Take Down (The Men of the Sisterhood) Read Online Free Page A

would be forty-five minutes before it could be delivered. To pass the time, he brewed some fresh coffee and tried once more to call Nikki. He was stunned when she picked up after the second ring. His heart fluttered. That had to mean she was still on the ground, stuck somewhere.
    “Where are you, Nik?”
    “Kansas City. We’re grounded. There is no chance, we’re told, of getting out today, so Alexis and I are going to go to a hotel and hope we can get an early flight in the morning. How’s everything?”
    Jack sighed. “You know, same old, same old. Christmas is over. We missed you. It wasn’t the same, but we were together; the guys, I mean. And Maggie. How was yours?”
    “God, Jack, don’t even ask. If I live to be a hundred, I will never forget this disaster of a Christmas. Never!” she said vehemently. Her voice was so shrill, Jack blanched. “Do you believe those creepy bastards at Andover sent some . . . some flunky to the funeral? They sent a ton of flowers and a . . . and a . . . goddamn teddy bear. A teddy bear. Do you believe that? Oh, and they sent a fruit basket to the house. A fruit basket!” Her voice was so strident coming through the cell phone, Cyrus reared up and howled.
    Jack struggled to find some comforting words, but they wouldn’t come. It didn’t matter since Nikki wasn’t listening anyway. “You know what else, Jack? Those bastards are not going to settle. I know that now for sure. We’re going to have to go to court. These families are worn out. All their fight is gone. Like Molly’s dad said, once you see your child go into the ground, it’s all over. And he’s right. I want to pack it in myself. So does Alexis. But if we do that, then those bastards win. Tell me what to do, Jack. Please, tell me what I should do.”
    Jack wished there was a deep hole he could fall into right that second. What to say, how to say it? The best he could come up with was, “I know it doesn’t seem possible right now, but it’s all going to work out, Nik. Trust me on that, okay?”
    There was so much bitterness in his wife’s voice that Jack longed for the deep hole. “No, Jack, it isn’t going to work out. I’m losing this suit. You know it, I know it, and so do those skunks at Andover. It’s been almost two years, Jack, that I’ve been at this, and I’m no further along today than I was a year ago. Damn it, Jack, they’re going to drive me into the ground. I’d like to get my hands around the neck of that Otto Andover and squeeze till his eyes pop out of his head. Listen, Jack, I have to go. Something is happening at the ticket counter, and Alexis is calling me. I love you. I’ll call you later, okay?”
    “Yeah, sure, do what you have to do. Love you, too,” Jack said as he ended the call. He stood for a long time, just staring at his reflection in the stainless-steel refrigerator, until Cyrus nudged his leg ever so gently. Jack looked down at the big dog with the soulful brown eyes and whispered, “We’re gonna make it right for her, Cyrus. We are. And I think I’m going to push up our timetable before Nik crashes and burns on me.” Cyrus whined low in his throat.
    Jack was a whirlwind as he roared down the hall and into the conference room, his arms outstretched and palms outward. “Stop! Listen up, everyone. New plan. I just got off the phone with Nikki.” Five minutes later, the group had been apprised of what had transpired and Jack’s reasons for advancing the time on what he was calling the take down of Andover Pharmaceuticals.
    “Jack, do we even know if the Andovers are in the country? Don’t people like that go to Gstaad for skiing or someplace warm for the holidays? Maybe cruising the Med? One of them—Otto, I think—owns a big yacht,” Harry said.
    “Get on it, people; find out where they are. I’m sure they all have unlisted phone numbers. Someone get Abner in here so he can hack into the records. We need a story line to get them all together. C’mon,