Melt (The Steel Brothers Saga Book 4)

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Melt (The Steel Brothers Saga Book 4) Page 11

by HELEN HARDT


  I threw the gown on the nearest shelf and hurried out of the store.

  I didn’t have a session until eleven, so I headed over to the coffee shop next to my office with my laptop to check e-mails, quickly texting Randi to let her know where I’d be. I ordered a vanilla latte and then sat down and opened my computer. I was midway through my e-mails when a masculine voice startled me.

  “Melanie? Melanie Carmichael?”

  I looked up, and in the doorway to the coffee shop stood… I did a double take.

  “Oliver?”

  The auburn-haired man smiled. “Yeah, wow. How long has it been?”

  “Since med school,” I said.

  “Melanie!” the barista called.

  I stood.

  “I’ll grab that for you.” Oliver took my latte from the barista and handed it to me. “Mind if I join you for a few minutes?”

  “Not at all. You want to get a coffee?”

  “Yeah,” he chuckled. “Kind of why I’m here, I guess. Sorry, seeing you kind of derailed me for a minute.” He walked over to the line where a few people stood already.

  I stared at my laptop screen and caught my breath. Oliver Nichols. Wow. I hadn’t seen him in over a decade. We’d gone to med school together, and right after graduation, we had a little one-nighter. Then he went off to California for his internship and residency, and I came here to Grand Junction to do mine.

  I warmed from my head to my toes. He was so gorgeous, no silver yet in his auburn hair. He still had those twinkling blue eyes. He had been the best-looking male student in our class. Also had the best personality. Always jovial, always smiling. I had never thought he would look my way, but after a few drinks in the hot tub at a friend’s graduation party, things had gotten…friendly.

  I pretended to go through e-mails, but I couldn’t concentrate. I could feel his gaze upon me. We’d never vowed to stay in touch or anything. After all, he went to California and I stayed here. I had looked him up on the Internet from time to time. He specialized in pediatric nephrology and had ended up doing several fellowships. With all that education, he hadn’t been in practice very long at this point.

  He had also authored several very well-respected papers. Of course nothing I would read, since I knew absolutely nothing about pediatric nephrology beyond the basic anatomy.

  My lips suddenly felt dry. I grabbed my purse from where it was hanging on the back of my chair, pulled out some lip balm, and smoothed it over my lips.

  Why in the world was I so freaked out? Oliver and I had never had a relationship. He had never even looked my way most of med school. I hadn’t dated anyone during those times, at least not seriously. I hadn’t had the time, and once I started internship and residency, I’d had even less time.

  He sat back down across from me, holding a large coffee cup. “I can’t believe it. How are you, Melanie?”

  “I’m fine. What are you doing here? Have you left California?”

  He nodded. “I’m spearheading some research over at Valleycrest Hospital. They’re setting up a pediatric nephrology unit.”

  Impressive. Though everything Oliver Nichols did was impressive. “How long will you be in town?”

  “A few months, at least. It’s possible they may want me to stay on, in which case I’ll open a practice here.”

  I nodded. “What an incredible opportunity. You’ll love it here.”

  “So what have you been up to?”

  “I’m in private practice as a psychotherapist here in town. In fact, my building is right next door. I don’t live too far from here either. I have a downtown loft.”

  “So you never left here after your residency?”

  “No. The city grew on me. And I’ve got to tell you, the Western slope of Colorado has the best peaches and apples you’ll ever taste.” I smiled shyly. “They’re in season right now, but not for much longer. Be sure to sample them while you’re here.”

  “I absolutely will.” He eyed my laptop. “I’m not interrupting your work, am I?”

  “No, I just felt like sitting over here instead of my office this morning. I don’t have a session until eleven.” I looked at my watch. Ten twenty.

  “Yeah, sometimes it’s nice to get out of the office.”

  I nodded. Silence for a few moments. Normally, silence didn’t bother me much. I was a natural introvert. But right now, with dashing Oliver Nichols sitting across me, the silence felt like tension in the air. Funny how it hadn’t felt that way with Jonah Steel…

  “I’ll be looking for a place to stay. Where did you say you live?”

  “A couple blocks away. Bainbridge Lofts.”

  “Have any rentals in there?”

  “Honestly, I don’t know. I own.”

  “Maybe I’ll take a look over there. I’m meeting a realtor later today to help me find something for the next six months. And as I said, it may turn into a longer situation.”

  I nodded again. No wonder Oliver and I had only had one night. We clearly didn’t have much to say to each other.

  “So fill me in on the last fifteen years or so of your life, Melanie. Are you married? Have any kids?”

  “Never been married. No kids. How about you?”

  He took a sip of his coffee. “Divorced. For two years now. I have a couple kids. Two boys. Ages six and eight.”

  “Are they still in California?”

  “Yeah. This was a tough decision, coming here. But they offered me a lot of money, and the more money I make, the better college funds I can set up for Josh and Corey. I’ll miss them, but I’ll be flying out every other weekend to hang out with them. It’ll be like a big event for them.”

  “That’s nice.” Inside I was dying a little bit. Here he had two kids, and I hadn’t had a significant relationship in God knew how long.

  He smiled at me as he drank. “I have to tell you, Melanie, you haven’t changed a bit. You look the same as you did the first year of med school, bright-eyed and ready to learn. The only difference is your hair should be flowing over your shoulders.”

  I’d worn my hair up, as I often did for work. My cheeks warmed. Something about this felt all wrong.

  “You look great yourself. Not a gray hair on that head of yours.”

  “Good genes. This red hair comes from my mother’s side. She’s Irish. She’s sixty-five and still only has a few strands of gray.”

  “Well, you look great.” I had no idea what else to say.

  He regarded his watch. “I have to go.” He took another sip of his coffee and then placed the lid on it. “I’m thrilled I ran into you. It will be nice to know someone around town. Would you like to have dinner with me tonight?”

  I bit my lip. Dinner? Was he proposing a date? I wasn’t sure.

  “We can talk about Grand Junction, Valleycrest, and anything else interesting around here.”

  What would be the harm in that? “Sure, I’d like that. I’m done tonight by six. You want to meet somewhere?”

  “Do you have your card handy with an address on it? I’ll just pick you up there.”

  I pulled the card out of my laptop case and handed it to him. “Okay, if you’re sure you don’t mind. See you at six.”

  He smiled, his eyes twinkling. “I’m looking forward to it.”

  Chapter Seventeen

  Jonah

  I finally got a text from Bryce the next morning before lunch. It said only, “We’re home.”

  I called. No answer.

  So I drove over. Half an hour later, I arrived at the mayor’s house in Snow Creek. I knocked on the door.

  Bryce’s mom, Evelyn Simpson, answered the door. “Oh, hello, Joe.”

  “Hi, Evelyn. I came to see Bryce. Is Henry okay?”

  Evelyn looked pale and fatigued. “He’s fine. Evidently he had a chill. Last night he was crying and crying, and his lips started to turn blue. We were worried that he was suffering from lack of oxygen, and it was after hours so we ran to Grand Junction to the emergency room. I’ve never been
so scared in my life.”

  “So he’s okay?”

  “By the time we got to the hospital, he was starting to look better. His temperature was below normal. Nobody seemed to know what caused it. The ER doctor said it was probably a virus. But that confuses me. I always thought viruses were supposed to make your temperature go up, not down.”

  “I certainly don’t know.”

  “He seems to be fine now. We stayed there a while, ended up being gone all night. Just got back a little while ago.”

  “Where’s Bryce?”

  Evelyn held the door open for me. “He and his dad are in with the baby. Come on in.”

  His dad. My skin tightened around me. I wasn’t sure I wanted to see Tom Simpson.

  I walked into the house, following the sound of the baby’s cries. “Bryce?” I said, standing in the door of what appeared to be a makeshift nursery.

  Tom Simpson was holding little Henry, rocking him in a recliner. Bryce was putting medicine into a syringe.

  “Hey, Joe.”

  I cleared my throat, trying not to look at Tom. “I hear you guys had quite a night.”

  “Yeah. I’m sorry I didn’t answer your calls or texts. I was freaked.”

  “No problem, man. I understand. How’s Henry?”

  “He’s got a fever now. It was the strangest thing. I seriously thought he was dying.”

  “Wow.”

  “I can’t even describe how scared I was. You don’t have kids, so I’m not sure you’d understand anyway.”

  I thought I’d understand just fine, but I didn’t want to upset Bryce. “What happened?”

  “Last night his lips and nail beds turned blue, and every book on raising a kid says that’s a big danger sign. My mom and I totally freaked. Only Dad remained calm.” He looked over at Tom. “You’ll never know how much I appreciate that, Dad. You sure know how to keep your head in a crisis.”

  Tom smiled slightly. An eerie feeling swept through me. Remaining calm in a crisis would be a great characteristic…for a criminal. A psychopath.

  Bryce handed the filled syringe to Tom.

  “Here you go, buddy,” Tom said, putting the syringe to Henry’s lips. “Come on. Take your medicine.”

  Tom finally got the medicine in Henry’s mouth, although some of it dribbled down his chin. He wiped it up with a towel and handed Henry back to Bryce. “I ought to get into the office. I haven’t had any sleep, but there are a few things that can’t wait.” He turned to me and held out his hand. “Always good to see you, Joe.”

  I flinched a little. I had to shake his hand. Hell, I’d shaken it hundreds of times before. I’d grown up with this guy. He was the father of my best friend. So I forced my arm out and took his hand.

  Again, a strange sensation surged through me, like ice-cold water trickling over my neck and chest. My stomach churned.

  He conveyed something to me in that handshake, whether he knew it or not, and whatever it was, I didn’t like it.

  I felt one million times better when Tom left the room. I cringed, thinking of him holding Henry, taking care of him. I had to find out where Tom’s birthmark was. And I had to find some way to tell Bryce about my suspicions.

  How the hell did I tell my friend that I thought his father was a child molester? A sick criminal? It was as bad as finding out my own uncle had taken part. In fact, worse. From what I knew, Larry hadn’t been the one who chopped up and disposed of the bodies. If what I suspected was true, Tom Simpson had not only abused and disposed of random kids, he also did it to his own nephew, Luke Walker.

  Again, the icy trickles of water…

  Calm down, Joe. You don’t even know he had anything to do with the abduction.

  Right now, I had to be there for Bryce. He was clearly distraught over his son.

  “He’s always been such a healthy kid, Joe,” Bryce said. “I wouldn’t have freaked out so much over a fever, but when those little nail beds turned blue… Man, I’ve never been so scared in my life.”

  “Your mom said he had a chill?”

  “Yeah, that’s what the ER guys said. Said it was a normal thing. I’d never heard of it. They checked his pulse ox and he was fine, so the blue nail beds and lips were caused by the chill, not lack of oxygen. He’s got some kind of virus. Now he’s running a fever.”

  He set Henry, who had finally calmed down, into his crib.

  “So what did you need last night?”

  “What do you mean?”

  “Well, you texted me several times. And Mrs. Norris came by this morning and said you were pounding on our door last night at midnight.”

  Shit. I shouldn’t have done that. I’d been going crazy after what Talon said. Had I really thought I could barge into this house and demand to see a guy’s birthmark?

  I said nothing.

  “Seriously, Joe. What were you doing here at midnight?”

  I had to think of something and think of it quick. “I was…in town at Murphy’s, and I’d had a few drinks. I guess I thought something was more important than it actually was.”

  “What?”

  “Something about Talon and Luke Walker. I thought I had a lead, but I found out this morning that it was nothing.”

  “So what was it?”

  “I… I can’t say.” Yeah, good save, Joe. No way was Bryce going to buy this.

  “What do you mean you can’t say? You were pounding on my door last night to tell me.”

  “Yeah, I know. I’m sorry about that.” I cleared my throat. “I found out this morning that what I thought was a lead wasn’t, and the people involved asked me to keep the information in confidence.”

  “Seriously? You can’t tell me? You know my word is as good as gold, Joe.”

  “Yeah, I know. You know I trust you implicitly. But I just can’t. I’m sorry.”

  He sighed. “No matter anyway. Right now, I’m so relieved that Henry is okay that I don’t really care about anything else.”

  Thank God. He’d bought it. I’d have to find out about his father’s birthmark on my own. Why would I drag my old friend into this when he had a son to worry about? At least I’d have to wait until Henry had gotten over this virus or whatever it was.

  Bryce leaned over the crib and put his hand on Henry’s forehead. “He’s so warm. God, Joe, I never knew I could be this scared.”

  “He’s a great kid,” I said. “He’s going to be all right. Kids get sick.”

  “I know. But he’s so little.”

  “I remember when Marj came home from the hospital when she was born. Talk about little. She’d gained weight by the time she came home, but she was still under six pounds. The most fragile little thing. But she was a trouper and she survived. Look at Henry. He’s ten months old, good and chubby, the picture of health. He’s going to be fine.”

  Bryce nodded.

  “You want something? I can go out to the kitchen and get you some coffee.”

  He smiled—sort of. “That’d be great. I think my mom has a fresh pot brewed.”

  “No problem.” I left the nursery and went to the kitchen. Sure enough, a fresh pot of coffee sat on the burner. I’d been to this house so many times when I was a kid, and I knew where they kept everything. I opened the cupboard door, got out a mug, and poured a cup of coffee. I poured another for myself.

  “Anything I can help you with, Joe?”

  I nearly spilled the coffee when Tom’s deep voice met my ears. Talon remembered the man with the birthmark as having a low voice. Tom’s voice was low. Was it lower than Larry’s?

  Hell, I didn’t know. They were completely different voices, and my own voice was deeper than either of theirs. Talon was remembering as a prepubescent ten-year-old. All grown men’s voices were low to a ten-year-old.

  I turned, willing myself not to wince. “Just getting some coffee for Bryce and myself.”

  “Sounds good.” He took a mug out of the cupboard. “Tell Bryce to come out here to the kitchen. I’ll join you.”

 
So much for Tom going into the office for a few things that couldn’t wait.

  “I don’t think he wants to leave Henry.”

  “Nonsense. Henry’s fine. Do you know how many viruses Bryce had when he was a kid? Hell, I remember when he and Luke both had the chicken pox. What a mess.”

  Luke. Why did he have to bring up Luke? Did they still talk about Luke?

  I drew in a breath and let it out slowly. “Wow,” I said, “I haven’t thought about Luke in a long time. I assume you’re talking about Bryce’s cousin, Luke Walker.”

  Tom nodded. “Yup.”

  He sounded so matter of fact. So unaffected. It creeped me out.

  “That was a tough time. Talon took that particularly hard.”

  “I had no idea that Talon was even involved. I can’t believe your father covered that up. And now Larry Wade has been arrested. Just odd all around.”

  His tone didn’t indicate that he thought it was odd at all. The vibes coming from him felt sinister.

  “Well, Bryce is waiting for his coffee.”

  “Right. Go ahead.”

  Evidently he’d given up the notion of the two of us joining him in the kitchen for coffee. Just as well. I didn’t want to be in the same room with Tom Simpson a minute longer than necessary.

  On the other hand, he could be a source of information. Maybe I could get him to slip up. Get him to admit something he didn’t want to admit. But as I stared into his cold blue eyes, I knew the truth. Tom Simpson would not be tripped up. Nothing fazed him.

  I took the coffee back to Bryce in the nursery.

  “He’s nodding off now,” Bryce said, gesturing to Henry.

  Bryce sat back down in the rocking chair, and I looked at the sleeping baby for a few moments, his blond peach fuzz hair plastered to his head with sweat from his fever. Thank God he was okay. Then I sat down in another chair. I took a sip of my coffee.

  “So what’s going on with you?” Bryce asked. “I need to get my mind off this crap.”

  “Not much, really.” I thought about telling him about Melanie, but I wasn’t sure I could do that without telling him I was in therapy—or rather, no longer in therapy—with Talon’s therapist. I wasn’t sure Talon wanted anyone to know he was in therapy, and I was damned sure I didn’t want anyone to know I was.

 

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