Upside Down

By Fern Michaels

The men behind a squad of fierce female vigilantes form their own team in the first of this thrilling series from a #1 New York Times–bestselling author.

Through public triumphs and private sorrows, the men in the Sisters' lives—husbands, friends, colleagues, and lovers—have offered invaluable aid and support. In the process, they've become an informal brotherhood of their own, able to relate to the unique challenges and rewards of life among the vigilantes.

But after years of bit parts, the Sisterhood's significant others are itching to take center stage. Frustrated with the limits of the criminal justice system, Nikki's husband Jack Emery has recruited his friends Ted, Joe, Harry, Bert, Jay, and Abner. They have brand-new headquarters with state-of-the-art equipment, an unlimited bankroll, and a plaque on the door that reads BOLO Consultants. Their first case: toppling ruthless slum landlord Tyler Sandford—also lieutenant governor of Virginia. Sandford may have friends in very high places, but that's no match for BOLO—or the women who've got their backs…

• Language: English
• Publisher: Zebra Books
• Release date: Aug 1, 2014
• ISBN: 9781420134957

Fern Michaels

New York Times bestselling author Fern Michaels has a passion for romance, often with a dash of suspense and drama. It stems from her other joys in life—her family, animals, and historic home. She is usually found in South Carolina, where she is either tapping out stories on her computer, rescuing or supporting animal organizations, or dabbling in some kind of historical restoration.

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Chapter 1

Jack Emery propped his chin on his cupped hands and looked out the window of the Bagel Emporium at the blustery weather outside. His thoughts traveled back in time to a year ago, to the last day that Emanuel Macklin was seen. A lot had happened in the past year. Much of his life, and the lives of his friends, had been turned upside down. And sometimes he had a hard time coming to terms with the way all of it had happened at what seemed to be the speed of light.

He was a free agent these days. Right after the first of the year, he’d left his wife’s, Nikki’s, law firm, with her reluctant approval, supposedly to write a book. It was something that never happened. He’d done some consulting work for a few months, but that hadn’t worked either. He’d then stepped into his old shoes at the district attorney’s office, prosecuted two cases, and walked away. He’d won both cases but they were both on appeal. Some smart-ass defense attorney would come up with some frigging loophole, and the bad guys would be right back out on the street. So, disillusioned, he’d thrown in the towel and walked away, frustrated and angry at a criminal justice system that seemed to coddle the criminals and leave the good guys, the victims, to fend for themselves.

Jack’s eyes were glued to the redbrick building across the street from where he was sitting. His building. Well, not totally his. He, along with Ted Robinson, Joe Espinosa, Harry Wong, Bert Navarro, and Jay Sparrow, owned the building. They’d invested the bonus money they’d gotten years ago when they worked for Hank Jellicoe, money that none of them had ever touched until a few months ago, when he convinced his little band of avengers that this was what they needed to do. This meaning buying the six-thousand-square-foot brick building, refurbishing it, and going into business together. Into a business that was completely off the grid. And today was move-in day.

In a shopping bag at his feet, he had a bottle of champagne, crystal wine flutes, and a jug of tea for Harry so they could christen their new business in—he looked down at his watch—ten more minutes. Next to the shopping bag was Cyrus, a huge, sleek, 140-pound black German shepherd, who was his new best friend forever. Cyrus was two years old and, as far as Jack was concerned, half human and half dog. Cyrus was so in tune with Jack, he knew what Jack was going to do before Jack knew himself.

Four months ago, he had stopped in for his morning bagel while Cyrus waited outside. While he waited in line for his coffee and bagel, the door opened, and a man bellowed, Everyone on the floor! As he was dropping to the floor to obey the robber’s orders, Jack saw a black streak clear the door with inches to spare. In the blink of an eye, all 140 pounds of ferocious dog propelled the robber to the floor, then sat on him. Jack, in a lightning move, scooped up the gun the man had been brandishing while Domingo Lopez, known to his patrons as Ding, called the police. Cyrus was the hero of the day, and, as Ding said, I don’t care what the Health Department’s rules are, Cyrus can come in here anytime. His patrons agreed, and everyone else looked the other way. Jack reached down to pat the magnificent dog on the head. Cyrus nuzzled his hand.

Jack returned to his thoughts as he stared out the window. The weatherman had predicted a possibility of snow flurries later in the day. It was, after all, December, so snow flurries were to be expected. Just like last year, when the same prediction led to three weeks of arctic air and so much snow that the District had to shut down because there was nowhere else to move the white stuff.

So much had happened during that short period of time. Charles Martin had flown the coop, Jack and Nikki had hit a rough patch, and he’d resigned, to her initial chagrin. But in the end, she agreed because she just wanted him to be happy with his life. During the past year, her twelve-member all-female law firm took on six new associates and seven new paralegals. The expansion was needed to deal with three class-action lawsuits that would make the firm kazillions of dollars. If the workload didn’t kill everyone first. All they had to do was work twenty hours a day to make it happen. Sometimes, he didn’t see or talk to his wife for days at a time. What the hell kind of life was that? Things were still sticky between the two of them, but they were both trying to work it all through. Alexis Thorn, Joe Espinosa’s significant other, had given Espinosa the boot shortly before Valentine’s Day, saying she preferred her job to a relationship, and she hoped that he understood that she couldn’t do both. Espinosa did not understand, any more than Jack did. They’d cried into their beers way too many times the last ten months.

Maggie Spritzer was back at the Post as the EIC after John Cassidy resigned because he didn’t have enough time to go fly-fishing. It had taken a lot of sweet-talking on Annie de Silva’s part to get Maggie back in harness, but, finally, all the perks Annie dangled in front of Maggie won her over, and she was once again calling the shots at the Post. Not a bad thing, Jack had decided at the time. Or as Ted put it, She’s out of our hair for now.

Jack’s little guy group, as he called it, had three new exclusive members and one long-distance member. The other members referred to it as an off-the-grid spy group, whatever the hell that meant. The name conjured up all kinds of weird images and possible scenarios. Bert Navarro was the long-distance member. Dennis West, cub reporter and Ted Robinson, hero worshipper, as well as a new billionaire, Abner Tookus, hacker extraordinaire, and Jack Sparrow, who out of necessity was called Jay for a little while, were the latest recruits to the off-the-grid avengers club.

Jack let his thoughts wander to Myra and Annie, who had settled in for the long winter ahead. The last time he’d checked with Myra, she was knitting. Knitting. She’d said she was making a scarf that was two miles long, and she needed a wagon to carry it in. Or, as Annie put it, one long line of colored yarn filled with sloppy stitches. Annie said she was taking cooking lessons and brushing up on her pole dancing. She had mumbled something about feathers on shoes, or maybe it was her white cowboy boots that she always wore, but he hadn’t understood a word of what she was saying. What he did understand was that, unlike the others, who were running themselves ragged, she and Myra were bored out of their minds.

Women! He would never understand them. Never!

Isabelle Flanders Tookus was still in England, designing a new-age city, and had no downtime available for Abner, which pretty much left him at loose ends and ready to dive into the guy group. Yoko, it appeared, at least according to Harry, was happier than a pig in a mud slide with her plant nursery and raising Lily, which left precious little time for Harry, who these days was meaner than a wet cat on a treadmill.

Kathryn Lucas, fiancée of Bert Navarro, thrived on driving the open roads in her eighteen-wheeler, making two stops a month in Las Vegas for, as Bert put it, booty calls. He also said theirs would be the longest engagement in history because Kathryn had no intention of ever marrying again. Bert said he was okay with the engagement because he had no other options, and he loved Kathryn heart and soul.

Cyrus raised his head, then reared up. He’d heard the sound of Harry’s Ducati before Jack had. Okay, big guy, do your thing while I pay the bill. Doing his thing meant going from table to table to offer up his paw and, with luck, get a little treat from his friends at the other tables. When he finished his rounds, he barked, and Ding came out from behind the counter and handed the big dog a monster dog treat. Cyrus barked, offered up his paw, and waited for Jack to open the door. Ham that he was, Cyrus turned and bowed. The patrons loved it and always clapped. Jack said, You are the biggest ham I’ve ever seen, Cyrus. Hero worship is a sin. Do you know that? Cyrus barked, waited for a break in traffic, and raced across the road to greet Harry, who obligingly ruffled his ears.

Hi, Harry!

Hi, Jack!

"Let’s walk around back so we can all go in together. I want us all to oooh and aaah at the same time. Ted just turned the corner, and I think I saw Sparrow come in