Read Online Upside Down by Fern Michaels - Free Book Online Page A

What would Myra and Annie think when she told them why she had made the trip? Whose side would they be on? Then there was Isabelle. How was that going to play out?
    Maggie rolled the window halfway down and took in deep breaths of the cold, fresh air. She hated this time of year with a passion. It was always gray and gloomy, with snow flurries in the air. Then came the snow. It was bearable, she supposed, until the Christmas season was over. Right now, though, it sucked.
    Go forward?
    Turn around and go home?
    Damn it, she was a reporter, and she lived by her instincts. It didn’t matter if she was the editor in chief or not; at the end of the day, she was still a reporter, and she would be a reporter to her dying day.
    Maggie clenched her teeth, moved the gearshift from PARK to DRIVE, and hit the gas pedal.
    Arriving at the electronic gate, Maggie pressed in the code, gave a soft tap to the horn, and zipped through the opening. She parked next to a black Mustang, a car she didn’t recognize. Probably Isabelle’s.
    As she ran across the courtyard, Maggie could hear the dogs barking. The kitchen door opened just as she hit the steps. In an instant, she was surrounded by Lady and her four pups. Suddenly, everyone was laughing, and then Isabelle was wrapping her arms around her and squeezing her so hard her eyes started to water.
    â€œOh, Maggie, I am sooooo glad to see you! You look great. It’s been a year! Well, almost a year since we were together. What brings you all the way out here?” Isabelle gushed.
    â€œA couple of things. I . . . I need to talk to someone. It’s good to see you, Isabelle, really good. Yoko told me you were back. I didn’t know.”
    â€œHow did Yoko know?”
    Maggie shrugged. “She heard Harry and Abner talking. She eavesdropped. You know how it goes, Isabelle, you gather your information however you can.”
    â€œCoffee?” Myra asked.
    â€œTea?” Annie offered.
    â€œHow about a cold Coke?”
    Ten minutes later, the women were seated at the table, Isabelle with tea, Myra and Annie with coffee, and Maggie with her Coke.
    â€œGive it up, dear,” Myra said. “We need a diversion here.”
    Maggie gave it all up, even the part about signing their names to the gift card that accompanied the banana tree.
    Isabelle frowned. “What do you think it all means?”
    â€œThe boys are up to something they don’t want us to know about. The ritzy, shiny, brass sign says it is the BOLO Building. I don’t know if that’s a true name or initials or what it stands for. I couldn’t track down the ownership. I even asked some of the owners of the surrounding buildings. No one knows who the owner is. They all claim to have been aware of renovations over the past months but nothing that disrupted their own businesses. The building was sold off as part of an estate. Couldn’t find out anything there. Pricey. This might be a stretch, but off the top of my head, I’d say it’s worth around ten million. Like I said, pricey, because it’s in Georgetown.”
    â€œI don’t understand, dear,” Annie said. “How did you find out about the building? What made you suspect the boys were . . . uh . . . up to something?”
    â€œCome on, Annie! Are you going to sit there and tell me that you don’t think this whole past year has been more than a little strange? Everything has gone to hell. You know it, and I know it. Just because we haven’t been talking about it doesn’t mean something isn’t going on.
    â€œWell, for one thing, Abner’s out. No offense, Isabelle, but he’s aligned himself with them, so I have to find a new computer guru who is as good as he is. You got any ideas?”
    â€œNo offense taken, Maggie. I’ve been kind of locked into my own personal problems here. Abner and I haven’t exactly been warm and cozy these past five or six months. There is