. Are we all clear on this?”

      “Yes, ma’am, we are clear on that,” Harry Wong said.

       Chapter 3

      Myra set the paper aside when she heard the sliding door to the terrace open. She looked up, her eyes full of questions. “You’re late today, Annie.”

      Annie sat down, reached up to tilt the sun umbrella over the table, and smiled. “I’ve been on the phone all morning. I looked out the window earlier but didn’t see you. We need to talk, Myra. Where’s Charles?” she said, picking up a small tuna sandwich.

      Myra shrugged. “In the war room, I guess. I spent the morning out in the barn with the vet. Dogs are all fine, and we managed to corral a lot of the barn cats and give them their shots. It was a busy morning. What do you want to talk about, Annie?”

      Annie gulped at her glass of ice tea. “This and that, more that than this. What’s going on in the world?” she said, pointing to the paper.

      “Well, it seems the president got a clean bill of health. She had the flu. The White House issued a statement saying she has returned to her full-time schedule. And she got a dog. A girl dog, and she named it Cleo. Also, dog gifts have been flooding into the White House. The dog is a German shepherd rescue, more or less, and she said she’s going to train it herself. The dog is trained, but she’s going to train it to live in the White House. Don’t look at me like that, I’m just repeating what I heard on the news.” Myra sniffed to show what she thought of that statement. “Other than that, the world is pretty much the same as it was yesterday when the paper arrived. What do you want to talk about, Annie?” she asked a second time.

      Annie finished her glass of ice tea and poured another. She leaned across the table, and said, “I want to talk about my date tomorrow. If you believe for one minute Fergus whatever his last name is is interested in me, I have a couple of bridges I can sell you. Besides, he’s not my type, and I know I’m not his type. I played along the other day with the girls because it seemed like the thing to do at the time.

      “By the way, Myra, did you happen to notice anything in today’s edition that said the president was hosting some kind of meeting with some of those loony-tune guys who head up all those alphabet agencies?”

      Myra bit down on her lower lip. Her hand automatically went to the strand of pearls at her neck, a sign that she was under stress. “I guess I missed that, Annie. Did you read the paper online?”

      “I did. Today at four o’clock. Too late for lunch, too early for dinner. A quick in and out, possibly a thirty-minute meeting to discuss … something.”

      Myra gripped the pearls. “What do you think that something is? Do you know something, Annie?”

      “For heaven’s sake, Myra, how could I know anything? After all, 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue is chock-full of secrets. When they put it in the paper, it is no longer secret. I did call Maggie, who put Ted and Joseph on it. She was just as suspicious as I was, more so with Fergus wanting to have dinner with me. She’s going to have Ted and Joseph show up where we have dinner and they’ll run the picture in the Life section of the paper. Something is going on, or else something is in the works. I feel it. Hell, Myra, I can smell it.”

      “I wish you’d stop talking in riddles, Annie. What? Are you sure you just aren’t jittery about your dinner date? White House business is not our business. We’re done with all of that.”

      “No, we are not done with that, Myra, and you damn well know it. We aren’t done with that until Hank Jellicoe is caught.”

      “Well, dear, according to Charles, that is not going to happen. He said Hank is too smart. He said the only way Hank will get caught is if Hank wants to get caught. Period. End of Hank Jellicoe.”

      Annie laughed, a strange sound that held no merriment. “And you believe that? From here on in, Myra, I’m going to pretend I don’t even know you.”

      Myra had the good grace to look chagrined.

      Annie

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