Insatiable (Steel Brothers Saga #12) - Helen Hardt Page 0,59
should have believed her.”
“Sometimes, the threat of being watched is worse than actually being surveilled. It’s a mindfuck, Bryce, and your father was the best at that.”
“My father’s dead,” I reminded him.
“He is, but in some ways, his legacy lives on.”
“Legacy?” I scoffed. “They broke up the ring, Brad. What’s left?”
“The mysterious phone calls you and Joe have been getting, for one thing.”
“They’re from Cade,” I said. “They have to be. Though it’s always a different number.”
“An easy tactic.”
I couldn’t help an eye roll. “Why are you here, Brad? Why didn’t you dig up this stuff yourself?”
“I had every intention of doing so. Just hadn’t gotten around to it. Believe it or not, faking your own death is kind of a full-time job.”
“Am I supposed to sympathize with you?” I shook my head. “Unbelievable.”
“I don’t want your sympathy. I want only your discretion. You and my sons went after Marjorie, Daphne, and Colin when I had them put away safely in a safe house. Now they’re walking targets, and Cade Booker is a ticking time bomb.”
“He disappeared,” I said.
“He disappears from time to time, but he’ll be back. He has a score to settle.”
“With Joe and me? We were kids.”
“That’s not how he sees it.”
“Then why not come after us? He pepper-sprayed us in his office. Why not just kill us then?”
“First of all, you took all his weapons.”
“So? We were indisposed. He could have left us there and gone and gotten another weapon.”
“He was in his place of business.”
“Again…so?”
“I’m only guessing, but he has a certain image to maintain.”
“He was the only one in the office with Joe and me. Everyone in his office knows that.”
“But you and Joe didn’t file charges. Why?”
Did Brad know about Joe’s past dalliances at the leather club? He seemed to know a lot. If he knew, he’d have to be the one to bring it up. I sure as hell wouldn’t.
“What good would that do? He already got away with offing his parents. He’d weasel out of a tiny assault charge. He’s a lawyer, for God’s sake.”
“True. And a good one. Too bad he never actually went to law school.”
My eyes widened into circles. “Talon was right. The records were forged.”
“You already had that figured out?”
“It was a hunch. Was he ever with the FBI?”
“No, he wasn’t. That was another cover story. But he is trained in FBI tactics.”
“Then who trained him?”
“Your father, Bryce. Your father trained him.”
Chapter Forty-Four
Marjorie
Joe cornered me as we were leaving the hospital. “Excuse me, Ruby. I need a word with my sister.”
Ruby nodded and went back into the room where Melanie sat with the baby.
“Yeah?”
“What are you two doing here?”
“Visiting our nephew.”
“Okay, I’ll buy that. But not only that. Why else?”
“Do we really need a reason other than to see your son?” I smiled sweetly.
“No, you don’t. But I know you, little sis. You and Ruby aren’t that close. Why would you come together?”
“We’re close enough, and Ruby is Mel’s best friend.”
“She’s also an ex-cop. I don’t want you bothering Melanie with—”
“Hold on.” I raised my hand to stop his mouth from moving. “We’re all in this, and Melanie wants to help. She’s the one person who might be able to shed some light on Cade Booker and why he’s doing what he’s doing. Ruby and I were curious, and you know what? Your brilliant wife didn’t let us down. She has a theory about Booker, a theory that makes an awful lot of sense.”
“Still, I— Shit.” His phone buzzed. “I have to take this.”
“Good.” I stood, tapping my foot on the floor. Joe infuriated me sometimes.
Ruby peeked out from the doorway. “All done?”
“As far as I’m concerned. Let’s go.”
“Cade must know that Dominic was working on the other side,” Ruby said in the car as we were driving back to the ranch. “That’s why he used the baseball card. And Colin as well. He used the cufflink to incriminate Colin, since Colin had been a victim of Tom Simpson. He was giving us two suspects.”
“He was going to throw his own brother under the bus?” I said.
“Oh, yeah. Psychopaths will normally throw anyone under the bus.”
“But then you have Tom himself, who went out of his way to keep his son away from this part of his life. Bryce is going crazy over it. He remembers Tom as a great dad, and it’s killing him.”
“Has he talked to anyone?”
“He’d planned to talk to Melanie, but then I got taken, and she had the baby early. There hasn’t