Impact (Suncoast Society #32)(14)

One small measure of relief. And from what she could see, Tilly hadn’t spotted any needle tracks on the woman’s arms. That didn’t mean Sofia wasn’t using, but it was a good sign.

Then she called Landry.

“Hello, love. How are you doing tod—”

“I need you on the first flight you can get to LA,” Tilly said, interrupting him. “Today. Right now.”

“What’s wrong? Is Cris all right?”

“Yeah, but I’m going to need your protection from Cris.” She gave him the quick summary.

He let out a weighty sigh. “Very well, love. I’ll see what I can do. Do you wish me to call him and tell him?”

“No, not yet. I’m going to wait to hear back from Leigh”—Tilly’s phone beeped with an incoming call—“and there she is. Get that ticket booked and get moving. Let me know when you have flight info.” She hung up on him and answered Leigh’s call. “Yeah?”

“He can see you at six tonight,” Leigh said. “I’ll text you the address as soon as we’re done talking.”

“Did I ever tell you how much I love you?”

“Hey, I love you, too. It’s what friends are for. Keep me posted. Do you need us to come over?”

Tilly heard the shower shut off in the bathroom. “Not yet. I’ll call you as I have more updates. Thanks.” She ended the call, her phone buzzing seconds later with a text message from Leigh with the name, phone number, and address of the attorney.

Okay, those two things were handled.

Next step…

She texted Cris’ business cell. How are the meetings going?

He texted her back. Almost done. Want to do dinner out tonight?

She took a deep breath. Change in plans. We’re not alone for dinner tonight, and we have an appointment at six in Pasadena.

She started counting. Her phone rang when she hit three.

“What kind of appointment? And who is joining us for dinner?”

Sofia stepped out of the bathroom in what looked to be a clean T-shirt and shorts, her hair wrapped in a towel. “It’s better I let you talk to someone else for a minute rather than explain it myself.”

Tilly walked over to Sofia and handed her the phone. “It’s Cris.” She then went into the living room and checked on the baby.

Still sound asleep, thankfully.

“Hey, Cris. It’s Fi.” There was a moment of silence Tilly knew was likely Cris processing who it was and what she’d said. After talking to him for a couple of minutes, Sofia was crying. “Thank you,” she tearfully said. Then she returned the phone to Tilly. “He wants to talk to you.”

Tilly took the phone back, took a deep breath, and answered. “Yo.”

“Listen to me, we need to call Lan and—”

“Done. He’s already booking a flight.”

“Okay. Well, we need to get the name of an att—”

“Done. That’s our six o’clock appointment. Is it better I come get you, or can someone take you to the attorney’s office?”

He went quiet for a moment. When he spoke again, it was in the voice of Cris the Master. “Redbird,” he said using Dom tone, “exactly how long has this been going on?”

It was only her rage at Sofia’s condition that kept Tilly from dropping into subspace. “Long enough that I’m already five steps ahead of you. You’ll get caught up when we get to the attorney,” she said. “We’re at the condo right now.”

He let out a frustrated sigh. “We are going to have a talk tonight, Redbird,” he said.

“I’m sure we will,” she said. “And I’m going to invoke the right to hide behind Sir Fussypants when we do.”

He finally let out a chuckle. “Since when do you hide? Not fair.”

“Never said I was fair. And you give mean punishment spankings.”

“How bad is she?”

“Bad.”

“Okay. Might be better to text me the address. I’ll get over there by six, one way or another. Did I tell you how much I love you?”

She turned away from Sofia. “Love you, too, Master,” she whispered. “Please, just be there. I need you.”

When she ended the call, she forwarded Leigh’s text with the info to Cris.

Turning back to Sofia, she said, “All right. First things first, show me what you brought with you.”

Sofia nodded and led the way back to the bathroom where Tilly had put the bags of her stuff.

After Tilly was convinced the woman didn’t have any drugs hidden in her things, Tilly laid down the law.

“We’ve got an appointment at six with a good family attorney,” Tilly said. “Rule number one, you’re going to do what we say, exactly how we tell you to do it. Understand?”

Sofia nodded. It looked like now that she was out of immediate danger, she was close to collapse.

“Rule number two, I catch you with drugs, you will go to jail. And you will get drug tested. Understand?”

Sofia nodded.

“Rule number three, you are in no shape to take care of that baby. I’d guess from the way you’re holding your left arm, your shoulder’s either hurting like f*ck, dislocated, or both. So I am in charge of Katie for now. Got it?”