Lizzie’s smile lit up the dim hallway as she tripped her way to the elevator, her BlackBerry in hand. She was talking bullet fast as she entered the cranky, old-fashioned elevator. “He’s scared, Maggie, but he bluffed me. I gave him three days to pay up, which he is not going to do. I threatened him with the Post. We need to move to phase two. Can you send Ted and Espinosa to Adel Newsom’s office? I think she needs to have her feathers ruffled a little. Then will you call the mountain and tell Charles that if he hasn’t already done so, he should get his people to Newsom’s beach house? I’m thinking that’s where she’s going to be keeping records. It’s far enough away, and there are no concrete ties to Bell. Just supposition on our part. My gut is telling me he keeps his stuff there, too. If it isn’t in the safe in the floor. I’m on my way to Alexandria, after which I’m heading to the airport. Can you do it, Maggie?”

“It’s done. Good luck and, as my mom says, fly with the angels, Lizzie.”

Maggie sat at her desk, idly drumming her fingers on the smooth surface. She should send Ted and Espinosa to Newsom’s office, but her gut reporter’s instincts were telling her this was a woman’s job. Maybe she could also make a pit stop at Baron Bell’s office. The big question was who to go to first. Maggie’s adrenaline was at an all-time high as she contemplated getting out in the field again. She was almost giddy at the mere thought of being a real live reporter again. But if she did that, Ted was going to pitch a fit, not that she cared. Then she remembered she was to call the mountain. But if she did that, she’d be getting her information secondhand. Now, if she sent Ted and Espinosa to do the breaking and entering…But did she want to put them in such a precarious position?

Then a second thought hit her. She could send Ted and Espinosa to Rehoboth and have them on the scene so that when Charles’s people arrived, they could trail along and report back at the speed of light. The more information she had at her fingertips, the better it would be for the Sisters. She wondered if it might behoove her to see if Jack and Harry wanted to make the trip. Especially if the gated community where Adel Newsom had her home away from home had security. What the hell. Why not? The more sets of eyes on a mission, the merrier it would be. She called Jack and gave him his marching orders. She was surprised when he went along with her plan.