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seven o’clock I can call and invite Pearl and Grant to brunch in town. But inviting Grant might be a mistake since Pearl said he doesn’t know about Hughes’s threat. As you know, brunch is big in this town on Sunday. Jack and Harry can be there. Everyone goes to brunch on Sunday so I don’t think it will throw up any red flags. What that means is if Lizzie and Maggie want to go, I don’t think it will cause a stir of any kind. The big question is, what do I tell Pearl and what do I promise her?”
    Nikki spoke for the first time, her eyes on Jack. “If you do that, Nellie, it’s an admission of guilt and we’re caving in to her threat. I don’t think we want to do that, do we? We all know you can never get out from under a blackmailer. We could, however, work undercover and try to stay out of sight. It’s just a thought,” she said.
    Jack smiled for Nikki’s benefit. “Nik’s right. We need to kick this around a bit more. Worst case scenario, I’m sure Harry and I can figure out a way to snatch the justice. We’ll need a little backup but I think we can pull it off. That will halt any threat to us by Justice Barnes, at which point we’ll put all our efforts into Hughes and the people he’s working for.”
    â€œI like that idea,” Annie said, excitement ringing in her voice. She turned around and fixed Myra with a wide grin. “I’d gladly pay money to see the expression on Pearl’s face when we pull her bacon out of the fire. She always thought she was smarter than we were. In a nice way, of course. Ha!”
    â€œWe also need to find out if the women and children at the underground stop in Oregon are in any kind of danger,” Charles said. “We’ll shut down for now and reconvene in three hours. With the time difference it will still give you time to do a brunch if you think it’s a viable plan.”
    Before anyone could say good-bye the plasma screen went dark. Lady Justice once more looked down on the women. Nikki bit down on her lower lip. She felt like crying. She risked a glance at Yoko, who had tears in her eyes.
    â€œWell, this is certainly something to chew on,” Kathryn said. “Let’s run this up the flagpole and see if anyone salutes. I say we head home to help out. Our little group back in Virginia is top-notch but I don’t think they’re up to a gig like this one. Alexis, shift gears and tell us how you can get us back to the States with the aid of your Red Bag of magic tricks. This might be a good time for you, Annie, to haul out that spiffy yacht you have in dry dock and make it work for us.”
    â€œYou’re a thinker, Kathryn. I like that. So while you’re thinking, try to come up with a crew for my spiffy yacht that won’t draw attention to us,” Annie said smartly. “A yacht is not the way to go if one is in a hurry.”
    â€œAnnie’s yacht, the Moonraker, is being readied as we speak,” Charles said quietly. Myra smiled. Why had she doubted even for a moment that Charles would have things under control?
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    Back in Virginia, Maggie Spritzer and Lizzie Fox were now wide-awake as they waited for Nellie or Jack to speak. Nellie leaned forward and started to speak as Jack flopped down in his chair next to Harry Wong, the number two martial arts expert in the world.
    â€œIn my opinion it’s dangerous for the others to cross the pond,” Nellie said. “I do admit I would feel better if they were here, but if there is any way we can do this on our own, I don’t think we should jeopardize the others. If they get caught again there’s no one left to help them. They’ll go to prison and there won’t be a thing we can do. Do any of you have any suggestions?”
    â€œI say you go the brunch route,” Jack said. “We’ll all be there as lookouts. Justice Barnes will have security. I think we need to