Odie frowned, touching his flushed face. "Red?" Jonah nodded.
Odie felt his own forehead, then Jonah's, finding no difference. "No fever," he concluded. "It's too hot in here. Let's get the AC going." "How cool do you want it, boss?" "Set it to 18 degrees." Odie tugged at his collar. Yeah, it was warm. He hadn't noticed it much when he was in the study.
Thinking about it, Odie paused. "Was I too harsh boarding up Sophie's windows?" "Not really. She did betray you." "True." Odie nodded and took a few more steps before stopping again. "Get someone to remove a couple of those boards. We need to air the room out daily." "Boss?" "I don't want anyone suffocating on my watch." "Got it." Inside the guest room, Sophie lay on the bed, slipping the pill Odie had given her into her ring-a secret that might cin handy later. *Knock, knock* "Cin." Sophie stayed in bed, worried it might be Odie again. But this time, it was Polly. "Boss wantsto make sure your meds kick in," Polly said. "Don't bother. They won't." Polly was startled by Sophie's words but quickly shut the door and approached her. "Ms. Sophie, did you come... just for that phone?" "What else?" Sophie replied. "I know you kept that phone because you hate Qdie and want to take him down. But lettell you, you can't do it. I can." Polly hesitated, clearly torn.
"That phone is key. Haven't you always wanted to bring down Odie and the Gibbs family? Give it toand I promise, not just the Minton and Gibbs families, but all those involved in shady business with shut down. No one else will get hurt." Sophie waited for Polly's answer. After a moment of silence, Polly said, "I can give you the phone, but you won't pull this off." "Why not?" "Because of Odie's engagement to Sandy. Odie is the Pollard family's son-in-law. They won't let anything happen to him." Sophie smiled. "If that's your worry, don't sweat it." "What?" "Trust me, the marriage deal between the Minton and Pollard families... it won't happen."
Polly was taken aback, but seeing the determination in Sophie's eyes, she finally felt reassured. "Okay, I'll give you the phone."
As Polly was about to hand over the phone, she suddenly pulled back." have one condition." Sophie didn't get upset. "Tell me. If I can do it, I will."
"When you leave the Minton family takewith you," Polly said. "If you + leavehere, I don't know what I Odje will do to me? And if the phone thing gets out, I'll be the fir to die!" en.swhovels "Deal." Polly asked, "So how will you get out?" "Don't worry about that. I can leave anytI want to." X