“What now?” Kathryn asked. “I haven’t heard a word from Bert. It’s like we’re caught in a time warp, and there’s no way out. There has to be a way to get in touch with the guys. Do any of you have any ideas?” She walked over to the window and looked out at the storm, which was blanketing everything in sight. “I don’t mind telling you I’m worried. All of this,” she said, pointing to the snow outside, “is beyond our control. I don’t like it when we have no control. Way too many things can go wrong.”

“Shhh,” Yoko said, her finger to her lips. “I’m calling Maggie. The line just started working again.”

The silence in the kitchen was deafening as Yoko listened to Maggie’s latest update. When she hung up the kitchen phone, she said, “She can’t get anyone on the mountain. She can’t reach Ted, Espinosa, or Harry and Jack, but she does know that Harry was with Jack, and Ted and Espinosa were on their way to her house to help with the arrival of the babies. But she said that was hours ago. She assumes they’re in position. No news as to whether the babies arrived or not. She spoke to Bert a little while ago, and he’s still in the Hoover Building. But he did make arrangements to have a snow truck with a plow break down in front of this building. That’s how we get out of here, assuming we get out. That’s it! She did want to know if Myra and Annie were okay. I said yes.”

As if to prove they were okay, Annie and Myra appeared in the doorway. Both women reached for the steaming coffee cups Isabelle was holding.

“I see our supplies arrived,” Annie said, motioning to the outer room.

“Everything was here when we arrived. This is going to be one giant fiasco if Snowden’s people don’t find Baron Bell and Adel Newsom,” Nikki said. “What time is it?”

“It’s after eight. And it’s still snowing,” Yoko said, her voice sounding ominous.

Annie thought Yoko looked like someone who was holding a lit stick of dynamite with only an eighth of an inch to go before the explosion. “I think it will taper off soon, honey. Let’s all just try to think positive. Have the two…uh…ladies tied to the dining-room table said anything?”

“When we got here and they saw us, they were screaming and yelling, but once Snowden’s men left, they clammed up and haven’t said a word. Although they have been fixated on our supplies. They can’t seem to take their eyes off that delicious-looking stuff,” Kathryn said. “However, they only whisper to each other.”

“So at the moment we have no plan. Is that everyone’s understanding?” Myra asked as she peeled a banana.