Insatiable (Steel Brothers Saga #12) - Helen Hardt Page 0,47
The ages matched up. He could easily have been Justin Valente’s father.
So where was Justin’s mother?
I had no idea, and nowhere to turn…other than to my best friend, who was also the City Attorney.
I walked to the main house and found her relaxing in a recliner in the family room with a glass of juice.
“Hey,” she said when she saw me.
“Hey. I hate to ask you this, but are you still up to checking the city’s databases for Justin Valente?”
“Yeah. Of course. I want to help. But Talon—”
I stopped her with a gesture. “We’re all in this together. You have a resource, and we should be using it.”
She nodded. “I wholeheartedly agree. Problem is, I can’t access the server from here. Only from the office. That’s part of the security stuff I had installed. We’ll have to go into town.”
“What about Mary?”
“I’m still the boss.”
“I know, but if she sees us snooping around…”
“She won’t. We’ll use my office.”
“She’s not using it?”
“No, she’s using the other office. The one I used when Larry was City Attorney.”
An hour later, we were in Jade’s office. Mary had taken off for her lunch break, so we wouldn’t have any interruptions.
“I just had a thought,” I said. “What if someone got into the databases and made changes again, like before?”
“They shouldn’t be able to. Not after the safety upgrades I had installed.”
“I know, but these people, Jade. They get away with everything. Someone walked into a mental health facility and took my disabled mother away…and no one seemed the wiser.”
She tapped on the computer and went through screen after screen. Wow. She really had put in top-notch security.
“The city of Snow Creek really paid for all this?” I said, flabbergasted.
“Oh, no. I didn’t even ask. Talon gave me the money to have this done.”
I nodded. I should have known. Maybe this security would hold after all.
“Bingo,” Jade said, coming to a screen. “Here he is. Justin C. Valente. Father Bertram Valente. Mother Cadence Russo Valente. Last known address just outside of town. He would have been bused to school.”
“With your brothers?”
“No. Looks like he lived east of town.”
“So we check out the house?”
“We can, but I’m sure they’ve been gone forever. I can check the property records.” She tapped furiously. “Looks like they rented a small place on someone’s farm.”
“Did he have any brothers or sisters?”
“No, not that it says. The school records don’t show any siblings. Looks like an only child.”
“Okay. My research shows that Bertram Valente is dead. Died ten years ago, shot at a convenience store.”
“Yeah.” She tapped. “Just substantiating that.”
“Did they ever catch who did it?” I asked.
“Doesn’t look like it. It’s an unsolved case in Denver.”
“So Bertram Valente left Snow Creek, went to Denver.”
“Looks like it. He bought a— Wow!”
“What?”
“He bought a freaking mansion nearly thirty years ago in Cherry Hills. That’s posh Denver.”
“And his wife?”
“Let me check. They divorced about a year later. It’s all here. Public records.”
“What happened to her?” I asked.
“Looks like she remarried… Let me get the name.” Then she swallowed and turned pale.
“What? What is it?”
“She married a man named Booker. Richard Booker.”
Chills rattled my flesh. “Booker? As in Cade Booker? Dominic and Alessandra Booker?” Thoughts whirled in my head. “Justin C. Valente. Cade must be his middle name. Cade, Cadence. After his mother.”
Jade typed frantically. “Here are the birth certificates. Dominic James Booker and Alessandra Cadence Booker. Father is Richard Booker, mother is Cadence Russo. Shit. The. Fucking. Bed.”
“Dominic James. That’s the name he uses for training.”
“Is he even a trainer?”
“He claims he went to UCLA and studied… Oh, hell. I don’t even know. Does it matter? Is he really any better than his half brother? He claims he’s acting on orders to keep me safe, but he still drugged me and took me against my will.”
Jade was still staring at her computer screen. “They can’t be the same person. Justin died, right? He’s dead. Tom Simpson killed him.”
“No,” I said quietly. “Tom Simpson drugged him, and then Tom Simpson bought him.”
Chapter Thirty-Five
Bryce
“Now we just have to find the bastard.” Joe shuffled through all the records Jade had printed out.
We were at the main house, outside as usual. Marjorie had grilled burgers, but none of us were particularly hungry. The food sat uneaten on platters in the center of the table.
I swallowed, trying to dislodge the apple-sized lump in my throat. Now we just have to find the bastard.