Lady yipped and ran back to the kitchen and looked around for a spot that would allow her to see the monitor that controlled the electronic gates outside. Satisfied that she was in position, she yipped again, and her pups took up their positions and went to sleep.

Down below, Annie pressed the button on the specially built table in the war room. They all watched as the table separated, and new leaves settled into place to accommodate everyone in the room. Myra called the meeting to order the moment everyone was seated. She didn’t mince words and got right to the point.

“The Good Samaritan Clinic has been breached. As you all know, this is the clinic Julia Webster founded years ago when we were all . . . ah . . . starting out. Pearl just found out this morning. Annie, Pearl, and I removed all the files that could possibly incriminate her and her organization. Mr. Snowden is securing all of the, for want of a better word, evidence, in a secure location. Pearl came to us because she believes that two of her . . . um . . . clients have disappeared. She assured us that everyone, that means the doctors, the nurses, the aides, has been thoroughly vetted. There is a possibility that the two women in question, and there are two, simply went somewhere and haven’t gotten back yet. To be honest, I don’t think anyone believes that, at least I don’t. That’s pretty much it in a nutshell. We’re now open for questions.”

Maggie scrunched her face into a mask of puzzled concern. “What does the clinic have to do with your supposedly missing two people? I say this with all due respect, Pearl, but are you sure you didn’t jump the gun when you rushed to close the clinic?”

“I didn’t see that I had a choice, Maggie. Not just because of 9643 and 9644 but for all the others who underwent surgery at the clinic. I had to think about all of them. I would rather have jumped the gun than not jump. In this . . . ah . . . line of work, you cannot leave anything to chance. Before and after pictures, medical histories, that kind of thing. Even simple surgeries require truth on the part of the patient. That’s the only answer I can give you at this time, and if I had to do it over again, I’d do the same exact thing.” Maggie unscrunched her features and nodded.

“How do you know for certain that the women are gone?” Nikki asked.

“They didn’t answer their phones. We give all our people special phones, and they know that when they ring, they are to pick up immediately. It’s mandatory to check in once a week. Both 43 and 44 failed to check in. We have strict rules about that. To date, none of our people has failed in that regard. Until now.”

“Did you go to where they live to check on them?” Alexis asked.