Pearl reared back in her chair as though she’d been bitten by a snake. “I can’t believe you asked me that, Myra! My daughter! Never!”

“How do you know for certain, Pearl?” Charles asked gently.

“I’m a mother. I know. She’s happily married now, and her new husband loves her daughter. She had a baby boy with her new husband. She would never jeopardize her new life.”

“And yet you never told us your daughter got married or that she had a baby?” Annie said, outrage at what she was hearing turning her face rosy red. “Where does she live now? What’s her new married name? What name did you give her when you got her a new identity?”

Pearl clamped her lips together, her eyes showing her misery. She struggled to take a deep breath but sobbed instead. No one rushed to comfort her.

Myra got up and walked over to the kitchen counter, where she’d tossed her keys. She picked them up and tossed them to Pearl. “Take my car. I’ll pick it up tomorrow.”

“Wha . . . what?”

“I want you to leave, Pearl. That means go. Take my car. I’ll pick it up tomorrow.”

“But . . . why . . . ?”

Charles moved then and opened the kitchen door. Fergus was behind him with an oversize umbrella. He handed it over.

“Drive carefully,” Annie called out.

Pearl whirled around. “No! This is wrong. I need you.” She fixed her wild-eyed gaze on Annie and Myra. “My daughter is off-limits. I thought of all people that you two would understand. I know my daughter just the way you knew your daughters. It’s all up here,” she said, tapping her head. “I did not commit anything to paper or file or record. You have to believe me. Those women trust me. I have to honor that trust even if I end up finishing my days in a federal prison. Their lives are in my hands and only mine.”

Charles moved forward and closed the door. Fergus reached for the umbrella. Myra and Annie moved and wrapped the sobbing woman in their arms.

“We’re going to make it right, Pearl. All you have to do is trust us.”

Pearl nodded.

Chapter 2

The gang started to arrive a little after four-thirty. While their greetings were exuberant, the usual upbeat tone was missing. Everyone was wet and soggy with just the short run from Myra’s parking lot to the house. Four inside-out umbrellas were tossed in a messy heap at the top of the steps thanks to the gusty winds.

Inside, Charles and Fergus handed out towels and offered to throw jackets and shirts into the dryers. Everyone declined and just said to turn off the A/C. Fergus obliged. Charles handed out cups of sweet apple tea, which the group guzzled before they followed Myra and Annie to the underground war room. Charles and Fergus brought up the rear, with a warning to Lady and her pups to watch over things topside.