Myra looked over her shoulder at Charlotte and said, “You should see her drive!” She slowed down so Charlotte could catch up. “Let her scamper off. She has to stop at the crosswalk. I don’t think she’d take the chance on jaywalking! Not with all this traffic.”

Myra and Charlotte caught up to Annie, who was waiting for the signal of an outline of a person to turn from red to white. Myra pointed. “They have a countdown so you know how many seconds you have before you get hit by a bus!”

The three women crossed the busy street, entered the hotel, and made a beeline to the elevator bank. As soon as they caught their breath, they burst into laughter. Annie put her hand up, and they all high-fived!

Annie was the first to whip open her tablet. “Looks like Charles has some information. Apparently, Avery and his team are going to extreme lengths to get deep.”

“As he should, after the fiasco during the Forrester mission.” Myra stroked her pearls.

“Remember, Myra, that really wasn’t his fault. Charles and Fergus gave him the instructions,” Annie recalled.

“Yes, I know, and they paid dearly.” Myra started to laugh; Annie followed. They had been infuriated with Charles and Fergus for changing up the plan. Luckily, everything had turned out fine. More than fine.

They pulled out their phones and dialed in to conference with everyone.

Charles started. “I trust you are enjoying your holiday?”

Murmurs of “Uh-huh,” “Yes, we are,” and “Indeed” flowed through the lines.

“Splendid. London, office and flat are bugged. Vault in office contains cartons of green bottles numerically labeled. Photos match those from Charlotte. Casoro jewelry safe in apartment. Operative was able to get a look inside. Lots of diamonds. Women’s jewelry. Sending photos to you. Dr. Marcus has been visited by that drug-delivery bloke, Jerry Hardy, twice. Marcus seen traveling crosstown to a jewelry store. Items bought or sold not yet confirmed.”

Annie was opening the photos as Charles continued. “I also suspect that given the amount of jewelry in the safe, his visit to a jeweler’s across town is not a coincidence.”

Myra leaned over Annie’s shoulder to look at the photos. “Impressive,” Annie remarked.

“Was able to get Marcus’s bank records. His wife likes to spend a lot of money, which is evident from that cache. He’s barely making it from one month to the next.”

Myra was taking notes. Charlotte was mesmerized.