The tattoo artist hopped off the railing to squat in front of Donovan. “So, man, why you fighting the chicks? Give it up already, man. I am so totally ready to start working on you.”

Sam kicked the chair Donovan was sitting in. “Just a bunch of stupid women, huh? I think you might be a little mixed up as to who is stupid and who isn’t. Give me a name. Now.”

“Pappy,” Donovan gasped.

“Pappy who? Who is Pappy?” Sam demanded.

“He’s the guy who operates everything. I only know him as Pappy. He’s the only contact I have besides Mateo and a few other men who do exactly what Mateo does. I told you, it’s a chain of command. That’s all I know.”

“Well, guess what, Mr. Donovan, that isn’t enough. Where does this Pappy hang his hat. Can we call him?”

“Someone named Pappy is on the Blackberry,” Kayla volunteered. “We can email him. The last message Donovan sent says that the cats are all in the cradle. I think that’s some kind of merce-naryspeak.”

Sam winced. She dropped to her haunches so she was eyeball-to-eyeball with Donovan. “What do you think will happen if we send another email saying the cats fell out of the cradle?” Donovan’s eyes rolled back in his head. “I’m waiting,” she singsonged.

“I’ll probably get fired. If you didn’t want to sign up, why did you do it? I didn’t twist your arm. Tear up the contracts, untie us, and this whole thing never happened.”

Sam laughed. “And you think we’re stupid enough to believe that? Yeah, I guess you are that stupid. Drink up, Mr. Donovan.”

“Are we ready yet?” the tattoo artist queried.

“Not yet, sweetie. Soon, though,” Olivia trilled.

“Okayyyy.”

“Where is the place you planned on taking us? The one that isn’t on any map,” Sam asked.

“In the mountains.”

“That’s too vague. Clarify please,” Sam said, tapping him none too gently on the arm.

“Big Pine Mountain. It’s the second highest mountain in North Carolina.”

“What’s there?” Sam queried.

“Everything.”

Zoe yanked at his hair. “That’s vague, too. Don’t make that mistake again. Now answer the question. Spell out what everything means.”

Slick handed Donovan a glass of water. “Drink it before you answer the question.”

“I can’t. I’ll puke.”

“Ask me if I care. Drink!” Slick said. “By the way, the first thing you learn at the Academy is you never give up your gun. We just took yours and the one that yahoo over there had. And you had the gall to say we’re just a bunch of stupid women! Now drink up!” Donovan drank the water.