Vanishing Act. Fern Michaels
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I say need-to-know doesn’t work for us.”
Charles looked at his ladylove and noticed that she wasn’t wearing her pearls. Chains with circles draped her neck. Annie was wearing the same set of chains. He didn’t like this new look. Myra wasn’t Myra without her beloved heirloom pearls. He realized at that moment that things had indeed changed here on the mountain since he’d left.
Isabelle stepped forward. “We found out the hard way that we don’t need you. Back in the day, we may have wanted you because you made it easier with your meticulous planning. We managed two missions. And even though we bumbled our way through them, we are standing here in front of you, guns drawn. On you! There is no reason to assume we cannot bumble our way through more missions. Actually, Charlie, we’re getting rather adept at meticulous planning.”
“You used my people. My people, ladies,” Charles said quietly.
“Your people are mercenaries, Charles. Mercenaries go where the money is. We have the money. I rest my case,” Alexis replied.
Charles took his time as he looked from one to the other, then down at his bag. Without another word, he picked up his bag and turned around to flick the power switch that would connect the power to the cable car. All he had to do was get in and then hit a second switch that would send the cable car to the bottom of the mountain. “Then I guess there’s nothing more to say. Good-bye, ladies.”
Yoko stepped forward but not before she clicked the safety on her gun. Her hand dropped to her side. “I haven’t spoken yet, Charles. I would like you to stay,” she said softly.
Charles turned back to face the women. He smiled, and his tone matched Yoko’s when he said, “I appreciate your vote, but I can’t stay unless it’s unanimous.”
The women watched in horror as Charles pressed the main switch, not realizing he had just turned the power off. Then he sat down inside on the little bench so he could hold the door closed. When he realized his mistake, he stretched out a long arm to hit the power switch. He was going, leaving them again. Murphy and Grady howled. A lone tear rolled down Myra’s cheek.
“Mom, don’t let him go. If he goes, he will NEVER come back. You have to take Charles on faith. You know that. Pride, Mummie, is a terrible thing. Hurry, Mummie, hurry!”
Myra whirled around as she tried to reconcile what she was hearing from her spirit daughter and at the same time saw Charles reaching for the switch that would activate the cable car and take him to the bottom of the mountain. She literally leaped past the two dogs and pulled Charles’s hand away from making contact with the switch. “We want you to stay, Charles.”
The collective sigh behind her told Myra all she needed to know. The girls wanted Charles to stay but were willing to send him packing, thinking it was what she wanted. When she stepped back, she felt Annie’s arm go around her shoulder. It felt so comforting that she wanted to close her eyes and go to sleep.
“Will you get rid of those weenies already? Charles will be preparing dinner this evening,” was all Myra could think of to say.
Annie laughed as she peeled the string of weenies from around her neck and handed them all out to the dogs, who were waiting politely for the rest of their unorthodox early dinner.
Charles stepped out of the cable car and started to walk toward the main building, the girls following behind. Yoko was the last in line, her head down.
“Honey, I admire your courage,” Annie said to her.
“I’m sorry, Yoko. I should have been the one to speak up to tell Charles to stay,” Myra said. “It’s refreshing to see you for once have the courage of your convictions. I don’t know what we all thought we were trying to prove back there,” she went on, waving her hand behind her, “other than to make Charles sweat and punish him in some way. It’s my fault entirely. The others thought I wanted to send Charles packing, and they went along with it.”
“We need Charles,” Yoko said softly.
“Yes, we do,” Annie said forcefully.
“I agree,” Myra said. “But we are going to have a few new rules this time around.”
“Do you believe Charles is not allowed to talk about whatever it was that went on over there by orders of Her Majesty, or was he pulling our leg?” Annie asked fretfully.
“Charles never lies. Rather than tell a lie, he simply says nothing. The fact that he even offered up the explanation makes it all ring true. Whatever went on over there, we are never going to know about it, so we had better get used to the idea,” Myra said.
“Does that mean you are moving back into the main house, Myra?” Annie asked.
“It means no such thing. I’m more than comfortable right where I am, in the room next to yours. That’s not to say I won’t be…uh…moving back at some point in the future. Then again, I may never move back in. I’m not that same person who followed Charles to England.”
“I see that,” Annie said, with a twinkle in her eye.
“I see that, too,” Yoko added, giggling.
“I wonder what’s for dinner,” Myra said as she linked one arm with Annie and the other with Yoko.
“Barbara told me to do it,” Myra whispered to Annie.
“I know, dear. I actually heard her this time.”
“Oh, Annie, did you really?”
“Absolutely,” Annie lied with a straight face.
Up ahead, the sound of the door closing behind him sounded exceptionally loud, Charles thought as he walked through the main building that he and Myra had shared for so long. He stopped, dropped his duffel bag, and looked around. He struggled to figure out what was different but couldn’t quite hone in on what it was. Everything was neat and tidy. There were fresh flowers in a vase on the coffee table. There was no sign of dust. The windows sparkled.
Charles picked up his duffel bag and walked into the war room. Again, it was neat and tidy, the computers were on, the clocks were working. No sign of disarray anywhere. He flinched at the emptiness. He continued his journey down the hall to the suite he shared with Myra. And that’s when he knew what was different. Myra had moved her things out of the suite. He tossed his oversize duffel on the bed and hurried to the closet. All he could see were empty hangers. There were no shoes on the floor. No boxes on the overhead shelf. His eyes burning, he stepped into the huge closet and saw his own clothing at the far end, all enclosed in garment bags. When he’d left, his things had been hanging loosely on hangers. Someone, probably Myra, not knowing when or if he would return, had hung them in zippered garment bags. His shoes were in boxes instead of on the shoe trees. He swiped at his eyes before he looked over at the dresser where Myra kept the jewelry box in which she put her pearls every night. The box was gone, the dresser bare, save his own hairbrush and his own small box for cuff links. His things were now encased in a plastic bag. He bit down on his lower lip as he made his way to the bathroom.
It was a large bathroom, the kind any woman would love, and Myra had loved this bathroom, with the built-in Jacuzzi and the shower, with the seventeen different heads that shot out steaming hot water from all angles. The vanity held only his things on the right side, again encased in plastic bags. The left side, Myra’s side, was bare as a bone. He opened the linen closet to see a stack of hunter green towels that were enclosed in a zippered bag. Myra’s fluffy yellow towels were gone, as were all her sundries. Only his remained, encased in plastic. Suddenly he had a hate on for plastic.
His eyes still burning, Charles walked back into the bedroom, and this time he noticed that the comforter on the bed was different. When he’d left, there had been a green-and-yellow appliquéd tulip spread with matching pillows. Now a darkish green and brown comforter was on the bed, and there were no matching pillows. It looked depressing. He realized then how alone he was. He hated the feeling. He swiped at his eyes again. Sometimes, life just wasn’t fair. He wondered if it would ever be fair again.
Charles