8. Hide and Seek

by Fern Michaels

Maggie was about to turn the key in the ignition when she remembered she was supposed to change the license plates. She hopped out and did so with all good speed, and then she was on her way to town and the Willard. The cell phone that she’d tossed onto the passenger seat chirped all the way to the Willard. Ted. She leaned over and turned off the phone. Ted was the last person she wanted to talk to right now. Maybe never again.

  What, she wondered, was going on inside the hospital? She burst out laughing. Something only the vigilantes could pull off, that was for sure. She could hardly wait to see the evening news to find out what it was.

  Chapter 31

  The special agent outside Director Riley’s door knocked, waited and then opened the door when the director said he could enter. “Sir, Agent Melrose just called. I wanted to give you a heads-up since I know how worried you’ve been about your family. Your wife and daughter are downstairs and are coming up to have dinner with you. In fact, Mrs. Riley ordered dinner for the whole staff. And your new private-duty nurse is on her way up. She’ll be in to check on you before they serve dinner.”

  Riley turned rigid at the agent’s report. Dinner? Alice and his daughter? The new nurse? What was wrong with this picture? The only thing he could think of to say was, “Did anyone check the food, Hunter?” It would be just like his stupid wife to try and poison him.

  “I’m sure someone did. Your wife ordered the dinners from the Occidental. For fine dining, it doesn’t get any better than that, sir. The catering van is right outside the entrance. Dennison said he called the restaurant, right after your wife called, to make sure it was all legitimate, and they told him Mrs. Riley placed the order at four o’clock. She told the staff at the restaurant it was a celebration dinner. Is something wrong, sir?”

  “It would be nice to know where the hell my wife and daughter have been all this time. Did anyone think to ask?”

  “Yes, sir, we did ask. Your wife said she couldn’t stand the smell of the manure in the driveway so she took her daughter to a hotel. She said she didn’t know anyone was looking for her. It seems the hotel has tons of videos and your daughter loves watching them. Mrs. Riley said she didn’t read any papers or watch any television. We did check it out, sir, and she was staying at the Willard.”

  “The Willard!” Riley barked. “Do you know what a room there costs? More than I make in a week.”

  “Sir, it wasn’t a room, it was a suite. Mrs. Riley said she always wanted to stay at the Willard. Will there be anything else?”

  “No. Send the goddamn nurse in here. I need another shot, I’m starting to itch again.”

  “Yes, sir!”

  Agent Hunter closed the door and wiped at his perspiring brow. His partner grinned. “Another hour and the old man is someone else’s headache. Wonder what’s for dinner.”

  “Whatever it is, it will be better than the egg salad sandwiches we’ve been getting from the coffee shop. What time is the wife due up here?”

  Hunter looked at his watch. “Momentarily.”

  Then, like all good FBI agents, Hunter proceeded to talk into his sleeve, his eyeballs rolling for his partner’s benefit. “Food’s here,” he said, smacking his hands together. “Well, holy shit, would you look at what the director drew for his late-night-shift nurse!”

  Hunter’s partner eyeballed the long-legged, flame-haired beauty sashaying down the hall toward them.

  “I don’t think Mrs. Riley is going to like this very much,” Hunter mumbled.

  “Nope. But the director will,” his partner smirked.

  Kathryn Lucas, aka Nurse Evelyn Evans, stopped in front of the two agents, Director Riley’s chart in one hand, a medical bag in the other. “Good evening, gentlemen. I’m the director’s evening nurse. Do you need to…uh…frisk me or…something?”

  “No, ma’am. Our detail cleared you on the first floor. The director is waiting. I believe he’s got a severe itch.”

  Kathryn offered up a roguish wink. “So do I, Agent. I’ll call you if I need you.”

  “I’ll be here,” Agent Hunter said with a sappy look on his face.

  No you won’t, you idiot. Two bites of your food and you’ll be asleep for twenty-four hours. Better men than you have been brought down by a woman. Welcome to our little world.

  Kathryn opened the door to Director Riley’s room and offered up a megawatt smile. She tossed the flaming red hair as she strutted toward the bed, her hand outstretched. “Director, I’m Evelyn Evans, your night nurse. Now, tell me, what can I do for you? Your agent outside said you’re experiencing some discomfort. Is the itch worse?”

  Riley sucked in his breath. He wondered what he had done to deserve such a looker. His weakness had always been red hair, green eyes and milky-white skin. He marveled again that he had ever married Alice. But he knew why: because she fit the profile of an FBI agent’s wife.

  “At times it’s worse. They still don’t know what caused it. Does it say anything on that report?”

  Kathryn wagged her finger. “No, no, none of that, Director. Only the doctor can speak to you on that. It says here you have another half hour to go before you get your next shot. That will work because your wife and daughter are on their way up to share dinner with you. By the time you’re finished with your dinner it will be time for your shot. Is there anything else I can do for you before I tidy up the room?”

  “No, no, I’m fine. Sit down. I like to talk to my nurses. You can tidy up later.”

  Kathryn walked over to the only chair in the room and sat down. Her short white skirt hiked up to midthigh. She knew in her gut Riley was likening her pose to the one Sharon Stone had made famous. “What would you like to talk about, Director?” she asked, looking at her watch.

  Riley adjusted the sheet that covered his lower extremities. This was the first time since coming down with whatever the hell was wrong with him that he felt any kind of desire and he was rapidly getting a hard-on. He squirmed and settled on his side to hide his erection. “Do you have a family, Ms. Evans?”

  “A mom and a dad, three brothers, all cops, and two sisters who are schoolteachers. I’m not married. I like to think I’m married to my career. I love being able to help sick people. It’s so rewarding. And the money is very good.”

  Riley squirmed some more. “I didn’t think nurses generally made much money.”

  “They don’t. I specialize and make more.”

  “What’s your specialty?” he asked curiously. Suddenly he felt uncomfortable at the way she was looking at him.

  “Rich old men.”

  Riley’s eyebrows shot upward. “Well, that’s being honest. I’m not a rich old man so does that mean you’re settling for me? The Bureau isn’t known for its generosity.”

  “I know,” Kathryn said sweetly. “The Bureau isn’t paying me. It seems you have friends in the private sector willing to pay my fee. It is a fee, Director.”

  “You’ll have to tell me who my generous benefactors are so I can properly thank them when I get out of here.” For some reason his stomach suddenly felt like it was tied in a knot.

  “I can’t do that, Director. Oh, I think I hear your dinner arriving. That has to mean your family is here. I’ll leave you alone for now but I’ll be right outside if you need me.”

  “Before you leave, Ms. Evans, can you pick up my call button?”

  “Well, I suppose I could but I really don’t feel like it right now. Maybe when I get back I’ll do it,” she said, and then she left.

  Riley drew back into his nest of pillows at his nurse’s cool words. He leaned over and struggled to reach the wire that was flat on the floor. There was no way he could reach it.

  Riley could hear conversation outside the room, but he couldn’t distinguish the words. He couldn’t wait to get his hands around his wife’s scrawny neck. What the hell was going on out there? He noticed his erection was nothing but a memory. He bellowed his displeasure.

  Kathryn poked her head in the door. “There will be none of that, Director R
iley. You are to speak calmly and rationally to me. I will not tolerate blustering and bellowing. If you continue to displease me, that shot you’re waiting for will be delayed. Do we understand each other, Director Riley?”

  “Send my wife in here right now,” Riley bellowed.

  Kathryn looked over at the two agents who were doing their best to keep their eyes open as they balanced their food trays in their laps. Nikki grinned as she held up one finger, meaning another minute and both agents would be down for the count.

  The women ignored Director Riley as they leaned against the wall and waited. Together the three women dragged both agents to the nurse’s station around the corner. The two on-duty floor nurses were sleeping peacefully, their heads on the counter. Together, the women laid them all on the floor with pillows taken from the empty rooms under their heads. Yoko ran back to one of the rooms for blankets.

  “They’re comfortable,” Kathryn said. “It will probably be the best sleep any of them have had in weeks. Well, time to beard the lion, ladies. By the way, everything you’ve heard about this guy is spot-on. He’s a bastard. And, he’s still itching.” She shouldered the door so that Nikki, who was holding a tray of food, could go through first, Yoko right behind her.

  “Hello, honey!” Nikki said.

  “Hello, Daddy,” Yoko said.

  Riley bolted upright when Kathryn also entered the room and closed the door behind her. He started to thrash around in the bed but Yoko hopped onto the bed and had his arms pinned within seconds. Nikki set down the tray on the floor while Kathryn whipped a hypodermic needle out of her pocket. She waved it around, a huge smile on her face.

  “What the hell is going on here?” Riley blustered, his eyes never leaving the needle in Kathryn’s hands. “You aren’t my wife! Where is she? Oh, Christ, I know who you are! Hunter! Get your ass in here! Cooper!” The director’s voice was so shrill, Kathryn covered her ears. She walked over to the bed and cuffed him on the side of the head. Riley cursed, his legs thrashing every which way. Yoko held tight to his wrists with her powerful hands.

  Nikki raised her hand. “How’s this for an offhand guess? We’re the vigilantes!”

  “We have your files, Mister Director,” Kathryn said. “As we speak, they are being viewed by a reporter from the Post. Think Deep Throat, Mister Director. I think you might make the news by this time tomorrow. Of course, you’ll be in custody by then, so you might not appreciate it.”

  Rage, unlike anything the women had ever seen, erupted as Riley fought with Yoko. Nikki grabbed one leg, Kathryn the other, as he cursed, then bellowed like a bull, spittle foaming at the corners of his mouth.

  “Why are you doing this to me? I’ll see all of you in a federal penitentiary.”

  Kathryn bopped him on the side of his head again. “I thought I told you to be quiet. Why? You have the audacity to ask why? Because of those bogus files you had stored at your house. The files your wife turned over to us. You were more than willing to ruin hundreds of people’s lives just so you could become director of the FBI. Judge Easter. Your old lover Lizzie Fox. District Attorney Emery and Harry Wong, to name just a few. Let’s not forget Senator Donner and hundreds of others. The press is going to have a field day with you, Mister Director. The humiliation alone will be unbearable. You better hope there’s some dumb lawyer out there who will be willing to take you on pro bono.”

  Nikki let loose of the director’s leg and went into the bathroom for a washcloth. She stuffed it into his mouth. The sudden silence was deafening.

  “Who’s watching the time?” Yoko queried.

  “I am and it’s running out. Kathryn, get the tape,” Nikki said. She quickly yanked up the bed rails as Kathryn removed two rolls of duct tape from her medical bag. Within minutes they had their prisoner taped to the rails of the bed.

  Yoko hopped off the bed. “Three minutes. Do we wipe down everything?”

  Nikki looked at Kathryn, who whipped out a can of Clorox Wipes. When they were finished wiping, she stuffed them back into the medical bag. She fished another one out when she noticed the food tray on the floor.

  “What about the other food trays and the nurse’s station? One minute.”

  “The food trays are gone. Jack and Harry were supposed to take care of the nurse’s station and the door handles. We didn’t touch anything else,” Kathryn said.

  “Wait! Mister Director, you wanted to know about your medical condition. It’s fiberglass. We went to your house and rubbed it in all your clothes and on your towels. Don’t thank us, it was our pleasure. We penetrated the FBI’s security of the director himself. I’d say we should get a gold star for that little feat, and we’re the reason you’re where you are right now.”

  “We’re minus one minute,” Yoko said. “The elevator is on hold. Hurry!”

  The women ran down the hallway to the elevator where the doors stood open. A second later they were on their way to the ground level.

  “Minus four minutes,” Yoko said calmly as they ran through the hospital zones to reach the police car waiting outside. They skidded to a stop when Jack and Harry appeared. Tears flooded Nikki’s eyes. Jack waved her on, his face miserable.

  Yoko rushed forward to kiss Harry soundly before she sprinted forward.

  The police cruiser, driven by Special Agent Bert Navarro, appeared, blue lights flashing, siren wailing.

  Jack Emery, his eyes burning, looked around as though he expected something to happen. Nothing did.

  “Buy you a beer, Harry?”

  “I hate you, Jack.”

  “I know, Harry. I hate you, too. I’m buying.”

  Hands jammed in their pockets, the two men sauntered across the parking lot and out to the street where they hailed a cab. Neither man looked back.

  “You think we’ll get arrested, Jack?”

  “Nah. Remember, we have friends in high places. Very high places. I’m thinking, Harry, maybe we should take a vacation and head for that little spread I own in Montana. Whatcha think?”

  “Why?”

  “Would it help you to make up your mind if I told you there will be two very lovely ladies waiting for us? I have here in my pocket two first-class tickets to Montana, compliments of one Charles Martin.”

  Harry sighed as he grinned from ear to ear. “It would definitely help a lot.”

  “Then let’s go.”

  Miles away, at the airport, Kathryn, Nikki and Yoko raced toward a silver Gulfstream. On the opposite runway, a second sleek Gulfstream waited, jets roaring.

  A man who none of the women recognized diverted Nikki and Yoko, motioning them toward the second waiting plane.

  “Go! Go!” Myra and the others shouted so they could be heard above the roar of the jet’s engines.

  Nikki and Yoko looked startled but obeyed the instructions. “What happened? Why the diversion? What’s going on?” Nikki gasped as she struggled to get her breath.

  The unidentified man shouted, “This plane is going to Montana.”

  “All right!” Nikki and Yoko shouted at the same time as they galloped up the portable stairway.

  The plane was taxiing down the runway just as the heavy door was locked into place. Kathyrn ran to board the jet holding her other sisters.

  Minutes later, one Gulfstream was flying west, the other east.

  The women aboard the first Gulfstream clapped their hands in approval.

  Myra adjusted her seat belt. “Well done, girls. Nikki and Yoko will be back with us on the mountain in seven days.”

  Kathryn looked around at the girls. “Damn straight, we did good. We beat out the FBI. I can’t wait to read our reviews.”

  “Time to go home, ladies. Charles said he has a surprise for us,” Myra said.

  “I hope it’s one of his special dinners. I’m sick and tired of eating crackers and jelly,” Alexis said.

  “Let’s all take a nap. Wake us when we get home,” Isabelle said.

  “We will, dear. One more time, girls. You all did wonderfully.
Charles said to tell you he’s proud of you.”

  “I don’t think they care, Myra. Look, they’re already asleep.”

  “So, Annie, how did you like this little caper?”

  “Loved it, just loved it. But I hope you and I have a more active role the next time.”

  “Count on it.”

  Epilogue

  Two weeks later…

  Considering that it was a command performance of sorts, Judge Easter thought the room and the courtesy being shown her and her little group were fitting. She ushered the group to a large, scarred table where coffee, pastries and juice were set out for them.

  Nellie’s voice dropped to a soft whisper. “Remember now, I do all the talking. We discussed this on the way in. Always remember, the less said, the better. I want us all to walk away free and clear with no interference in our lives. Lizzie, pour the coffee, please.”

  The door to the windowless room opened suddenly. The newly appointed FBI Director, with three men who looked like poster boys for the FBI, entered the room. “No, no, don’t get up,” Elias Cummings said.

  He was a comfortable, capable-looking man with gray-white hair and steely eyes to match. He had wrinkles and a ruddy-looking complexion. He looked to be the same age as Judge Easter. Dressed casually, he was still a commanding presence.

  Nellie eyeballed the director and gave a brief nod. She was a commanding presence herself and she knew it. Right now, she held all the cards, and the man standing in front of her knew it, too.

  The director stepped over to the table. “Thank you all for coming. Let me say right off that the Bureau appreciates your cooperation. I want to assure you that what is said here today will never leave this room. For starters, we’re off the record here. We’re just a group of people discussing an unfortunate incident.”

  Nellie nodded in agreement as she rose to the occasion. “For now, Director.” She wasn’t sure but she thought the director flinched at those three little words. Good. This man needed to know right now that she and the others were not pushovers. FBI or not.