Sara hoped that when she slipped between the thousand-thread-count Egyptian cotton sheets and laid her head on the downy pillow that had once been on Andy’s bed back in Tulsa, Oklahoma, she would dream about Andy. Still, to this day, she would from time to time, spritz a dab of his favorite aftershave onto the pillow. She loved drifting off to sleep savoring Andy’s scent next to her cheek.
Sara sighed. Tomorrow was going to be a wonderful new day for her. She could feel it in every bone of her body.
Chapter 14
Avery Snowden slapped at the corner of his eye to ward off a nervous tick that had been plaguing him for almost a week. He hated it when the tick attacked him, because it meant he had failed and was returning to Pinewood virtually empty-handed. Until now, the word failure was not in his vocabulary. Unsuccessful. He and his team had been on the job for almost ten days by this time, and he had so little to show for his and his team’s efforts that he wanted to smash something. Nothing . . . nothing at all . . . should be this hard. Yes, every case had its downside, as well as an upside, but this . . . this mess had only a downside. No upside at all. In his opinion. His team was just as upset and frustrated as he was. For all the good it was doing any of them.
Snowden pressed the button on his oversize SUV to lower the window, but he didn’t enter the pass code that would open Myra’s gate to admit him. He should be sitting here on top of the world with a briefcase full of information that would help the Sisters solve their case. Did he have a briefcase full of such information? No. He. Did. Not! Not even close.
A gust of damp autumn air slammed at him through the open window. For some strange, ungodly reason, he felt himself backing up the SUV, and he had no idea why he was doing it. Fear? Anxiety? Alien words to him. Damn, what the hell is wrong with me this evening?
Snowden leaned his head out the window but immediately pulled it back in. There were too many crazies out there to allow himself to be vulnerable. He didn’t move the SUV forward, though. His gaze swiveled to the dense, well-tended forest that surrounded Myra’s farmhouse. There could be a dozen crazies lurking in there, and he’d never know it unless he put on his tactical gear. He knew that someone could be hiding there, surveilling the farmhouse, because he’d done it himself.
Snowden leaned forward to stare out at the horizon. It was almost dark. In just about five more minutes, the world would be like black velvet. It was so easy to hide in the dark. The fine hairs on the back of his neck moved. Why weren’t the dogs barking? Lady always knew when he was at the gate. Once she barked to alert the family someone was approaching, her pups took up the cry and started to yammer at the top of their lungs. The fine hairs on the back of his neck moved again. He sat still, rigid actually, as he wondered if Annie was creeping up on him, with the gun that she was never without, rock steady in her hands. It had happened before, so if it happened again, like now, he wouldn’t be surprised. The Sisters wanted results, and ten whole days had gone by with him and his team acquiring little to no information. His stomach felt like it was curdling.
Of course, he wasn’t returning here to Pinewood totally empty-handed. He did have reams of paper, forms, contracts, legal this and not so legal that. Everything in the military was either hurry up and wait or fill it out in triplicate, then in triplicate again because you were given the wrong forms the first time around. He had eleven banker boxes filled to the brim so tight he’d had to use duct tape to seal the covers. And that was just Sara Windsor’s stuff. That woman had to be the busiest person in the universe. There were another nine cartons alongside Sara’s stuff that related solely to Major Andrew Nolan. There were only two padded manila envelopes that contained information on Bella Ames Nolan, Major Nolan’s widow.
Snowden shook his head to clear his thoughts. He was about to press in the four digits on the keypad that would allow the massive gates to move so he could drive through when his cell phone chirped. “Snowden!” He barked a greeting, hoping against hope that the call would contain some good news. He listened, his jaw dropping. Finally, he managed to get a word in to his operative on the other end of the phone. “Get here as soon as you can. Just tell me one thing. Are you totally, one hundred percent sure about all this? Because if you are, it means we’ve hit the mother lode?”
The voice on the other end of the phone assured Snowden the information he had was pure gold, and he was less than twenty-five miles away and would be there as soon as traffic would allow.
The old spy’s shoulder’s slumped as he sighed in relief at his operative’s words. He squinted at the keypad before he pressed the numbers needed to gain entrance to Myra’s compound. He drove through the open gate and waited until it closed completely before driving to the lot where guests parked. With the engine running, he spent ten full minutes staring into the mini forest with his special night-vision goggles that turned the world green. He saw no heat signatures, which meant that other than wildlife, there was no one there who was trespassing and surveilling Myra’s farmhouse.
Snowden parked his SUV, climbed out, and made his way to the kitchen door, which opened just as he put his hand on the knob.
“What took you so long, Avery?” Annie barked. “Coffee?”
“I’m right on schedule, so don’t try throwing a guilt trip on me, and you know damn well I don’t drink coffee. Tea will do nicely, along with four sugars. If you’re having a bad day, get over it, because until ten minutes ago, mine was probably ten times worse than yours. So . . . let’s start over. I’m on time, I have good news and bad news, depending on your point of view. I could use the tea, like right now, if you don’t mind. I also do not want to go through my report until my man gets here. He’s the one bringing the good news. Does that work for you, Countess? By the way, where are the dogs? I didn’t hear even one bark.”
“They’re at the clinic. This is the week they get their yearly physicals, so they all go at the same time. Takes four days from start to finish, and this is only day three,” Myra said.
“Why are you so . . . grumpy, Avery?” Annie asked as she placed a cup of tea in front of the old spy.
Avery threw his hands in the air. “Until roughly twenty minutes ago, I was fit to be tied. I’ve had six operatives plus myself on this case for over ten days, and while I have a truckload of files, folders, contracts, you name it, I was bringing nothing here to help you on this mission. This woman . . . Sara whatever name she wants to go by, Major Nolan’s . . . I don’t even know what to call her. She’s no blood relative, but she lived with the major and his family and was treated as a sister even though she was not a blood relative to anyone in the Nolan household and certainly not to Major Nolan. Her life is so muddied and mucked up that none of us could make sense of it.”
“So what happened twenty minutes ago?” Isabelle asked, coming into the room. “I’m only asking because I’ve been trying to hack into her background, and I am about ready to pull my hair out. I don’t think it’s me. Even Abner, I’m thinking, would be having a hard time with this woman’s background and her life in general. I’ve gone through reams of paper, printing out some of her trails. I got so bogged down that I had to stop because I didn’t know if I was coming or going. We need to know the why of all this. She has hundreds of bank accounts, brokerage accounts, properties all over the country, not to mention a bunch of stuff offshore. I can’t do it anymore. It’s making me crazy. I’m not stupid, Abner taught me well. It’s her. She . . . she . . . she can’t be real and actually know what she’s doing. I don’t think a dozen people all working in tandem could figure her out and what she’s up to. I know I sound like I’m babbling, and I am, but . . . this is . . . is crazy. I don’t know what to do. I’m ready to ditch all of this.”
Snowden got up and paced Myra’s spacious kitchen. “Isabelle is right. Seven of us, myself included, are on my team, and we hit the same wall that Isabelle did. But . . . I think we’ll have a better understanding of things once my operative gets here. Somehow or other, he managed, with the help of
the other members of the team, to get something. He says it’s our answer, so we’ll just have to wait and see.”
Kathryn looked around at the group and groaned. “And if it isn’t what we need, then what do we do?”
“Start over would be my guess,” Alexis said. “I’m sorry I got us involved in this mess. I should have minded my own business that day in the restaurant. Poor Bella.”
“What’s the game plan for her? I’m referring to the major’s sister, or whatever she is,” Nikki asked irritably. “She got everything is my understanding. Isabelle said high millions. Sara whatever her name is got everything, and Bella got squat. Supposedly, it was all legal. That should be the beginning and the end of it, but it isn’t. Why?”
“The part I’m not getting is why did she steal Bella’s eggs from the fertility clinic? Spite? Jealousy. Neither makes sense. Where are those eggs now? Is she going to sell them? What for? It’s not like she needs the money. And the other thing is where is Major Nolan’s, um, sperm . . . I don’t know what to call it . . . deposit, donation, contribution? Who has it? Does she plan to match the major’s sperm with Bella’s eggs? Why? What for? I know nothing about stuff like this. Do any of you?” Yoko asked.
The Sisters looked at one another and admitted they knew nothing about how it all worked. “Why don’t we know where the major’s sperm is?” Maggie asked. “Did anyone ask Bella?”
“All she said to me was the major made the donation at a clinic, but she was never told the name of the clinic. We all assumed it was the same clinic in which she stored her eggs because the major recommended that particular clinic to her. The assumption is natural that it is the clinic he used, but there is no record of an account under his name,” Alexis said.
“Maybe he used an assumed name. Guys are funny about stuff like that. At least that’s what Ted told me. He said all college guys did it to make extra money. He said he did. Bella’s explanation was he did it in case something happened to him while he was deployed that made him unable to father a child. If that happened, at least his sperm would be safe and frozen. If that was his frame of mind at the time, then of course it makes sense. But why would he use another name?” Maggie asked.
“Dear, we are not sure the major used another name. He might have used another fertility clinic. Avery, did you or your people check any of the other clinics?” Myra asked.
“In the immediate area only, in a seventy-mile radius to be exact. The major has been all over the country, so he could have made his donation or deposit, whatever you want to call them, in any state, not just here in the District of Columbia area.
“We came up with nothing, which just about convinces me that he used an alias. Again, I cannot tell you why. The sister might know. Or maybe it was his own private secret. I don’t have the answer, but I think my people may have found it. They should be here in about ten minutes,” Avery said, looking down at his watch. He held his cup up for Annie to refill.
“Anyone care to speculate?” Kathryn asked.
“I wouldn’t know where to start. This whole case has been a mindblower from the get-go,” Maggie growled.
“The sister is the key. I know it. I feel it,” Annie said. “We just have to find her and take back all the money she claimed fraudulently and give it to Bella.”
Alexis slapped at her forehead in exasperation. “Here we go again! It’s not fraud if the major left his estate to Sara Windsor and also gave her his power of attorney. His parents died first. As I understand it, their estate, aside from a $5,000 bequest to Sara, all went to the major. That’s all legal. There are no ifs, ands, or buts about that. The major died after the parents passed away, so his inheritance from his parents goes into his estate, which then goes to Sara because of his will and the POA. Unless the major made a new will or appointed someone else to hold a new POA. We all need to accept that all of that is legal even though we don’t like it. This all rests on the major’s shoulders for doing things the way he did. Of course, probably back then, he wasn’t planning on getting married. And for sure he wasn’t planning on dying. What that means is we have nothing. There is no case here.”
“Then why impersonate Bella and steal her eggs?” Maggie mumbled. She hated it when something didn’t make sense, and this did not even pass the sniff test of rationality as far as she was concerned. “The sister has money literally coming out her ears, so she doesn’t need the money she could make by selling the eggs.
“Damn, I hate when I can’t figure something out. And for sure, I want to know where the major’s sperm is. I think that’s paramount right now. I wonder if the sister knows where he stashed it. I think he shared that with her for some reason.”
Nikki reared up, both arms shooting high in the air. “Hold on! Hold on!” she shrieked. “We’re smarter than this! We’re going about this all wrong! We’re thinking about this all wrong, too! We need to stop right now, fall back, and regroup. Now, all of you, think about what I just said. Sister! Sara is not the major’s blood sister. She’s not any kind of relative of his. She’s not even his stepsister. She’s just a person like a neighbor. You following me here?” Nikki’s excitement was at an all-time high as she paced and waved her arms about. “C’mon, girls, get with it here!”
“Are we talking unrequited love here?” Annie asked, excitement edging into her voice. “On the sister’s part, not the major’s. Can we start calling him Andy? I think that would be easier.”
“I think so,” Myra said, her eyes sparking with excitement. “Yes on calling him Andy. She, Sara, was infatuated or in love with Andy. He did not share her feelings, would be my guess. She’s devastated and does everything possible to be around wherever he is. In order to do that, she needs lots of money, so she goes after men, marries them, lives with them, cleans out their bank accounts. All so she can be at Andy’s beck and call.”
“Meaning she’ll take him any way she can as long as she can be near him. From what we’ve been able to figure out, the two of them were close and had a bond, different for each of them though it was, and that was good enough for Sara. I guess,” Maggie said.
“The major had no clue. He didn’t see her that way,” Isabelle said. “Yes, yes, now it’s starting to make sense. Over the years, Sara probably put the kibosh on any relationships he might have had. She’d find something wrong with them; they weren’t good enough, trouble, baggage, that kind of thing. Andy was like a babe in the woods, would be my opinion. He’d go with his sis’s worldly opinions and probably thanked her in the bargain for saving him from making a mistake. Until he met Bella.”
“We know now that Sara followed him around to his different bases, set up housekeeping, met men, married some, lived with others, and managed to clean out all of their bank accounts so she could have a lifestyle that enabled her to chase after the major, hoping eventually he would realize that he loved her. That’s sick!” Kathryn said.
“Where does that leave young Bella?” Myra asked. “This is beyond sad and unreal. What is that young woman supposed to do?”
Alexis screwed her facial features into a tight grimace of disgust. “Wouldn’t you think the sister would share some of Andy’s money with his widow? At least some of it. She’s got millions. Bella can’t even pay for the upkeep of Andy’s beloved truck. This is so unfair. And yet there is nothing illegal we can pin on the sister. Before any of you can suggest it, I’m all for finding her, stealing all the money, giving it to Bella, and having Avery disappear her forever.”
The Sisters hooted and hollered their agreement just as a horn sounded and Myra’s gate opened. All eyes turned to the camera over the back door just as a cherry-red Jaguar roared through the open gates.
Snowden was off his chair and out the door before the Sisters knew what was going on. “This is Matt Spenser, my number one investigator. This better be good, kid, or your ass is grass.”
“Mr. Snowden, sir! I have the meat!” the investigator said, making a joke from a commercial he was overly fond of.
Matt Spenser’s feet left the floor, and before he could blink, the Sisters had him planted firmly in one of the captain’s chairs at Myra’s table. The women surrounded him as they pummeled him with questions, one after the other.
“I think he needs some air; you’re all suffocating him. And I think he might like a drink. We have all night, ladies, so calm down.” Avery shouted to be heard over the din of clamoring women.
“Maybe you do, Avery, but we don’t,” Annie said, as she jerked at Matt’s arm. “Talk, Mr. Investigator, and talk fast. Someone make him a cup of coffee.”
Matt Spenser was what Kathryn called a hunk. In other words, ripped. He was forty-three, dressed in jeans and a worn, comfortable T-shirt that said: SEAL TEAM 6.
“Ladies, ladies, you’re killing me here! Don’t get me wrong, I love the attention, but I really need something to drink. Like now would be good, or my tongue is going to fall out of my mouth.” He grinned, showing a set of pearly whites that would make any dentist shout for joy.
Yoko poured a cup of coffee, handed it to him, and watched as he drank it in two huge gulps.
“Fan out, girls, give him air, and he’ll talk,” Avery said.
Spenser took a deep breath and let it out slowly. “I followed every silly, stupid lead we came up with, and let me tell you, we had hundreds. We started with the last husband, Steven Conover. While everyone referred to him as her husband, including himself, there are no records on file anywhere for a marriage, much less a divorce decree. Conover said Sara kept all the certificates, and he has no idea what happened to the divorce papers. He said he wasn’t interested in looking at them. The only thing he knew for sure was that she stole all his money. After we got this information from him, it was a struggle every step of the way.
“But Duke Young, that’s my partner, and I persevered. We were finally able to track the chick down, and let me tell you, she is one busy lady. She was not at all easy to find, I can assure you. She has so many aliases, I doubt she can keep them straight herself. We just lucked out because we refused to give up. She goes nonstop twenty-four/seven. I have her current address and her current cell phone number. They could be good for days or hours. This chick is a fast mover, as I said. She’s kept Duke and me on our toes, that’s for sure.
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