Insatiable (Steel Brothers Saga #12) - Helen Hardt Page 0,39
secrets.”
“It’s a security blanket,” I said.
“Why would a sharp blade be security? Do you mean for self-defense?”
“Yeah. Sure.” Even I could hear the lie in those words.
“Try again,” she said.
“It’s over, okay? I just needed some relief from the pain, you know? The fact that I was conceived is why Talon was taken. Gave me a little bit of a complex, which I’m thinking might be normal under the circumstances.”
“That’s very normal,” Jade said. “What’s not normal is cutting yourself.”
I sighed. “It’s over, like I said.”
“All right. Just know you can talk to me if you need to. You know I’d never break a confidence.”
“I know.”
“I won’t ask about it again.”
“You don’t have to. The blade is evidence now. It’s gone.”
“Doesn’t mean you can’t get another.”
“It doesn’t work that way,” I said.
True words. That blade was my friend, and my friend was now gone.
“Miss Jade?” Donny interrupted us.
“Yeah, sweetie?” Jade said.
“I need a glass of water.”
“Okay, coming.”
While Jade took care of Donny, I went to my room and packed a few things to take to the guesthouse. I wanted to be with Bryce when he got home. He might need me. And if he didn’t? I needed him.
I quickly said goodbye to Jade and Donny and headed over to the guesthouse.
I let myself in using the key I’d had for ages and put my stuff in Bryce’s bedroom.
Then I walked to the kitchen to make myself a snack. The table was spread with papers. I glanced over them. They were the files Bryce had found at the cabin.
Curiosity got the best of me. I sat down and began sifting through the papers.
Nothing stood out to me. A lot of invoices for farm equipment, not that Tom Simpson had ever owned a farm that I knew of. Then again, there was still a lot I didn’t know about Tom Simpson.
I grabbed an unopened manila folder and peeked inside.
And nearly slid out of my chair.
A document stared me in the face—a document that Bryce clearly hadn’t seen yet.
It was a bill of sale for unspecified merchandise.
Tom Simpson had paid one million dollars for unspecified merchandise nearly thirty years ago.
To a man named Bertram Valente.
Chapter Twenty-Nine
Bryce
I stopped myself from jolting in surprise. “Excuse me?”
“Cade. He likes to call himself the Spider.”
“The Spider isn’t some hacker he knows?” Though I already knew the answer.
Dominic guffawed. “Is that what he told you?”
“Then why…”
I couldn’t say anything more without telling Dominic how Joe knew Cade in the first place, and I’d promised Joe. Still, I wanted, needed, to know more.
“Why what?” Dominic asked.
“Nothing. But you need to tell me everything about your brother and his so-called Spider alias.” I grabbed his collar. “Don’t leave out one fucking detail, or I’ll have your ass in prison so fast—”
“Easy, Simpson. Shit.”
I loosened my hold. “This isn’t a damned joke.”
“I never said it was.”
“Start talking. I want to know everything about your brother and the Spider.”
“They’re the same person.”
“We were told the Spider was a high-priced hacker who could find someone for us.”
“Cade’s a pretty good hacker, from what I know,” Dominic said.
“So he’s the Spider?”
“Yes and no.”
“You’d better get real clear real fast,” I said through clenched teeth.
“It’s a name he’s used ever since I can remember. I don’t know why.”
“You’re telling me there is no separate Spider who’s a hacker. I’ve been communicating with Cade.”
Gotcha.
As I’d suspected, Cade had been playing us.
But why? What the hell did Cade have against us?
A former FBI guy, an attorney in the city, a guy into BDSM, a hacker. What did it all mean?
And now he had disappeared.
What was he up to?
And what did he have against Joe and me? Against all the Steels?
Something to do with my father…
“Not that I know of,” Dominic said, “but there’s a lot about my brother I don’t know.”
“What do you know about him?”
“Not much. We don’t have a lot in common, other than a love of baseball. He’s messed up.”
“You’re telling me.”
“Look. I can’t tell you anything more. I only know he’s obsessed with your father and the Steels. How do you even know about the Spider? Where did you get that card?”
I couldn’t say anything more. I’d already violated Joe’s trust by telling Marjorie about Justin Valente when I’d promised not to. Granted, he’d also told his wife, but still. I wouldn’t violate his trust again.
“None of your business,” was my answer.
“If you want me to help you figure this out, it is my business.”