file in front of me. Nothing to get excited about. It was the deed to the cabin. Odd, though. It wasn’t in my father’s name. Some company called Tamajor Corporation owned it. Another corporation? The Future Lawmakers had put together a dummy corporation called the Fleming Corporation, which held their assets, including the safe houses.
“Check this out.” I handed the deed to Joe.
He lifted his brow as he perused the document. “Hmm. Doesn’t ring a bell?”
“Nope.”
“Isn’t Tamajor a village or something in Nepal?”
“I have no clue. How would you even know that?”
“Read it somewhere.”
“You’re saying some Nepali corporation owns my dad’s cabin?”
“I’m not saying anything. God only knows what Tamajor Corporation is. Keep digging. The property could have been transferred again.”
I nodded and went through the rest of the file. Mostly sales invoices and receipts for various stuff, including firearms. I’d have to check them against the guns I’d found. The invoices were all in my father’s name.
Next I found the police reports on my mother’s stolen jewelry. Why he’d kept them, I had no idea. He’d stolen the shit himself.
I slammed the folder down on the desk. “I’m so fucking sick of this shit!”
Joe laughed. Actually laughed. “You think you could possibly be sicker of it than I am? And now my mother.”
“They won’t hurt her. They want something from us, and she’s their leverage.”
“I know,” he said.
“But you’re still worried. I get it. I am too.” I sighed and looked to the ceiling.
The smoke alarm flashed a blue light at me in a hypnotizing rhythm.
I’m watching you. I’m watching you.
No way. I was making things up, letting the little imp in my mind go wild.
Ruby had swept the place.
But Ruby had swept for auditory devices…
“Joe,” I said softly. “Let’s go outside.”
He raised one eyebrow and nodded. We walked out of the office, through the house, and onto the deck.
“What is it?”
“I have a weird feeling that I’m being watched.”
“You’re spooked from the calls.”
“That’s probably part of it, but I tell you. It’s like I can feel a hidden camera on my skin.”
I expected him to tell me I was nuts.
Instead, he said, “I got the same feeling in my office today. Not so much that someone could hear me, but that someone could see me.
“Then I’m not crazy?”
“You probably are. We both probably are. Ruby looked the place over pretty closely.”
“Yeah, but all she said was she didn’t see any evidence of tampering. She couldn’t do a full sweep without the right tools.”
“True.”
“Those phone calls. They specifically said they’re watching us.”
“Shit. I didn’t even think about that. All this time we’ve been worried about people overhearing us.”
“On the other hand,” I said, “it could just be a mindfuck. Whoever’s been calling us is trying to spook us, trip us up.”
“Could be,” he agreed.
“Damn!” I paced across the redwood. “When is this shit going to end?”
“I don’t know, bro.” He shook his head. “I just don’t know. I hate burdening the whole family with our past. I hate it, especially with Melanie and Jade both being pregnant.”
“They all seem to want to help.”
“Of course they do. But how can we protect them if they’re helping?”
“I don’t know. They’d say they don’t need protection.”
“Whether they do or not isn’t the issue. I want to protect them.”
“I know. They’re not even my family, and I want to protect them too.”
Marjorie invaded my mind. I’d take a bullet for her, no thought required. Jump into the Grand Canyon if I thought it would keep her safe.
“I love her, you know.” The words came out almost by themselves.
“You’d better.”
“I tried to stay away because I felt so broken after…”
“You’re not broken, man.”
“You’re right. I’m not. I’m a little fucked up is all. It’s all so stupid. I’m not responsible for the sins of my father. Life doesn’t work that way. But you know what bothers me the most?”
“What?”
“The memories. I have some really good memories of the time the three of us spent together. Justin Valente aside, and he made us forget that for decades.”
“I know, man. I have the same memories. Your dad taught me a lot.”
“He taught both of us.”
Joe laughed. “My own father refused to teach me how to shoot. Said we were ranchers, and any man who held a gun to an animal—any animal, men included—was an animal himself. He never understood that I didn’t want to harm anyone. I just wanted to learn how to handle weapons. I taught Tal and Ryan. My father never knew.”
“Brad Steel didn’t