“Yeah, I know,” I said and kissed her once more before I opened the door and stepped into the empty hallway. “Be ready for me when I get back.”
I made a mental note to thank Tatum for clearing everyone out. Like I’d told Mackenzie, I didn’t give the first fuck what the brothers heard or saw as far as I was concerned. But I didn’t expect her to automatically have the same comfort level I did. Plus, I’d been in prison. I could shit in front of a stranger and smile the whole time.
“In here,” Copper called out as I passed by Church on my way to the common room.
“Whatcha got, Prez?” I asked and dropped into a chair. The adrenaline rush I’d had was long gone, and I could feel the soreness creeping in.
“Little fucker started singing before we even touched him,” Copper shared without a drop of humor.
“Why does it sound like that’s not great news?” I asked cautiously.
He sighed and rubbed his chin with his thumb and forefinger the same way his father and grandfather used to do. “Because it isn’t. The man we have downstairs is Sean, Carter Perry’s son.”
“Yeah,” I nodded as he shared information I already knew and gestured for him to continue.
“Carter was arrested a few months ago and is currently behind bars awaiting trial.”
“Okay,” I said slowly, failing to see how any of that was bad news.
“Daddy Perry’s girlfriend is Mitzie Mayfield, Mackenzie’s mother,” Bronze blurted.
I pushed back from the table and got to my feet. “The fuck did you just say?”
“According to Sean, they started dating about a year ago, and she moved in with Carter a couple of months later. When Carter was indicted on federal charges a few months ago, most of his assets were frozen, leaving Mitzie and Sean on a tight budget. So when Mitzie randomly spotted Mackenzie and Brinkley out shopping, she got the bright idea to kidnap Brinkley and hold her for a hefty ransom.”
“What? Where did she think Mackenzie would get that kind of money?”
“I’m assuming from us.”
“Why would she think that?” I asked, feeling like I was missing something.
“We’ve dealt with Mitzie before.”
“When the fuck did that happen?”
“About a year before you were released,” Trey clarified.
I inhaled deeply and blew it out slowly as another thought occurred to me. One I didn’t want to acknowledge but couldn’t ignore either. “When I asked Mackenzie about her family, she said they were all dead or in jail,” I explained and waited for one of them to answer my unasked question.
Did she lie to me?
Coal straightened in his seat and leaned forward on his elbows. “You sure that’s what she said?”
“Those weren’t her exact words, but it was something like that. Why?”
“Because we told her if anyone ever asked about her family, she should specifically say, ‘If they’re not in jail, they’re deadorgone,’ and change the subject.”
“Why would she say that to me? I’m a Blackwing.”
“She probably thought you knew. Or maybe she thought you were testing her. Besides, we didn’t tell her how we handled things with her mother,” Copper added.
“Well, tell me.”
“Basically, after all was said and done, we told Mitzie if she disappeared, her problems with us would too,” Copper said.
“And if she reappeared?”
“So would we.”