Myra laughed out loud and closed the door softly behind her.

Back in the dining room, Myra stood to the side to watch the grilling of the foursome, which was already under way. Kathryn was in the lead at the moment and demanded that all four strip.

“You can’t make me do that,” Baron Bell blustered. Across from him, Adel Newsom had her arms crossed across her breasts, while the two surrogates were wailing at the tops of their lungs.

“You need to stop that infernal wailing, or I’m going to take a bat to those pricey porcelain caps that decorate your mouths,” Isabelle said menacingly. The two surrogates sniffed, choked, and went silent. “And as for you, Madam Lawyer, none of us here care whether you have boob implants or not, so do as Kathryn says, and do it quick.”

Apparently outraged, Baron Bell literally screamed, “Implants! You have implants!”

“Oh, shut up, Baron.”

“She’s right. Everyone just shut up and do what I tell you. Now strip!” Kathryn ordered.

Only Newsom started to unbutton her shirt. The two surrogates started to plead and beg to know what was going to happen to them.

“Well, for starters, tell us everything we need to know about these two sleazebags,” Nikki said. “Tell us how you were recruited, how much you were paid, whose idea it was to take back your babies. The whole ball of wax. Talk slowly and distinctly. Each pearl that drops from your lips will be recorded.” Nikki pointed to the recording machine sitting on top of the dining-room table.

“This might also be a good time to tell you that we already have all of Ms. Newsom’s records, but there are a few gaps we need to fill in. Mr. Bell here hasn’t seen fit to turn over his records to us. Yet. But he will. Say your name, give today’s date, and talk like your life depends on what you say. Which, by the way, it does.” Nikki’s voice sounded so cheerful that Bell cringed.

“My name is Joan Olsen. Today’s date is…It was him,” she said, pointing to Baron Bell. “He had regular seminars at Georgetown, and that’s how he recruited us. He pretended to be interested in all us female law students. In the guise of helping us, promising us internships when we graduated, he’d take us out to dinner, for coffee, for drinks, that kind of thing. A few times that woman, Adel Newsom, was there. She was nice to us, too. They got us to confide in them. They were like a big brother and sister. At first.