Upside Down Read Free

his face pink with excitement at really belonging to this secret one-of-a-kind group.
    â€œNow, to salaries. I’m the only one without a job at the moment. I plan to work out of this office full-time. I’m not looking for a salary—Nikki and I are financially set—but I would like an expense account. Actually, I think we should all have expense accounts, which are not to be abused. I think, and tell me if you agree, that we should all take a small salary of five thousand dollars a month. If we don’t need it, we can pump it back into the business. I know I said I don’t want a salary, but Lizzie is the one who suggested the salary in case of an audit and to keep things on the up-and-up. We’ve set up a special fund for Avery Snowden and his people. We all know how much that costs from the times that Charles showed us the financials back in the day. It goes without saying that Snowden and his group of retired spies are worth every penny. Are you all following me here? Raise your hands if you agree.” Once again, all hands shot into the air.
    â€œOkay, moving right along, the bottom line is that money will be no object thanks to Dennis West’s generosity. In my office, I have a box of contracts for everything under the sun that were delivered yesterday from Lizzie. Before you leave, I’m going to need you all to sign each and every contract per Lizzie’s instructions. Any questions?”
    There were questions. The first was posed by Dennis, whose face was still pink from his compliments. “Are we a secret . . . you know, like a club that doesn’t take on any new members? I understand what BOLO means, but are we going to be the male equivalent of the vigilantes and do the . . . ah . . . ladies know what we’re doing? How secret is secret, and did Mr. Snowden sign on?”
    â€œBy my count, Dennis, that’s four questions,” Ted said. All eyes turned to Jack Emery.
    â€œI guess you could say we are the male counterpart of the girls. I more or less . . . alluded to . . . certain things where the girls are concerned but I did . . .”
    â€œIn other words, the answer is no, the girls don’t know,” Espinosa said.
    â€œRight!” Jack sighed.
    â€œSo are we secret or not?” Dennis demanded.
    â€œHow about this, kid? We’re secret until we get found out. Then we’ll figure out how to deal with it. Does that work for you?” Ted asked.
    â€œYeah, Ted, it works for me. I know how to keep a secret,” Dennis shot back. “But my mother always said you need to be up front from the git-go, so nothing comes back to bite you. I don’t like to lie.”
    â€œNo shit!” Everyone turned to the voice coming from the webcam. It was Bert Navarro. “Everyone lies at some point. Even that guy House on the television program says so. We aren’t actually lying; we just aren’t blasting out our business for the world to hear. If Lizzie Fox is okay with all this, then we’re good to go. Speaking for myself here, I’ve put together a kick-ass security team that makes the Secret Service look like rent-a-cops. I can actually count on them, so my time is free to travel back and forth when you guys need me. You did say we all had the use of the WELMED corporate jet. Win-win!”
    â€œLet’s be clear on something,” Abner said. “For the most part, we’re just doing pro bono work, which means we aren’t charging anyone for our services. I get the part about us stealing funds from the bad guys and using it for the good guys, but does that sum it up? Are you saying we’re going to be modern-day Robin Hoods?”
    â€œThat’s a nice way of putting it, Abner.” Jack grinned.
    Harry Wong took a slug from his green tea and looked around the table. “What about Charles Martin?”
    Expectant gazes turned to Jack, who merely shrugged. “I don’t know what to tell you.