Nikki’s heart fluttered in her chest. She was worried; so was Alexis. She could tell by the frown lines between her lustrous brown eyes. She took a deep breath and moved to the side, but not before she whispered to Yoko, “I’m going to call Maggie. She has her finger on the pulse of everything.”

A second later Maggie’s voice came through, crystal clear. Maggie didn’t even give Nikki a chance to say anything before she started to rattle off what was going on. “The guys’ phones aren’t working. No one knows what happened to Snowden’s people. They were a no-show. The guys persevered and prevailed. They have the goods. It was in the freezer, disguised as frozen food. They’re on the turnpike now, on their way back home. They were going to stop in town, but they had to do a little…construction work, so that means Newsom and Bell will be heading to town to spend the night.”

Nikki sucked in her breath. “What kind of ‘construction’?”

“They turned off the gas and threw the knob into the snow. They ripped out the breaker box. No heat, no electricity. No wood either. The guys almost got caught but got out in time. Talk about some foresight…Ted and Espinosa picked the lock on the house next door, turned on all the lights, so they skedaddled over there the minute Newsom and Bell arrived. Newsom knocked on the door, and Espinosa answered and said he was the nephew of the owner and was just there to check on the house. He said he didn’t think she bought his story, but there was nothing she could do. Five minutes later they were out of there.”

“Do you know where they are right now?” Nikki asked.

“Somewhere on the turnpike, headed this way. Ted called about fifteen minutes ago and said they’re playing it careful and staying behind a sanitation truck that is salting the road. That’s it for now. I’m going to stay here at the paper until they get here. Do you know anything?”

“No, nothing. Charles is on the phone with someone, and whatever he’s hearing isn’t looking good. I’m thinking it’s Snowden. I’ll tell him the guys pulled it off the minute he gets off the phone. I’ll call you back. Thanks, Maggie.” Nikki ended the call and shoved the phone into the pocket of her sweatpants. Charles was doing the same thing, the frown on his face getting more pronounced by the second.