“But understand, what your father did, he did for love. He thought he was doing the right thing for you—for all of you, including your mother.”

“There must be more to this, Wendy,” I said. “What is it that you’re not telling us?”

Wendy sighed. “Your father had some enemies. There was a part of him that thought…”

“Thought what?” Talon said.

“I haven’t said this out loud in twenty-five years.”

“Now is the time,” I said.

Wendy drew in a breath and fidgeted with her hands. “Your father thought it was possible that…you had been taken on purpose.”

Talon nearly jerked off the sofa.

I opened my mouth to speak. “That is directly contrary to what Larry Wade says. He told Jade that Talon was never meant to be taken.”

Wendy leaned forward. “Do you hear yourself? Who are you going to believe? A psychopathic pedophile or a former newswoman?”

She had a point there.

“Who are these enemies you’re talking about?” I asked. “And why would they be involved with taking Talon? And why would they be involved with Larry Wade?”

“About a week before you were found, Talon,” Wendy said, “your father received a ransom demand.”

“Let me guess,” Talon said. “The demand was for five million dollars.”

“I don’t know. Your father wouldn’t tell me the amount, so I honestly don’t know anything about the transfer. But that’s my guess,” Wendy said.

“Why wasn’t any of this made public?” I asked.

“For the same reason none of the rest of it was made public. To protect you, to protect your mother, and for some strange reason, to protect Larry Wade.”

“How did our uncle even get involved in this?” I asked.

“Your uncle is just a sick man. He got involved with some even sicker people. And when push came to shove, he couldn’t let it happen to you.”

“Couldn’t let it happen?” Talon gasped. “It happened. I assure you.”

“But he did get you out of there, Talon. I’m not defending him,” Wendy said. “But their plans were to kill you if they didn’t get the money.”

“Are you saying this whole thing was a conspiracy? To kidnap Talon?”

“I don’t think it had to be Talon. It could have been any one of you three. In fact, they probably wanted all three of you, but Talon was the one they got.”

“What about the other kids? What about Luke Walker?”

“The other kids were a ruse. They were setting up their MO. That way, when they took one of you boys, the police would assume it was the same kidnappers that were working in the area.”

“So Luke’s parents never got a ransom note,” I said.

“No,” Wendy said. “None of the other kids’ parents got a ransom note. That would have made the news. Those poor kids were just playthings for these men while they were setting up for the kill.”

“And then I was taken, and it never made the news.”

“Yes, and I’m afraid I had a lot to do with that. But your mother was pregnant with your sister at the time, and Brad was really worried about her. If she’d had to talk to police officers and reporters… He wasn’t sure she could take it. As it was, she went into premature labor and delivered the girl early. Your sister wasn’t supposed to live, you know.”

“Yes,” Talon said, “we know. Thank you for letting Jade know about that. Now at least our sister knows why she has no middle name.”

I studied my hands. I remembered my mother having Marjorie. I had just turned thirteen, Talon had been gone for several weeks, and the baby had to stay in the hospital for quite a while. But I didn’t remember being worried about it. Heck, I didn’t know this new baby. But I knew my brother. And my brother was gone.

More guilt. Just put it in the guilt coffers. Thank God Marjorie had survived, or I’d feel guilty about that too—guilty for not caring about my new baby sister, who was hovering on the brink of death, because I was too wrapped up in feeling guilty about my brother, who was missing.

I shook my head to clear it. “So this whole thing was a sting basically. To get money out of my father.”

“That’s my take on it,” Wendy said.

“Then why not just kidnap the kids?” I asked. “Why molest Talon and kill the others?”

“I can’t begin to tell you what makes people child molesters,” Wendy said, turning to Talon. “You’d be better asking your therapist about that.”

“All right, then,” I said. “Who are these enemies that my father had? Enemies so powerful that they would kidnap his son, abuse him, and nearly starve him to death, for five million dollars?”

“I wish I could tell you. I can’t tell you how many times I begged Brad to tell me who they were. But he said he didn’t want to burden me with it. That as a newswoman, I would be constantly trying to find them, and he didn’t want my life ruined that way.” She sighed. “His heart was in the right place. His heart was always in the right place. But that doesn’t mean he always did the right thing.”

“Larry told Jade that he had reason to believe my father was involved in organized crime,” Talon said.

“I know. But trust me, Brad would never do that. He had a lot of integrity.”

“Then why would Larry say that?”

“Why does Larry Wade do anything? The man’s a criminal. A psychopath. Most likely a pathological liar as well. Don’t waste your time trying to figure him out. You won’t get very far.”

“So our father wasn’t in organized crime,” I said, “but he did have enemies. Enemies who apparently could be appeased for five million dollars.”

“Or some other amount,” Wendy said.

“And he didn’t tell you who these enemies were or why they were his enemies?”

“No, he didn’t. Even though I begged him to.”

“So my father paid the ransom?” I asked.

Wendy nodded.

“Why, then, did Larry get in so much trouble from the other two by letting Talon escape? I mean, if my father paid, weren’t these guys going to let Talon go?”

“I wish I could tell you,” Wendy said. “I realize parts of this story don’t jell together. I’m only telling you what I know.”