Dark corridor

All Peter Prego wanted to do was have a little night cap before bed, but this is postponed once a bloodied pit bull shows up at his door. Cruising around the city of Red Circle (a fictitious coastal metropolis resembling L. A., Atlanta, New York, and Miami), Pete tries to find the dog's owner and ends up in quite a jackpot. With help from his pals, an expert thief--Johnny Collins and Carter Ford--an ex-cop newly sprung from prison, he secures the dog in his home, after cleaning out the place of its valuables. Once they've gone, a woman dressed in black appears at that same residence to claim the pup... Who does this dog really belong to? Why was Carter in prison for ten years? And... who are the Seven Deadly Daughters?