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30 Winners! |
FREE FALL
by Fern Michaels
ISBN:
0821778811
(this link opens a new browser window)
Sooner Or Later, The Sisterhood Always Gets Their Man…
The loyal friends who make up the Sisterhood have gathered at Myra Rutledge’s
beautiful Virginia home for the first time in a year, eager to talk, laugh, and
share their joys and heartaches. For one of their number, it’s an evening filled
with anticipation. Because tonight, over delicious food and in the company of
those she trusts most, it will finally be time to tell her story—and for the
Sisterhood to help plan her revenge.
Yoko Akia’s mother was only fifteen when a wealthy man swept her off her feet
with promises of love. Instead, he filled her brief life with horror and misery.
The Sisterhood has helped each other exact vengeance on rotten men before, but
this time it’s different. Their target is none other than America’s favorite
movie star—a brute who has conned the world into believing he’s Mister Perfect.
But he’s about to learn that nobody—not even a powerful superstar—is above the
Sisterhood’s special brand of payback...
PROLOGUE
Yoko Akia walked through the small apartment behind her florist shop. It was
dark outside, the rain drumming on the roof and windows, louder than she would
have thought possible. Crossing her arms over her chest, she quickened her pace.
February was always so cold. She was nervous, full of anxiety as the day rushed
to a close. Time to relax and meditate, time to pray.
Everything was in place—her mat, her incense sticks, the pictures lined up on a
red and gold shelf. All she had to do was take her place on the mat, shift her
mind into the neutral zone and do what she’d been doing daily for years. Today,
though, there was no sense of peace in the ritual. Maybe she should wait till
later. A cup of hot green tea might calm her down. She reversed her steps and
headed for the tiny kitchen where a pot of tea was always ready.
Yoko carried the fragile cup over to the table and sat down, her thoughts going
in all directions as she tried to concentrate on tomorrow’s trip to the Rutledge
estate in McLean, Virginia. Finally, it was her turn. Her turn to get the
revenge she’d hungered for all her life. The revenge that should have taken
place a year ago but due to circumstances beyond the Sisterhood’s control, had
been put on hold.
What specifically was bothering her? Was it that her mission was the last one?
Was it that the Sisterhood would be disbanded once her mission was complete?
What would happen to all the members—Kathryn, Isabelle, Nikki, Alexis, Myra and,
of course, Charles? And now they had a new sister, Anna de Silva. What would
happen to Anna?
Would life just go on as though their past missions had never happened? How in
the world was that possible?
Yoko sipped at the hot tea. Her eyes watered at the heat on her tongue. Outside,
the hard rain splattered on the window. Normally she liked the sound of rain,
found it somehow comforting, but today the rain sounded ominous. Was it an omen
of some kind? The tea was supposed to calm her. Why wasn’t that happening? She
slid off her chair and started to pace again as she struggled to find her inner
core of calmness. It continued to elude her.
A roll of thunder outside the small building startled her. She poured more tea
and sat down at the table, then jumped back up almost immediately. It was
Charles! Charles, Myra Rutledge’s partner, was bothering her. It had been
Charles’s decision to put her mission on hold this past year because he had
business abroad. He hadn’t seen fit to apprise the Sisterhood of that business.
That’s what was bothering her. Charles and their new sister, Anna. There, she’d
given a name to her uneasiness.
The tea was cool now but she drank it anyway. Tomorrow all her questions would
be answered when she made the trip to McLean. She smiled at the thought. She’d
missed the sisters, as they were part of her life now. All of them risked their
lives and their reputations to help each other. She adored them all, especially
the brash, outspoken Kathryn, whom she loved to spar with. Isabelle who mothered
her, Alexis and Nikki who teased her constantly about her boyfriend, Harry Wong.
Myra and Charles were like a doting aunt and uncle. She wasn’t sure exactly what
Anna de Silva’s role would be. Perhaps another doting aunt. Tears formed in the
corners of her eyes when she thought of Julia, their fallen comrade. Tonight she
would pray for Julia.
Yoko washed and dried her cup before she replaced it in the cabinet over the
sink. She was on her way to her prayer rug when her doorbell rang. She knew it
wasn’t Harry because he was out of town. She never had visitors. She padded over
to the door and opened it. “Alexis!”
“Yep, it’s me! Can I stay here with you tonight? I even brought dinner,” she
said, holding up a bag. “Sushi for you. The Weather Channel said the roads are
going to flood tonight so I thought I’d come here and tomorrow we can go to
McLean together. We can have a hen party.”
Yoko frowned as she looked over Alexis’s shoulders into the dark night. “You
brought chickens?”
Alexis burst out laughing as she hugged her friend. “Hens, as in female. We’re
females. Chicks.” At Yoko’s puzzled look she said, “You know, girls. You’re a
girl. I’m a girl. Ergo, hen party. Never mind.”
“Come, come,” Yoko said as she closed and locked the door. “I am grateful for
the company. I was sitting here thinking about tomorrow. You knew that, didn’t
you?”
Alexis nodded. “When it was my turn, I was so wired up I thought I was going to
explode. It’s been a long year, hasn’t it?”
“Yes, it has. I was thinking about that, too. Charles didn’t really say much
about that business he had to take care of. None of the others seem to know what
that business was, or is. I guess he took care of it. It is strange that his
business came up just as we accepted a new member to the Sisterhood,” Yoko said
as she started to set the table and lay out napkins.
“I think Charles’s business had something to do with Anna de Silva. Indirectly,
I think it has something to do with us, too. It’s just a feeling I have. Have
you given any thought to what’s going to happen when your mission is over?”
Yoko looked at the pretty woman sitting across from her. Alexis’s dark skin and
even darker eyes made her look mysterious. “Actually, I was thinking about that
earlier. I have no idea what’s going to happen. Myra invested so much money in
the technology Charles uses to keep us operational. Then there’s Anna de Silva’s
billions. Maybe they will tell us what’s going on when we meet tomorrow. I do
like Anna. Do you?”
Alexis bit down on her lower lip. “I like her. She isn’t Julia, though. I’m not
sure how I’m going to feel when she takes her place at the table in Julia’s
chair.” Exuberance rang in her voice when she said, “I missed you, girl!”
Yoko giggled. “I missed you, too. That stuff,” she said, pointing to the bag of
cheeseburgers, “will kill you!”
“And that seaweed and raw fish isn’t going to kill you? So, how are things going
with Harry?”
Yoko giggled again. “Very well. No, better than well. He loves me and wants to
marry me. I said no. Are you seeing anyone?”
Alexis ignored the question. “You said no! Why?”
Yoko burst out laughing. “Because he is afraid of me. I like the feeling that
gives me. No one has ever been afraid of me. It is a . . . delicious feeling.
Kathryn says I have to be in control. I am in control. That may change one of
these days. In my culture it is not a good thing when a woman can best a man.
Especially in martial arts.”
Alexis leaned across the table. “Listen to me, little buckaroo. Here in America
the name of the game is you allow the man to win. Key word here is allow. After
you snag him, then you let him know who’s boss. Do ya get it?”
Yoko grimaced. “That’s cheating.”
“Uh-huh.”
Both women went off into peals of laughter.
“I met this guy when I was filling my gas tank. He was at the pump next to me
and we struck up a conversation. He said his sister has a MINI Cooper, too. I
gave him my phone number. He was a hunk. He said he plays football for the
Redskins. Did I say he was a hunk? He’s a tight end.” At Yoko’s amused
expression, she said, “Don’t even go there.” Both women went off into peals of
laughter again.
Dinner over, the kitchen tidied up, they retired to Yoko’s small sitting room
with cups of tea. “Do you want to talk about it, Yoko?” Alexis asked softly.
“No. Tomorrow will be soon enough. It hurts my heart to talk about it. I am very
worried about my vengeance. The man involved is very powerful, a public figure.
I fear Charles may say it is not possible. If that happens, what will I do?”
Alexis scoffed. “And you think taking on one of the biggest HMOs in the country
wasn’t heavy- duty? Don’t forget the vice-presidential candidate and that guy
who was the national security advisor. Then there was that little trip to China
and the diplomat’s nephew . . . Or was it his son? Whatever, that was pretty
high profile and yet we pulled it off. I can’t imagine who your public figure is
but whoever he is, he’s no match for the Sisterhood. You can take that to the
bank, kiddo.”
Yoko blinked back tears. “Would you like to see a picture of my mother?”
“Yes, I would, Yoko.”
Yoko got up and ran to her prayer room to return with a small picture in an oval
frame. She held it close to her heart for a moment before she handed it to
Alexis.
“She’s very beautiful. You look a bit like her. How old was she in this
photograph?”
“She was very young, only fifteen when she was brought to this country. I was
born when she was seventeen. The man who fathered me threw me out with the
trash. My mother died a painful death a month later. My aunts saved me and
spirited me away to more aunts. Not blood relatives, you understand. Just young
women who were in the same position my mother was in.”
(this link opens a new browser window)
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