Prologue
Ryan
The last barrel of wine had been sent to bottling, and my busy season was finally over. I knew I had been neglecting my family, and it wasn’t fair to them, with both Talon and Jonah going through so much.
Now that Jonah was back, the woman who had been stalking him was safely behind bars in a mental institution, and two of Talon’s abductors had been taken care of, life was finally getting good for my family.
Jade and Talon and Jonah and Melanie were planning weddings. Well, actually, Marjorie was planning everything. Soon we’d all be en route to Jamaica for the celebration. And Melanie was pregnant. I would be an uncle in several months. I couldn’t help smiling. It would be good for Joe. That man was a born father. He had taken good care of us when we were little, though of course he would deny that. But Melanie had been so good for him. Finally, he was letting go of the guilt that had consumed him for so long. He had been through so much during the last month. He deserved all the happiness in the world. He and Talon both did.
I was heading over to the main house now, to have dinner with my family. From now on, I was going to take an active role in finding Talon’s last abductor. We had a name and several aliases. We would find him. My brothers and I were that determined. But first, I was going to get my two brothers married off.
As I stepped into my truck, my cell phone buzzed in my pocket. It was a number from Grand Junction I didn’t recognize.
“Ryan Steel,” I said.
“Ryan Steel? Ryan Warren Steel?”
“Yep, you got him. Who is this, please?”
A soft whimper came through the phone.
“Hello?” I said.
“Ryan,” the female voice said. “Ryan, my darling. This is your mother.”
Chapter One
Ruby
“Tom Simpson is dead.”
I dropped my cell phone, and it clattered onto my kitchen table. I quickly picked it up. “Sorry,” I said to Melanie Carmichael. “And…what?”
“He’s dead. He killed himself. Jonah saw the whole thing. The police were there too.”
My heart beat rapidly. “Oh my God. Is Jonah all right?”
“Yeah. He’s fine, thank God. I begged him not to go over there. Our PIs found Simpson at his house in Snow Creek. Jonah went over to confront him, and Simpson ended up killing himself.”
Despite the twinge of nausea that crept up my throat, I felt no remorse that a human being was dead. I only wished I could have shot the fateful bullet. I didn’t know Tom Simpson personally, but I did know he was a criminally insane psychopath. Jonah Steel referred to him as an ice man, according to Melanie. The world was better off without him. The only other thing I knew about him was that he’d clearly been working with my father for decades.
My father.
Theodore Mathias. Known by many other names.
My father, who had raped my cousin, Gina. Who had raped and tortured a ten-year-old Talon Steel. Who had killed and mutilated ten-year-old Luke Walker. Who had attempted to rape me.
And God only knew what other heinous things he’d done, though I had my theories.
Just thinking about Simpson and my father was reason enough for my queasiness, but another reason existed.
If Simpson was dead, I wouldn’t be able to question him.
I’d gone to see Larry Wade, their third partner, a few times and peppered him with questions. I hadn’t told Melanie or the Steel brothers. Didn’t matter anyway. Larry wouldn’t roll over. I’d tried everything. Deals, money, a conjugal visit, you name it. The dude just wouldn’t talk.
Most of the dumb fucks sang like a canary when I offered them women. Of course, I wasn’t able to offer Larry any young boys, which seemed to be his preference.
Maybe now that one of his partners in crime was dead, he’d start talking.
I doubted it.
I eyed my phone in my hand. Shit. Melanie. “Sorry. Are you still there?”