I swallowed. If I succeeded, the girls might never know that he’d been missing. I wanted this. Innocence was permission to be bold. I’d been raised by a mom who saw monsters under every bed. If it weren’t for Betsy, fearless and strong enough to drag me toward adventure, I might have grown up afraid of my own shadow. Had Mom been right about the world all along?

Maybe, but I didn’t want the girls to know. If I got Robert back tomorrow, unchanged, unharmed, the girls blissfully ignorant, all their lives could continue, normal.

I’d tell Trey, because I wasn’t sure who or what I would be in the wake of this. I had no chance of coming out of this unbroken. I was split in two already. But I hardly cared. Not if all three of my kids could be safe and the same.

“What do I do after I text you?”

“You leave. Don’t stay to watch. Don’t try to find my girl. I’ve left her out of the worst parts. She had no part in taking your baby, understand? That was all me. In the morning I’ll call and tell you where to pick him up.”

“Okay,” I said.

And that was it. She disconnected.

I stirred the bourbon with the silver bar spoon. The drug dissolved easily, disappearing into the amber liquid. I nodded to myself. I could watch for when Spence’s glass got low, then offer to top him off with a shot from Trey’s best bottle. I couldn’t imagine him saying no to Pappy. If he dared, I’d knock him down and pill him like a cat with the other three.

I was tempted to have a sip to make sure the taste didn’t give anything away, but with all three dissolved in there, it must be strong; I needed a clear head. Besides, Google said that roofies were tasteless. It was why they were so dangerous. Girls kept sipping their Cokes or beer with no idea of what else they were getting.

There was a monogrammed silver flask on the bookshelf, right beside a framed photo of Trey on the porch of his frat house with his closest brothers. He looked so young and confident, but my hard gaze went to young Spencer, grinning beside him, one arm hooked around Trey’s neck. This flask was from Spence, too, a gift when Trey made partner. I got it down and carefully poured the shot into it, not spilling a drop.