As if reading my mind, Copper told her just that. “You can cut the shit. Your tears aren’t doing anything but pissing me off.”
Surprisingly, she didn’t try to argue and gave up on her charade. If I wasn’t so irritated with her, I might have been impressed with how fast she went from a sobbing mess to an angry brat. “What is it you want from me?”
“The truth,” Copper said simply.
“He’ll get it one way or the other,” I told her. “I already told you your best bet is to be honest. That’s the only help you’ll get from me, and you’d do well to take my advice.”
She chewed on her bottom lip and seemed to consider her next move, but Copper’s patience was almost gone. He pushed back from the table and stood. “We’re meeting with RFG tomorrow, and you’ll be going with us. Perhaps you’ll have more to say then.”
He only made it two steps toward the door when she blurted, “Wait! I’ll talk.”
Copper pinned her with an icy glare. “You won’t get another chance.”
“Understood,” she said, seemingly resigned to her fate.
We waited a few beats for her to start talking, but she didn’t. “The question-and-answer period is over. I’m not going to pull it out of you. You’ve got two seconds to start talking or we’re done here.”
“Okay, okay,” she said and held her hands up in a placating manner. “Hook thinks Ben stole some of his drugs. That’s what he was looking for.”
Copper gestured for her to keep going.
She shifted in her seat and started fidgeting with her hands. “But Ben didn’t steal his drugs. I did,” she said and shifted again. “Hook was released early, and I panicked. I had to get rid of the drugs and the baby before Hook found out. So, I hid the pills in the baby’s things and dropped them both off with Ben. Then, I pretended to be missing so he wouldn’t be able to associate me with the theft.”
“Why would Hook think Ben took the drugs?” Copper asked.
“Because he’d already been accused of stealing from the gang once. I knew if anything else went missing, they’d automatically assume it was Ben,” she said.
The room was completely silent while the three of us stared at her in disbelief.
And then I snapped. I lunged at her, but Batta caught me before I could make contact. “Hook almost killed my girlfriend because of you!” I roared over his shoulder.
“What? What are you talking about?” she asked. She looked scared—terrified actually—but it did nothing to ease the rage burning inside me.
“He was looking for what he thought Ben stole, and he almost beat her to death when he couldn’t find it!”
“Rein it in, brother,” Batta said firmly.
I took a few deep breaths and tried to get myself under control, but it was a struggle. “Calm down and bargain for the baby,” Batta said quietly.
I was too upset to understand what he meant. Thankfully, he realized that and explained further. “I guarantee she’ll give you the baby to save her own ass.”
I knew he was right. So, I swallowed down my anger and focused on getting my great-nephew away from his crazy-ass mother. We’d still have to contend with Ben once we found him, but getting Dani to terminate her rights would be a step in the right direction.
At my nod, Batta released me and stepped back. “Sorry about that, Prez. I’m good.”
“It was expected,” Copper said and turned his attention back to Dani. “Hook didn’t find the drugs yesterday. Where exactly did you hide them?”
“Most are inside a weighted blanket. The rest are hidden inside a few stuffed animals,” she admitted.
“Fucking hell,” I muttered.
“Pills, right?” Copper asked and Dani nodded. “How many?”
“I don’t know exactly. There should be two large bags in the blanket and five stuffed animals have one small bag each. I think four were bears and one was a pig.”
Copper knocked his knuckles on the table twice and stood. “We’ll be back.”
“Wait! Where are you going?” Dani asked.
