Ravenous

by HELEN HARDT

“Okay. Remember that we’re two hours later here, so don’t call too late.”

  “I won’t.”

  I had to get the stuff appraised and insured as soon as I could. But how could I do that without anyone knowing? Everything was still in the trunk of my father’s Mustang, which was parked outside the building.

  Was it safer there than in the guesthouse? Here in the office building? How could I get it to a safe-deposit box?

  I rose and went to the next office to see Joe. The door was open. “Hey.”

  He looked up from his computer screen. “What’s up?”

  “I need to talk to you.” I cocked my head to indicate outside.

  He nodded and rose.

  “Do you guys have a safe or something?” I asked after telling him about my find.

  “We have many, but no safe is foolproof.”

  “Have you checked them lately?”

  “Are you kidding? I don’t have time to go around checking every safe on this property. But I’ve checked the ones here in the office building and in my home. Also the ones at the main house. Everything’s good.”

  “What about the guesthouse?”

  “I haven’t checked it, but there’s one in the master bedroom behind the Monet copy.”

  “What do you keep at the guesthouse?”

  “Ryan used to use it for personal stuff. I assume he moved all his stuff to the new house. I’m not sure what’s in there now. Probably nothing.”

  “Would the jewels be safe there?”

  “Depends. If there’s nothing in there now, we can’t know if it’s been tampered with. And no one’s lived there for a few months. Someone could have easily broken in.”

  “Do you know the combination?”

  “I have access to all of them, yeah.”

  “All right. Come over after we’re done for the day, and we’ll check the guesthouse safe.”

  He nodded. “Where’s the stuff now?”

  “In the trunk of my car.”

  “Are you nuts?”

  “Where else was I going to put it? Leave it in the cabin? Along with the guns?”

  “You didn’t—”

  “No. We used tissues. Neither Marj nor I got our prints on the guns.”

  “Crazy.” He shook his head. “We need to read the files.”

  “I meant to look at them last night, but I got a little spooked. I didn’t want disgusting stuff on my mind right before my first day of work here.”

  “I’m not looking forward to it either, but armed with information is better than not.”

  I nodded. He was right.

  I just hated the idea of discovering more horrendous secrets about my father.

  “Did you hear back from the Spider?”

  He shook his head. “He disappeared.”

  My stomach flopped. “What?”

  “I got in touch with my friend who recommended him. Said he’d tried to reach him earlier today and couldn’t.”

  “He disappeared right after he sent you an email saying he had information?”

  “Looks that way,” he said gruffly.

  An invisible black cloud surrounded me. Something was coming.

  Something big.

  And something bad.

  Joe pulled his phone out of his pocket. It must have buzzed. I was too freaked to hear it.

  “Hey, Sis,” he said into it.

  Chapter Thirty-Two

  Marjorie

  After making sure Jade was okay to get the boys from the bus stop after school, I drove into the city to see my mother.

  I tried to get there every week. I wanted to tell her about Bryce and me. She wouldn’t know who either of us were, but still, she was my mother, and I needed to tell her my good news.

  Having a little good news in the wake of what was happening seemingly all over again was a gift. A gift I intended to let myself revel in. I deserved that much, and so did Bryce.

  The cut on my thigh still ached a little when I walked, reminding me of what I’d done. It had numbed up pretty good during my time on the elliptical this morning, but at the moment, it was pounding with my heart.

  I erased it from my mind as best I could and signed the visitors’ log. Then I walked to my mother’s wing.

  Her door was closed, so I knocked gently and opened it. “Mom?”

  She wasn’t in bed or in her chair, not in itself unusual. She was probably in the common area. I found her there sometimes, cradling the doll she imagined was me and talking to other patients. I strode toward the end of the hallway, smiling at nurses and orderlies along the way, until I reached the large room where patients congregated to watch television and play board games.

  The TV was turned to a talk show. I looked around the room. No mom. Strange. Maybe she had an appointment with one of her physicians.

  I walked back toward her room and grabbed the first caregiver I found. His name tag read Barry. “Barry, hi. I’m Marjorie Steel. We spoke on the phone about the man who visited my mother. Daphne Steel?”

  “Yes, hi. I’ve seen you around here.”

  “Where is she? I came to visit, and she’s usually in her room around this time of the day.”

  “Your brother came and took her out for a while.”

  My heart dropped. “What?”

  “Your brother. Didn’t he tell you?”

  “My brothers work during the day. They only visit Mom on weekends.”

  “He must have taken some time off.”

  Okay. That could very well be. We owned the ranch, after all, and Talon and Joe could come and go as they pleased. Both took their work very seriously, though, and were definitely hands-on. And neither had ever taken our mother away from the facility.

  “Which brother?”

  “Joe Steel, I believe. He should be on the visitors’ log.”

  I hadn’t noticed either of my brothers’ names on the log when I’d signed in, but then I hadn’t been looking either.

  Plus, today was Bryce’s first day at the new job. It was unlikely either Joe or Talon would leave the ranch.

  Wasn’t it?

  Something smelled rotten.

  “I’m going to check the visitors’ log.” I walked as casually as I could muster back to the front and glanced over the log. Sure enough, Joe Steel was signed in.

  The problem? Joe always used his given name, Jonah, when he wrote and signed his name.

  Panic welled in me. Where was my mother? She lived in her own cloud of fantasy. She wasn’t safe outside this place unless she was with one of us. And clearly she wasn’t.

  I frantically called Joe.

  “Hey, Sis,” he said into the phone.

  “Joe, I’m trying to visit Mom, and she’s gone.”

  “What?” His voice was loud and panicked.

  “Yeah. And the nurse says you signed her out earlier.”

  “Fuck.”

  “Your name’s in the log, but I knew it wasn’t you. Someone wrote Joe Steel, and you always write Jonah Steel.”

  “Damn right it wasn’t me. Call the cops. I’m on my way.”

  I quickly dialed 9-1-1 and explained the situation. Then I turned to the clerk at the front desk. “You people have a lot to answer for. You let my mother walk out of here with a stranger this morning.”

  “Ma’am, I assure you—”

  “My brother Joe is on his way here. He was not here this morning, and he did not sign our mother out. You let a stranger take our mother!”

  My heart beat like galloping wildebeests. My mother—my mentally deficient, innocent mother. Where was she? And who had taken her? What could anyone want with—

  Dollar signs clouded my head. Money. This had to be about money. If Talon or Joe had received a ransom demand, I’d know about it, and Joe would have mentioned it when we talked a minute ago.

  “Listen,” I said. “You need to tell me everything you remember about the man who took my mother out of here. What did he look like?”

  The clerk reddened, clearly flus
tered. “I don’t know. I don’t really look at everyone who comes in.”

  “He had to have shown you ID. I show my ID every time I come here. Are you telling me you don’t bother looking at everyone’s ID?”

  “I… I…”

  “I want to see the surveillance videos.”

  “A private security company handles them. I’ll call them.” He looked to his computer screen. “I just have to find the right number.”

  Red anger—or was it fear for my poor mother?—pulsed through me. “You’re completely useless. I hope you’re ready to lose your job over this. I want you to call Barry right now and get him out here. I have a lot of questions for him.”

  He didn’t speak to me but did as I asked. In a few minutes, Barry appeared.

  “The person who took my mother today was not my brother. I need you to tell me everything you remember about him.”

  “What?” He reddened.

  “You heard me. What did the guy look like?”

  “I barely saw him. He had dark hair. I’m pretty sure I only saw him from behind.”

  “You’ve seen my brothers before, right?”

  “Not that I can recall.”

  “Don’t you work on weekends?”

  “Not usually.”

  “Shit. How the hell is a stranger just able to come in here and take a mentally ill woman? What kind of system are you people running? I want to see the manager now.”

  “He’s in a—”

  “I don’t give a rat’s ass where he is. One of his patients is missing. Get him now!” I balled my hands into fists, frustration and fear overwhelming me. My poor mother. My innocent mother. Anything could be happening to her right now.

  God. I couldn’t go there. But the people we were probably dealing with…

  I had to get a grip. Had to. For my mother.

  The police arrived and took my statement through my angry and scared tears. They questioned everything, and the manager, who finally appeared, was thoroughly questioned, though I wasn’t allowed to witness it.

  Joe and Talon arrived while the manager was being questioned, and behind them…

  “Bryce!” I ran into his arms.

  Talon lifted his brow.

  Joe cleared his throat. “I guess they’re together now.”

  Talon didn’t look thrilled, but we all had something more important to focus on.

  “Where’s Ryan?” I asked.

  “We didn’t tell him,” Joe said.

  “But he’d want to be here for us.”

  “I know, but why put him through this? He’s been through enough.”

  “Haven’t we all?” I turned to Bryce. “What are you doing here?”

  “I came for you, of course. Do you really think I’d let you go through this alone?”

  I burrowed into his chest. If it were possible to love him more than I already did, this deed made it happen.

  “I’m sorry. This is your first day, and—”

  “Shh. I know what your mother means to you and to Joe and Talon. Of course I’m here.”

  The manager came out of the room with two officers, and Joe and Talon pounced. Bryce led me to a chair in the waiting area.

  “They’ll take care of this,” he said. “You sit down and relax for a minute.”

  Relax? Right. Still, I sat. Bryce sat next to me and held my hand tightly.

  “Joe knows? About us?”

  He nodded. “I told him today.”

  “And?”

  “He’s grudgingly happy. He’ll be okay.”

  “And Tal?”

  “He knows now, but he’s more concerned about your mom, as he should be.”

  “Who would do this? Who would take a mentally unstable woman away from her safe place?” I let out a sarcastic laugh. “Safe place. What a crock.”

  “We’ll find her, sweetheart.”

  “What if we don’t?”

  “We will. Your brothers will put the best people on this. You know that.”

  “I just got her back, Bryce. I just got her back.”

  Daphne Steel was hardly normal, but she was my mother. I’d never had a mother, and now I did. A broken one, but still, she was mine. I loved her, and I couldn’t bear the thought of anyone hurting her.

  “You’ll have her again. This is most likely a ploy for money.”

  “But what if it’s all related to…everything else?” I didn’t say the words. Bryce had sworn me to secrecy.

  “If it is, we’ll figure it out.”

  I looked into his blue eyes. He looked at me with so much love that I believed him, if only for a few seconds.

  He kissed my forehead.

  “I love you,” I said softly.

  “I love you too.”

  Back at the ranch, everything was in turmoil. We’d gathered at the main house, wives included. Joe and Talon moved the table on the deck well into the yard, and we sat outside. Donny played with the dogs while Dale sat on the deck doing homework.

  The police and PIs had been called, and though we were all worried, we now had to deliver more upsetting news to the rest of the family.

  “We honestly didn’t remember any of this,” Joe said after telling the story of Justin Valente. “We wanted to keep it to ourselves until we figured it out, but Ted Morse seems to know about it somehow.”

  “You really think Tom drugged you?” Ryan asked.

  “It’s the only thing that makes sense. How else would two nine-year-olds forget the death or disappearance of a classmate? It wouldn’t happen.”

  “I can find their last-known address in the school system database,” Jade said. “I’m technically still the city attorney.”

  “We thought about asking you,” Bryce said, “but we didn’t want to drag any of you into this. Especially with you expecting and all.”

  “Women have been having babies forever,” Jade said. “This is family. I’m here for you guys.”

  “They were just protecting you, blue eyes,” Talon said. “You’ve had a difficult time.”

  “Time to stop protecting me,” Jade said, her blue eyes on fire. “This is my family. I want to help.”

  “That would be a big help,” Joe said. “The hacker we hired seems to have disappeared.”

  “Disappeared?” Talon shook his head. “I don’t want Jade in any danger. If they can take Mom—”

  “Tal,” Jade said. “No one is going to take me anywhere. Unlike your mother, I’m fully aware of my surroundings and won’t put myself in danger. Besides, with the safeties I’ve had installed in all the databases, no one will even know I was there.”

  “These guys can hack into anything,” Ryan said. “They changed Mom’s and Marj’s birth certificates. Remember?”

  “Which is exactly why I had additional security installed,” Jade said. “Besides, I’m not going to change anything. I’m just doing research.”

  “I don’t like this,” Talon said.

  “This is something I can do to help,” Jade countered. “And I intend to do it.”

  I silently rejoiced at Jade’s chutzpah. I loved all my brothers dearly, but they took the Alpha male thing to a new level.

  “We also need to go through the boxes in the crawl space,” Joe said. “There might be some information.”

  “And I found old files at my father’s cabin,” Bryce said. “Joe and I are going to go through them later tonight.”

  Ruby sighed. “Here we go again.”

  “I know,” Ryan said. “I’m sorry, baby.”

  “Don’t be. And by the way, you all seem to be forgetting something important. I was a detective. I’ll be happy to look through boxes, files, or help Jade. She’s right. This is family. And Daphne may not be your natural mother, Ryan, but she did raise you for seven years.”

  Ryan nodded, an absent look in his eyes.

  “Just so we’re all clear,” Joe said, “no one speaks of any of this inside our homes.”

  “This is crazy,” Melanie said. “If our homes are bu
gged, we need to take care of it. Now. It’s a total violation. It’s like mental rape.”

  “I agree,” Ruby said. “I’ll check our homes myself. Why haven’t you told me about this before now? I’ll say it again. I was a detective, for God’s sake.”

  Ruby had a good point, but I didn’t listen to my brothers’ replies. I sat, saying mostly nothing. My mother was foremost on my mind. I hadn’t known her long, but she was mine, and I wanted her safe. Safe and back where she belonged, which wouldn’t be at that same facility. Their security was shit.

  Only their security wasn’t shit. That’s what worried me most of all. This had Wendy Madigan and the rest of the Future Lawmakers Club written all over it.

  Except they were all dead.

  Bryce sat next to me, his strength emanating from him. Empty shell? No way. He sold himself way short. His look of determination made him all the more magnificent.

  If only we could escape for a little while, forget about all this other stuff and celebrate our love.

  If only…

  We’d already eaten dinner, but our plates were still mostly full. No one had an appetite tonight.

  Just worry and torment. You’d think we’d be used to it.

  Chapter Thirty-Three

  Bryce

  After I’d called to say good night to my mother and Henry, Joe and I sat in the guesthouse office, the manila files I’d found in my father’s cabin on the desk in front of me. We could finally talk. Ruby had gone over the house and hadn’t found evidence of any auditory surveillance. She made no guarantees until she had the proper tools, but she was pretty confident.

  “I’m afraid to look,” I said.

  “I hear you.” He grabbed a folder. “But we have to.”

  I opened the file in front of me. Nothing to get excited about. It was the deed to the cabin. Odd, though. It wasn’t in my father’s name. Some company called Tamajor Corporation owned it. Another corporation? The Future Lawmakers had put together a dummy corporation called the Fleming Corporation, which held their assets, including the safe houses.

  “Check this out.” I handed the deed to Joe.

  He lifted his brow as he perused the document. “Hmm. Doesn’t ring a bell?”