“I’ve known for a long time that some of his activity was criminal, but I only found out about the trafficking, and what he did to his victims, after Talon was taken.”
“Right about the same time you stopped letting Joe go on our camping trips.”
He nodded. “Do you blame me?”
“No. But you have to know. My father never touched me or Joe.”
“I believe you, Bryce. He touched a lot of others, though, including one of my sons. I’ll never forgive him.”
“Neither will I. And you don’t have to anyway. He’s dead. There was no faking that one.”
“All three of Talon’s captors are dead. I’ve double- and triple-checked it all.”
“Yet you’re still here.”
“I am.”
“Why stay away again? Wendy’s gone. My father, Wade, and Mathias are gone. The threat to your children is gone.”
“If it were, Bryce,” he said, “we wouldn’t be here talking.”
I swallowed. He had a point. “Where do Colin and Ted Morse fit into this?”
“Colin is the unfortunate result of Ted’s greed,” Brad said.
“So he’s right, then. Colin, I mean. My father…” I couldn’t finish.
“Bought Colin, just like he bought your friend Justin Valente, who, as I’m sure you’ve already figured out, now goes by the name of Cade Booker.”
Nausea crept up my throat. This was what pure disgust felt like.
“I thought…” I cleared my throat. “I thought they just stole kids and women. Why would my father…?”
“Your father was a sick man. Sometimes he stumbled upon a certain person he had to have. Justin was one of those unfortunates. So was Colin Morse.”
The nausea again. My throat swelled, and I inhaled deeply, trying to get air into my lungs.
Fuck. I was hyperventilating.
“Easy,” Brad said. “You’re a strong man. I helped raise you myself. I know what you’re about. Breathe.”
I put my hand over my mouth to force carbon dioxide back into my body. Soon I was breathing normally.
You’re a strong man.
I didn’t feel very strong at the moment.
“Once your father died,” Brad said, “I knew Cade would come out of the woodwork and seek revenge any way he could. I needed to protect those who were the weakest, so I paid Dominic and Alessandra to take Daphne, Marjorie, and Colin.”
“Marjorie would hate that you called her weak.”
“Trust me. I know.”
“Why not Jade and Melanie? They were carrying your grandchildren.”
“They would have been next. I needed to make sure the safe houses were equipped to deal with pregnancy, and now they are. Plans were being made when… Well, you know how it all turned out.”
“Why Colin?” I asked.