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Risen To The Top CHAPTER 153
Dole didn’t like tattoo parlors, because he didn’t like seeing people violating their paroles. Even with the increased popularity of tattooing, inking their skin was still something the underworld crowd habitually did with their spare change. Some were excising demons, and others were decorating or memorializing their bodies. It was impossible to tell, just from the size, color and subject matter of the tattoos what statement they were aiming for.But now he had a pretty good idea about this frog footprint tattoo. He needed confirmation of his hunch.Monique was quite the stunner, just like Lucas had told him, and side-by-side, Dole probably would have chosen her over Libby. But he could understand why Sean had made his decision. On Dole’s radar, a woman with lots of worldly experience was way more valuable, and probably more able to deal with his personal demons, not that he ever wanted to show them.He knew Monique could pick up
Risen To The Top CHAPTER 154
Sean was on his way to drop Tori off at the Hotel where her family was staying in. Lucas called him during the trip over. Sean had pulled over to the side of the road to listen. Tori could hear Lucas squawking on the other end of the line, telling Sean about a confrontation with someone named Mia, and the visit with Dole. She remembered hearing somewhere that Mia was Lucas’s sister, and that made her feel a little better.Tori stared out idly, leaning against the passenger window. phoenix sat tall in the back seat and observed his humans.“Honestly, Sean, don’t think you have anything to worry about,” Tori could hear Lucas say on the other end of the phone. “But wanted you to know he’d be talking to Monique. The tat was definitely hers. But here’s the thing. The guy had scars on him, like he was a nut job.”Tori froze in place. Nut job? Who was Monique?“Scars?”“Southern Cross.”Tori saw S
Risen To The Top CHAPTER 155
The call came in to Dole just as he was about to suggest he and Monique might be able to retire to the Pink Slipper or some other hotel. She’d had two margaritas, and much as he hated to admit it, even to himself, he liked his women drunk. Besides, it took some of the pressure off if they didn’t remember his performance. Not that he was ashamed, but he wasn’t used to having lots of sex with more than just a couple regulars. He wanted to make sure Monique had a good time, so he could have another.“This better be good.” He had recognized the number from the dispatcher at the precinct.“All good, Ryan.” She insisted on calling him by his first name, even though he had reprimanded her several times for doing so. She did seem to be pleased with herself. “You’re gonna love this news.”“Oh yeah?” he looked at Monique, who had just begun her third margarita.Christ. Hope I’m not going to have to miss anything. He wondered if
Risen To The Top CHAPTER 156
Dr. Hoades clicked the TV on to see if there was any breaking news about the arrest of Dr. Vlad. He was disappointed to find nothing. Then he decided to check for a news update on his computer.Scanning through local live feeds, he still came up short.“Let it ride till morning, Aaron,” his lovely wife said as she walked into the room and stood behind him.“Well, I guess it takes a few hours. I just expected it to be here, since Dole told me Duke had been arrested this afternoon.”“It’ll be there tomorrow,” Rachel said. “Come on, Aaron. Let’s go to bed.”He wiggled his eyebrows at his wife, who had walked backward into the master bedroom and waved to him from the doorway. He was about to close his laptop when he noticed a new email.Something compelled him to take a look at what the email contained. The subject line of the email said, “Thought you might like this.” The sender had some kind
Risen To The Top CHAPTER 157
Sean and Alex wound their way up the street towards the Hoade house. A pickup truck almost scraped the driver’s headlights on Alex’s SUV as it took the angle of the corner too steep, traveling at a high rate of speed. Alex hadn’t had a chance to downshift from high beams, so the lights flashed on the face of a man behind the wheel wearing a Padres baseball cap.The Hoade’s gardener. “That’s strange.”“What?” Alex asked.“The fuckin’ gardener. Tori said his regular day was tomorrow. He’s about as good a driver as he is landscaper,” Sean snorted.“Something wrong about that, Sean,” Alex replied.Sean turned and looked toward the rear of the truck that was smoking, picking up speed as it barreled down the hill to the commercial district. Something was definitely wrong. He started having that feeling like he did sometimes when he was in an unfamiliar neighborhood overseas, when they didn’t know what was arou
Risen To The Top CHAPTER 158
Tori was being hauled from a truck that smelled of gasoline into a chilly, dark covered space, perhaps a garage. As her feet dragged along the floorboards, they snagged a gasoline can and tipped it, sending it crashing to the concrete below. She heard a man’s voice swear. The gasoline smell was almost overpowering.With his arms under her chest, her kidnapper dragged her through a doorway and into a carpeted small space. The room was done up in pink, complete with a set of Barbie Dolls on a French Provincial sideboard that looked like it came out of a little girl’s room.And then it hit her. It did look just like a little girl’s room. A single bed with a hot-pink, fuzzy bedspread, dotted with stuffed animal pillows was in the corner. An overhead chandelier in pink had lit up automatically as they entered the room. The massive arms hoisted her up and onto the bed. She was left in sitting position. She couldn’t feel much of her body below the neck
Risen To The Top CHAPTER 159
Sean and Alex raised their hands, partly to protect their eyes from the disruptive bright light. Sean saw smoke billowing around the massive legs and boots of the giant.“So, what the hell are you guys up to?”Sean put his fingers to his mouth to indicate he wanted silence but the man wasn’t having anything of it.Alex whispered, “He the one?”Sean shook his head, no.The man raised his voice further. “I said, I want some answers, and quick, or I’m calling the cops.”Not a cop? With the boots and the gun, Sean figured he was either a bad guy or a security guard trying to do his job.“They’re already on their way,” Alex said as a test. His voice was commanding but not threatening. Sean hoped they were not within earshot of the man who had Tori. The man with the shotgun didn’t move, so Alex continued. “We’re looking for a guy in a pickup. We think he has kidnapped a girl and bro
Risen To The Top CHAPTER 160
Sean wouldn’t leave Tori’s side. Paramedics came and tried to push him away, but he almost got heavy with the larger one and barked a “no” they would not soon forget. As usual, Alex was making nice with the local authorities, including Dole, who looked rather pissed.“We caught the guy, Karl. I’d have thought you’d be a little more grateful,” Alex said. The two of them walked off into the night to have a private conversation.Sean helped the paramedics remove Tori to the gurney for transport to the hospital.“I’m fine,” she kept on saying. “Really, I’m fine. You guys don’t have to fuss over me.”“Baby, that was so close. I’m never going to leave you alone again.”Tori giggled.God, how I love that sound!“Sean, come here.” She raised her head up and Sean kissed her. He would have climbed on top of the gurney if the paramedics hadn’t objected. They started pulling him away care