“Fuck it all,” I said. “You’re supposed to be dead.”
No response.
“And weren’t you dying of cancer? Pancreatic, I think?”
“No. That was a lie. If Wendy hadn’t tried to kill me, I needed another reason to die.”
“You did this to your kids again. You’re a fucking freak of nature, Brad.”
“I have my reasons. I meant to stay covered, but once I saw you, I knew it wouldn’t work. You recognized my voice, didn’t you?”
I nodded.
“I’m counting on your discretion, Bryce. I love my children more than anything. You know that. You were an honorary child of mine, and I loved you nearly as much.”
“But how…?”
“Pretty simple, actually. A bulletproof vest equipped with blood pellets. Then a payment to the coroner ahead of time who pronounced me dead and disposed of the body.”
“Marjorie said you were cremated.”
“Someone was. It wasn’t me.”
“They never saw your body again…”
“No, they didn’t have to. They identified it at the scene. Everything was in order long before Wendy shot me.”
“No one checked you for a pulse?”
“Would you want to touch a dead body? Marjorie fell on me, but her brothers pulled her off.”
“How did you know what would go down?”
“I knew Wendy. Once I was back in Colorado, I knew she’d come for me and for Ryan. If Ruby hadn’t killed her first, I had plans in place for Wendy before she could harm my son.”
“I don’t believe it. Marj told me what happened. It happened so fast she hardly remembers, yet she describes it as almost being in slow motion.”
“Trust me when I say I’m sorry to have put my children through any of this. But they’re strong, and my first duty is to their mother. My children can take care of themselves. My wife can’t.”
“So you took her from the facility using Joe’s name.”
“I did.”
“You wrote Joe Steel instead of Jonah Steel.”
“Did I? I was thinking only of getting Daphne out of harm’s way.”
“Does he work for you?” I gestured to Dominic.
“He does. He’s well paid. And well trained.”
“You never went to UCLA, huh?” I said.
“No. That’s my cover. I’m a hell of a trainer, though. I kicked your ass during that sample session.”
I couldn’t deny it.
“An associate of mine approached Dominic and Alex when they turned eighteen,” Brad said. “I knew about their brother’s return, and my first inclination was to teach them how to protect themselves from him. As it turned out, Cade had already taught them both how to expertly handle weapons. As for the rest, they were both quick studies and had enormous potential. Now they work for me.”
“So you don’t coach baseball.”
“Not currently,” Dominic said. “But I love the game, and I’m good at it.”
“Do you collect baseball cards?”
“Some. Why?”
How much of this was I allowed to say? I had no idea. “No reason,” I said, and then I turned back to Brad Steel.
“How long have you known about my father?”
“I’ve known for a long time that some of his activity was criminal, but I only found out about the trafficking, and what he did to his victims, after Talon was taken.”
“Right about the same time you stopped letting Joe go on our camping trips.”
He nodded. “Do you blame me?”
“No. But you have to know. My father never touched me or Joe.”
“I believe you, Bryce. He touched a lot of others, though, including one of my sons. I’ll never forgive him.”
“Neither will I. And you don’t have to anyway. He’s dead. There was no faking that one.”
“All three of Talon’s captors are dead. I’ve double- and triple-checked it all.”
“Yet you’re still here.”
“I am.”
“Why stay away again? Wendy’s gone. My father, Wade, and Mathias are gone. The threat to your children is gone.”
“If it were, Bryce,” he said, “we wouldn’t be here talking.”
I swallowed. He had a point. “Where do Colin and Ted Morse fit into this?”
“Colin is the unfortunate result of Ted’s greed,” Brad said.
“So he’s right, then. Colin, I mean. My father…” I couldn’t finish.
“Bought Colin, just like he bought your friend Justin Valente, who, as I’m sure you’ve already figured out, now goes by the name of Cade Booker.”
Nausea crept up my throat. This was what pure disgust felt like.
“I thought…” I cleared my throat. “I thought they just stole kids and women. Why would my father…?”
“Your father was a sick man. Sometimes he stumbled upon a certain person he had to have. Justin was one of those unfortunates. So was Colin Morse.”
The nausea again. My throat swelled, and I inhaled deeply, trying to get air into my lungs.
Fuck. I was hyperventilating.
“Easy,” Brad said. “You’re a strong man. I helped raise you myself. I know what you’re about. Breathe.”
I put my hand over my mouth to force carbon dioxide back into my body. Soon I was breathing normally.
You’re a strong man.
I didn’t feel very strong at the moment.
“Once your father died,” Brad said, “I knew Cade would come out of the woodwork and seek revenge any way he could. I needed to protect those who were the weakest, so I paid Dominic and Alessandra to take Daphne, Marjorie, and Colin.”
“Marjorie would hate that you called her weak.”
“Trust me. I know.”
“Why not Jade and Melanie? They were carrying your grandchildren.”
“They would have been next. I needed to make sure the safe houses were equipped to deal with pregnancy, and now they are. Plans were being made when… Well, you know how it all turned out.”
“Why Colin?” I asked.
“Colin’s in as much danger as anyone,” he said. “Cade knows about Ted and Colin and their ties to your father. Ted’s a mercenary, and he’s been in touch with Cade.”
Yes. It was all starting to make sense now. “I was wondering how Ted knew about Justin.”
“He heard it from Justin himself, who is, of course, Cade.”
“Why would Cade be interested in talking to Ted? Ted did the same thing to Colin that Cade’s father did to him.”
Rustling began in the nearby trees.
“You should go,” Dominic said to Brad.
Brad nodded, covering his face once more with the black ski mask. “I’ll be in touch.” He disappeared quickly.
“I trust you’ll be discreet?” Dominic said.
Being discreet meant lying to Marjorie about her father being alive. It was a promise I wasn’t comfortable making, but I’d make it on one condition.
“You two keep Marjorie safe above all else, and I’ll keep that promise.”