* * *

Together, Ruger and Sadist questioned a couple more girls, learning only disjointed bits and pieces from each. It was almost midnight when Ruger went downstairs to get the last one, the girl he kept thinking of as Jailbait, but he couldn’t see here anywhere. After a moment, he realized Crash was gone, too.

“Don’t worry, you can catch her in the morning,” Tuck said when he was informed of the problem. “She went upstairs with Crash a while back. Judging from the way they were all over each other, they won’t come out until noon.” Tuck nodded at the empty chair across the table. “Have a seat.” He waved to Jake, one of the prospects, to get his attention.

Ruger sat and leaned back in the chair with a sigh. He waited while the president told the prospect to bring them drinks then for the younger man to turn to him.

“Bud?” Jake asked.

“Not after tonight. Bring me a bottle of Patron and a glass.”

“Salt and lime?”

“Don’t bother.”

Jake left to get the drinks and Tuck watched Ruger for a moment.

“That bad, huh?” Tuck lifted one brow.

“We’ve seen worse. I just wasn’t expecting to encounter it talking to a few whores, and I wasn’t prepared for what they had to say.” Jake brought their drinks, and Ruger sent him up to let Sadist know he wasn’t coming back. Ruger poured himself a drink and threw it back.

“What did you learn?” Tuck asked as Ruger set his glass on the table with a thunk.

Ruger took a deep breath. “This was definitely an attempt to try to take some of our territory.” He shook his head as he thought about it. “One of the girls overheard the Devils talking about wanting to expand not long before they were dropped off.”

“How much difficulty you think the girls will give us for not letting them go back to the Devils?”

“I don’t think it’s a question of them giving us trouble. There might be one, maybe two that wouldn’t mind going back, but most of ’em will be thrilled to get free of the Devils.”

“Not good management?”

“Piss poor business management and more than a little abuse. I don’t think the girls will fight, but the Devils will see it as a declaration of war.”

“Abuse? Physical? Substance? Or what?”

“Physical, sexual, emotional, you name it. The only good thing I can say about the Devils is that they did get the girls who were hooked on drugs off them. The hardest thing they were allowed is alcohol. It seems they didn’t want the expense of keeping up with their addictions.”

Tuck was quiet for several moments. “Give me your opinion on what we should do about the girls and the Devils.”

Ruger poured another drink and sat back in his chair. “There’s a lot to consider. Some of these girls were forced into what they’re doing.” He shook his head. “Sadist already promised one safety while she’s here.”

“He what?’ Tuck frowned.

Ruger explained the situation and what they’d learned from Sparkle. Tuck growled a low rumble deep in his chest. “As much as I’d like to, I can’t blame him, but I really wish he’d check with me before doing this kind of shit.”

They discussed the pros and cons of different options while Ruger had a couple more drinks, then he went up to the room he kept at the clubhouse for the night. Alone. Krissi wasn’t here, and right now, she was the only one he wanted.