Insatiable (Steel Brothers Saga #12) - Helen Hardt Page 0,63
again?” he asked.
“I’m pretty busy at the moment.”
“Who is it?” Brad asked.
“Hold on,” I said to Dominic. Then I muted the phone. “Dominic Booker. He wants to meet me.”
“Great,” he said. “Let’s do it. Now.”
Dominic met us at the cabin.
“How’s your sister?” Brad asked.
“She’ll make a full recovery,” he said. “Luckily the paramedics got to her before she lost too much blood. She’s home from the hospital and taking it easy.”
“Maybe she should be taking it easy in a prison infirmary,” I couldn’t help saying.
“Alex was acting on my orders,” Brad said. “I’ve taken care of the charges against her.”
Of course he had. I opened my mouth but then shut it quickly. Nothing I said or did would change the situation.
Dominic continued, “Alex isn’t one to take anything easy. She’s been fretting over the whole thing, saying crazy stuff.”
“Like what?” Brad asked.
Dominic shook his head. “She’s convinced it all went wrong because she didn’t have her lucky rock.”
That got my attention. Marj had mentioned that Dale’s mother had told him some people carried stones for luck—stones like the one Dale found where he’d seen the stranger lurking around the school playground.
“Lucky rock?”
“Yeah, this smooth rock she keeps with her. She lost it a couple weeks—”
“Smooth rock? Like black with white markings, maybe?”
“Yeah. How did you know that?”
I cleared my throat. “Lucky guess.”
“She calls it snowflake obsidian.”
“Damn. That’s it.”
“That’s what?” Dominic and Brad both asked.
“That was the third thing Ruby found at the playground where Dale saw the strange man watching him. A baseball card, a cufflink with Colin Morse’s initials on it, and a polished piece of snowflake obsidian.”
“That bastard,” Dominic said.
“He was trying to implicate the three of you.” I inhaled. “But why the three of you? His beef is clearly with Joe and me.”
“Who knows?” Dominic said. “The man is a mess. Maybe he didn’t think anyone would believe you or Joe would stalk a little boy. Though why anyone would think Alex or I would—”
“Easy,” Brad said. “He knew you and Alex were onto him, that you were working for me, and he was trying to get you out of the way.”
“But Dominic makes a valid point,” I said. “If his problem is with Joe and me—”
“His plans for you and Joe are much more sinister,” Brad said. “Believe me. I’ve been dealing with psychopaths for the last forty years. One in particular had a beef with me, and she hurt me in the worst possible way.”
Wendy Madigan. Wendy Madigan, who’d had Talon abducted, starved, and brutally tortured.
She’d gotten to him through his child.
His child.
I gulped. “Oh, God.” I quickly texted my mother.
Mom, where’s Henry?
He’s right here with Vicky and
me. Getting ready to feed him.
How much could I tell her without freaking her out? He was most likely safe…as long as Cade Booker couldn’t find him.
But none of us knew where Cade was at the moment.
“What?” Brad said.
“My son. He’s with my mom in Florida. I’m just making sure—”
“I’ve got tails on them,” Brad said. “I’ll know if anything happens. The minute they’re in even the slightest danger, I’ll have them taken to safety.”
Nausea welled within me. If that happened, my mother would be scared shitless. But at least she’d be safe. In the meantime, I wouldn’t burden her with any of this. I didn’t trust Brad to tell the truth about being alive, but I did trust that he had my family’s best interests at heart.
For the first time since he’d shown up, I felt an overwhelming gratitude to Brad Steel. “Thank you,” I said softly. “But what about—”
“I’ve got a tail on Melanie and the baby as well. I told you that. I’ll know within seconds if anything happens.”
“Why didn’t you have them taken to safety?” I asked. “Never mind. Stupid question. The baby needs medical care. Thank you.”
“I’ll do anything to protect my family,” he said, “and to me, Bryce, you are family.”
Chapter Forty-Six
Marjorie
Ruby and I sat with Jade on the deck after we’d shared a quick dinner of sandwiches. Talon was with the boys in the yard, playing with the dogs.
“He’s like a little kid himself with them,” Jade said. “Those boys have been so good for him.”
“He’s been good for them too,” I said. “Having a father with that level of understanding…” I didn’t need to finish. None of us wanted to say the words, but we all knew how special it was that Talon was now father to the two boys.