Why Euripides? Did he have something against women? I wasn’t well versed in the classic Greek philosophers. I’d have to do some research. And why the ring design?
And then it hit me like a ton of cement pouring over me and dragging me down.
The quote.
The symbol on the ring.
They both referred to one woman.
My mother.
Chapter Forty-Three
Ruby
“The hell I’m not. You can’t keep me here. I don’t care what you’re carrying. I’m out of here.” I stood and headed toward the door.
He didn’t come after me and try to yank me back. No, he was too cool for that. He knew what would get me.
“I know where Brad Steel is.”
I stopped and could move no farther, as though my feet were mired in quicksand. “Where?” I asked without turning back to face him.
“He’s safe. He’s in hiding.”
“Why?” I still didn’t turn around.
“That’s a question with many possible answers. I can only give you mine, and it’s speculation.”
This time I turned. Usually I could spot a liar a mile away, but my father was good. I’d bet good money he could pass a lie detector test as if he had ice in his veins.
“First, tell me where he is,” I said.
“In a compound off the coast of Jamaica.”
Jamaica? We’d just been to Jamaica. Juliet and Lisa were taken from a resort in Jamaica. Nausea permeated my throat.
“What kind of compound? Is that where you run your trafficking through? Is that why you don’t want me talking to Shayna?”
“Shayna’s a lucky girl. And a smart one.”
“I know that. She got away from your goons, thank God. But her friends weren’t so lucky.”
“Her friends are safe.”
“Safe meaning what? That they’re not dead? That hardly constitutes safe in your world.”
“They’re victims of their own stupidity.”
I couldn’t deny the truth of his words. “So what? A moment of stupidity shouldn’t condemn you to a life of slavery and humiliation. Those girls had futures.”
“Did they? Aspiring actresses in LA are a dime a dozen. We find women there all the time. They’re willing to do almost anything for that one big chance.” His voice oozed with sleaziness.
Rage coursed through me. “Goddamnit, they are people! What gives you the right to play God with their lives?”
I didn’t expect an answer, and I didn’t get one. I had to calm down and get a grip. My father had successfully derailed me from the subject at hand. Brad Steel.
“What’s Brad Steel doing at a compound somewhere near Jamaica?”