“Of course.” Shirley-Rachel made the note.

Adelaide tipped her chair back to the ground and folded her arms over her chest. None of these bitches knew how to be a vigilante. In fact, they refused even the word vigilante. But that’s what they were, striking out on their own to provide what the government could not, would not. She was starting to think maybe she should strike out on her own, especially since she knew something the others did not…not yet, anyway.

“I would like to just say,” Kelsey Jones interjected, lifting a well-manicured finger, “that I offer up my house as an alternate. Seeing as my sweet mother-in-law is in critical condition, it might be easier for me to be close to home, just in case.”

“In case you get a chance to slip her some of the goods before the rest of us get it?” Adelaide hadn’t meant to say it out loud, but there it was, hanging in the room, floating above their heads inside the embossed wallpapered walls. For a few seconds, there was nothing but the loud ticking of Elizabeth’s grandfather clock.

“Adelaide McKenna, you take that back. I would never—”

“Ladies, please.” Elizabeth cut Kelsey off before it could get heated. After all, she was still the undisputed queen of this small kingdom, even if her fiefdom ended at her gated driveway. “The decisions have been made, and everyone knows the rules. We have worked too hard to get someone on the inside, and this opportunity is too perfect to tear down with selfish squabbling. And let’s not forget, it’s not just the government we need to worry about. It’s all the groups sprouting up, running around like wild men, snatching anyone with a suntan. We don’t need to lose our prize to a bunch of backwoods drunken hunters, not when we’ve come this far.”

Kelsey’s face was vivid red under her powder, mostly because she had been planning on skipping the line. “Yes, Mother.”

Elizabeth turned to Adelaide, locking eyes with her until the younger woman bowed her head like Veronica Smythe and nodded just as timidly.

“Good. Now.” She clapped her hands to indicate the matter was settled. “There is cargo retrieval left to suss out. Shirley-Rachel? You have the map?”

“Sure do.” She put her notebook on the coffee table and reached for her spring jacket. “Let me just take a quick break, and we’ll get right to it.”

Every woman in the room exhaled at the same time. Another break.

“Shirl, why don’t you just leave the map while you go out for fresh air so we can start studying it?” Veronica said kindly.

Kiss-ass, Adelaide thought.

“Suit yourself. Map’s in my tote bag.” She flapped her hand toward a canvas bag with a picture of two cats on the front. “And the train schedule. In the green folder.” Then she let herself out onto the back deck, flicking her lighter even before the door had slid back into place.