Tiddly Wink game is over for the night or are you guys having a sleepover? Kind of old for that kind of thing, aren’t you, Nik? What’d you go to Lynchburg for? Never mind, I already know. When is everyone going to leave?”
“You sneak! You’re spying on me, aren’t you? I’m going to file a harassment charge against you, Jack. Don’t call me again, either.”
“Come on, Nik. You know you love me. I know what you’re doing. Give it up before I have to arrest you.”
“I’m not doing anything but playing cards. If you want to make an ass of yourself by trying to arrest me, go ahead. I’ll fry your ass and I won’t need any help doing it either. You’ll be the one who gets arrested. You’re out there, aren’t you, you son of a bitch! I bet if I went outside and waved you’d see me, wouldn’t you?”
“Why does Myra suddenly need six vicious Dobermans, Nik? What kind of gig are you women running out there at ye old farm, Nik ?” His voice was so sarcastic Nikki shivered.
Nikki sucked in her breath. Her heart started to pound in her chest. “We aren’t running any kind of gig out here and the reason Myra got the Dobermans is to keep people like you off her property.” Without waiting for a reply, Nikki clicked the off button.
The women clamored for an explanation at the angry look on Nikki’s face. She stuttered and sputtered until she got every word of Jack’s phone call out.
“So what you’re saying is Jack is on to us ,” Julia said.
Nikki gulped her hot cocoa and then bellowed when she burned her throat. Her eyes watering, she gasped, “What it means is, he thinks he’s on to us. Yeah, he’s on to us.”
Yoko, the gentlest, the quietest of all the women, started to pace around the kitchen table. “Then we have to…eliminate him, is that not right?”
Kathryn slapped Yoko on the back. “God, we’re corrupting you, Yoko. What’s gotten into you? You were a pacifist when we first met!”
Yoko squared her slim shoulders. “He’s spying on us so he can send us to prison. I do not like that. That’s what they do in countries where there is no democracy. And, he’s broken Nikki’s heart. Now he’s threatening all of us. We have to do something!”
Myra spoke in a soothing voice. “Our plates are rather full right now, Yoko. I don’t see how we can…perhaps we should invite Mr. Emery for tea.”
“Mr Emery doesn’t sound like a reasonable man, Myra,” Alexis said. “We can’t let him keep doing what he’s doing, which is spying on us. Eventually, he’s going to nail one of us. I’ll kill myself before I let anyone send me back to prison.”
“Shhh. You aren’t going back to prison,” Nikki said. “I’ll take care of Mr. Emery. You know, Myra, inviting Jack for tea isn’t such a bad idea.”
“What will we do with him?” the new Yoko demanded.
“We could have those vicious dogs guard him,” Julia volunteered. “Yes, I think that’s a viable solution. But, that means Myra will have to make arrangements for the dogs twenty-four seven. Perhaps we should vote on it.”
Nikki’s mind raced. Did they dare snatch Jack? She looked around at the women. She saw panic and anger in their faces. Even Myra looked…disturbed. But tea? Yes, Myra would invite him for tea but would Jack take her up on the invitation? For some reason she didn’t think so. Jack was out for blood. Still, it was worth a chance.
“Should we do it, dear?” Myra asked. “I think we should…what’s that saying police officers use all the time? Oh, yes, chop him off at the knees. That’s what we need to do. Should we tell Charles?”
“Absolutely we should tell Charles,” Nikki shot back. “I’ll do it now.”
“More cocoa, girls?”
“No!” the women chorused.
“Then why don’t we all smoke a cigarette. Does anyone have a cigarette?”
“No!” the women chorused.
One by one they trooped out of the kitchen, muttering a good night as they passed Myra’s chair. Left
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