Collateral Damage by Fern Michaels Read Free Book Online Page A

incredibly rich, so she funded the operation. Then there’s Charles Martin. Not much is known about him before he started working for Myra. He’s almost a blank slate. He’s Myra’s live-in. He was head of security at her candy company before he retired. Someone with incredible knowledge, legal and covert as well, is pulling the strings.”
    “And you know this…how?”
    Erin looked up from what she was doing. “I’m a listener. It’s how you learn.”
    And that was all he was going to get, and Bert knew it. He continued with what he was doing, his thoughts going in all directions.
    “I think if we gather an extensive dossier on the women, all the way back to the day when each was born, we can come up with an actual, true account of the things they’ve done. I don’t know what to call their attacks. Acts of vengeance? Do you have a term, Bert?”
    “Not really. For want of a better word, go with ‘mission.’ Either they’ve been doing paybacks for some wrong done to them, or they have some secret agenda no one is privy to. I agree with you, their profiles should give you the answers you’re looking for.”
    “Okay. When we get up and running here tell me how you feel about this. You take Myra, Nikki, and Kathryn. I’ll take Isabelle, Alexis, and Yoko. Countess de Silva is a no-brainer. We’ll leave her till last.”
    Big mistake . “Okay, that should work. She’s really rich, you know.”
    Erin nodded. “If you knew Myra the way I knew her…You’d never know she wasn’t like every other mother in the world. She never flaunted her wealth, and neither did Barbara or Nikki. They were just ordinary people in my eyes.”
    Bert stopped what he was doing. “I was talking about Countess de Silva. Myra Rutledge is a pauper compared to the countess. I read in Forbes that she’s one of the richest women in the world. She married some rich count from Spain. She had a fortune of her own. Cotton, tobacco, land.” He cocked his head to the side and stared at his new boss. “Wealth of that kind means power .”
    “What are you telling me, Bert?”
    “Just that that kind of money attracts power. The lady has it blowing out her ears. Power and wealth combined are a pretty unbeatable force.”
    “So, if I am to read between the lines, what you’re actually saying is the FBI is no match for the vigilantes. You’re saying her power and her wealth guarantee a walk for all seven women and that guy with the British accent. And we’re just spinning our wheels.”
    Bert grinned as he nodded. “I say this with all honesty, I don’t think we’re any match for those women. Look what they did to Mitch Riley. He was the acting director of the FBI, for God’s sake. They took him down even with all his security in place. They invaded his home. His home, Erin. They marched right in and took over. That doesn’t say much for the FBI, now, does it? Right now, as we speak, Riley is probably making license plates in the federal pen for ten cents an hour. I read in the Post that organizations all over the world are vying for the vigilantes’ help. I also read that the vigilantes can name their own price.” This last was said with such awe that Erin glared at him.
    Erin squared her shoulders. “What good is all the money in the world if you’re a fugitive and can’t spend it? No one is infallible. Everyone has an Achilles’ heel. We just have to find theirs and act on it.”
    “That’s not going to happen, Erin. Call it gut instinct on my part.”
    Erin stamped her foot. “Right now you aren’t sounding very much like a team player, Bert. You’re supposed to be doing a rah rah rah for the Bureau. Do you know something you aren’t sharing?”
    “Not at all. The vigilantes are well funded, the public is on their side, and they’re smart. Every…uh…mission they’ve been on, they righted a wrong, and the public approves of what they’ve done. That means they’re successful in the public’s eyes. They’re