Take Down (The Men of the Sisterhood) Read Online Free
Author: Fern Michaels
else?”
“So that drug . . . it was all about money, the bottom line. Those three Andovers who call the shots were only interested in how much money they could make. How much did they make before things bottomed out?” Harry asked.
“Billions!” Jack said, bitterness ringing in his voice. “I forgot to tell you this: The day after Nikki filed the class-action suit, the two oldest Andover grandchildren began homeschooling. Abner, I want you to hack into the academy where those kids went to school and get their pictures from the yearbooks. Can you do that?”
“If they have yearbooks, then the answer is yes. What about the five-year-old? Does he go to a play school or kindergarten?”
“I don’t know. What I do know is that we need pictures of all three of them. In the files, Nikki compiled a gallery of the kids who . . . didn’t make it.” Jack was so choked up, he got up from his seat and walked over to the sideboard to pour more coffee that he didn’t want, just to give himself a moment to pull it together. He looked up at the splash of color on the Jackson Pollock painting, drew in a deep breath, then turned around. “We need to get those bastards. And we have to bring down their company.”
Cyrus threw his head back and howled his agreement. The others nodded silently.
“Whatever it takes,” Dennis said softly. “Whatever it takes,” he asserted a second time, to make sure everyone knew he was definitely on board.
“Okay, then, this is what we’re going to do: Abner, you know what we need, so you can get to work. If you run into any problems, let us know ASAP. Ted, you and Espinosa are assigned to Otto Andover. He’s their big gun.” Jack referred to his notes. “All his stuff is in boxes two and three. Maggie, I want you to do Philip; he’s in box four. Dennis, you get Martha; she’s in box five. Harry and I are going to go through the . . . the files on the kids, the deceased children. At some point, we’re going to have to come up with a PowerPoint presentation, and I’m not the best person for that. I know Nik and Alexis were working on one, but they haven’t done it yet. When we take out those bastards, I want to ram it down their throats in living color. And I want pictures of their grandchildren included in that. I want to see how they deal with the contrast between their healthy grandkids and grandnephews and grandniece and the kids they helped to kill.”
“Do we have a time limit, Jack?” Dennis asked.
“We do. I want to put this to bed before the New Year. That gives us six days, counting today. I want this done before Sparrow takes office. And by the way, I scheduled a webcam meeting with Bert and Sparrow for later this afternoon, so make sure you’re all back here if any of you are planning to leave.”
“I just have to check in at the paper; then I can stay the rest of the day,” Maggie said. “This is our easiest week of the whole year. That means the paper runs itself more or less, rehashing the year, yada yada yada.”
Everyone said they were good and could spend the day.
The banker boxes were opened, the doughnuts disappeared, as if by magic, and the work started in a sea of paper and comments as the boys and one gal got to work with a vengeance.
Cyrus found himself boxed in under the table. He barked and backed out, then headed for more neutral ground, the kitchen, where he started to work on a Greenie that would clean his teeth and freshen his breath, his ears tuned to any and all sounds that were the slightest bit unusual.
Chapter 3
Jack looked up from what he was doing and glanced at his watch. He could hardly believe it was already past noon, but his stomach was telling him it was definitely time for lunch. He looked around at the others, all of whom were diligently making notes or reading files. He walked out to the kitchen and called the Bagel Emporium to order lunch: pastrami on rye all around, with tubs of potato salad and coleslaw. He was told it
“So that drug . . . it was all about money, the bottom line. Those three Andovers who call the shots were only interested in how much money they could make. How much did they make before things bottomed out?” Harry asked.
“Billions!” Jack said, bitterness ringing in his voice. “I forgot to tell you this: The day after Nikki filed the class-action suit, the two oldest Andover grandchildren began homeschooling. Abner, I want you to hack into the academy where those kids went to school and get their pictures from the yearbooks. Can you do that?”
“If they have yearbooks, then the answer is yes. What about the five-year-old? Does he go to a play school or kindergarten?”
“I don’t know. What I do know is that we need pictures of all three of them. In the files, Nikki compiled a gallery of the kids who . . . didn’t make it.” Jack was so choked up, he got up from his seat and walked over to the sideboard to pour more coffee that he didn’t want, just to give himself a moment to pull it together. He looked up at the splash of color on the Jackson Pollock painting, drew in a deep breath, then turned around. “We need to get those bastards. And we have to bring down their company.”
Cyrus threw his head back and howled his agreement. The others nodded silently.
“Whatever it takes,” Dennis said softly. “Whatever it takes,” he asserted a second time, to make sure everyone knew he was definitely on board.
“Okay, then, this is what we’re going to do: Abner, you know what we need, so you can get to work. If you run into any problems, let us know ASAP. Ted, you and Espinosa are assigned to Otto Andover. He’s their big gun.” Jack referred to his notes. “All his stuff is in boxes two and three. Maggie, I want you to do Philip; he’s in box four. Dennis, you get Martha; she’s in box five. Harry and I are going to go through the . . . the files on the kids, the deceased children. At some point, we’re going to have to come up with a PowerPoint presentation, and I’m not the best person for that. I know Nik and Alexis were working on one, but they haven’t done it yet. When we take out those bastards, I want to ram it down their throats in living color. And I want pictures of their grandchildren included in that. I want to see how they deal with the contrast between their healthy grandkids and grandnephews and grandniece and the kids they helped to kill.”
“Do we have a time limit, Jack?” Dennis asked.
“We do. I want to put this to bed before the New Year. That gives us six days, counting today. I want this done before Sparrow takes office. And by the way, I scheduled a webcam meeting with Bert and Sparrow for later this afternoon, so make sure you’re all back here if any of you are planning to leave.”
“I just have to check in at the paper; then I can stay the rest of the day,” Maggie said. “This is our easiest week of the whole year. That means the paper runs itself more or less, rehashing the year, yada yada yada.”
Everyone said they were good and could spend the day.
The banker boxes were opened, the doughnuts disappeared, as if by magic, and the work started in a sea of paper and comments as the boys and one gal got to work with a vengeance.
Cyrus found himself boxed in under the table. He barked and backed out, then headed for more neutral ground, the kitchen, where he started to work on a Greenie that would clean his teeth and freshen his breath, his ears tuned to any and all sounds that were the slightest bit unusual.
Chapter 3
Jack looked up from what he was doing and glanced at his watch. He could hardly believe it was already past noon, but his stomach was telling him it was definitely time for lunch. He looked around at the others, all of whom were diligently making notes or reading files. He walked out to the kitchen and called the Bagel Emporium to order lunch: pastrami on rye all around, with tubs of potato salad and coleslaw. He was told it
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