Take Down (The Men of the Sisterhood)

by Fern Michaels

  And Cooper wasn’t offering up a greeting.

  Something’s wrong.

  Jack moved then, quicker than he’d ever moved in his life. He took the steps three at a time and banged on the door with both fists, shouting Harry’s name at the top of his lungs. When the door opened immediately, he lost his balance and fell right into Harry’s arms. “What the hell! Jesus, Harry, I thought you were dead or something! What the hell is going on? Why didn’t Cooper bark? Where’s Yoko? Are you guys being held hostage? Talk to me before I beat the living shit out of you, Harry. I mean it. Why are you looking at me like that? Your eyes are round. You need to talk to me like now!”

  “You want some tea, Jack?” Harry asked in the strangest voice Jack had ever heard.

  “No, I don’t want any damn tea, Harry. What I want is to know what’s going on. Where’s Yoko?”

  “I’m here, Jack,” Yoko said, appearing out of nowhere. “Are you sure you wouldn’t like some tea?”

  “I don’t want any tea. Maybe you can tell me what’s going on here. Your husband, my best friend in the whole world, is acting like . . . hell, I don’t know what he’s acting like. And you, Yoko, are starting to scare me. Where’s Lily? Where’s Cooper? If one of you doesn’t talk to me right now, I’m going to bust this place up on the count of three.”

  Lily took that moment to bound into the room, followed by Cooper. Jack knew his sigh could be heard all the way downstairs. The little family was okay physically.

  “Did you come to tell me good-bye, Uncle Jack? Are you going to miss me?”

  Thinking the little girl was talking about his own trip, he missed the eye exchange between Yoko and Harry. “I won’t be gone long. I’ll be back before you know it, and when I do get back, I’ll have lots and lots of presents for you and Cooper.”

  “You’re silly, Uncle Jack. That’s not right, what you said. When I come back, I will bring presents for you and Aunt Nikki. Cooper is going away, back home, because he has a new job. Daddy, tell Uncle Jack about Cooper’s new job. See all his stuff by the door? Cooper’s ready to go after I go. He did his job. See how silly that is, Uncle Jack.”

  “Harryyyyyy.”

  As Harry led Jack into the kitchen, he could hear Yoko speaking softly to Lily, asking her if she was sure she had everything she wanted to take with her.

  Harry pushed Jack down onto one of the kitchen chairs, his hands on the arms pinning Jack in place. “Yoko and I should have told you. We didn’t because we knew this would be your reaction. I’m sorry for that, Jack. I know you aren’t going to understand what I’m about to tell you, but Yoko and I both ask that you at least try to understand, and to take our feelings into consideration. Right now, Yoko and I are both . . . saddened beyond belief that we are sending our little girl away. We knew this day would come the day she was born. We’ve talked about it with Lily from day one, so she would understand when the day arrived. Believe it or not, she understands. She’s handling it better than Yoko and I. Even Cooper understands.

  “Speaking of Cooper, you have to remember the strange encounter we had with him when we went to Julie Wyatt’s in Rosemont, Alabama, when Julie’s granddaughter Olivia said her spirit daddy had told her that Cooper was to go with me because he had a job to do. His job was to look after Lily until it was time for her to . . . to leave. You remember that, don’t you, Jack?”

  All Jack could do was shake his head yes.

  “Two days ago, Cooper started piling his stuff up by the front door. He knew it was time to go before we knew it. But Lily knew. She started packing up all her junk. Or her treasures, as she calls them. Then Julie Wyatt called and said she had a dream that it was time to pick up Cooper. I don’t know how all that happened, Jack. I’m driving to Atlanta with Cooper after Lily leaves. Julie will meet me there. Halfway for each of us.

  “Lily is going to Shaolin Monastery or, as it is sometimes called, the Shaolin Temple. It’s a Chan Buddhist temple on Mount Song, near Dengfeng, Zhengzhou, Henan province, China. It is led by Abbot Shi Yongxin. It was founded in the fifth century. It has been long known for its association with Chinese martial arts, and particularly Shaolin Kung Fu. It is also one of the best-known Mahayana Buddhist monasteries in the world. I lived there, Jack. I promised in an oath of blood that all my children would be given up to them to train as I was. Boys or girls, it doesn’t matter. I am who I am today because of the monks who loved and taught me. I know you don’t believe me, but Lily will love it there, as I did.

  “And before you can ask, yes, it is killing me and Yoko that we are sending our baby girl away, but it is our way, Jack. I would kill myself before I would break the promise I made to the monks. Just so you know.”

  Jack struggled to find his voice. “But, Harry, she’s so little. She needs you and her mother. You’re right, I don’t understand.”

  “I was the same age Lily is now when I was sent there. My parents were so proud of me. I missed them, of course, but that was the life I was destined for; even as a child I knew that, as did my parents.

  “Cooper . . . Cooper was sent, we believe, to remind us of this day. Jack, I can’t explain it any better than I have. It will be okay. Today, things are more modern. Lily will be able to Skype us once a month. We can visit once a year, but we have to go there. She cannot leave until it is time for her to leave.”

  “Promise me something, Harry,” Jack said, his head reeling with all that Harry had told him.

  “What?”

  “That I can go with you when you go to see her, and that you’ll let me know the day you plan to Skype.”

  “Deal!” Harry said, his hand outstretched. His face contorted into something that was supposed to be a smile. Jack’s own smile was sickly.

  The front doorbell of the dojo rang. Yoko came on the run, Lily right behind her, with Cooper bringing up the rear.

  It was time.

  Jack felt sick to his stomach as he stood on the side and watched what he later described as the send-off.

  Lily, dressed in a cherry-red coat with a white faux-fur collar, kissed her mother and father, her eyes bright and sparkly. She didn’t dwell on her good-byes. She hugged Jack and made him promise not to forget her. Jack, his eyes wet, nodded. But it was with Cooper that the little girl spent the most time. She hugged him, rubbed his belly, then whispered something in his ear that took a good two minutes. When she was finished, Cooper backed up a few steps and barked three times. Lily smiled and gave the dog another hug before she headed for the door and the people who would take her to China and her new life.

  They looked like gentle, caring people, with kind eyes and happy smiles. Lily reached up for the leader’s hand and said, “I’m ready. ’Bye, Mummie and Daddy. I will always love you, Cooper.”

  The door closed. Cooper lay down across the length of the doorstep and put his big head on his paws.

  Yoko shrieked her misery. Harry ran after her.

  Left alone, Jack dropped to his haunches and stared at Cooper. “Listen, big guy, I’m not into dog speak, but I need to know how, what, and when. And add why to my list.” Cooper opened one eye and looked at Jack just long enough for a thought to enter Jack’s mind. The thought was that Julie Wyatt’s daughter Connie was due to give birth to a baby boy, and Cooper had a new job to do.

  “Well, damn! And double damn!”

  Cooper barked. Jack swore later, when he repeated the story to Nikki, that the big dog was grinning at him and he actually got it. And he did.

  Jack looked up to see Harry putting on his heavy jacket. “Gotta go, Jack. Yoko is staying here. She said she needs some alone time. Cooper is in a hurry. By the way, I forgot to tell you: Julie Wyatt’s daughter Connie is due to have her baby tomorrow if things go off on schedule.”

  “Yeah, I know,” Jack said. “Cooper just told me. Let’s not either of us go there, Harry, okay?”

  “My thoughts exactly,” Harry said.

  Cooper barked.

  “Need any help with his gear?”
r />   “Nah, I got it. Enjoy your vacation, Jack. You earned it.”

  “Yeah, yeah. Listen, if you need me, call, and I’m on the next plane, okay?”

  “Yep.”

  “You’re in charge of the BOLO deal.”

  “Yep.”

  “See ya, Harry.”

  “Yep.”

  About the Author

  FERN MICHAELS is the USA Today and New York Times bestselling author of the Sisterhood and Godmothers series and dozens of other novels and novellas. There are over seventy-five million copies of her books in print. Fern Michaels has built and funded several large day-care centers in her hometown, and is a passionate animal lover who has outfitted police dogs across the country with special bulletproof vests. She shares her home in South Carolina with her four dogs and a resident ghost named Mary Margaret.

  Visit her website at fernmichaels.com.

  KISS AND TELL

  In this page-turning new novel in her beloved

  Sisterhood series, New York Times bestselling author

  Fern Michaels pits the indomitable Vigilantes against

  a corrupt and ruthless billionaire . . .

  All good things must come to an end.

  Even the women of the Sisterhood—

  the stalwart sorority that has helped to right

  so many wrongs—have been content to let their

  gold shields gather a little dust while they enjoy

  friends, family, and the comforts of civilian life.

  But the group’s leaders, Myra Rutledge

  and her best friend, Annie de Silva, remain as vital

  and feisty as ever. So when a string of anonymous

  e-mails arrives at Pinewood suggesting shady

  dealings at a local assisted-living facility,

  the two immediately set out to investigate.

  Emanuel Macklin, the financial wizard behind

  the sprawling, high-end senior complex,

  has amassed a private fortune that would make

  Fort Knox look like spare change. But the hefty

  returns Macklin promises his investors may be

  garnered at others’ expense. In fact, Macklin’s

  entire enterprise is one enormous Ponzi scheme

  that’s about to collapse—taking the life savings

  of thousands of innocents with it. Myra and Annie

  know this is a mission tailor made for their brand

  of justice, but they’ll need to enlist some new

  and untested allies. And even as they set out to

  foil one of their most cunning adversaries to date,

  Myra faces a personal challenge that will rock the

  Sisterhood to the core . . .

  A FAMILY AFFAIR

  From #1 New York Times bestselling author

  Fern Michaels comes a captivating and heartfelt new novel,

  as a young dancer finds an unexpected partner—

  and gains the courage to live according to her heart . . .

  In a city built on dreams, Trisha Holiday makes her

  living moving like one. But out of her dancer’s

  costume, she’s as down-to-earth as they come.

  That’s why she ignores the admiring note—

  and the accompanying $1,000 bill—that arrives

  backstage after one of her ethereal performances.

  Yet the sender, a wealthy foreign prince,

  isn’t easily dissuaded. Seven years living and

  studying in the United States have made Malik

  long for the freedom to choose his own bride—

  and the woman he wants is Trisha.

  After a breathtaking visit to Malik’s kingdom

  culminates in a marriage proposal, Trish attempts

  to adjust to an opulent new lifestyle complete with

  servants, sumptuous surroundings, and vast wealth.

  None of that matters to Trish as much as Malik’s love.

  With Malik’s sister Soraya proving a trusted new

  friend, they plan a lavish wedding surpassing

  anything she could have imagined.

  Yet Trish’s new life will have challenges too—

  adjusting to a new and complex culture,

  to the myriad demands of Malik’s royal position,

  and to the expectations she faces as his wife.

  In the midst of her own major changes,

  Trish vows to help her sister, Emma, whose marriage

  has ended in a bitter breakup. And through it all,

  Trish will strive to stay true to what matters most—

  love, true friendship, and the ties that hold family

  together across the miles and the years.

  PICTURE PERFECT

  Lost in the Woods

  Pediatrician Lorrie Ryan has been looking forward

  to camping with her seven-year-old nephew, Davey.

  It’s a chance to let the fragile, sheltered boy spend

  time away from his nervous, overprotective parents

  and have the adventure he’s always wanted.

  But in the lush, verdant woods, Lorrie never imagines

  that they are not alone . . . or that their idyllic trip

  will soon become a chilling nightmare of survival . . .

  In one terrifying moment, Davey disappears.

  The local police find no trace of him,

  and a desperate Lorrie turns to the one man

  who can help—FBI agent Stuart Saunders.

  Now, the hunt is on for a child growing weaker

  by the minute . . . and a cruel predator whose twisted

  game of cat and mouse has only just begun . . .

  ZEBRA BOOKS are published by

  Kensington Publishing Corp.

  119 West 40th Street

  New York, NY 10018

  Copyright © 2014 by Fern Michaels

  Fern Michaels is a registered trademark of KAP 5, Inc.

  This book is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents either are products of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, events, or locales is entirely coincidental.

  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.

  First Electronic Edition: September 2014

  ISBN: 978-1-4201-3497-1

  Published in the United States of America