“Why in the world was someone having cocaine mailed to my house?”
“Apparently, it’s pretty common to send drugs through the mail and have them delivered to unoccupied houses for someone to pick up,” I explained.
“That’s crazy, and borderline genius.”
“Yeah, that’s what I thought too.” I leaned forward and dropped a kiss on her lips. “Are you going to be able to go to sleep?”
“Yeah, I should be able to, since we’re here. I think it’d be a different story if we were at my house. What about you?”
“I shouldn’t have a problem now that the adrenaline’s worn off.”
“I’m so glad you were there,” she said softly.
“Me, too.”
* * *
Copper calledeveryone in for church and filled them in on the events that transpired overnight.
“Shane isn’t an issue. We’re sending him back to Cherryfield, and Lorcan can deal with him. But Sydney is another story,” Copper said.
“Is she the reason the bar was raided a while back?” Judge asked.
“Probably. She was working there at the time.”
“Either way, she’s got to go,” Batta said.
“Oh, she’s definitely going to be fired and banned from all Blackwings establishments, but I think we should let Luke know she was using his house for her deliveries. Especially after what happened last night.”
One by one, each brother voted in agreement with Copper’s suggestion.
“Great, I’ll give him a call.”
“He’s in town if you’d rather talk to him in person,” Batta said.
“Yeah, I think that’d be better.”
An hour later, Luke walked into the room where we held church with a look of concern on his face. “What’s going on?”
Copper filled him in, and he didn’t look as shocked as I’d expected. Except for the part about me being at Aspen’s house when Shane broke in.
“Aspen’s here?” Luke clarified.
“Yes, she’s in my room.”
“And the box is still at the house?”
“Yes. On the kitchen counter, I believe.”
He exhaled slowly. “I can’t say much because it’s an ongoing investigation, but similar deliveries have been discovered in the area. I’ll go by the house and get the box as soon as I leave here. If it matches the other ones we’ve confiscated, I’ll be able to get an arrest warrant issued for Sydney. This might be the break in the case we’ve been waiting for. Any chance you can hold off on firing her so she doesn’t get spooked and disappear?”
“Yeah,” Copper said reluctantly. “I suppose we can hold off for a few days, but I don’t want to keep her around much longer than that.”
“Understood. I just need a little time to make sure everything’s in order,” he said and turned his attention to me. “I don’t want Aspen at the house alone until I get this sorted. Am I right to assume you two are together?”
I nodded. “We are. I’ll talk to her, but I don’t think she’ll have a problem staying at my place for a few days.”
“Let me know if she does.”