Take Down (The Men of the Sisterhood) by Fern Michaels Read Free Book Online

Nothing we could do to them would equal in cruelty what they have done to those who got caught up with that horrendous drug, both in terms of what happened to the kids and what happened to those who tried to expose Andover for what it has become, essentially a big-time criminal enterprise.
    “They brought out their big guns, the best and slimiest lawyers in the country, to fight the class-action suit. For every negative that came out, they fought it with an over-the-top positive. When the class-action hit, it didn’t get much play because Andover donated millions of dollars’ worth of drugs to Doctors Without Borders, and it was their generosity that the cable news channels and the papers played up. Andover employs a kick-ass PR team, one that is way ahead of the curve. It’s like they can anticipate bad news before it happens, and they squelch it. I tried calling their number-one guy, but he never returned any of my phone calls. That’s about all I have. Other than the fact that I hacked into the head of the PR team’s e-mail account. It boggles my mind how stupid some people are. Especially this PR guy, whose name is Duke Winslow, by the way, and is the one calling the shots. I made copies of all the pertinent e-mails. The guy is slick, and he commands big bucks.”
    “Did he do anything illegal?” Jack asked.
    “It’s all a matter of interpretation. Yes and no, more no than yes. But that’s just my opinion. You’re the lawyer, Jack, so that’s your call.”
    “What else do you have?” Espinosa asked.
    “I,” Abner said dramatically, as though waiting for a drumroll, “have every single bank and brokerage account of the company, plus the personal banking and brokerage information for all three Andover siblings, and if I do say so myself, they are loaded. Between the company and the three of them as individuals, they could fund several third-world countries into the next millennium at least.”
    “Well, damn,” Maggie said. “And to think they’re fighting Nikki right here on the home front. I say we take every red cent they’ve got! Since their kids seem like nice people, I hope they’ve set something up for them and funded it already, because after we are finished, there is going to be nothing to leave them.” The others agreed.
    Jack looked at Abner. “Can you make that happen, Abner?”
    Abner laughed. And laughed some more, as he flexed his fingers. “Oh, yeah,” he drawled. “All I need is someone to sign the checks and we are good to go. So, my question to you, Jack, is can you get me that signature?”
    Maggie’s eyes narrowed, and she answered for Jack before he could make his tongue start to work. “You know it!” Jack’s features split into a wide grin as his head bobbed up and down.
    A beeping sound came from where Dennis was sitting, then the same sound came from Ted’s position, followed by the identical sound from Espinosa’s area.
    “We all have the same alert on our phone for anything pertaining to Andover,” Maggie said as she looked down at her phone. “It’s kind of like TMZ or Radar Online, the gossip sites on the Net. Okay here is what it says: ‘Mr. Otto Andover, CEO of Andover Pharmaceuticals, will be hosting a New Year’s Eve party aboard his yacht, after which he will be leaving for a month in California. He will be taking the yacht and captaining it himself.’” Maggie looked around at the others. “Where are we going to nail these three? If he’s getting set to have a New Year’s party on his yacht and take off for California, I’m thinking that he, and probably the others, just might not be going into the office this week. I’m also thinking time is of the essence here. How are we going to play this? By the way, there was no mention of Philip or Martha attending the party, which is likely to further complicate things.”
    “We need to find out if the three of them are at work this week. I can call to ask,” Dennis said.
    “Do that, kid,” Ted