“Mr. Steel, if you don’t cooperate, we’ll get a warrant and force you to take the test. Do you want that?”
“You want my blood, motherfucker? You come and get it.” I ended the call and threw the phone onto the floor.
Melanie rushed toward me, her green eyes wide. “Jonah?”
“Leave me alone.” I nudged away from her.
“Hey, Joe,” Talon said. “That’s not like you. What the hell is wrong?”
“Nothing.” How could I say this to the brother and woman that I loved?
My phone beeped again. I picked it up. It was still working, thanks to the case I used. Jesus Christ. Another text from the stalker.
If I can’t have you, no one will.
Chapter Thirteen
Melanie
Jonah was walled off all of a sudden. I couldn’t get near him. Physically, I was standing two feet away from him, but emotionally, he was miles away.
“Did you get another text?” I asked.
He didn’t answer. He shoved his phone into his back pocket and then raked his fingers through his disheveled hair.
“Joe, man, what’s going on?” Talon approached him.
“Back off, Talon.” Jonah’s eyes were dark and angry.
“Please.” I edged toward him. “Who was that? What did you mean by telling him to take your blood?”
“I have to get out of here.” He turned to Talon. “Can you see that she gets home safely?”
“Of course, but Joe, you have to tell us what’s going on.”
“I’ve got nothing else to say.” He stomped out, his cowboy boots thudding out of the kitchen, across the marble-tiled foyer, and out the door of Talon’s ranch house.
My heart thumped wildly. Something wasn’t right. Who had made that phone call?
“You all right, Doc?” Talon asked.
And then I realized I was shaking. I forced myself to calm down. “Yes. I think so. I’m just…worried about him. What made him act like that?”
“I don’t know. But Joe gets that way sometimes. He gets stuck in his own head and won’t let anyone in. We used to call it his ‘dark mood’ when we were kids.”
Dark?
I knew he had a darkness locked within him, but I always thought it had more to do with his sexual preferences. This wasn’t sexual at all. This was him retreating inside himself. And why? That’s what I needed to find out.
“Tell me more about his ‘dark mood’ when you were younger,” I said to Talon.
“I don’t know if I should. I mean, he never swore me to confidence or anything, but it’s not something Ry and I ever talk about. Then, after I got taken, I was the one who was always in a blackish mood, so I didn’t notice Joe’s as much, but Ry always said it was still there.”
“Look,” I said. “I love your brother. More than I’ve ever loved anyone. I want to help him. So please. Tell me.”
Talon sighed. “I hope my brother knows how lucky he is to have you.”
Normally a comment like that would have made me smile, but right now I was too worried about Jonah. “I don’t know what he’s thinking. That’s why I need you to tell me what you know.”