Descent (Steel Brothers Saga #15) - Helen Hardt Page 0,28
he said. “I’ve rented a car, so I have my own transport.”
“All right. See you then. Belinda’s making jambon farci tonight. It’s delicious.”
“Jambon? Isn’t that ham?”
“Yup.”
“You blokes actually eat something other than beef?” He smiled. It was clearly forced, but at least it was a smile.
“When it’s humanely raised, yes, we do. See you tonight.” I waved and walked toward the car.
I was feeling better already. Ennis was here. I had a friend again.
Chapter Nineteen
Brad
After calling my best investigation firm to put a twenty-four-hour tail on Wendy, I drove to the outer edge of the Steel land.
My father waited for me in the old barn where I’d seen Patty’s body. The corpse had long since been moved and cremated and the barn cleaned and sanitized.
This was where my father and I routinely met when necessary. And necessary was on his terms, not mine.
This was only the second time I’d met him here since I came out to find Patty’s body.
I didn’t know where my father was holed up. He wouldn’t tell me. He wouldn’t give me a number to reach him either. He said the less I knew the better. Though he was no doubt right, it still irked me that I had to wait for him to contact me.
He’d done so this morning, with instructions to meet him here.
Either I was early or he was late. I looked at my watch. I was early. I glanced around the barn, long since abandoned.
Cleaners had been here. Not just run-of-the-mill cleaning service, but true cleaners. People specially equipped to remove any possible evidence that a crime had been committed. According to my father, Patty had not been killed here, but traces of her blood might have been recoverable.
Hence, the cleaners.
That my father knew of such things still made my blood run cold.
I’d learned more about George Steel since his run-in with Dr. Pelletier than I ever imagined possible.
Cleaners. God.
The door creaked open, and I turned.
My father’s silhouette was dark against the sun shining in through the doorway. “Hello, son.”
“Dad.”
He closed the door. “Did anyone see you come in here?”
“Who could have possibly seen me? We’re in the middle of nowhere.”
“Always keep your eyes open,” he said.
“I do. Believe me. And I’ve seen more this past year than I ever wanted to see.”
“It’s not always pleasant,” he said, “but being aware keeps you cautious. Keeps you safe. There’s safety in knowledge.”
I held back a scoff. Watching my father hold a gun to another human being kept me safe? In what world did that make any sense at all?
Except that it did.
I’d learned a lot that day. A lot about my father. A lot about how the world worked. A lot about the power of having another’s life in your hands.
It was power I never wanted. Power I might have to wield in the future.
Or now.
Dad was here to discuss Wendy.
“I couldn’t get him to lock her up any longer,” I said.
“You could have. You and I both know you could have.”
“Yeah, maybe. I decided not to go your route.” Not yet, anyway.
“You can’t go soft, son.”
“I’m not soft. I’ve never been soft, Dad, and you know it.” How could I have been, being raised as his son? This was the man who’d made me watch two beloved calves get slaughtered. Forced me to keep my eyes open.
No, I was anything but soft.
But I still had my soul. I wasn’t quite ready to sell it off yet.
“I talked to Wendy. She claims she’s changed. That she’s sorry for everything.”
“Talk is cheap.”
“I know that. I didn’t say I believed her. Her parents do, though. I just came from their place. They’re convinced she’s a changed woman.”
“Where is she now?”
“She’s back in Denver. She’s returning to college to get her degree in journalism.”
“Still a little too close for comfort,” Dad said.
“Agreed.”
“I can get her to transfer to someplace on the east coast,” he said. “Arrange for an offer she can’t refuse.”
“She’d see right through that.”
“So? If I can get her into a program at Harvard or Yale free of charge, why wouldn’t she take it? It’d be a huge boon to her.”
“You can try. My bet is she’ll turn it down.”
“How do you know?”
“Because I know her, Dad. I know her better than anyone does. She won’t leave her parents.” And she won’t leave me.
Oh, she swore we were all safe from her, but I didn’t believe a word of it.
“Besides,” I continued. “Keep your friends close, and keep your enemies closer.”