The others were now standing around the dining table, Dawg and Natches glaring while Brogan and Jed watched him suspiciously.

“Not nearly enough, it seems,” Dawg answered for him. “According to an anonymous phone call this morning, there’s plenty you know, though.”

Anonymous phone calls, a man had to love them.

“Such as?” The box Eli set on the table drew the interest of the other men now.

“Why Zoey’s about to be arrested for murder.” Natches watched him with murderous intent. “You know we’re not going to allow that, right?”

Doogan guessed that was a rather mild statement. His lips quirked at the thought while he faced Zoey’s family.

“If I intended to arrest Zoey, I would have already done so rather than giving even the weakest lawyer a perfect defense instead,” he assured them all, sliding his hands into the pockets of his slacks while watching them closely. “Are you aware Johnny Grace had a son before he was killed?”

The looks of shock on their faces assured him they were unaware of it. “He was perhaps ten when Johnny died, well hidden by Dayle and his sister Nadine Mackay Grace and raised by a couple Dayle chose himself.”

“Well, isn’t that just wonderful,” Natches drawled, the mockery in his voice slicing. “Good ol’ Dayle. The bastard.”

There had been little love lost between Natches and his father, even when Dayle had been alive.

—

“And let me guess.” Dawg crossed his arms over his chest, his expression dark, bordering enraged. “He has a grudge.”

Doogan inclined his head in agreement. “Did your anonymous tip inform you that a year ago Timothy’s security was breached and Zoey was drugged and taken from her room at the inn?”

Their shocked faces assured him they were unaware of that.

Briefly Doogan filled them in, aware of the gathering storm building in each man as he told them the hellish images planted in Zoey’s mind and why. Rigsby and Luther Jennings hadn’t felt the need to watch what they said, or worry about what to allow Zoey to overhear as they bragged of their intelligence. Just as they had never guessed the strength of the woman they were attempting to destroy.

Even Doogan couldn’t have guessed how quickly Zoey would overcome the suggestions implanted in her complicated little brain.

As he gave them what he knew and answered the questions they had, Zoey stepped from her bedroom to his side. The position she took, next to him rather than a family member, wasn’t lost on the other men if Dawg’s glare was any indication.

When he informed them of the afternoon’s attack and Rigsby’s death, he could feel the tension explode through the room. Every protective instinct the men possessed became heightened, and more dangerous than before.

“Zoey, you can’t stay here.” Dawg looked pale now. “Get packed, sweetie, and we’ll take you somewhere safe.”

“I’m safe right where I’m at.” The hardened determination in her voice assured every man in the room that Zoey wasn’t about to be ordered.

Unfortunately, the men she was facing hadn’t survived without learning a few tricks of their own.

“Then I’ll just throw your ass over my shoulder and take you somewhere safe,” Dawg snapped; his eyes, identical in color to his sister’s, turned brooding and determined. “Your choice.”

“And my choice is to stay right where I’m at.” The inflection of her tone didn’t change. It didn’t become heated or angry, it just became harder.

Natches gave a low, mocking chuckle. “She’s so cute, Dawg. She actually thinks saying no will work.”

Doogan wondered if Natches saw the hurt that flashed across her expression at his comment.

“Enough, Dawg.” Timothy’s voice was harder, colder than Doogan had ever heard it. “Get your heads out of your fucking asses for a minute and ask yourself why? Why did they target Zoey?”

“Because Johnny’s little bastard is as crazy as he was?” Natches snorted furiously. “What other explanation is there?”

Doogan stiffened. What other explanation? He turned slowly, pinning Zoey with his eyes. There was another explanation and it was one he simply hadn’t had time to consider earlier. Jack had been trying to tell him something last night, though, when he and Billy had shown up after the theft of Billy’s truck. Something Zoey had interrupted.

Son of a bitch, he was going to kill Jack and Billy, and then he was going to paddle her damned ass.

“Doogan?” Rowdy’s tone was wary and Doogan could feel the tension in the room shifting, growing thicker as he watched her.

A little pout formed at her lips, but Doogan saw her eyes. He saw the pride, that flash of accomplishment, and God help him, it made him hotter than hell. Still, he shook his head slowly, wanting to deny it. Begging fate and God to please not let it be.

“Zoey, it’s time.” Tim stepped behind her, his voice heavy, his expression filled with pride.

Fuck, he was going to have to kill that little bastard. This time, Doogan admitted, Timothy Cranston had to die.

“Time for what?” And that was definitely fear in Dawg’s tone and expression.

As though guided by instinct and a desire not to collapse straight on his ass, Dawg lowered himself to a chair instead and just stared at Zoey.

She sighed heavily. “In two weeks, renegotiation for an alliance between Homeland Security and six of the biggest biker gangs in the nation begins. The original agreement was signed last spring, just before Rigsby and Jennings drugged me. I was the mediator for that agreement. Without me, there will be no renegotiations and no further information gathered by the members of those gangs and sent to DHS.”

The other men took their seats slowly as well, leaving only Timothy, Doogan, and Eli to stand with Zoey.

“Not possible.” Brogan, Zoey’s brother-in-law, denied the explanation. “That pact was mediated and negotiated by a woman three of those gang leaders knew personally. And none of them are from Kentucky.”

“And neither am I,” Zoey reminded them. “And my brother and cousins like to forget that before we came here, we weren’t exactly angels. Slipping into the biker bar close to our home was a normal occurrence for us. We couldn’t have done that and remained safe there if we hadn’t been protected by more than one of the customers. And they wouldn’t have been so loyal to us without a reason.”

“And what exactly was that reason?” Brogan was rubbing at the back of his neck as though trying to remove actual skin.

“Because a twelve-year-old girl with more guts than brains slipped into an old warehouse and helped three of her friends escape when they were attacked by a rival gang trying to move into the area,” Timothy explained. “One of those young men was the son of a gang that controlled that area. His father gave Zoey lifelong protection by the gang and made damned sure everyone knew he wouldn’t think twice about killing for her. When she moved, he and three of his friends, now leaders of two other gangs, rode out to check on her. That was the summer you were invaded by bikers and going nuts trying to figure out why.” The former agent smirked.

“Witchy.” Dawg nearly choked on the name. “You’re Witchy.”

Zoey smiled easily. “Wow. That was easier than I thought it would be.”

Doogan sat down slowly himself and shook his head. He should have known. Sweet Lord, he should have known.

“Where’s the whiskey?” he muttered.

Natches was on his feet and hurrying to the kitchen. He pulled the bottle from one cabinet, the glasses from the other. He looked as stunned, as shocked, as Doogan felt.

“You’re dead, Cranston,” Doogan assured him. “Officially dead.”

“Officially,” Dawg agreed.

Rowdy snorted. “And none of you suspected? You surprise me.”

“And I guess you did?” Natches sneered back at his cousin.

“Who do you think helps protect her at those negotiations, Natches?” Rowdy said softly. “One of those bikers is a friend. And he’s smart enough to know which of us to come to. Three of the gangs would very well kill for her, but there’s three other gangs, smaller and wanting a larger cut of the pie than what they received in initial negotiations. Unfortunately, Zoey didn’t tell any of us about her nightmares, and Doogan was too dumb to let any of us know what the hell was going on in his own life. Doogan spearheaded the first negotiation when he learned that influx of bikers that year was because of one person the bikers called Witchy. He assumed she was an adult. Rigsby tried to destroy Doogan first.” Compassion filled Rowdy’s voice. “When they didn’t, they came looking for Witchy instead.” Grief filled his expression. “I’m sorry, Zoey, we didn’t know you’d be found, sweetheart.”