I’ll crush your damned skull.
I moved my arm from her touch. “Say that again.”
“What? Alex didn’t have any patience.”
“No. The last thing. She said she wanted to crush your skull?”
This time Joe took note as well, his brow rising.
“Yeah. I think those are the words she used. Big deal. She thought she was tougher than she was.”
“It is a big deal,” I said. “Joe and I used to use that phrase when we were kids, didn’t we?”
Joe nodded. “And we must have heard it somewhere.”
“Not from here,” Talon said. “I don’t remember Dad ever saying it, and I didn’t even hear that in the military—and believe me, I heard a lot of shit there I don’t want to repeat.”
I cleared my throat. “I don’t remember”—true—“but we must have heard it from my father.”
“And Alex probably heard it from Cade,” Joe said, “who probably heard it from…”
“My father,” I mumbled.
Marjorie lifted her hand to touch my forearm once more, but I moved it away from her. I didn’t want comfort at the moment.
I didn’t deserve it.
“Not your fault,” she mouthed.
She was right.
I’d been nine years old. Nine fucking years old.
“You guys are missing something really important here,” Jade was saying. “Cade may have been abused, but he got away.”
“He’s a mess, though,” Ryan said.
“But he’s alive. He didn’t die there, wherever there was. He just needs help.”
“He’s not the one who kidnapped Mom and me,” Marjorie said. “That was his half brother and sister.” She held up her hand. “I know. You’re going to say—if Dominic is to be believed—that he did it for our protection. Protection from Cade. But the reality of the situation is that Cade didn’t do anything to us.”
“He did to Bryce and me,” Joe said. “My eyes still don’t feel quite right.”
“We were holding him at gunpoint,” I interjected.
“Assault with a deadly weapon,” Jade said.
“We didn’t assault him,” Joe said.
“Doesn’t matter. Assault doesn’t actually require anything physical. The legal definition is simply the threat of physical violence. Technically you both did assault him.”
“Are you kidding me?” Joe said.
“Easy,” Talon said.
“Maybe we did,” I said. “He had it coming. I’m sorry for whatever he endured at the hands of my father or anyone else, but he’s been fucking with us for a long time now. We know that.”
“What?” Ryan said. “A long time now?”
Shit. Joe eyed me once more. The rest of them didn’t know about his association with Cade at the club, and I’d just shot off my mouth.
“Seems like a long time, anyway,” I said.
That seemed to appease them.
“His mother died in a drive-by shooting,” Joe said. “In a tiny town in Iowa, right before Cade returned. Don’t tell me that doesn’t stink.”
I nodded. Joe was right. “I’m guessing Cade was involved. Offing his mother for selling him—”
“Wait,” Marj said. “How would Cade know what his father did? And do we even know his mother was in on it?”
“Whether Cade knew or not,” Talon said, “he could easily have blamed his parents for everything. For letting him go camping. For not finding him. A million different reasons. You have to understand. When you’re in that situation…” He shook his head. “You’ll blame just about anyone or anything.”
“He needs help,” Jade said. “We should get Melanie’s opinion.”
“Leave Melanie out of this,” Joe said. “She has her hands full in the city with the baby. I’ve got bodyguards on them as it is. I don’t want her bothered with anything else.”
“Do we know how Cade’s father died?” Ryan asked.
“Shot in a convenience store nine years ago,” Marj said. “Jade and I found the records.”
“Timing is just about right,” I said. “What do you bet Cade knocked off his old man and his mom both?”
“If he did, who can blame him?” Marj said. “His father sold him like goods to be tortured and abused.”
“We don’t actually know what he went through,” Joe said.
“Joe, come on,” Marjorie said. “We know.”
“Actually,” I said, “there’s a lot we don’t know. Where he was taken. What he went through. How he got out. Whether he was really trained by the FBI. Whether he actually went to law school. And there’s only one way to find all this out. We have to find him.”
Chapter Thirty-Six
Marjorie
I looked to Talon. His gaze was glassy.
I knew the look.
He was remembering.
My scar on my thigh began to tingle and itch.
But for my conception…
No. Can’t go there. Not now. Not when we have all this other stuff to figure out.
Damn it!
No more self-indulgence. How many times had I said that to myself? How many fucking times?
My phone buzzed. A text.
From Colin Morse.
My cufflinks are gone.
Shocking.
When was the last time you saw them?
I have no idea. Years. I never
wore them. I just assumed they
were in the bottom of my dresser
drawer like they always were.
I cleared my throat. “I just got a text from Colin. His cufflinks are indeed missing.”
“Can he look at the one we found?” Ruby asked. “Tell if it’s a match?”
“Plus the one we found at my father’s cabin,” Bryce said.
“He’s in Denver right now,” I said. “We can send him a photo.”
Ruby nodded. “The cufflink, the baseball card—”
“Shit,” I said. “Why didn’t I think of this before? Dominic said he coaches baseball. That he had a scholarship to play but had to quit because of an injury.”
“You’re thinking Dominic might be the bad guy here?” Ruby said.
“Not necessarily. Not that drugging people isn’t a bad thing. But if he was interested in baseball and was talented at it, it’s possible his older brother was as well.”
“They have different fathers,” Ryan said.
“So? You’re a lot like Talon and Joe and you have diff—” I stopped abruptly. “I’m sorry, Ry.”
“No, it’s okay. You’re right. You’re right.”
Ruby laid her hand over Ryan’s.
“The scholarship thing could be fabricated,” Bryce said, “but Dominic did mention that he and Cade shared a love of baseball.”
Ruby squeezed Ryan’s hand. “We also have the cigarette butt and polished rock that Dale found. Any ideas?”