Once I was sure she was out cold, I helped the boys load her into the back of Copper’s truck. Bronze climbed into the passenger seat while Judge and Savior got into the back on either side of Mitzie.
“If we’re not back in an hour, start making phone calls,” Copper said and clapped me on the shoulder.
“Hold on a sec, Prez. I don’t know why I didn’t think of it before, but what do you think about having Sean put Mitzie in the pond? If he gets caught, it wouldn’t be too far-fetched for the two of them to be on the property. Especially with this in his pocket.” I handed him a bottle of whiskey that was half empty and had a few crushed pills in it, the same ones I’d given to Mitzie. “And if he gets away with it, we’ll have some leverage to use while we figure out what to do with him.”
“I like it. I’ll explain it to the boys on the way,” he said and walked around to the driver’s side of his truck. “Tiny!” he called out. “Change of plans. Y’all follow me. I’ll call you with the details in a few minutes.”
Copper returned his attention to me. “Better give us an hour and a half to get back. He won’t be near as fast as us.”
“Got it, Prez,” I said and stepped back to watch as they drove away with a trailer full of motorcycles, two criminals, and one blown tire, hoping like hell they could pull it off.
I knew I was too keyed up to wait for their return with Mackenzie. Not without disturbing Brinkley. I don’t care what Mackenzie said, there was only so much noise a child could sleep through, and there was no way we wouldn’t wake her with the way I was feeling.
So, I went down to the basement and made sure there was absolutely no trace of Sean or Mitzie in the clubhouse. Then, I went through the rest of the clubhouse. By the time they got back, the entire place was damn near spotless.
“You weren’t worried, were you?” Copper asked with a hint of a smile.
“Nope, not at all,” I lied and crossed my arms over my chest while I waited for one of them to fill me in.
“Everything went according to plan,” Copper said, finally putting me out of my misery. “I assume Mackenzie will be contacted by the police as next of kin once the body is discovered.”
“Do you think it would be better if she wasn’t here when that happens?”
“If she’s yours,” he said and gave me a knowing look, “it’d be suspicious if she was anywhere other than here after what happened earlier today.”
“Then here is where she’ll be.”
EPILOGUE
Christmas Eve
After Brinkley’s attempted kidnapping, Mackenzie and I hadn’t spent a single day, or night, apart.
Thankfully, Brinkley seemed fine. She talked about her “boo-boos” while they were healing, but she hadn’t said a word about what caused her injuries.
“Can we open presents now?” Brinkley asked excitedly.
“We can open presents as soon as everyone gets here,” Mackenzie said. “Correction. We can open presents a few minutes after everyone gets here.”
“Okay,” Brinkley sighed and plopped down on the floor in her poofy Christmas dress. But the disappointment she projected seemed excessive, even for the promise of toys.
“What’s wrong, doodlebean?”
Before she could answer, the doorbell rang.
“They’re here!” she jumped up and ran to the door.
“Freeze!” Mackenzie called out.
Brinkley raised her hands in the air. “I wasn’t gonna open it.”
“I got it,” I said and opened the door for Trey and Tatum.
“Merry Christmas!” Brinkley cheered and waved excitedly.
“Where should we put these?” Trey asked.
“The tree’s right through there.”