In any other situation, Angie would’ve laughed in Rippy’s face. He had convinced himself that he was a good man backed into a tight corner. She wanted to look at her watch and time how long it took for him to capitulate. Her best guess was three minutes.

‘Marcus.’ Kip sighed a heavy breath, feigning frustration at this awful dilemma that he, too, had no taste for. ‘I don’t want to send her to jail either. But this is serious stuff. We’ve got to figure out a way to put Jo in her place without alerting Fig. She needs an ax, not a hammer.’

‘What the fuck does that even mean?’

Dale said, ‘It means that she needs to understand this is a business.’

Kip took over. ‘The next ten days are precarious for all of us. You saw what happened to the investors when that Keisha Miscavage bullshit came up. What do you think is gonna happen if you and Fig get embroiled in a new scandal? We’re not just talking about Jo blowing up your career, your home life, your family. This could blow up the entire project.’ He shrugged, helpless. ‘Someone has that much power, you don’t shut her up, you shut her down.’

Marcus shook his head, but Angie could tell he was close to breaking. ‘That ain’t right, man. She came to me for help.’

Kip shot Dale a look of desperation. Angie looked away so she didn’t get the same. Jo in jail for a few days wouldn’t be a bad thing. She’d be safe from Fig. Two days would give Angie some time to figure out a plan. If she could juggle the right balls in the air, Jo would be on a plane to the Bahamas on Sunday morning instead of scuttling off to rehab.

Kip said, ‘Marcus, tell me our other options. This isn’t like Chicago. We can’t twist arms and throw around some money. Jo gets away with blackmailing you once, she’ll try it again. And people will listen to her, man. You want a Rolling Stone cover about that shit? Or worse, for her to go to LaDonna with some bullshit story about video this and video that?’

Marcus physically recoiled at the mention of his wife. ‘She wouldn’t bring LaDonna into this.’

‘You sure about that?’

Marcus didn’t look sure of anything.

Kip saw an opening. ‘There’s no telling what else Jo is planning. We need to make it clear that she’s not the one with the power. It’s not like I enjoy the prospect of backing her down.’ He shrugged, helpless. ‘But if we scare the shit out of her, let her sit in a five-by-nine cell for a few days, eat shit on a shingle and watch the clock tick with no idea when it’s going to stop.’ Kip shrugged again. ‘It’s the best way to handle it, Marcus. You know that.’

Marcus asked, ‘What’s Fig gonna do when he gets home tomorrow night and finds out his wife is in county lock-up?’

‘I can handle Fig.’

‘Bull. Shit.’ Marcus spat out the two words. ‘Ain’t nobody can handle him. Dude’s a freak when he’s pissed off. Something like this, Jo pulling jail time? He won’t put her in the hospital. He’ll put her in the grave.’

Kip said, ‘He’ll be in a knee brace. Doc says he can’t bend his leg for another week.’

Angie watched Marcus trying to concoct a fairy tale where Jo was safe. He asked, ‘What else did the doc say about Fig?’

Kip said, ‘A month in the brace, another month of physical therapy. He’s got at least five more years in him. But the point is, there’s nothing to worry about this weekend. Once Fig gets back from Texas, if Jo wants to get away from him, all she has to do is walk fast.’

Angie didn’t know if Jo had it in her to walk away from anything unless Anthony was at her side. She grabbed at straws. ‘Send her to rehab. It’ll look good for the judge. It’ll buy her thirty days away from Fig. That’ll get us past the ground-breaking, and it will help Jo.’

Marcus asked, ‘How does that help Jo?’

Angie wasn’t going to make this too easy for him. ‘Nobody’s going to beat the shit out of her in rehab. That’ll happen when she gets out.’

Dale said, ‘Rehab means therapy. What if one of them shrinks talks her into turning on Fig?’

‘We can’t deal with what-ifs,’ Kip said, though that was exactly what they were doing. He told Marcus, ‘Look, I like Jo too, but we can seriously undercut her credibility with the arrest, right? Nobody listens to a junkie. Just ask Keisha Miscavage. Plus, you know Jo’s not going to leave Fig. She’s tried at least five times before, and that’s only the times we know about.’

‘I dunno.’ Marcus was obviously convinced, but he had to make like his arm had to be twisted just a little more.

Dale said, ‘I don’t know if I’ve got enough juice to keep her in past Sunday. Saturday is a stretch.’

‘La D is throwing a team party Sunday night,’ Marcus said. ‘Even if Fig could move around, he wouldn’t mess her up before the party. People would ask too many questions.’

Dale said, ‘So, we keep her in jail two days, we get her through the party Sunday, we whisk her off to rehab the next morning.’

Marcus scratched his chin. He still wasn’t going to make this easy.

Kip said, ‘The tabloids will be all over this. You know Fig hates the press. He’ll be on his best behavior. He’s fucking nuts, but he’s not stupid. This isn’t five years ago. You can’t get filmed beating the shit out of a woman and expect to keep playing.’

Marcus didn’t disagree. ‘I don’t know about jail, man. Jo’s sensitive. She ain’t that kind of girl.’

‘It’s no big deal. It’s like going to a spa.’ Kip’s eyes lit up with an idea. ‘Actually, this could work in Jo’s favor. We’ll get publicity on it. They can turn it into a story about Jo’s recovery, getting clean for her kid, whatever. She’ll get a photo shoot, have her hair and make-up done. She’ll love it.’

‘No she won’t,’ Marcus said. ‘Jo hates being photographed. She never wants to be the center of attention.’

‘Even better,’ Kip said. ‘She’ll do it because she won’t have a choice. Good press for Reuben. Good press for the team.’

Marcus looked genuinely worried. ‘I can buy Fig waiting it out for a couple of days because of his knee, but then what? Dude packs some serious heat. He keeps an AK by his front door.’

‘He’s had guns for years. He hasn’t used them yet.’ Kip seemed to think there was some safety in his logic. ‘Jo will be fine.’

Dale said, ‘I’ll make sure they take care of her in jail. She’ll get her own cell. She’ll be in solitary. None of the other inmates will talk to her. I’ve got a gal who’s been working there since dirt. She knows how to keep girls safe.’

Marcus stared at him. ‘Who the fuck are you, man?’

‘He’s a fixer,’ Kip said. ‘He gets shit done.’

‘He looks like a fucking corpse.’ Marcus sniffed. ‘Damn, man, clean your shorts. You smell like piss.’

Angie said, ‘He was a cop for twenty-five years. He knows how the system works. If he says he can make sure Jo is protected inside, then she will be.’

Marcus looked at Angie like he had just noticed she was in the room. His eyes traveled up her legs, followed the curve of her waist to her breasts. She knew that she was his type, even with a few years on her.