ZEBRA BOOKS

       KENSINGTON PUBLISHING CORP.

      http://www.zebrabooks.com

      ZEBRA BOOKS are published by

      Kensington Publishing Corp.

       850 Third Avenue

       New York, NY 10022

      Copyright © 2008 by Fern Michaels

      All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced in any form or by any means without the prior written consent of the Publisher, excepting brief quotes used in reviews.

      Zebra and the Z logo Reg. U.S. Pat. & TM Off.

      ISBN: 9781420137224

      Contents

      Chapter 1

      Chapter 2

      Chapter 3

      Chapter 4

      Chapter 5

      Chapter 6

      Chapter 7

      Chapter 8

      Chapter 9

      Chapter 10

      Chapter 11

      Chapter 12

      Chapter 13

      Chapter 14

      Chapter 15

      Chapter 16

      Chapter 17

      Chapter 18

      Chapter 19

      Chapter 20

      Chapter 21

      Chapter 22

      Chapter 23

      Chapter 24

      Epilogue

      Chapter 1

      Big Pine Mountain

       North Carolina

      It was a fortresslike compound. A training ground. Of sorts. State-of-the-art. First-class accommodations. In the spook world of covert operations and espionage, it was beyond anything the CIA or the FBI could think of. The only facility that came remotely close was NORAD on Cheyenne Mountain in Colorado and was maintained by the government of the United States. Thanks to the taxpayers of the good old US of A. In the interests of security, the only accesses to the site on Big Pine Mountain were by helicopter and cable car.

      The women, also known as the vigilantes, clustered together in the dark, their eyes on the helicopter pad and the platform that housed the cable car that had gone missing an hour ago. Off in the distance they could hear the whump-whump of helicopter blades. Company was coming, and the women knew it wasn’t a social visit. Then they heard the screeching sound of the cable car coming up the mountain. They jostled one another for a better look in the rain-filled, pitch-black darkness.

      Isabelle Flanders craned her neck. “A perfect evening for late-night visitors of the clandestine kind. Who do you think they are?”

      “Probably the kind of people Charles doesn’t want us to see or meet before he sets things up. This is just a guess on my part, but I think they’re our next employers,” Nikki Quinn said.

      “We could go outside instead of hiding indoors and see for ourselves. I for one like to know what’s going on, especially if it involves me. Or us as a whole. Charles is big on need-to-know where we’re concerned. I think I need to know,” the ever-verbal Kathryn Lucas said.

      Alexis Thorne weighed in, “It would be nice if just once we bested Sir Charles, now, wouldn’t it? By one-upping him, I think we could take the visitors down with one eye closed and our hands tied behind our backs. A preemptive strike, so to speak. Or if you don’t like that, we can strut our stuff to let them see who they’re dealing with. Whatcha think, girls?”

      Yoko Akia looked around. “Two of our posse are missing. Myra’s in the main house, and I haven’t seen Annie since around ten o’clock, when she said she was going to bed early. Don’t we need to confer with them? Personally, I love the idea.”

      The women as one shrugged. Nikki took the high road, lawyer that she was, and said, “They’re going to be really pissed if we act without them. I say we call them on their cell phones and tell them to meet up with us right here. But be quick, the helicopter is about to land. The cable car is almost here.”

      Kathryn was already speaking on her cell. She nodded to the others, meaning the two older women were on the way.

      “What about Charles?” Alexis asked. “I’m sure he’s going to be doing the meet and greet.”

      “I say we take him out first. It’s the last thing he’ll be expecting. If we’re to believe our own PR, we’re the best of the best. Let’s prove it,” Kathryn said.

      The door to the women’s quarters opened silently. The dogs, Murphy and Grady, growled softly but didn’t move.

      “It’s raining,” Annie de Silva said.

      “We’re taking Charles out first. You in or out?” Nikki asked coolly.

      “In,” Myra said in a shaky voice.

      Annie’s whoop of pleasure was her “in” vote.

      “Then let’s do it, ladies,” Kathryn said.

      The women held a quick whispered conversation, then moved out into the dark night, the dogs leading the way. The steady whump-whump of the helicopter was so close it was deafening. It also masked the sound of the cable car sliding into its nest on the platform’s well-greased tracks.

      The pungent