Insatiable (Steel Brothers Saga #12) - Helen Hardt Page 0,75

siblings’ knowledge. But now probably wasn’t a good time to remind Joe of that.

“Where is he? How do I get in touch with him?” Joe demanded.

“I don’t know where he is. He wouldn’t give me that information.”

“Fucker!”

“Look, Joe, we’ve got more important shit to deal with. We have to find Booker.”

“I’ll bet the great Bradford Steel already knows where he is.”

Good point. Brad seemed to know everything. I didn’t agree with his methods, but he did stay on top of things.

“He probably knows where we are right now,” Joe continued. “Come on out, Dad! I know you’re here. Get your ass out here, and you’re going to answer to me!”

No response, of course. Brad Steel wasn’t here, not in Ted Morse’s condo.

“Come on. Let’s go deal with Ted,” I said. “We can’t keep him tied up forever.”

“I don’t know about that,” Joe said. “I hate the shithead.”

Yeah, Joe had a particular ax to grind with Ted. I got it.

“Come on.” I nodded to him.

We both walked back into the living area where Ted was still taped to the chair. I ripped the tape off his mouth without warning.

“Ow!”

“Get over it. Time for you to talk, Morse.”

“Not feeling real talkative.”

I pulled my gun out and pressed it to his forehead. “Feeling a little chattier now?”

Joe looked down, and I followed his gaze. Morse’s crotch was wet. He’d pissed himself.

Sure, he could play the tough guy, but his body didn’t lie.

“You’d better start talking now,” I said, “before the other end releases.”

“I told you. Cade Booker came to me.”

“Why? Why would he come to you?” I asked.

“He wanted…”

“What?” I pushed the end of the gun into his forehead, leaving a mark on his skin.

“He wanted to know about Colin.”

“Why?”

“About Colin and…your father.”

“And what did you tell him? That you’d sold Colin to my father just like his father had done to him?”

“I didn’t—”

“Spare me,” Joe said. “Colin has proof.”

“Whatever Colin thinks he has isn’t true.”

“Sell that somewhere else,” I said. “Right now, we need to know about Booker.”

“He was weird,” Ted said. “Sort of…obsessed. He wanted to know about Colin, how Tom got hold of him.”

“Because you pimped him out,” Joe said. “Go on.”

“That’s not true!”

“Don’t say that again,” I said through clenched teeth. “Now keep talking.”

“I told him Colin had been held prisoner by your father, but he already knew that. He also knew that you”—he nodded toward Joe—“rescued him.”

“Does he know you tried to extort money from me by telling him to name me as the perp?” Joe said.

Easy, Joe. While I understood Joe’s anger—especially now that he’d found out about his father—we didn’t have time to rehash old news. I had to keep both Joe and Morse on track.

“Keep going,” I said. “What else did he tell you?”

“He told me his story, that his real name is Justin Valente, that he’d been abducted by your father on a camping trip that you two invited him to go on. That your father let him move around on his own for the last ten years but kept him on a pretty short leash.”

“And…?” I said.

“You sure you want me to go further?” He eyed Joe.

“Go,” Joe said.

“Really? You want your friend here to know—”

“He already knows. Now you tell us what you know.”

“He’s been watching both of you for years, but while your father was alive, he kept it under wraps. He befriended you at the club.”

“And…?” I said again.

“He blames you two for what happened.”

“We were nine,” I said. “Neither of us knew who my father was.”

“He thinks you lured him into a trap. I told him that wasn’t true.”

“So you’re on our side now?” Joe asked sardonically.

“Of course he’s on our side,” I said. “I’m holding a gun to his head. We just learned from Mills and Johnson that the one thing that trumps money to a mercenary is life.”

“You say Colin is missing,” Joe said. “You sure you didn’t lead Booker right to him? For the right price?”

“Why would I—”

“Shut the fuck up,” Joe said. “We all know why.”

Morse closed his eyes. “Maybe you should just pull the trigger. I deserve it.”

“I won’t argue,” I said, “but you’re not done talking yet.”

“I didn’t sell Colin. I didn’t.”

“Then what did you do?”

“I took some money from your father, and I gave him information.”

“What information?”

Morse sighed. “Apparently your father witnessed an encounter between Colin and you and your brothers,” he said to Joe. “Simpson came to me, said he was interested in talking business with Colin, maybe had a position