Page 42
“She’s a smart woman,” I said.
“Here’s the problem though,” Talon said. “We’ve determined that the third set of prints on the business card doesn’t belong to Larry.”
“What?” Jonah stood and started pacing around the kitchen. “How did you find out?”
“It was pretty easy. Larry was fingerprinted when he was arrested. Mills and Johnson hacked into the database and retrieved them and then checked them against the set Jade found in the attorney database.”
“So how do we know which ones are Larry’s real fingerprints?”
“We can assume the more recent set, from when he was arrested. His fingerprints in the attorney database were obviously tampered with, and probably recently, to make it look like he’d had his hands on that business card.”
“This is fucking crazy.” Jonah continued pacing, his body tense.
“What is it?” I asked.
He shook his head, pursing his lips. “Nothing. Nothing at all.”
I didn’t believe him for a minute, but I wasn’t about to push it with Talon there. Talon was upset enough as it was.
Talon stood. “Jade will be home from work soon. I should get back to the house. I like being home when she gets home.”
I smiled. “That’s sweet. You and she are lucky to have each other.”
He nodded. “That’s the truth, for sure.”
“Sorry to interrupt your pool time again, Joe.”
“Don’t worry about it.” Jonah patted him on the back. “You know I’m always here for you.”
Warmth coursed through me at the love and devotion Jonah had for his brother. He was a man of honor and integrity.
After Talon left, Jonah began pacing around the kitchen again.
I touched his arm. “What’s eating at you?”
“I have to tell you something. I can’t keep it inside any longer, but I need you to keep it to yourself. I haven’t told Bryce yet, and I can’t tell Talon until I tell Bryce, but I think I know who one of the abductors is.”
My heart nearly stopped. “Who?”
“The mayor. Bryce’s father.”
“The same mayor who— Oh my God!” I clamped my hand over my mouth. The same mayor who I had seen buying duct tape and rope the day I was attacked.
And he had blue eyes.
Chapter Twenty–Nine
Jonah
I could almost see the clockworks in Melanie’s mind. She was putting two and two together, and it didn’t take her long.
I told her the whole story about Tom Simpson and his birthmark.
“You have to tell Talon,” Melanie said. “You can’t keep this from him.”
“I know it.” I grabbed a handful of my hair. “But I have to tell Bryce first. It’s his father, for God’s sake, and he’s my best friend. Bryce has to know who his father is.”
“But Talon is your brother,” Melanie said. “That trumps best friend.”
She had a point. “All right. I will. I’ve tried a couple times to tell Bryce, but we’ve always gotten interrupted. But you’re right. Talon is my brother, and he suffered at this man’s hand. But all I have as proof is the birthmark, which I haven’t even seen.”
“Then how do you know it’s in the right place?”
“Marjorie saw him at the gym. She said it was right there on his right upper arm, under his armpit.”
Melanie’s peachy cheeks went pale. “Oh my God.”
“I know. There are so many loose ends in this situation, and they just become more and more unraveled the deeper we dig.” I thought back to the words that Larry Wade had said to Bryce and me the last time we saw him.
The truth is overrated. Once you open the door to that dark room, getting out is damn near impossible.
The man was a lying psychopath, but maybe he had a point. We were all healing now. Was it really necessary to open all the doors? So far, every door we had opened had led to more doors. Answers had only posed more questions. We seemed further away from the truth now than we had been when we’d started this journey.
“Jonah, the mayor bought duct tape and rope. The day I was taken.” Her lower lip trembled.
“I know. You told me.”
“I was bound with duct tape and rope later that evening. By a man with blue eyes.”
I tensed, running my fingers through my hair. “You don’t think…”
“I don’t know, honestly. But it’s possible. If the mayor is the psychopath you say he is, he would be capable of anything.”
Could there be a connection between Melanie’s abduction and our situation? My God, if that crazed lunatic had not only molested my brother but had also abducted my woman…
Couldn’t go there yet. Too farfetched.
I needed a break from Tom Simpson and what he’d done to Talon. I stopped pacing and took Melanie in my arms. “Sweetheart, it’s possible. Anything is possible when dealing with a psychopathic criminal.”
“It just seems a little too coincidental, don’t you think?”
I nodded. “It does. But he could have been buying those things for any number of reasons.”
“You’re right.” She sighed. “It is definitely a long shot. And lots of people have blue eyes. If I could have seen the mayor’s eyes that day, I could tell you better. The guy who attacked me had really cold blue eyes. Icy cold. Almost unreal looking.”
Tom Simpson’s eyes were definitely cold. But had I noticed how cold they were before I knew what he was? I wasn’t sure.
“I’ll tell you what. Let’s go see Dr. Cates tomorrow and get some information on Gina’s uncle. I need to focus on something other than Steel family drama for a little while.”
She snuggled her head into my shoulder. “I do think it would be a good idea for you to take a step back for a day or two. But don’t feel like you have to dive headfirst into my ashes.”
“Melanie, I want to help you. And I will not let you go see that man alone.”
“Good,” she said, “because I don’t want to go alone.”
She wouldn’t go alone. I would do all I could to help her, to protect her, while I had the chance. Because as soon as I told her the truth about the evening she was attacked, she would leave me.