Twisted

by HELEN HARDT

  Our souls united in love.

  I was so in love with this man, and he didn’t even know it.

  Might never know it.

  But I’d relish this time, this joining…and another climax took me higher.

  “That’s right. Come. God, Ruby. I’m going to—” He plunged into me harder and farther than he ever had, taking me with him into yet one more orgasm.

  I looked deep into his smoking dark eyes, and for a moment, I thought I glimpsed his soul.

  He collapsed atop me, brushing his lips against mine.

  “Thank you,” was all he said.

  * * *

  When I got to the office the next morning, I already had a message from Jade to call right away.

  “Hey,” I said when she answered. “It’s Ruby.”

  “You’ll never guess what I found.”

  “The death certificate.”

  “Yup. And my hunch was right. It’s the same certificate except instead of John Cunningham it says Bradford Steel. The birth date and social have been changed to Brad’s too, but everything else is the same, right down to the number. No record of John Cunningham. He was probably an indigent that no one missed.”

  “You’re good,” I said.

  “No better than you. I think the two of us together might be able to solve this thing.”

  “I sure hope so. I’ve got to get my father put away.”

  “You will. We will. We’re all in this together now, and we’ve got some serious brainpower among all of us. The four Steels, you, me, and Melanie—we’ll figure this out.”

  I let out a sigh. “We will.” I said it more to convince myself than Jade.

  “So…there’s another thing.”

  “What?”

  “The quitclaim deed for the Shane ranch. We all looked it over quickly, and none of us noticed the date.”

  “Uh-oh.”

  “Yeah. It’s several weeks after Brad Steel’s death.”

  “Wow. I didn’t actually look at the deed.”

  “Yeah, and there’s the fact that the Shanes didn’t actually leave until a couple of years ago.”

  “Ryan said he and Anna broke up two years ago.”

  “Exactly.”

  “So the Steels owned the ranch before the Shanes left?”

  “Apparently.”

  “That doesn’t make any sense.”

  “I know. The Shanes were paid off somehow, and if Brad was dead, who would have paid them off?”

  “Wendy.”

  “That’s my guess as well,” Jade agreed.

  “But where would Wendy get that kind of money?” My mind was barreling through every possible scenario. “From Brad. Which means…” I shivered.

  “Which means,” Jade continued, “it’s possible that Brad’s not dead. It’s all adding up. Wendy identified the body. The death certificate of a guy matching Brad’s description. The quitclaim deed.”

  “So Brad could have called Ryan.” My mind churned. “He could have found out that Ryan now knows he’s Wendy’s son, and he wanted to talk to him.”

  “Probably.”

  “God, Jade. What does this all mean? Why would Brad have faked his own death? What if he’s into all this horrid stuff with my father? What’s that going to do to Ryan and his brothers and sister?” I didn’t even want to go there.

  She sighed across the phone line. “I don’t know. But they’ll deal. They’ve dealt with worse.”

  “I guess they’ll have to.”

  “They’ll want to know these findings. Do you want to come over tonight? We can tell them together.”

  “I’m not sure I should be there. The rest of you are all…family.”

  “You’re Ryan’s girlfriend, and this involves you as much as it does us.”

  The thrill of being referred to as “Ryan’s girlfriend” was superseded by the knowledge that this did indeed involve me. How I didn’t want to be reminded of all that. My esteemed father was the reason they were all in this mess. “I’m not sure,” I said. “My father—”

  “None of us hold you responsible for your father.”

  “I know that.” And I did. Objectively. “All right. If you want me there, I’ll be there.”

  “I do. Come at dinnertime. I’ll phone Marj and have her cook up something good. Seven, okay?”

  Chapter Twelve

  Ryan

  My father was alive.

  At least, evidence seemed to point to that conclusion.

  After a dinner of Marj’s famous beef Stroganoff, Ruby and Jade had presented their findings. Truly presented them, as only a cop and an attorney could. By the time they were done, I was convinced beyond a reasonable doubt that my father was alive somewhere, and that he had attempted to call me several days ago.

  “So where do we go from here?” I asked.

  Joe took charge. “We find Dad.”

  I cleared my throat. “I guess that means a visit to my— Er…Wendy.” Calling her my mother out loud didn’t feel right.

  “Yeah,” Joe said, “and I need to go with you.”

  “Why you?” Talon asked.

  “Because she has a soft spot for me. She thinks I look like Dad. And Ry, of course, because she’s his…”

  Apparently I wasn’t the only one who had a problem saying those words out loud.

  “Do you want me to go with you?” Ruby asked, touching my arm.

  It was a sweet gesture, but I had to do this with Joe. “No. But thanks for offering.”

  She smiled shyly.

  I startled as Talon’s doorbell rang. His mutt, Roger, scampered to the front door, and Talon followed.

  He came back a few seconds later with Joe’s best friend, Bryce Simpson, who was carrying his nearly one-year-old son, Henry.

  “Hey, bud,” Joe said. “What are you doing here?”

  “I have some news,” Bryce said. “Remember you told me to look through my dad’s stuff for a ring? Well, I found one.”

  Marjorie stepped forward and took Henry from Bryce’s arms. “How are you, cutie?”

  Bryce fished in his pocket and pulled out a man’s ring. “It’s eighteen-karat gold. All those years we lived a modest existence in Snow Creek, and my father had this stashed away.”

  Tom Simpson had had a lot more than that stashed away if he was into human trafficking. I wasn’t sure how much Joe had shared with Bryce, so I kept mum.

  Joe took the ring from Bryce and handed it to me. “You identified the rings in the photo, Ry. You take the first look.”

  The large stone was black, probably onyx, but we’d have to get a jeweler to identify it. On one side were the initials T and S. But on the other side…

  A strange symbol. An oval and an X, one corner of the X touching the elongated part of the oval. Nothing I’d ever seen before. “I’m not sure what to make of this image.” I handed it back to Joe.

  “I couldn’t figure it out either,” Bryce said, “But my Uncle Chase is a Mason. He might be able to shed some light on it.”

  “Is it a Masonic symbol?” Talon asked.

  “I have no idea,” Bryce replied. “But the Masons know a lot about symbolry, and symbols are a particular hobby of his. He might know what it is, or he might be able to point us in the right direction. I’ll give him a call.”

  “Great,” Joe said. “See if he can come over here tomorrow night and take a look at this. We’ll feed him dinner.”

  “I’d rather see him myself,” Bryce said. “This is still all too real for him. The loss of his son and all. This brood will be too much for him. Why don’t you come with me tomorrow, Joe?”

  “Can’t.” Joe cleared his throat. “I’ve got a full day with contractors. The next day?”

  “I’ll go,” I said, standing. “Let’s get this taken care of.” And while I was in the city, I’d go visit Wendy. Alone.

  “That’s fine with me. I think at least one of you should be there. You want me to pick you up, Ry?”

  “I’ll drive myself,”
I said. “I have some things to do in the city.”

  “Okay. I’ll get in touch with Uncle Chase and text you with the time and place.”

  “Sounds good.” I looked toward Marjorie, who was cooing to a laughing Henry. “Good luck getting your baby back.”

  Bryce pulled his son out of Marj’s arms. “Time to go, big guy.”

  “Bring him around anytime,” Marj said. “I miss him.”

  Bryce smiled at her. “Will do. See you tomorrow, Ryan.”

  I handed the ring back to Bryce and then thought better of it. “Do you mind if I keep this? I want to study it a little more carefully.”

  “Sure. Just bring it with you tomorrow. See you guys.” Bryce left.

  “What are you thinking, Ry?” Talon asked.

  “I just want to look at it with a magnifying glass. I’ll take it home, if you guys don’t mind.”

  “Go ahead,” Joe said. “You’re the one who’s going to see Bryce’s uncle tomorrow. Figure out everything you can. I sure as hell wouldn’t know where to start.”

  Ruby had gone into the family room with Jade and Melanie.

  I wanted her to look more closely at the ring with me. I walked to the family room and touched her shoulder. “Ready to go?”

  “Sure. I guess.”

  We hadn’t come together, and she seemed surprised.

  She stood. “Thanks for dinner,” she said to Jade.

  I turned when I heard a shuffling. Jade’s mother, Brooke Bailey, came limping down the stairs on Talon’s arm.

  “Jade,” she said, “I have the best news.”

  “What is it?” Jade asked.

  “Nico called! He’s coming to see me!”

  Chapter Thirteen

  Ruby

  Nico.

  Nico Kostas was one of my father’s many aliases, the one he’d used most recently when romancing Jade’s mother.

  I had met Brooke Bailey several months ago when she came to town with my father. She was still a beauty, a former supermodel who’d chosen career over motherhood. Her blond hair was cut short now, but I could tell even through her robe that she still had her signature body. Her eyes were a striking light blue, just like Jade’s. Ryan had told me about her automobile accident with my father. We were pretty sure he had orchestrated it to collect on a million-dollar insurance policy—

  Wait! Was my father in financial trouble? It was certainly possible, now that the Steels were on to him and his two cohorts were out of the picture. Most likely, he was just greedy and figured he could make an easy mill.

  With my father, anything was possible.

  This was some kind of disturbing setup. No way would my father come to see Brooke when he knew we were all trying to sniff him out. My first guess? He was using Brooke as a pawn, as leverage. But my first inclination was rarely correct when it came to my father. He never did the obvious.

  “Mother, I don’t want you to see him,” Jade said.

  Apparently Jade hadn’t shared any information about my father with her mother. I knew from Melanie that they weren’t close. Still, she wouldn’t want her mother in harm’s way, and neither did I.

  “I agree, Ms. Bailey,” I said. “It’s not a good idea.”

  She looked me over, from my ponytail to the jeans and tank top I’d changed into before coming over. “Just what would you know about any of it?”

  Clearly she hadn’t recognized me. “Nico Kostas is my father.”

  She eyed me again. “No. His daughter is a mannish policewoman. I met her once.”

  I let out a huff. “Look again.”

  She squinted her eyes. “It is you. Goodness, you’re so pretty. What happened to you?”

  “Mother,” Jade said, “stop being rude. Ruby is a friend of ours. And she’s right. Don’t see him.”

  “But I’ve missed him so much.”

  “Ms. Bailey,” I said, “my father is—”

  Jade eyed me, pleading.

  I cleared my throat. “I didn’t know he was coming to town.”

  “He’s not. He’s sending me a plane ticket.”

  A chill swept through me. “A ticket where?”

  “I don’t know. He said it’s a surprise.”

  “You know you can’t travel yet,” Jade said.

  “My doctors say I’m progressing very well. I’m walking without crutches now.”

  “So? You’re still limping.”

  I opened my mouth to mention that he had probably orchestrated the car accident to collect insurance money, but then I clamped it shut. That was only a theory, and I had no idea whether Talon and Jade had talked to Brooke about that possibility.

  “Please,” I said. “Don’t go. It’s not safe.”

  “Ruby,” Jade said, her eyes resigned. “Go ahead and go with Ryan. I’ll tell my mother. Everything.”

  I nodded. This wouldn’t be easy for Jade and Talon. But it was necessary.

  Ryan took my arm and looked to Jade. “You sure you guys will be okay?”

  “Yes. It had to happen sometime.”

  Brooke sat down in a recliner, sighing. “Would someone mind telling me exactly what’s going on?”

  That was our cue to leave. I followed Ryan through the hallway to the front door.

  * * *

  Ryan had several grades of magnifying glasses, and I was astounded at how much we could actually see on Tom Simpson’s ring. It was fashioned from eighteen-karat gold, and it was quite heavy. This ring had been expensive. Business clearly had been good early on, when these men were still in high school.

  “How could they have afforded these rings?” I asked.

  “I suppose my father might have bought them.”

  That seemed unlikely, but what did I know about Ryan’s father? “Would he have done something like that?”

  Ryan sighed. “A few months ago, I’d have bet not. My father was a big believer in earning what you had. Yeah, we were all born rich, thanks to the hard work of our ancestors, but he never let us forget where we came from, and he made sure he instilled the value of hard work in us. He also taught us how to keep track of our own finances, never to trust others.”

  “And now?”

  He shook his head. “Now? I don’t have a clue. He obviously created a separate trust and didn’t tell us about it. I’d also have bet my father would have never cheated on my mother. But I’m proof that he did.”

  “Maybe…”

  “What do you mean, maybe?”

  “Wendy was—is—obsessed with your father. Maybe she had herself artificially inseminated?”

  “And just how would she have gotten hold of my father’s sperm?”

  I let out a chuckle. “I haven’t thought this all the way through yet.”

  He smiled at me. “I appreciate you trying to make me feel a little better about my father’s character, baby. But the truth of the matter is that he fucked Wendy Madigan at least once, and I’m the result.”

  My heart went out to Ryan. Here he was, struggling with his father’s character and his link to my father and the others. I’d long since accepted my own father’s character. I’d had to at age fifteen. But I well remembered how I felt at the time.

  “So maybe he’s not who you thought he was. I get that. I do. But you’re still here, Ryan. You’re still who you’ve always been, and knowing you have a different mother than you thought you had doesn’t change that. You’re still you.”

  “I suppose.” He picked up a magnifying glass and stared at the ring again, clearly done with this subject.

  I couldn’t blame him.

  “Do you want to go with me to see Bryce’s uncle tomorrow?” he asked.

  “I wish I could, but I can’t. Too much work. But I will go with you to see someone else after I get off work. Someone who knows exactly what this ring means.”

  “Yeah? Who’s that?”

  “Larry Wade.”

  Chapter Fourteen

  Ryan

  I stared at Ruby, a few strands of hair loosening fr
om her sleek ponytail, her blue eyes sparkling.

  “You’re brilliant,” I said. “Why the hell didn’t the rest of us think of that?”

  “Oh, I’m thinking you all probably had a lot more on your minds. Like whether your father is actually alive and what his role is in all of this.”

  “Still.” I pulled her to me. “Leave it to you to see what should have been right in front of our eyes.”

  “Don’t get too excited. It may not lead to anything. Larry hasn’t been very talkative up until this point. Plus, he may claim not to know.”

  “True. But it can’t hurt. After all, he had one of the rings too. I’ll be in the city tomorrow to talk to Bryce’s uncle. Can I pick you up after work?” I hesitated. “Oh. Will we even be able to get in to see him in the evening?”

  Ruby smiled. “I’m a police detective. I can get in to see whoever I want.”

  “I don’t want you to get into any trouble. This isn’t your case.”

  “You let me worry about that.”

  I touched her cheek, her skin like satin against my rough fingertips. “Sometimes I can’t believe you’re in my life.”

  She looked away shyly. “You’ve had women before. This is hardly a first for you.”

  “It’s the first time—”

  I stopped abruptly. I’d been about to confess my love for her, and I couldn’t do that. At least not yet. I had no idea how she felt about me, but that wasn’t the real reason for my hesitation. Before I could love her or anyone else, I had to be sure of who I was. My world had been turned upside down with the new information regarding my maternity. I wasn’t ready to have it turned upside down by a woman.

  “The first time what?” she asked.

  “Nothing. You’re right.” The thought of my previous girlfriend, Anna Shane, reminded me of the quitclaim deed we’d found among my father’s things. Yet another tentacle in this mystery that was my life.

  Her cheeks reddened. “I know you have.”

  “Ruby, I know what you’re thinking. Believe me, you’re…different. And I don’t mean because you’re inexperienced. You’re…great in bed, baby.”