a wall coming down between her emotions and her voice. She could not beg.

number on the b

ediately, his tone

nancial proposition regarding t

oritative. She didn't know where the tone came

her end. The mention of the e

Kurtis

music played. It was heav

one, vibrating with an authority that

ea

ed against her ribs,

I need five thousand dolla

. It stretched ou

ket change? Duke Montgomery asked.

anel said. I will repay you with t

wa

king at a live feed on his tablet. The feed was from the Lenox-Montgomery Clinic, a 'charitable' acqu

the hospital gown and the bruises. She didn't look like the wee

cent, Duke said. H

atically. That is the standard high-ris

t. The numbers just appeared in

in his office. A ra

tails, he

uctions from the bottom of t

ped an octave, becoming intimat

come collect,

e click

pital bed. She looked frail but defiant. A ghost of a memory surfaced-a girl with the same fire in her eyes, laughing in a sun-drenched

econds later, the nurse's com

ide. She stared at the

in full, the nurse s

sagged, the adrenaline

r IV. A bead of blood welled up

ving, s

ess, torn at the hem and stained with mud and blood. She p

head high. She passed the nurs

s matted, her face pale. She looked like a wreck. But her eyes were fie

the bright, harsh sunlight

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