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My eyes welled. Ruby put her other hand over our clasped ones, offering her support. Invisible ropes pulled me in myriad different directions. My father. My mother. Without them, I wouldn’t be here. I wouldn’t have my life. I wouldn’t have the beautiful woman beside me whom I loved more than anything.

But how I’d gotten here… What a fucking mess.

“I loved you, just as I loved my other two sons. And I vowed from that day forward to protect all of you with my life if I had to.”

“That didn’t work out so well for Talon,” Joe said.

“No, it didn’t.”

Here it comes. I braced myself for the pain my sister was about to endure.

But my father’s cell phone rang. He checked it and then said quietly, “I have to take this.” He put the phone to his ear but said nothing. After several seconds, he took it from his ear but kept it in his hand.

“I’m afraid we need to table this discussion.” He stood and walked out from behind his desk, tapping something into the phone.

Marabel appeared at the door almost instantly, opening it without knocking. “Code five?”

“Yes. In ten minutes.”

“Jocelyn and I will have her ready.” Marabel hurried away.

“What the hell is going on here?” Joe asked. “There are still a ton of unanswered questions. What happened to Mom? Why did you build this place? Why did you fake your death?”

“Another time, Joe.”

“Fuck that. I told you I’d beat the truth out of you, and I aim to.” Joe lunged toward our father, who was still standing in the doorway.

“You will not!”

And I hurtled back in time to when I was a kid. Our father’s voice. No one argued with that tone.

“If you love your mother and want her protected, you’ll leave this for now.”

“You’re taking Mother?” Marj asked. “What’s going on?”

“There’s a helipad on the top of the house. It’s well-hidden, so you probably didn’t notice it when you came in. The FBI are on their way here. I need to get your mother out of here and to someplace safe.”

“But you—” I started.

“I will surrender myself to the authorities when the time is right,” he said. “Right now, your mother is my priority. I must take care of her and get her to a safe place. If the FBI swarms in here…” He shook his head and left quickly.

I stood and ran out the door, my siblings and Ruby behind me. Soon, the whirring helicopter propellers buzzed above us. We all covered our ears.

Minutes later, Marabel hurried down the hall, our mother in tow. Our father took her in his arms and shouted something inaudible to Marabel. Then he raced toward the garage entrance.

“What do we do?” Marj screamed.

“We haven’t done anything wrong,” Joe yelled. “We’ll stay here and answer their questions the best we can. Then we’ll go home.”


Chapter Forty


Ruby


Three days later, we arrived back in Colorado. Ryan and I said nothing during the drive to the ranch. I had no job to go to, so I was going home with him. After everything we’d been through, I didn’t want to be alone. The silence was soothing. So much had gone on during the last seventy-two hours, and we’d hardly slept.

The FBI had swarmed in and questioned all of us. They’d taken the names of the two little boys and Juliet and arranged to get them home. As far as I knew, they still hadn’t found the boys’ mother, but they had found a great-aunt who was willing to take them until their mother turned up.

To Juliet’s and my delight, Lisa had been found. She hadn’t been killed, as Juliet had thought. Anna Shane had also been rescued. In all, twenty-nine women and seventeen children were recovered from the compound. One child wasn’t so lucky. A little girl was found dead in one of the dorm rooms.

Of the total of forty-six, forty were American.

There had been no sign or documentation of Gina Cates, my cousin. That saddened me, but I tried not to dwell on it. The FBI was on it now, along with Interpol. They were determined to take this investigation all the way to the top and take this trafficking ring down.

One fact, though, I couldn’t help but dwell on.

My father had not been taken into custody. He had disappeared.

Again.

Ernie sat on my lap in a small kennel. Juliet had taken Bo, Beauty, and their mother, Jewel, home with her, with a promise to send the two puppies to Dale and Donny once they were situated.

When we walked into the house, Ricky ran to us, tail wagging. I let Ernie out of his kennel to meet his new big brother.

“Hey, boy,” Ryan said to his dog. “Have the hands been taking good care of you?”

Ricky stopped only for a few seconds to let Ryan pet him, and then he was preoccupied with the little ball of fur scampering around.

“You two better go outside.” I walked to the kitchen and opened the French doors.

Ernie was a little inhibited but eventually followed Ricky outside.

Ryan had wandered into his family room and plopped on the plush leather couch. I went to join him.

“Before I sit down, do you want anything?” I said. “Because once I sit down, I don’t think I’m getting back up for at least a day.”

Ryan smiled. “Does that mean I have to carry you to my bedroom to have my way with you?”

“Yup, that’s exactly what it means.” I plunked down beside him.

“I can’t believe this is really over,” he said, taking my hand and pressing his lips to my palm.

I shivered just from the innocent contact…and because of something else. “It’s not quite over.”

He nodded. “Your father. We’ll find him. And if we can’t, surely the FBI or Interpol can.”

“He has all those aliases, and he probably has documentation for each one. He could be across the globe by now.”

“He could be. But I have a feeling he’s not going to stray too far. You are all he has left, Ruby.”

I doubted Ryan’s words. My father hardly thought of me as family, but he did have a sister. “Maybe. He could be hiding out with my aunt and uncle.”

“The Cateses? Yeah, maybe. But would they take him in after what he did to their daughter?”

Gina. I had no idea if she was alive or dead. My father had claimed she was alive, but he could have been lying. If she was dead, at least she wasn’t in any more pain.

“I don’t know. I’ve given up trying to understand my relatives,” I said. “They’re all nuts.”

“Tell me about it,” Ryan said, squeezing my hand.

“Where do you think your father went?”

“I have no idea. But he’s a planner. He probably had something set up for every contingency. And I do believe he will take care of Daphne.”

The reality was still so jarring. Not only Brad Steel but also Daphne Steel was alive. We still didn’t know the story behind that, and who knew when Brad Steel would surface again to tell us.

Talon and Jonah were no doubt filling their wives in on everything right now.

I closed my eyes and sighed.

Ryan leaned over and kissed my cheek. “Want to go to bed?”

I laughed. “Sure.”

He stood and then swooped me into his arms.

“Hey!” I said.

“You said you weren’t moving until tomorrow, so I figured I had to carry you.” He smiled down at me and walked up the short staircase, through the kitchen, and down the corridor to his master suite. He nudged the door open, walked in, and laid me gently on the bed.

He positioned himself beside me, and I snuggled into his shoulder, closing my eyes.

* * *

I awoke in the middle of the night, still dressed. Ryan was snoozing soundly next to me, also still dressed.

I was parched from the travel, so I rose, walked to the kitchen, got a long drink of water, and let the dogs back in. Little Ernie needed to be fed, so I gave him some of Ricky’s kibble. I’d have to get puppy food in the morning.

Soft padded steps came up behind me, and then Ryan’s firm lips grazed my neck.

“Hey,” he said.

“Hey yourself. I’m just feeding the puppy and getting some water. I’m so dehydrated.”

“Yeah, me too.” He went to the sink, got himself a glass, and drained it in one gulp. In seconds, he was back behind me. “I’m sorry I fell asleep.”

“Last time I checked, so did I.”

“You want to take a dip in the hot tub? I know it’s the middle of the night, but it would feel great.”

Sounded like sheer bliss to me. Plus, the dogs could go back outside and do their business.

“Mmm, perfect. I’ll need to borrow one of your robes.”

“There’s no one here, Ruby. We can just use towels.” He padded back to his room and returned a few minutes later with two king-sized bath towels.

We undressed in the kitchen and wrapped the towels around us. I couldn’t help lasciviously appraising Ryan’s masculine beauty. I’d never grow tired of looking at him. I untangled my hair from its band and piled it in a messy bun on the top of my head.

“Ready,” I said.

“You look good enough to eat.”

“Nothing stopping you that I can see.”

Without ceremony, he lifted me onto the kitchen table, the towel around me sparing my behind from the cold surface.

I squeezed my eyes closed against the harsh fluorescent lighting.