She glanced around at our determined faces, seeing that we weren’t going to back down, and that Brady couldn’t scare us however much he wanted to. Ultimately, there was only one of him. We were going to be just fine.
It was in that moment that Timothy came bounding down the stairs with a happy smile on his face. He didn’t take much notice of us all in the kitchen. I guess he was getting used to everyone protecting him now. That was nice, as long as he felt safe and secure.
“I think it might be dinnertime,” Miranda said with a weak laugh. She was trying her hardest to make this normal. “Is everyone hungry?”
Sitting down to dinner together gave us more time to knock out some plans and figure out what we needed to do next.
* * *
Sitting around the table,just the four of us, after Timothy had finally gone to bed full and happy, brought the tension right back to the surface of everything. We knew we needed to do something about Brady, but it was hard to figure out what.
“Is there anything we can use against him? Any way we can lure him to us and catch him by surprise.” Cole asked Miranda.
I watched on anxiously as she chewed the inside of her cheek, trying to think of something. If Brady didn’t have anything we could use against him, it was a good thing we had numbers on our side. Surely there was only so much he could do with three of us ready to take him down with the backing of the police.
Then again, Cole, Ivan, and I were all there when he shot at Cole, and we couldn’t capture him. This wasn’t going to be easy for any of us.
“Me,” Miranda finally admitted with a tremor in her voice. “I guess I am his weakness. He wants me, doesn’t he? So if we utilize that to our advantage—”
“No way.” Cole bolted to his feet, obviously getting what Miranda was suggesting way before Ivan and I did. “You are not going to be the bait. Are you kidding me? We are trying to keep you out of danger, from being another body in the lake.”
I hated that idea just as much as the twins did. I couldn’t lose my friendship with Miranda. Not like that.
“What else do you suggest?” Miranda shot back with fire burning in her eyes. “Because I want to fight Brady as well. I don’t want him to keep killing she-wolves because of me. Because his fucked-up hatred makes him think he can. I also don’t want him anywhere near Timothy, so I want to help. You might not like it, but that doesn’t matter to me. Not one bit. I know what I want to do, and what will work. I know Brady wants me, and I’m also very aware that he has one upped us before because we have not been ready for him. We haven’t been expecting him. It’s time to turn that around and do it back to him. He needs to be tricked for once, and this is the way to do that. By using me as bait.”
Cole shook his head, but I could see Ivan faltering somewhat. He seemed to be coming around to Miranda’s way of thinking. Perhaps he had his military head on now and he was thinking about it in a more logical way.
I didn’t know what to think. I didn’t like it, but I also recognized the sheer determination in Miranda that wasn’t going to go away. She was the sort of woman who would do whatever it took to get her way. Especially when she thought she was in the right, which I got the sense she did here.
“I will go to the area where Brady is staying and pretend to be lost or something, I don’t know.” Miranda shrugged, her eyes darting between all three of us. “But then we will be ready for him. Us and the police. I can even get him to confess, which will make the whole case even stronger, especially if we can record it. That way, when you guys finally get the jump on him, they will have to arrest him and throw away the key.”
“But you will be in danger,” Ivan whispered, his heart breaking despite the military side of his brain trying its hardest to win out. “We will be so worried about you, it’ll be horrible.”
Miranda smiled when she saw she was starting to win him over. Despite his protests, he wanted to hear what she was actually saying, which had to be a good thing. I honestly didn’t know what was best, and this wasn’t really my time to have an opinion. But whatever Miranda decided on, as her friend, I would do everything it took to keep her safe and alive. That much, she could be sure of.
“I won’t feel like I am in danger, though, not with you guys protecting me.”
“I don’t like it.” Cole shook his head fervently. “I don’t like it at all.”
Miranda leaned back in her chair. “If you have any other idea, I would love to hear it. If not, I don’t see what other choice we have. This is what we have to do. You know I will do anything to make sure that no one else is killed and to keep my son safe. If I have to put myself in danger for a little while, so be it. I don’t think Brady will use his gun on me. I’m sure his plans for me are much more brutal. That gives you all time.”
I did not like looking at it in that way, even if Miranda was probably right. This was all very scary, but I guess we knew that it wasn’t going to be a walk in the park, so we couldn’t complain now.
“We will keep you safe,” I promised Miranda, just in case she needed that confirmation from me. “No matter what, you will get out of this unscathed. I promise you that.”