“I’m thinking about getting a tattoo.” My phone buzzed. “Excuse me for a minute.” I picked up the receiver. “Yes?”
“It’s a Ted Morse for you, Jade,” Michelle said.
Colin’s father? Why would he be calling me? “Okay, put him through.” I turned to Larry. “I’ll just be a minute.”
He nodded, took the documents, and sat down in the chair opposite me, perusing them.
“This is Jade,” I said into the phone.
“Jade, Ted Morse. I need some answers.”
Would I ever be free of this family? “What do you mean?”
“Where the hell is my son, Jade? He was supposed to fly home after that court appearance. No one’s seen him since he left here.”
My blood froze in my veins. “He didn’t show up in court. The last time I saw him was Saturday evening.”
Silence for a few seconds, and then, “I’ll be in touch.” The line went dead.
Where was Colin? Dread crawled up my spine and lodged in the fine hairs on the back of my neck.
Larry sat across from me, staring. “Everything okay?”
“Yes, yes. That was my ex-fiancé’s father, just looking for him.”
“I see.” Larry scribbled his signature on the last document. “So your tattoo. May I ask where you’re getting it?”
“I don’t know yet. Maybe a shop in Grand Junction.”
He laughed. “I mean where on your body.”
“Oh. Sure. On my lower back.”
“Good spot. Your first?”
I nodded.
“They hurt like hell.”
“So I’ve heard. But I’ll be fine.”
He turned to leave, and my pulse raced double-time. Don’t let him go. I needed to know things, things that only he could tell me. And now Colin had disappeared. I doubted Larry had anything to do with that, but I feared Talon might. Damn it, I wanted some answers. So I risked losing my job and my access to all the databases. I needed to start now. For my own sanity.
“Larry?”
He turned around. “Yes?”
“Before you go, I need to ask you some questions about the Steel investigation.”
“Well, as I’ve told you, most of that’s classified, but I’ll help if I can.”
I drew in a breath, gathering my courage. “I want to know about your sister. Daphne Steel.”
His eyes grew dark, and he walked around to my side of the desk. I trembled. But what could he do? We were in a public office, and Michelle and David were right outside. I met his angry gaze and then dropped my own to the floor, berating myself for not being able to look him in the eye.
Cheap flip-flops. But something was off.
Larry was missing a toe—the little toe on his left foot.