Defending Morgan (Mountain Mercenaries #3)(83)

“Ellie Jernigan hired the men who drugged and kidnapped Morgan. They followed her to the bar that night and waited for their chance to grab her,” Black said.

“And I made it really easy when I left early,” Morgan said with a shake of her head.

“They would’ve gotten you one way or another,” Black soothed. “Anyway, so she’d made contacts down in the Dominican Republic and had her daughter shipped down there. The plan was for them to just hold on to her until further notice.”

“They didn’t hurt me at first,” Morgan added. “Rex and the others guessed that it was probably because they didn’t want to risk my mom not paying them. But when they kept getting the money month after month, and weren’t required to send any proof that I was okay or anything, they decided to take advantage of the situation and take what they wanted.”

Morgan felt Arrow’s hand tighten on hers, but he didn’t interrupt.

“As you must have already guessed, the person on the video was Ellie,” Black said. “She’d probably been waiting for you when Dave showed up. She didn’t exactly have a lot of patience, and we think she just lost her temper. But she retained enough control to keep her face away from the cameras and to stop once Dave was down.”

“How’s Dave?” Arrow asked.

“He’s fine. Back at work and bossing everyone around at The Pit,” Black told him.

“Good. And yeah, when Ellie walked to the door in my apartment to meet Morgan and Chloe, I recognized her gait from the video,” Arrow said. “That’s why I thought the person looked familiar. But by then, I was already pretty much incapacitated. I did what I could to try to warn you guys.”

“I can’t believe I didn’t recognize her. My own mother,” Morgan said with another shake of her head.

“You thought it was a man, as did we,” Black said. “And your mom was the last person you suspected.”

Arrow lifted Morgan’s hand and kissed the back of it, giving her silent support, as he always did.

“And Arrow, your message to us worked perfectly. Ellie had no idea what you’d said was a clue. Chloe was confused and immediately called Ro when she got back to her car, to pass on your strange message. He knew something was wrong, and we all converged on your apartment.”

“Thank God,” Morgan threw in. “I was clueless until it was too late.”

“Anyway, Meat tracked Ellie’s cell phone and found out she’d been in town for a few days. It was likely she who’d ordered the prostitute and slashed your tires.”

“I thought as much,” Arrow said.

“Right, so when you called and asked if she could visit Morgan, she was already in town. She checked into a hotel with a kitchen and made the cookies. Apparently, she’d brought the ethylene glycol with her in the hopes of getting it into her daughter somehow.”

“Her plan was to poison me slowly when I was living with her,” Morgan told Arrow. “She wanted to make it seem like I had some disease I caught when I was in captivity. That’s why my stomach and head hurt when I first came back up to Colorado Springs. The dose had been small enough that my body had been able to process it. But over time, it would’ve built up enough that I wouldn’t have been able to fight it off.”

Arrow’s teeth ground together, but he didn’t comment.

“She put enough ethylene glycol in those cookies to kill someone within a couple hours,” Black said.

“I didn’t taste it at all,” Arrow mused. “I don’t usually eat anything that sweet, but I was trying to be polite. We hadn’t exactly hit it off, and I felt bad about that. Have you seen your father?” Arrow asked Morgan, changing the subject.

“Of course. He flew out here the second he heard. And not surprisingly, he’s been awesome in dealing with the press. They, of course, went apeshit when they heard what happened. I don’t know what I would’ve done if it wasn’t for him.”

“I’m sorry we suspected him,” Arrow told her.

Morgan waved off his apology. “He’s not exactly a saint, and I’m not sure we’ll ever be best friends or anything, but I do feel a lot better knowing he was honest in his worry for me and his sincere desire to find me when I disappeared.”

“Lane and Lance Buswell were also completely innocent,” Black said. “As are the rest of her friends.”

“So you’re truly free,” Arrow said, not taking his eyes from Morgan.

“Looks that way.”

“And that’s my cue to leave,” Black said as he stood. “Oh, and your mom and sister are here,” he told Arrow.

His eyes widened. “They are?”

“Of course they are!” Morgan exclaimed. “You almost died. I called them the second I had the chance. They’ve been staying at a nearby hotel. I really like Kandi. She’s so funny, and I’ve heard lots of stories about when you were younger.”

Arrow groaned. “Figures. Half the things she says are lies. Don’t believe her.”

“That’s exactly what she said you’d say,” Morgan teased.

Black chuckled as he headed for the door. At the last minute, he turned and said to Morgan, “Thanks for being so understanding.”

She rolled her eyes. “As if I could be anything else.”