It all seemed like a lifetime ago. The bacon sizzled, bringing Myra back to the present. She wiped her eyes as she vowed to make these the biggest and the best BLTs Nikki and Kathryn ever had in their entire lives. She needed to pay attention to her blessings.

Charles Martin let his mind race. Why did Murphy’s Law have to invade his territory just when things were running smoothly? First it was Snowden telling him about the unexpected young hoodlum invasion at the Tidal Basin. Then it was Isabelle calling to say she and Yoko had chased the boys and retrieved the bags that were now safe in Apartment 809 at the Watergate. Another call saying Bonnie and Clyde would be delivered under cover of darkness.

On top of that, a vigilante sighting at the Crystal City Underground to confuse things even more. And then Nikki calling to say she thought she had been spotted by another runner residing at the Watergate, and to check out Apartment 1706, and don’t let her get away. Seven phone calls later, four agents in place on the seventeenth floor and stairwell, and he was reasonably confident the woman was no threat to his girls. The worst-case scenario for the woman runner would be that her cell phone, her landline, and her computer would be inoperable for a while until his girls were on their way to safety. If necessary, he had an agent standing by who would make the elevator just as inoperable.

Charles looked up at the large-screen monitor. He moved Lady Justice and brought up a map of Washington. With his index finger he tapped area after area, each of which lit up with bright red dots. The red dots represented agents in place, the blue dots for agents on the move. For the Sisters, along with Jack and Harry, yellow dots. Now all the dots were blinking to show that everything was more or less under control. Four green dots, bigger than the others, indicated that the special merchandise the girls had ordered was in place.

Charles took a deep breath and let it out slowly before he moved back to his workstation. He looked down at his checklist.

Lizzie Fox. No problem there.

Maggie. No problem there either.

Ted and Espinosa. No problem and no need for their help at the present.

Jack and Harry. Always a problem. But problems that worked out, for some strange reason. He’d learned along the way to let them have their heads and somehow work around what followed.