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“Hello, Olivia,” he said in a low tone.

“Ripley. I didn’t know you were still here.”

Carrie looked back and forth between the two. Did they know each other? Wouldn’t that be a small world?

Whatever passed between them was gone in a flash, and Olivia turned to Carrie and said, “How do I help you? Do you want to talk, watch TV, make out?”

Carrie grinned. “You’re ridiculous. Thank you. Just being here is helping. Have you heard from Darci lately?”

Olivia shook her head. “She came into the bar with Damion the other night but they didn’t stay long. I got the feeling he didn’t really like the place. And to be honest, I don’t like him.”

Somewhere around midnight, they got word that Upwood had been arrested and there had been a raid on The Doll House. Diego Carrasco was in the wind, but Colombia had agreed to waive diplomatic immunity when he was caught. They found seven of the twelve missing women inside the Doll House. Based on Ripley’s intel, similar raids were being conducted on multiple strip clubs around the country.

Tom left not long after that to go to the office and make sure the network was ready to run with the story. Carrie was feeling weepy and wanted to be alone, so she excused herself to one of the guest bedrooms. Ripley promised to come get her if anything happened. Olivia said she was going to crash in one of the other guest rooms.

At around four in the morning, Carrie still couldn’t sleep so she wandered into the hallway, intent on going to the other guest room to find Olivia. The sounds of her pleasured cries stopped her in her tracks. Ripley’s gruff voice was muffled, but Carrie could recognize the dominant bite to his tone. She felt bad for eavesdropping, but she couldn’t tear herself away. Finally, she made her way to the kitchen and found a bottle of water. A tear slid down her cheek as she thought of all the times Peter had admonished her about drinking more water. Just then there was a commotion in the hallway and Ripley came running as he zipped his pants.

“They got him. He’s at the hospital and they’re doing surgery.”

The bottle of water slipped from her hand. “Surgery? What happened?” Cold water soaked her feet. That’s when she noticed Olivia, wearing what must have been one of Ripley’s t-shirts, standing behind him. She rushed into the kitchen and grabbed a dish towel. “Go dry your feet and get ready to go, honey.”

A half hour later, they were sitting in a hospital waiting room. There was no word on Peter yet. Reggie was also in surgery and Gage, who had escaped unharmed, was pacing.

“Family of Reginald Christopher?” A doctor called out when he entered the room.

Ripley and Gage both ran for him. “We’re his brothers,” they said in unison. Carrie shook her head.Reggie must be short for Reginald.What was it with the nicknames in this group? At least that one made sense.

The doctor removed his scrub cap and bowed his head.

“I’m so sorry, we weren’t able to save him.”

34

WHY the fuck does my head hurt so much?

Peter blinked rapidly as dim light filled his eyes. A faint beeping sounded as his memories came flooding back. A gun at the back of his head. The acrid scent of gunpowder and blood. He squeezed his eyes shut at the recollection.

Someone had been waiting for him in the backseat of his SUV when he left Gage’s house. He had been so angry at Carrie that he wasn’t paying close enough attention. They had forced him to drive and then locked him in an abandoned warehouse. How Gage and Reggie found him, he wasn’t sure, but they’d arrived right on time. When Diego realized that his plan to hold Peter hostage to keep the story from coming out wasn’t working, they were going to execute him.

In the rescue’s pandemonium, Peter’s head had been knocked against a concrete wall and he took a bullet to the shoulder.

A nurse came in to check his vitals.

“Oh good, you’re awake. Your family will want to see you.”

Family. Are Mom and Dad here?

“Those are some intense brothers you have,” she said as she wrapped the blood pressure cuff around his upper arm.

Ripley and Gage must be waiting for him.

“One of them left this for you. Said they’d be back after breakfast.” The nurse leaned over to the bedside meal table and picked up a newspaper.

“I normally wouldn’t give this to you,” she said as she held it out for him to see. “But they seemed quite adamant that it was important.”

When she unwrapped the cuff, he picked up the paper and stared at the headline. The byline bore Carrie’s name and his heart constricted. He was terrified to read it. The nurse pushed pain meds into his IV and left.

The words swam on the page as he read the story outlining Upwood’s corruption and the effort to take him down. As far as he could tell, all sources remained anonymous.

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