Read Lust and Lies 04 - Pretty Maids in a Row for Free Online Page A

target."
    Rachel cut in. "Unfortunately, her usage of the verb 'rape' is in the figurative rather than the literal sense. I still think castration would be a lot more efficient."
    With barely a glance at Rachel, April continued. "Since none of the women were permanently disfigured physically, mutilation would be considered excessive."
    "The second fundamental rule is that every act we perform must be completely within the law. If our group or its goal ever became public, no one could be legally prosecuted. To ensure that, one of our absent members, Samantha Kingsley, serves as our legal counsel and clears every one of our decisions before any action is performed. Rachel holds a law degree as well, but her network of information through the FBI is much more valuable."
    "I'm sure you can guess how an IRS agent could benefit our group," April said, smiling at Bobbi. "And Erica is our resident genius in the business world. Erica, perhaps you'd like to tell Holly about our last success."
    Erica's smile reached her eyes this time. "Did y'all know Kenneth Viello?"
    Holly shook her head. "Actually, I didn't recognize that many names on the list."
    "It doesn't matter," Erica said with a wave of her hand. "Viello had a construction company in Mobile, Alabama. He'd built it up from a one-man home-repair service to a general contractor corporation employin' hundreds of people. The construction business had a few bad years and his company went from bein' very profitable to barely meetin' the payroll. He was certain things would improve eventually; he just needed enough capital to hang on until they did."
    "That's where my company came in with a deal he couldn't resist. Explainin' that we were lookin' for a short-term investment for a cash surplus, we agreed to put capital into the business in exchange for a temporary fifty-one percent ownership and the right to put our employees in certain key positions... to guarantee an efficient turnaround. Once the business was back on profitable ground, Viello had the right to buy back our percentage at a reasonable price.
    "As had happened before with other men, he assumed my bein, a woman would make it easy for him to maintain control of our business relationship. Once my own executives were in place, they followed my instructions for downgradin' the company. Within a year, not only was there no profit bein' made, there was no business left to salvage and no cash to start fresh. And Donner Corporation received a tax benefit for the losses sustained.
    "It never seemed to occur to Viello that the lovely Mrs. Donner had purposefully set out to steal his company or ruin him financially. He actually apologized for my losin' my investment. There was never a chance that he'd make the connection with the Little Sister Society because I hadn't been on his dance card. Cheryl, Bobbi, and Rachel had."
    Setting her empty glass on the table, Rachel said, "I've always wanted to send the men condolence cards from the Society when we finished with them. It would be rather satisfying to let them know who got them and why. But April convinced everyone that the risk of exposure wasn't worth the extra satisfaction—at least until the last man receives his just deserts."
    Holly gave herself a moment to see how she felt about what these women had done—and, apparently, were still doing. In a way, they were no better than the vigilantes in the Old West, taking the law into their own hands and meting out justice as they saw fit. But law and justice had failed them all and the men deserved punishment.
    Considering the brutal beating and rapes the last man had participated in, he had gotten off rather easily by only being financially ruined. The truth was, rather than disapproval of the women's methods or sympathy for the men, Holly was feeling a very unchristianlike sense of righteousness. She found herself unable to stifle a smile. "How many of the fifteen have you managed to get to?"
    Erica held up three French-manicured