I sighed and pinched the bridge of my nose. “Carter Perry’s son is the man who tried to kidnap Brinkley. And he was working with your mother.”
“What?” she gasped before rage replaced her momentary surprise. “Where is she?” she growled and started to pace the room again. “We have to find her. Because I’m going to kill her.”
I placed my hand on her shoulder. “Your mother’s here.”
“You got her?”
“I got him. Someone else got her.”
“Thank them for me.” She inhaled deeply and met my eyes. “I want to see her.”
“Why?” I countered. “What are you gonna do?”
She blinked up at me. “I don’t know. I’ll figure it out when I get there.”
“Hang on, baby. Take a minute and think about what you’re saying. What you’re doing. You’ve got time. She’s not going anywhere. That, I can assure you.”
Mackenzie came to a stop and took a seat on the edge of the bed, dropping her face into her hands. “My mother has never been any kind of mother to me, but I,” she paused and shook her head. “Why would she do something like this? To her daughter? To her granddaughter?”
“Money,” I said simply.
She snorted derisively. “Well, that’s not surprising. She’s always strived to live off of other people’s money. How much was my daughter worth?” Before I could answer, she held up her hand to stop me. “No. Don’t tell me.”
She remained quiet for a few minutes longer before she came to a decision. And once she did, she nodded resolutely and rose to her feet. “I want to talk to her.”
“You sure?”
She smiled, but it wasn’t friendly. “Yes, there’s something I want to say to her.”
I extended my hand for hers, ready to stand by her side while she faced the woman who should have been focused on making her dreams come true, not creating her nightmares.
The moment we headed for the door, the determination in her eyes vanished. “Wait. Where are we going? I don’t want to be far from Brinkley.”
I didn’t either, but if Mackenzie wanted to see her mother, I was going to be with her. And we damn sure weren’t taking Brinkley with us. “Coal,” I blurted. “He’s here. He can stay with Brinkley while we go downstairs. You okay with that?”
“He’ll come and get me if she wakes up?”
“No, he’ll stay with her and send Drew.”
“Even better.” She inhaled deeply and squared her shoulders. “Okay, let’s do this.”
Coal arrived moments later to stay in the adjoining room with Brinkley. “We won’t be gone long,” she told him and looked to me for confirmation.
“Take your time. I won’t go anywhere until one of you comes back,” he promised. “If she so much as stirs, I’ll send someone to get you.”
“Thank you, Coal,” Mackenzie said sincerely.
“Any time. That’s my little buddy in there,” he said and placed his hand on Mackenzie’s shoulder. “And you’re my friend.”
“She’s one of us,” I added and led Mackenzie away before either of them could comment on the declaration that slipped from my mouth.
We stopped in front of the door to the basement. Before I entered the code to unlock it, I turned to Mackenzie and asked one last time, “You sure?”
“Oh, yeah,” she said, her fierce determination burning bright once again.
After we descended the stairs, I pointed to the door to the room where Mitzie was being held. “She’s in there whenever you’re ready.”
Mackenzie turned the knob and entered the room without a moment’s hesitation. She crossed her arms over her chest and glared at her mother.