“What about Dale’s rock collection?” Ruby asked Jade and Talon. “You never found it?”
“We got everything at the house,” Talon said. “It was gone.”
“Probably just misplaced,” Ruby said. “If Cade was indeed taken and abused as a child, he wouldn’t go after a little boy who’d been through the same.”
“Then you don’t think he was the guy on the playground?” Talon asked.
Ruby sighed. “I just don’t know. This is strange. There are things that don’t add up. When you’re dealing with a psychopath, there are certain things you can usually depend on, certain ways their minds work. Melanie and I have talked about this many times. Look at my father and yours, Bryce. They were both psychopaths, but there was a certain sense to how they operated. With this Cade Booker?” She shook her head. “I’m a little lost.”
“If Mel were here,” I said, “she’d tell us that we have to look at his actions through the lens of what he’s been through.”
“But we don’t know—”
“We do,” Talon said. “We know exactly what he’s been through. Rather, I know.”
Silence.
No one could respond to that.
“Then, Tal,” I finally said, “tell us why he’s doing these things.”
Chapter Thirty-Seven
Bryce
Sometimes, when I looked at Talon Steel, I saw him as a ten-year-old boy. I saw my father behind him, breathing on his neck, doing unspeakable acts to him.
Then, before I hurled, I had to erase the uninvited image from my mind.
But I couldn’t erase the truth.
It had happened. My father had raped Talon Steel when he was ten years old. My father had tortured him, starved him, beaten him.
The truth will set you free.
Whoever said that was an idiot.
I’d never be free. Never be free of the knowledge of what my father had been, what my father had done.
Never.
“He’s blaming anyone and everyone,” Talon was saying. “He needs help.”
“If he killed his mother and father,” I said, “he’s going to prison for a long time.”
“They’re unsolved crimes from years ago,” Ruby said. “So that’s doubtful.”
“Ruby’s right,” Jade agreed. “The trail is long cold.”
“What about DNA?” I asked.
“Unlikely,” Ruby said. “But I’ll get in touch with some people on the force. Maybe there’s still some stuff in evidence we could test.”
“One thing I don’t get,” Marj said. “Why would Cade Booker be watching Dale on the playground? And why would Dale think he recognized him? Cade has been away from that island for almost ten years.”
“Just one more thing that doesn’t make sense,” Ruby said. “See what I mean? Most psychos can be tracked once you figure out their mind-set. This one doesn’t have any”—air quotes—“logic behind it.”
“Cade’s gone now,” Joe said. “Maybe he hasn’t been back this whole time after all. Maybe he went back to that island on occasion, although why he’d want to is beyond me.”