Hokus Pokus by Fern Michaels Page A

“I hope they have to amputate,” she bellowed as she raced from the newsroom and headed for the elevator.

Chapter 9
    C harles Martin, ever methodical, even anal at times, according to Myra, stared down at his cryptic notes. In a matter of hours with all the high-tech knowledge at his fingertips he now had a plan. It always amazed him that things could come together so quickly when the right people were in place to carry out one’s plan. He was confident now that he could get his girls in and out of the nation’s capital with ease. The only negative he could see was the human element. Things could go wrong when a person trampled on concrete plans, as he’d found out. But potential snafus were something he tried not to worry about.
    He let his mind wander as he packed up his notes and files. How would the girls like living on Big Pine Mountain? Being back in the States would definitely be a plus, that much he was sure of. But . . . Being so close to their old homes and haunts, not to mention Jack Emery and Harry Wong, might be a problem . . .
    Only in moments like this did Charles allow his deepest fear to surface. No one was around to see his shoulders slump. No one could see the worry in his eyes. It was the human element that bothered him. Yes, they’d made a getaway and lived to fight another day, but others had picked up the gauntlet. No matter what they did, no matter how prepared a plan was, things could go wrong. The thought of a second possible capture made his blood run cold, keeping him awake at night.
    Charles sighed. He had to clear his thoughts and prepare for this new mission. He had no time to worry about what might or might not happen. He was about to leave to join the others for lunch when his encrypted cell phone beeped. His eyebrows shot upward. “Good morning, uh . . . afternoon, Jack.”
    There were no greetings, no pleasantries on the other end. “Charles, Mark Lane, my contact who is a programmer, and used to be with the FBI, just contacted me. I think I told you he knows what’s going on in the Hoover Building before the occupants know. Justice Barnes is off the grid. It seems her live-in significant other, Grant Conlon, who is also the brother-in-law of Elias Cummings the current director of the FBI, has asked for discreet help. If you’re going to ask me if she was snatched or she walked away on her own, I can’t tell you. She has some serious security so I don’t know how she’d pull off a disappearance. As we speak, Maggie Spritzer is meeting up with Tyler Hughes. What, if anything, do you want me to do, Charles?”
    â€œSit tight, I’ll get back to you. For now, stay in touch with Maggie.”
    Charles broke the connection and retraced his steps to his bank of computers. His fingers flew over the keys as he chewed on his lower lip. That he was not expecting. The human element rearing its ugly head even before the mission got off the ground was not a good thing. His right foot tapped impatiently as he waited for responses to his various emails to pepper his computer screen.
    Did Pearl Barnes simply walk away or was she abducted? He discounted the latter as soon as the thought popped into his head. He told himself she’d panicked and left without thinking things through. Right now, if Jack was right, the worst possible thing that could happen had just happened. If Grant Conlon alerted the FBI, Elias Cummings would be on it like, as Alexis would say, white on rice, whatever that meant. The agency sorely needed some good press after the last fiasco with the vigilantes. That would be a terrible mistake on Conlon’s part, one that would make his own and the girls’ jobs much harder.
    Charles’s foot tapped faster. For some reason he thought Nellie Easter was behind Justice Barnes’s disappearance. His anxiety lessened with the thought. He snatched the printed incoming email before it was all the way out of the printer.