Free Cross Roads by Fern Michaels

you the last time I talked to Jack or Bert. The sat phones always, somehow, mysteriously jammed when I tried to call any of the others. Yoko had the same problem when she tried to call the girls. Neither of us could figure that out, either.”
    Annie thought she had never heard Harry talk so much. Always a man of few words, he was certainly being more than vocal at the moment, which told her he was more than a little concerned over his present circumstances.
    It was Myra’s turn to speak. “Harry, I’m going to ask you a question, and I want you to really think before you answer me. Do you think Hank wanted you boys to separate or do you think he wanted the vigilantes to separate? In a way, it is the same thing but not really.”
    Harry pondered the question, wishing he had his cup of tea to wrap his hands about. “It’s strange, Myra, that you should ask me that question. Yoko and I beat it to death so many times I lost count. We both think he wanted to separate the vigilantes. We can’t figure out why, though. Is that what you all think?”
    â€œWe do, and Maggie agrees,” Annie said. “But like you, we can’t figure out the why of it.”
    Harry rubbed at the bristle on his chin. He wished now that he had shaved earlier. “If you think Charles was into all that covert stuff that goes on all over the world, he’s a novice compared to what Jellicoe has going on. That man plows through some really deep shit, or, at least, his people do. Yoko and I are good listeners, and of course, since Jellicoe was our benefactor, we tried to learn as much as we could about Global Securities during our stint away from home, at least back in the beginning. Later on, we didn’t want to know any more than we knew at that point. Hank Jellicoe is the eight-hundred-pound gorilla in the espionage and security business. He outshines the CIA by a mile. By the way, do you know that only the CIA and Homeland Security can freeze a person’s monies, even a foreign government’s monies? A while back I remember reading about that in some article in the paper, probably the Post. Well, I’m here to tell you there are three organizations that can do it, and number three just happens to be Global Securities.”
    Myra stared at Harry. “What does that mean, Harry? I mean in regard to us, to you, me, the vigilantes? You must have had a reason for bringing that to our attention.”
    â€œMyra, I don’t know. I just mentioned it. I guess we have to figure out what it means. Hey, I’m a martial arts kind of guy. I’m not into all that spook stuff. At this point in time, I just feel like I want to burrow in and get on with my life. There are no words to tell you how glad I am to be home. I just wish Jack and Bert were here. The rest of this crap means squat to me personally, but I do care how it affects Yoko. I want to be on record as saying that.”
    â€œDuly noted,” Annie said.
    The world took that moment to move, with Yoko rushing to the back of the dojo and throwing herself up against Annie and Myra as tears rolled down her cheeks.
    â€œI think she’s happy to see them, don’t you, Harry?” Maggie whispered.
    Harry laughed—such a strange sound that Maggie grinned. She thought for a moment, and realized she had never actually heard Harry laugh out loud. That had to be a good sign. Of what, she didn’t know. She looked down at the BlackBerry in her hand, at the text that was coming through. She felt the fine hairs on the back of her neck start to move. She looked up to see four sets of eyes staring at her.
    â€œListen, you guys stay here and talk about old times. I have an errand to run. I shouldn’t be more than an hour, and I’ll be back.” Her voice dropped to a whisper. “Ted wants me to pick up something he says is important.”
    Sensing an urgency in Maggie, Harry stepped forward. “Do you want me to go