kobo risk by Unknown Page B

She knew the other woman was completely
lying, probably because she was trying to save her sister.   But still.   The sound in her voice was very
convincing.  
    Ivy turned and looked at her.   “If you’re lying because you think it’s
going to get you somewhere…”
    “I’m not lying,” Peg said, a small smile
playing on her lips.   “I told you to
give me a chance, didn’t I?”
    “Tell me,” Ivy responded, striding
quickly back to her.   “Tell me how
you can help.”
    Peg put her sunglasses on again and took
another puff from her cigarette.   “My father just so happens to be childhood friends with the district attorney,”
she said.   The small smile
widened.   “You’d be very surprised
how far that sort of thing goes in this world.”
    “I don’t believe you,” Ivy said, as her
heart beat faster.
    “You don’t have to.   Let me prove it to you.   If I call my father and tell him that in
exchange for making one phone call, he can save his daughter’s life… .I think he’ll probably make that call.   Don’t you?”
    “I suppose,” Ivy said, cautiously.   She refused to believe that Peg
Woodhouse could do anything she was insinuating.  
    The woman pulled out her cell phone and
made a call, putting the phone to her ear.   “Daddy, hi.   It’s me.”   She blew smoke from her mouth,
nodding.   “Daddy, it’s
important.   I need you to make a
call to Tony.   Tony Vance,” she
continued.
    As she spoke, Ivy began searching the
name on her phone and found that Anthony Vance Jr, was
in fact the county district attorney.    Ivy’s heart began racing
faster.   If Peg Woodhouse was
telling the truth, than this was an important moment that Ivy couldn’t afford
to screw up.
    The question was , what would Cullen want Ivy to do in this situation?
    Would he want her to negotiate on his
behalf and help him get free from jail?   Or would he merely be enraged that she was meddling in his affairs and
possibly putting him in a position to fulfill a debt that he couldn’t pay?
    She wasn’t certain of the right answer,
and it was eating her up inside, as she heard Peg telling her father that he
needed to call and find out if his childhood buddy, the district attorney,
could arrange to get Cullen Sharpe out of jail.
    “He’s the best neurosurgeon on the
planet, Daddy,” Peg whispered.   “And
Becca is going to die unless we get her the very best surgeon possible to do
the operation.   You know that.   You know how hard I’ve been trying to
catch a break here…. ”   Peg shook her head as she listened to her father.   “I know he can, that’s how.   You have to trust me, Daddy.   Just make the call.   Okay?”
    Ivy shuddered as she heard Peg begging
her father to do this favor, knowing that she was making promises on Cullen’s
behalf—and he might very well refuse to help them at all.
    After another minute or two, the
conversation came to an end, with Peg thanking her father and hanging up.   The woman pulled her sunglasses off and
wiped at her eyes.   “He’s going to
try,” she muttered.   “I did my best.   It’s all I can do.”   And then the woman began to cry, and Ivy
did the only thing she knew to do.
    She wrapped the sobbing woman in her arms
and hugged her.
    “I’m so sorry this is happening to you,” Ivy
told her.
    Peg started laughing through her
tears.   “What a pair we make,” she
said.   “Two crying messes.”
    “It’s Boston,” Ivy laughed.   “Nobody gives a shit.”   She wiped at her own eyes.   She realized at that moment that she
actually quite liked Peg Woodhouse.   The woman had spunk.  
    She was fighting for her sister’s life,
after all.
    “You know that I can’t make a promise for
Cullen,” Ivy said, after a long moment.   “He’s already told me he can’t take your sister’s case.”
    “That was before, wasn’t it?” Peg
said.   The tears were still drying
on her cheeks and her eyes had hardened.