Annie stopped by the elevator, and Myra bumped into her. “Listen, Myra, as long as there is no one in the hallway, we don’t have to do that long-legged stride with our arms wind-milling. If we hear the elevator, we go into action; otherwise, I say we just walk up and down this hall. We could listen at doorways to see how many people are actually home. You know, the sound of televisions, radios. We might even get a whiff of food cooking. There aren’t any cameras on these floors, which I find very strange. What good are cameras in the stairwells if you get mugged in the hallway?”

That was all Myra had to hear. She pointed to the cell in her hand, then put her finger to her lips, the signal to Annie that she should whisper so Charles couldn’t hear what they were saying. Annie nodded as she trotted to the nearest door, Myra on the other side of the hallway.

Uptown, downtown, and in midtown, on orders from Charles, the Sisters moved as one even though they were separated by blocks, if not miles.

In Georgetown, Nikki donned her cleaning-lady attire and waved good-bye to Jack, who stood in the doorway of the bathroom dripping wet, a towel around his waist. “I’ll call you.”

Outside, Nikki headed to the green car she’d arrived in and slid behind the wheel. Out of the corner of her eye she noticed Kathryn, dressed in jogging clothes, climb into a champagne-colored Honda Civic.

In the dojo at the other end of town, Yoko’s cell phone pealed at the same time Harry’s rang. Yoko was up, dressed, with a backpack on her shoulders and almost out the door before Harry knew what was happening. He pretended to catch the kiss Yoko blew at him before she raced out of the bedroom, answering her call on the way. Harry waited a few seconds.

“What the hell is going on, Jack? Yoko just blew out of here like a hurricane.”

“What’s in it for me if I tell you?”

“Your life!”

“Yeah, well, Mr. Martial Arts Expert who has pink towels in his bathroom and who sleeps under a pink comforter and I have the pictures to prove it, what makes you think I know what’s going on?”

Jack had a vision of Harry clenching his teeth and banging something with his fist and wishing it was Jack’s head he was banging. “Well, yeah, but like I said, what’s in it for me if I tell you what I know, assuming I know anything?”

Harry sighed. “Name it.”