The line went dead.
I could smell a setup a mile away, and this was definitely a setup. Still, I was going. There was never any doubt of that. And bring Joe along? The guy clearly didn’t know Joe’s wife had just given birth to a premature baby. No way would I be bringing him. He was still in Grand Junction.
I could bring the next best thing, though. Joe’s brothers. I quickly texted Talon and Ryan. Once I got their responses and gave them the meeting place, I trashed the phone. Time to pick up a new one.
“You think he’ll show?” Talon sipped a rotgut bourbon at the little bar in the next county. He’d ordered a Peach Street, and the barkeep had erupted in a gale of laughter.
“Someone will,” I said. “Whether it’s him or a band of goons who try to take us out, I have no idea.”
“They can give it their best shot,” Ryan said. “Does Marj know where you are?”
I shook my head. “She’s spending the evening with Jade.”
“Yeah,” Talon said. “The two of them were in a hen session when I left. The boys were doing homework. I just said I was going out for a while.”
“And they bought it?”
“Hell, no. But that’s what I said.”
“Shit. Marj will figure it out. If she shows up here…” I took a sip of bourbon. Seemed like a bourbon kind of night, for some reason. Oddly, I’d been drinking a lot of bourbon lately, and so had Joe. He was usually a martini man, and I normally preferred a beer.
“How can she? She doesn’t know where we are.”
“She followed Joe and me to my father’s cabin in the middle of the night.”
“She’s been through a traumatic experience,” Ryan said. “She’s not going to go out looking for trouble.”
I scoffed. “You really believe that?”
Ryan laughed. “Hell, no.”
“The fact remains,” Talon said, “that she doesn’t know where we are. So she won’t show up.”
“I hope not.” I set my drink down and looked toward the doorway. “Ah. The guest of honor.”
Dominic strolled toward us. “I told you to bring Jonah.”
“Jonah’s unavailable. These are the other two Steel brothers, Talon and Ryan.”
“Yeah.” Dominic waved his hand. “I know who they are.”
“You’re lucky we don’t have you arrested for kidnapping,” Ryan said. “Bryce here convinced us to listen to you first.”
“Why would you do that?”
“Only because Marjorie said you didn’t hurt her. In fact, she said you defended her against your sister, who, by the way, is in police custody.”
“Alex will be fine. Once she leaves the hospital, arrangements will be made for her bail and a plea bargain. And thanks for your concern, by the way.”
“The two of you kidnapped our sister,” Ryan said. “Spare us the guilt over concern.”
“Alex sometimes goes a little overboard,” Dominic said.
“I’d say you both do,” I said. “We’re here because Marjorie would want us to hear you out, but the minute you take a wrong step, we’ll turn you in.”
“We’re all armed,” Ryan said, “just so you know.”
“And you think I’m not?”