Black Market Orchids: The End of an Era

Well Minions, this is it. We've reach the end (almost) of Ty & Zane's journey. Book #9's release is upon us. Wench Care and I are both desperate for and dreading this day. We've been theorizing and speculating for over a year now. At this point, I'm sure we've over-analyzed every insignificant detail in every single book in the series trying to extract any even remotely plausible scenario for Book #9.

Let me backtrack for a second here, for those of you who don't know, Riptide in their infinite desire to torture us marketing wizardry have declared that this will be a blind release. Meaning, we don't have an excerpt, a rating, a back cover blurb, nothing. We don't even have a title! This, of course, just adds to our distress speculation. 

So, Care and I are here today to share with you some of our favorite theories about what might happen. We will also touch on our hopes and fears for the conclusion of the much loved Cut & Run series. And, because we are both a big fan of them, we each lay out our favorite crack pot theory. They are both something totally unlikely, but we either wish would happen or are afraid might happen.

I think this goes without saying, but massive giant spoilers ahead!! Read on after the break!!

I don't think there's anyway we get out of this book without Touch & Geaux levels of angst and heartache. So, to make me feel better, we are going to start off with our hopes for the end of the series.

Hopes

Our hopes are actually pretty similar. I think most of these are what the majority of the fandom is hoping for in this book. Maybe, if we have some astounding luck, we'll get at least some of these.

Wench Care

• Mayhem.
• A wedding, god dammit, a WEDDING.
• Beverly having the mickey taken out of her
• Gradys+Garretts!
• More Deuce, more Sidewinder
• We'll see more of Zane as a person, maybe a glimpse of that tattoo he was going to draw for Ty.

Wench Anne

• I NEED a wedding!! I need this like I need oxygen.
• Like Care, I'd love to see a meeting of the families. 
• To go along with that, I want Mara to put Beverly in her place and show her what it means to be a loving mother.
• Really, I just want to see both families.
• SIDEWINDER!!!!!!!!! I want the cartel to be taken down by some complete badassery by Sidewinder.
• To go along with this, I need all of Sidewinder to survive.
• I don't think this will happen, but I'd love a flash forward. The bookstore is open, maybe they have a kid, maybe a Sidewinder gathering, Nick & Kelly and Owen & Riley with their families, Digger with his bombs, the whole works.

Fears

All right, here it is, prepare yourselves. Here is what we are afraid might happen in Book Nein, as Abi calls it. Should we be scared that she calls it nine in German? Let's just assume that we should be. Safer that way. Anyways....

Wench Care

• Death. A lot of it. 
• Ty and Zane, each going down in a blaze of glory to save the other. 
• For Nick, in an attempt to murder the hell out of Liam, or save Ty and/or Zane.
• For any of the Garretts or Gradys as collateral damage.
• A relapse for Zane, brought on by a reinsertion for UC work, despite the ending of T&G, or by something horrific as mentioned in point 1.
• I'm terrified we'll see the dissolution of Ty and Zane.

Wench Anne 

• I'm terrified of the number of deaths this book might have. I really don't want to lose anyone that isn't a villain, but I think it's pretty inevitable.
• Liam Bell. That sneaky bastard is completely unpredictable and a self-proclaimed liar. I don't know what he's going to do or what is end game is. 
• What will Liam ask Nick to do when he cashes in on their deal? I'm afraid it's something horrible.
• My biggest fear? More secrets. From either Ty or Zane. Yes, they are in a stronger place now. But, any secret that is still kept is going to be a doozy.

Theories

Finally, we come to our theories for the end. Some are pretty likely. Some....not so much. But, since we have nothing but the previous books to go on, we have to start somewhere!

Wench Care

• Liam is on the trail of the mole, Nick is called in to help with this.
• Zane's tie to the drug cartel will be front and center, probably ending in Big Bad Showdown. 
• I suspect Liam will save the day on this, and disappear into the sunset as a good guy.
• The drug bust at the Garrett ranch was a plant/ploy - the Cartel has actually made Zane, and is trying to get a hold over his family.

Like I said, some pretty plausible. Others, who knows? As for Wench Care's crack pot theory? Here's what she has to say....

This should, theoretically, be the book that trots out Zane's past. I'm terrified that we find out Becky wasn't *actually* killed, but was ganked by the mob, and they've finally gotten tired of her - and now it's up to Zane to save her... and choose. Okay, so that's outlandish as hell, but still completely terrifying. That is Ty's nightmare.

Wench Anne

• I agree with Care that Liam is on the trail of the mole. I'm not sold on this being what he needs Nick for.
• I actually think Liam might be working with the mole, but only because he plans to double cross them in the end.
• Nick calls in his favor from Julian to help Sidewinder with their final, do or die, cartel plan.
• We haven't heard the end of Burns' black ops jobs. We know Ty's black ops jobs mainly involved wreaking havoc on the cartel. But, in Armed & Dangerous, we find out that Zane used to do black ops jobs for him too. It's never mentioned again. I think that is going to come back into play somehow.

As for my crackpot theory....

Elias Sanchez is alive. That's right, alive. He didn't die at Henninger's hands. Burns used his injuries as a way to stage his death and put him deep undercover in the cartel. At the final Cartel/Sidewinder showdown, Eli will reveal himself and help Sidewinder bring down the cartel once and for all. Completely ridiculous, right? Like I said, crackpot. But, hey, a girl can hope.

The Mole

We know the mole has to be ferreted out by the end of this book. That's just inevitable. So, here are our guesses as to the Mole's identity. 

Wench Care: Yeah, I suspect Alston. My second guess is Clancy.

Wench Anne: I'm going with McCoy. My second guess is Alston, though.

So, there you have it, Minions. Our hopes, fears, and theories about the conclusion to our beloved Cut & Run. What do you think? Do you agree with our theories? Do you have one of your one? Do you have any hopes or fears that we missed? Let us know below!

**All gifs came from Tumblr.