“He couldn’t have gotten far,” I said to Joe. “Let’s go after him.”
“I wish we had two trucks,” Joe said. “We could cover more ground. What if we miss him?”
“He didn’t have access to a vehicle, did he?” I said to Mills.
“No. Our vehicles are accounted for.”
“Then he’s on foot, and he hasn’t been gone long,” I said. “We’ll take the truck and drive all around here. Good thing you’ve got four-wheel drive.”
Joe grunted.
I replaced my pistol in my holster. “We could use some help,” I said to the PIs.
“Can’t do it,” Mills said. “We’ve got another job.”
“That pays as well as I do?” Joe said.
“It’s all green to us.”
No. No one paid as well as the Steels. This didn’t make any sense, unless—
“You motherfuckers,” I said through clenched teeth.
Joe eyed me.
“They let him go, Joe. They fucking let him go.”
“Hey, we didn’t—”
I drove into Mills this time, slamming him against the wall. “Mercenaries. What did he offer you?”
“Nothing. He doesn’t have—”
“Bullshit. He might not have Steel money, but he’s rich. He was my father’s protégé. His real father was loaded too. What the fuck did he offer you?”
“You’ve got—”
“You gave him a car, didn’t you?” I tightened my hold. “Didn’t you?”
Joe had drawn his gun on Johnson by this time. “You’d better start spilling, or I’m going to start shooting. And I never miss.”
Chapter Fifty
Marjorie
“He said he and Bryce had something to attend to, and he’d be here as soon as he could.”
Melanie rocked baby Brad, trying to nurse him. “He’s starting to get it. He’s latching on, but it sure hurts.”
She smiled, though. Clearly she didn’t care about the slight pain. Who would? The baby was so beautiful, and he’d gained another ounce.
I didn’t want to worry Melanie, but something didn’t feel right. Bryce and Joe were walking into something that wasn’t going to end well. I felt it deep in my bones. I looked sideways at Jade. She and I had discussed what they might be up to during our drive to the hospital. I didn’t want her talking.
She didn’t.
As much as I loved seeing the baby and Mel, I was antsy to get moving. I wanted to get Jade safely home and then figure out how to get to Bryce and Joe before they did something stupid.
My brother was a big hothead, and so was Bryce when they were together. Both of them knew the dangers of what we were all dealing with, but leave it to the two of them to go running in without backup.
I tried not to check my phone too often. I didn’t want to be too obvious. Not that I thought Bryce would actually call me, but I had the urge to look at my phone anyway, even though the ringer was on. Call it a compulsion. It was better than cutting myself open.
Though my scar still tingled sometimes when I was tense, I’d kept the desire to slice myself open at bay. Perhaps it was my promise to be less self-indulgent. Perhaps I was conquering the problem. Or perhaps by helping Bryce with his self-indulgent behavior I had also helped myself.
Whatever it was, I felt an odd sort of loss. Nothing horrible or unbearable. Just the end of something that had given me a modicum of relief. The end of something that had been mine and no one else’s. Something that had served a purpose that no longer existed.
Strange, to mourn something that had only hurt me.
I could ask Melanie about it, but she was enjoying her son, and I didn’t want to ask her to work at the moment.
The scar tingling reminded me constantly that Bryce and Joe were out there, and they could be in danger.
I smiled. “You about ready, Jade?”
“Whenever you are.”
Great. That meant the decision to leave would be mine. I was hoping Jade might play the pregnancy exhaustion card. No such luck.
Minutes stretched into another hour. I took leave to get us all some drinks and tried calling Bryce.
No answer.
Not that I expected one.
I left a pleading voicemail, got the drinks, and headed back to NICU.
Come on. Ring. Ring. Ring!
My phone remained silent, but as if in response, Jade’s phone buzzed.
“Oh, no,” she said. “It’s Colin’s father.”
“Ted Morse?” I said. “Why is he calling you? And how did he get your new number?”
“I have no idea. Should I take it?”
“I guess so,” I said. “If you’re up to it.”
Yes, take it. Take it. Take it.
“Hello,” Jade said into the phone. “Yeah, hi, Ted. What? Are you kidding me?” She turned to me. “Colin’s missing again.”
I grabbed the phone from Jade’s hand. “Yeah? Who paid you this time?”
“Who is this?” Ted Morse said.
“Marjorie Steel. I’m a friend of your son’s, and I know exactly how Tom Simpson got hold of him. You sold him.”
“Sold him? What are you talking about?”
“You know very well what I’m talking about, Mr. Morse. You took a payment from Tom Simpson, and in return, gave him access to abduct your son.”
“This is ridiculous. I’m calling the police.”
“Do it. I have proof of what you did.” A lie, but Colin had the proof.
“You have nothing.”
“Are you willing to bet your life on that?” I asked. “I’d think long and hard first.”
“This conversation is over. I want to speak to Jade.”
“Sure.” I handed the phone to Jade.
“What am I supposed to do now?” she said after pressing her mute button.
“Keep him on the line. I want to get the call traced. Find his location.” I quickly called the number I had for Mills and Johnson.
“He’s probably in Denver at home.”
“We don’t know that for sure.”
“What am I supposed to say to him?”
“I don’t know. Just keep him talking. Tell him you have the proof, but you’re willing to listen to his side of the story. Whatever it takes to keep him on the phone. Damn! The PIs aren’t answering.”
“Call Ruby,” Melanie said. “She’ll be able to do it.”
“On it.”
Within a minute, Ruby was working on the trace.
“I’ve known you for so many years,” Jade was saying to Ted Morse. “Please tell me none of this is true.”
Apparently he was telling her just that. A few minutes passed, and Ruby was back on the line. “Done. He’s actually here. In Grand Junction.”
“Okay. Last I heard, Colin was in Glenwood Springs. Give me Ted Morse, Jade.”
She handed me her phone.
“Mr. Morse? When was the last time you saw Colin?”
“I haven’t seen him in a week.”
“He was in Denver a day ago.”