“No. I’m not leaving my baby,” Vienna argues, and I sigh. I thought it might go this way.
“You can’t stay here. We can’t have Mario knowing about any of this. You have to act as if you still think Addi has been taken,” I point out.
She shakes her head stubbornly. “No, I’m never letting her out of my sight again.”
Sage approaches them slowly, like he’s approaching a wild animal. “I promise I won’t let anything happen to her. We’re just going to town to buy her some things. She needs proper shoes out here. None of the things she had were suitable. Poor kid didn’t even have a pair of sneakers. We’re also going to get some fun things to keep her occupied while we’re busy over the next few days,” Sage murmurs, crouching down in front of them.
“Can Mommy come too?” Addi asks, looking at him with pleading eyes.
All three of them turn to look at me, and I sigh. There is no way I’m going to win against this performance. “Fine, you can stay here while we go to the warehouse, but you need to be ready to go when we return. We have to return to Banebridge for a few more days. You know this,” I tell her, and she heaves out a sigh, hugging Addi closer.
“Fine,” she agrees.
Xavier climbs the stairs, finished with his phone call. “That was Lance. Mario and Gregor were taken into the FBI office for questioning. The lawyers are with them, and they expect they will be released by this afternoon. Mario left instructions not to bring any of the drugs back to the house, but to take them to the Kitty Kat Club and store them in the rooms below.” He looks pleased as he drapes his arm over my shoulders. I’m a little surprised but decide not to fight it. My family is going to have to get used to casual displays of affection if we are going to make this thing work. I lean into him, seeking comfort, and Mickey narrows his eyes but keeps his mouth shut. Gio eyes us speculatively, but he has no leg to stand on and wisely remains silent.
“Why wasn’t Lance taken in?” Colton asks, frowning.
Xavier scoffs with disgust. “He and Stacey hid while the FBI searched the house.”
“They searched my house?” I’m a little surprised, but not entirely. I’m not worried, since they won’t find anything. We’re too good for that.
“They had a search warrant. One of their guys spilled his guts as soon as he was arrested, but the lawyers portrayed him as a disgruntled employee telling lies. There’s no proof of any of his claims. Everyone else who was arrested clammed up and refused to talk, so it’s his word against the lawyers who claim that that none of them are employed by Mario, and they are using him as a scapegoat. It helps that everyone Gregor sent to the buy weren’t known associates of the Maricusos, except for Lance, and he escaped.”
“Convenient,” Gio mutters.
“At least that will keep him off our backs for now.” Tristan sounds practically gleeful.
“Yeah, but he’s going to be in a foul mood tonight. He will find a way to make us suffer,” Xavier warns, looking at Vienna with concern.
“You know, there are two trucks at the warehouse. You could tell him you need time to load them up. That would give you an excuse to be gone overnight. You would also have to take all the backroads to avoid any highway patrol, so you can be gone all day tomorrow too,” Mickey suggests.
“He would probably calm down by the time we returned, and having drugs will go a long way to appease him,” Colton agrees.
“Then it’s just your wedding rehearsal dinner to get through tomorrow night. I know he invited a lot of people to that, so he will have to put on a show for them, which will keep him distracted,” Vienna chimes in, looking hopeful. We can spend the night at the cabin and be on our way early in the morning, giving her more time with Addison.
“That just leaves Tuesday before the wedding. Can you think of something he might want that will keep him distracted then?” Maeve adds.
I nod, hoping the others won’t mention what our Tuesday plans are. “Yes. Tuesday is already covered. I have the perfect distraction. He wants what’s happening so badly that all thoughts of taking out his wrath on us will be in the background.”
Mickey eyes me suspiciously, but he trusts me enough not to question me. “So I guess you guys are spending the night. Are you going to stay here or at the warehouse?”
“We will go load the trucks now, but we will return here to stay the night. I’ll book some rooms at a hotel in town, but we won’t stay there. It’s just in case Mario thinks to check.”
“He will track our phones,” Colton warns.
“Okay, then we will tell him we are staying at the warehouse. You can leave your phones, and we will pick them up in the morning. Dan can fly us back and forth before returning to Banebridge.”
Vienna seems to sag slightly with relief.
“You’re still going to have to leave her behind in the morning,” I caution her, and she nods.
“I’m okay with that, knowing it’s only a few more days and she’s safe here with your family.”
“I promise to look after her like she’s my own kin,” Maeve assures her. “Suzy and I will stay behind when the others carry out the plan and make sure she’s safe.”
“Thank you,” Vienna says gratefully.
The whole time we’ve been talking, Addison has been eyeing how close Xavier and I are, her eyes narrowed in suspicion.
