Chapter Ten A New Mission #2
Myra had given the situation some thought.
Charles and Fergus would continue to work on the finances and follow the money.
Myra would apply for a duplex at Sunnydale in Florida.
If there were shenanigans in Arizona, there would be more of the same in Pensacola.
Myra searched the town of Pensacola to get an idea of the area.
She wanted to be sure she could fit in. As she scanned the local paper, she noticed a small article below the fold:
HIT and RUN: A thirty-two-year-old man, Jeremy Sykes, was found on the side of the road after his car overturned.
Sykes, who recently left his job at Sunnydale, was hit by a dump truck.
Before he slipped into a coma, Sykes described being sideswiped by a vehicle, causing his car to roll.
The truck had no markings. Anyone who has any information about this please contact Pensacola Police Department at 1-888-555-9111.
“Charles! Listen to this!” She read the brief article to him. “Two hit-and-run accidents by a dump truck? And both victims had an association with Sunnydale.”
Charles pursed his lips. “I know how sensitive you are to such things. Interesting. One was in Florida, the other in Arizona. It would take at least twenty-four hours to get from point A to point B, unless there is more than one truck.”
“My guess would be ‘yes.’ Keep in mind that Sunnydale is always expanding and adding new units. It would make sense if they had construction vehicles on the premises. At least easily available.”
“Agreed.”
The sound of gravel being kicked up by a hot-rod golf cart perked up the dogs’ ears. Annie came barreling in. “Good morning, all!” She stopped and petted each of the dogs, then gave Charles and Myra pecks on the cheek. She pulled out a chair and sidled up next to Myra. “What’s up?”
Myra recounted everything Lizzie shared, and then pointed to the article about the hit-and-run.
Annie wrung her hands conspiratorially. “What say you, my friend?”
“We have to find out more about Jeremy Sykes and why he was run off the road. It’s not a coincidence he and Theresa were in similar collisions after dealing with Sunnydale.”
“But what could it be? How would they be connected?” Annie pondered out loud.
Charles chimed in, “Perhaps they’re not directly connected to each other, and their association with Sunnydale is the only common denominator.”
Annie owned one of the nation’s largest, most successful newspapers and had contacts everywhere.
It came vis-à-vis her work as a publisher, her philanthropy, or just plain fun.
“I’ll get Maggie to ferret out more information.
The Pensacola Press runs most of our headline stories in their paper.
It’s our way of helping to keep local news outlets in business.
Most are terribly understaffed. We feed them the story, and they run it with an origination notice. Our version of ‘free press.’”
Annie dialed Maggie’s number.
Maggie Spritzer was a crackerjack reporter with a hunger for a good story and anything edible.
Petite and wiry, Maggie had red curly hair that framed her porcelain face dotted with the requisite freckles.
She was easy to spot. When she went on a stakeout, she called on the talent of Alexis Thorne to create a disguise.
Maggie also traveled with a tote bag of chips, candy, cupcakes, and cookies.
Annie explained about the accidents and what she needed Maggie to do.
“Roger that, boss!” Maggie signed off.
“Where does that girl get so much energy?” Annie marveled.
“You’re pretty perky yourself,” Myra stated.
“Thank you, and ditto to you.” Annie nodded. “But I can’t imagine all the junk she eats is healthy.” She looked over at Myra and chuckled. It was candy that put Myra’s company in the Fortune 500 Club.
“Sugar, salt, fat. Three major food groups,” Charles said, and chuckled.
“Speaking of food …” Myra broke off a piece of her scone and handed it to Annie. “Leftovers.”
“Yummy! Got any more?” She gave Charles a puppy-dog look.
“I think that can be arranged. But mind you, it is left over from yesterday.”
Myra leaned in. “Had I known they were in the pantry, there wouldn’t have been any left over,” she whispered loudly.
“You’re doing a bang-up job on them today, love,” Charles teased.
Annie gladly accepted the warm, buttery, sugary ball of deliciousness. “So, Myra, continue on your train of thought. Sorry, we got derailed by pastry.”
“Obviously, we need to infiltrate each of the facilities. The Sisters will do the inside work, and Charles and Fergus can take care of the tech stuff. I suggest that you and I apply for residency. You can go to Arizona.”
“Ooh. I can have my golf cart shipped out there.” Annie hooted.
“Dear friend, you don’t want to bring too much attention to yourself.”
Charles laughed out loud. “Could be tricky, eh? Maintaining a low profile there, Annie.”
“Shut it, Charles. Although I do agree. It’s a tough job, but somebody has to do it.” She grinned. “Myra what about the two people living in the Arizona complex?”
“Yes.” Myra checked her notes. “Henry Pushkin and Frida Larsen.”
“Good. They will be my new pals.”
“I’ll register for senior living in Pensacola.” She turned to Charles. “Sorry, darling. I shall be a divorcée.”
“Better than being a widow.” Charles chuckled.
“Once we get everyone on the call, we can hand out assignments. Kathryn is at the ready to drive to Tempe. She’s about three hours away.”
“According to the information Lizzie got from Theresa, there is a horrid nurse at the long-term care facility,” Charles said. “Perhaps a job as an orderly would be a good fit for Kathryn.”
Annie wrote it down. “Right. We need someone inside with you, Myra.”
“Izzie?” Charles suggested. “Get her a job in the admin office. Hack into their system on sight and then feed it into ours.”
“Perfect,” Myra replied.
Annie was also scribbling on her notepad. “Now what’s left over as far as filling the gaps?”
“Do you think Yoko would want to work with the landscaping people in Florida?” Myra asked.
“She’s certainly qualified. Once I hear back from Maggie, and depending on Jeremy Sykes’s condition, I may send her to Florida to do an interview. We’ll tell him the paper is doing a story of the growing number of hit-and-run accidents in the country.”
“Excellent cover story.” Myra pursed her lips.
Annie continued, “Then I’ll send her out to Arizona to get the details from Theresa and see if the police have any other leads.” Annie began making her list:
1. Florida
· Myra—Resident
· Yoko—Landscaping
· Izzie—Administration
· Maggie—writes story
2. Arizona
· Kathryn—Orderly
· Annie—Resident
· Maggie—checks police report
3. Internal communications
· Check Death Certificate in Maricopa County. See if there’s one for Dorothy/Dottie Carpenter in the past forty-eight hours
· Fergus—Follow the money
· Charles—
“Do you think we’ll need Avery’s people?” Annie was referring to the outside group of private investigators they would often use for surveillance.
“The facilities look to be confined. There is a security checkpoint at the main entrance, and ancillary gates are operated by using a code or a key card. Once we peel the onion and find out who is behind this scheme, we can ask Avery for some assistance if need be.”
“Excellent.” Annie continued to take notes. “I think we have a good plan. The next step is to find out who is available and get fake identities for us. We will need credit cards in our alias names, with the charges to go to the main business account.”
“Right. Fergus and I will post the new positions for Izzie, Yoko, and Kathryn on their job board,” Charles added. “Then we’ll post the jobs were filled.”
“You hacked into their system already?” Myra asked, although she was not the least surprised.
“Nothing sensitive,” Charles said. “Yet. Give us a few more days. Once Izzie arrives, she can do a work around from the inside.” He paused. “We’re also creating bank accounts for you. They will want to see copies. SOP for rentals these days. They want to be sure you can pay it.”
“Perfect,” Annie and Myra said in unison, then doubled over in laughter.