After they finished dessert, Myra asked for the check. “Oh, no you don’t,” Clayton admonished her. “You are our guest.”
“But I was the one who invited you to dinner,” Myra protested.
“I am glad you did. We can let the boys pay for it.”
“Boys?” Myra asked.
“My nephew. He got me the job. He told me that he knew the investors. He lets me write off a meal or two.” She raised her fingers to her mouth. “I probably shouldn’t be saying anything.”
“Your secret is safe with me.”For the next five minutes. “Thanks again for joining me.” Myra waved as she headed for her cart as fast as possible without looking like she was in a hurry.
She drove as quickly as she could back to the villa, but there were a few other carts on the path, so she couldn’t push the little machine too fast. Again, she thought of Annie and her souped-up cart. She wondered how she was faring in the desert. As soon as she got into her villa, she sent a message on the mainframe:
SWAP ACCOMPLISHED. ON TO NEXT PHASE. GOOD LUCK TO YOU.
It was almost nine, and the summer sun was finally below the horizon. Izzie, Maggie, and Yoko were right on time.
Once everyone was in the room and Myra could lock her door, she pulled the lanyard from her purse. “Our only job tonight is to get a good look at the place. According to what I saw, and Charles confirmed, there is nothing going on at the care center.”
Yoko tossed a black catsuit toward Myra, and she, Maggie, and Izzie stripped down to theirs.
“Let’s find out, shall we?” Yoko smiled.
Myra quickly donned her “nightscapades” outfit, as Maggie described them.
Myra instructed Yoko to drive her car, since she and Izzie were more familiar with the layout. Yoko knew the back roads quite well by now and soon made their way to the unmarked road that led from the construction site to the rear of the care center. They parked in a dark, remote spot. Izzie pulled the surveillance detector from her pack. The screen lit up with four blinking dots. “One in each corner.”
“How far out is their range?” Myra asked.
“Twenty-five feet.”
She leaned over from the rear seat of the vehicle. “There seems to be a narrow line between them that is not covered. Looks like it’s about three feet wide.”
“We can do it,” Yoko said.
“Wait. Let me check with Charles. He may have some footage he can run through their lens.” She decided to place a video call.
“Charles, we are in the rear of the care center. Can you feed some mundane footage into their system? There is a narrow path between the camera range, but I don’t want to risk stumbling in the dark.”
“Hello, love. Nice to hear your voice.” Charles grinned into the camera.
“Charles. Sorry. Hello. Now can you help us?”
“Just a sec.” He checked the monitoring system they hijacked. “Got some from last night.”
“Perfect. Will check back in a few.” Myra blew him a kiss, then stroked her pearls. Mostly for good luck.
The women quietly exited the vehicle and crouched their way to the rear door. Izzie whispered, “I’m havingdéjà vuall over again.”
Once they got to the door, Myra swiped the key card. It bleeped and then released the lock. The three were shining their penlights into the frigid room. As the lights swept across the floor and to the other side, they discovered three rows of stainless-steel boxes. There were twelve in total.
“Is that what I think it is?” Izzie asked nervously.
“If you think it’s a mortuary vault, you are most likely correct.” Yoko took the first few steps.
Myra and Izzie were shoulder to shoulder. They were in front of one of the doors. Yoko took a deep breath. “Ready?”
“Ready,” Izzie answered.
