by HELEN HARDT
The good in the world… I wasn’t seeing a whole lot of that at the moment, but Talon was finally, after twenty-five years, healing. Jade and Melanie had worked their miracles for him, but the true strength and wisdom came from Talon himself. He was trying to infuse his strength into these little boys. I hoped he’d be successful—at least enough to get us somewhere safe.
God, was there anyplace safe on this godforsaken island? This place was pure evil.
I half expected my mother to show up. Thankfully, she was safely locked up in the psych ward back home.
The smaller boy clung to Talon. Talon kissed the top of his head.
And for the first time, I saw my brother as a father. He and Jade would have children someday, and Talon would be an amazing and loving parent.
“I don’t want to scare you guys,” Talon said, “but we have to put the masks back on. We won’t be able to get you out of here if we don’t, because the bad men will recognize us and know we’re not supposed to be here. Will you be okay if we put the masks back on?”
The little boy in Talon’s arms choked out, “Yes,” but the older one simply nodded against my neck.
“All right,” Talon said in a soothing voice I didn’t know he possessed. “I’m going to put the mask on now. And the others will too. Then we’ll go.”
We put our masks on.
“Are you both ready?” Talon asked.
Again, the boy I held only nodded, but Talon’s said softly, “Uh-huh.”
“I still think you’re crazy,” Raj said, donning his mask.
I glared at him. Talon would break if he said much more. Right now, the most important thing in my brother’s world was saving these two kids. They represented the innocent little boy he’d been, and damn it, I was going to help him.
There were other keys, other rooms. What if Talon insisted on looking in all of them? Rescuing every child and woman here?
We were only three people.
I didn’t voice this concern. Right now, Talon was immersed in saving these two little boys.
We left the room stealthily. Now that the siren had stopped blaring, the hallways were, thankfully, mostly vacant.
“Be quiet,” I said to the boy in my arms. “If you see another masked person, just be quiet. Act scared.”
The boy wouldn’t have to act. They were both still frightened out of their skin. But we hadn’t hurt them, and that would eventually dawn on them.
For a moment, my mind wandered back to Anna, chained up in the hallway with several others. I hadn’t been able to help, but somehow, I’d get back to her.
And then there was Ruby. Somewhere on this island. Possibly being held against her will.
I couldn’t let my mind go there. Couldn’t…
But it went there anyway. Images emerged of her being bound, raped, sodomized…
“No!”
Talon turned around. “What is it, Ry?”
I hadn’t realized I’d spoken out loud. “Nothing. I’m fine.”
But I wasn’t fine. I might never be fine again if I didn’t find Ruby alive and in one piece.
I love you, Ruby, I called out to her in my mind. Whatever happens, we will get through it. I’ll do whatever I need to do. I’ll put you back together piece by piece if I have to. I promise.
“This is ridiculous,” Raj said. “We don’t even know where we’re going.”
“We’ll take them back to the yacht. One of us will have to stay with them,” Talon said.
“Then it’ll be one of you,” Raj said. “I’m not paid to babysit.”
“You’re paid—and very well—to do what we say, damn it.”
“Tal,” I said. “We can’t get them back to the yacht. They’re in no condition to swim, if they even know how.” My brother wasn’t thinking clearly. All he could focus on was getting these boys out of here. Not that I could blame him for that.
“All right. All right. We’ll find somewhere safe to hide them.” Talon moved forward. “But damn it, we’re getting them out of here.”
We moved toward the back where we had entered the building. When we went outside, the little boys both wailed when the sun hit their eyes.
“Shh,” Talon said. “You have to be quiet so the bad men don’t hear you.”
They got silent quickly. We began walking through a wooded area, avoiding the road that had brought us here. But soon it was impossible to navigate, so we made our way back to the road.
We’d been walking for an hour, and my arms were growing tired of carrying the bigger of the two boys, when a black SUV pulled up beside us.
“Get in,” a masked man said.
“Hell, no,” Talon said, reaching for his gun.
“Get in, or you’re dead out here. I can take you someplace safe.”
“Who the fuck are you?” I asked.
“I’ll take you to Ruby,” the man said.
My heart lurched.
“He’s lying to you,” Talon said.
“You’re a fool if you get in that car,” Raj agreed.
“Look, I’m not asking you for your gun. You can shoot me in the head if you want. But if you want to save those two boys you’re carrying, I’m your only shot.”
I made a spontaneous decision. “I’m going. I’m armed. If you two don’t want to go, don’t.” I handed the boy to Raj.
Talon and Raj looked at each other.
They got in the SUV.
Chapter Twenty-Four
Ruby
“Wendy is locked up in psych back in Grand Junction,” I said. “She can’t get out.”
“You’re underestimating her.”
“Look. You’re not going to tell me about some things, but can’t you at least tell me about Wendy? Why the hell you slept with her in the first place? She’s crazy and evil.”
“Again, this is something I should tell my children first.”
This was a man who still was trying to hold on to some semblance of honor. After all, he’d waited until all his children had reached adulthood before disappearing into thin air. He cared about his children.
Well, I cared about his children too.
“They won’t forgive you,” I said. “Ryan and the others. They won’t forgive you for leaving them.”
“After they hear the whole story, they might.”
“What if they don’t?”
He sighed. “Then I’ll have to live with that. Everything I ever did was with their best interests in mind.”
“Even Talon?”
“Yes, even Talon. What happened to him was a travesty. There’s not a day that goes by that I don’t hate myself for it. Wendy is a vengeful woman. An evil woman.”
The ring. The quote.
“Who designed the future lawmakers ring?” I asked.
“She did.”
“Did she ever tell you what the symbol on the ring meant?”
“Not in so many words. But we figured it out.”
“So did your sons. We’ve all figured it out. Wendy was the mastermind behind all of this.”
“Yes, she was.”
“I hope you know that doesn’t absolve you or my father or any of the others of any of the guilt.”
He sighed again. “How well I do know that.”
“Talon was taken because your wife got pregnant with Marjorie. What do you think that is going to do to Marj when she finds out? And she will find out. We can’t keep that from her.”
His eyes pleaded with me. “Please. She can’t know that. I wasn’t able to shield the boys, but Marjorie… My baby girl…”
“More secrets? No.” I shook my head vehemently. “This all ends now.”
Before Brad could respond, someone knocked on the door.
“Yes?” Brad said.
Marabel entered and brought Juliet inside. “Miss Juliet is tired from roughhousing with the pups. I’m going to take her to lie down.”
“I need to go with her,” I said. “I don’t want her to be alone.”
Juliet look
ed visibly relieved.
I turned to Brad. “This isn’t over.”
* * *
When I opened my eyes, darkness had fallen. I had no idea how long I had slept, but I must have been exhausted. Nothing else would have let me fall asleep in this strange place. I’d been fighting it, frightened I’d have another freaky dream. Juliet was still snoring softly in the other bed.
I rose, went to the bathroom, and then I tiptoed out of the room, sliding against the wall. The door to Brad Steel’s office was ajar, and voices spoke within.
“She’s not ready.” Brad Steel’s voice.
“They’re on their way. She’ll need to get ready quick.” Shit! My father’s voice.
“She can’t yet. She’ll go off the deep end.”
“She’s already off the deep end.”
“Damn it!” A fist hit a hard surface, probably the mahogany desk. “You’re still a sick man, Theo. The fact that we’re working together now doesn’t change that.”
“I won’t try to atone for my crimes. It’s impossible. But I’m willing to do what I need to do, for my daughter’s sake as well as my own, though I don’t expect you to believe that. I want out. But I need what you owe me.”
A ringing commenced in my ears. Had I heard him correctly? He was actually thinking of me? He wanted out for my sake? I must have misheard. Mere days ago he’d been trying to get me to call off the Steel brothers.
“Why now? After…everything?” Brad asked.
“I’ve tried to get your kids to stop this manhunt, but they’re determined. I’m too old and tired to run anymore. And you may not believe this, but there are times I regret…everything.”
“Even torturing my son?”
My father sighed. “Especially that. All of it. I mean all of it.”
“It seemed easy enough for you at the time.”
“It gets easier after a while. After you’ve…” Silence for a few seconds. Then, “You don’t know what she’s capable of.”
“I don’t know what she’s capable of? You’re forgetting who you’re talking to. She turned my life upside down. And not just mine. My wife’s. My children’s.”
It didn’t take a genius to figure out they were talking about Wendy Madigan.
Silence for a moment. A muffled buzzing sound. Then, Brad’s voice. “They’re here.”
I tiptoed silently back to my room and closed the door.
Who was here? My father had said Ryan had arrived on the other island. Was he here? My heart jumped in anticipation. But if it was Ryan and his brothers, who was the “she” they’d been referring to? The “she” who wasn’t ready for “them” to be here?
Three choices.
The woman with the baby.
Juliet.
And me.
They could have been talking about any of us, depending on who was here. It couldn’t be the Steels. I certainly was ready for them to be here, and they wouldn’t harm Juliet. And the woman with the baby should have no problem with them either.
Juliet was still sleeping soundly.
I quietly stole out of the room again. The office was now empty. I traipsed down the corridor, shielding myself as best I could against the wall.
Marabel was nowhere to be found, nor were my father or Brad. Perhaps they had gone out the front door. I sneaked down the other hallway to the master suite. The door was ajar, and I opened it slightly and peeked inside. The woman in the robe was sitting in a rocking chair, looking lovingly into a bassinet. The baby must be inside.
A slight whoosh. Maybe the front door opening? We were far from the foyer, but the noise had been muffled.
The woman got up swiftly. I flattened myself against the wall. She didn’t appear to notice me. I breathed a sigh of relief.
Once she had left, I walked into the room.
I peeked into the bassinet. Angela slept soundly.
I touched her baby soft cheek…
“Oh!” I gasped.
The skin beneath my fingers was soft but not warm. Not…human. Not at all. It looked human, yes, but it wasn’t.
The child didn’t move, didn’t react at all to my touch.
No wonder Angela never made a sound. She was a doll. A very lifelike doll—the size of a real baby, but a doll nonetheless.
If I hadn’t thought I was visiting crazy town before, I knew I’d arrived now. I stood, motionless, but then jerked as I heard bustling. I sneaked back down the hallway.
Then, a feminine voice—the lady.
“You’ve brought the boys home, finally! Jonah, Talon, Mama has missed you so much!”
Chapter Twenty-Five
Ryan
We had driven up to and walked into a replica of our ranch house at home. Neither Talon nor I had reacted, other than a confused glance at each other. We couldn’t upset the boys. But inside, my nerves were a jumble, frantically crawling underneath my skin. Was I in a science fiction novel? Had we walked into a parallel universe?
When I heard the woman’s voice, I nearly dropped the child I was holding.
My heart pounded against my sternum.
In front of me stood two phantoms. My father, who we expected. He thanked the driver and handed him an envelope.
But the other one…
My mother. The one who’d committed suicide over two decades ago.
Daphne Steel.
I couldn’t breathe. Couldn’t…
The woman took the trembling child from my arms. “My sweet Joe,” she cooed. “Mama has missed you so.” She turned to Talon, eyeing the child he was holding. “And Talon. You look so tired. Do you need a nap, sweetie?”
The man with my father’s face said, “Darling, what are you doing out here? Where’s Angela?”
“She’s asleep. You know I couldn’t miss my boys’ homecoming. It seems like they’ve been away at camp for years.”
The older boy struggled in her arms. “Help! Help me!”
“She won’t hurt you,” I said, hoping I was right.
“Of course,” she soothed. “Mama would never hurt her babies.”
Talon had gone nearly catatonic beside me. The woman had called the boy he was holding by his name. These boys were blond and looked nothing like Joe and Talon had as kids.
And then it hit me like a boulder dropping onto my skull.
She hadn’t called out for me. She’d called for Joe and Talon, welcoming them home.
Not for me.
I was not her son.
A long-forgotten memory tugged at the corner of my brain.
* * *
“Get that woman out of my house!”
I covered my ears. I missed Talon. He was my big brother. My hero. But now that he was back, he wanted his own room.
Maybe soon he’d move back in with me.
Maybe not.
He had changed since he’d come back. He didn’t play with me much anymore. He was quieter now. More like Joe.
Mom and Dad were fighting again. They did that a lot these days.
My baby sister wailed from the nursery.
“Damn it, Daphne. You woke the baby!”
“I’ll take care of her. At least she’s my child.”
“We’ve been through this. You made a promise years ago.”
“A promise I regret.”
“You love him. You’ve always treated him like your own.”
“But he’s not mine. He’ll never be mine. She’s always around to remind me. So I’m done with this charade.”
My mother’s footsteps echoed down the hallway until I heard her open and shut the door to the nursery where my baby sister slept.
I tried closing my eyes again.
They fought a lot now. More than they ever had before.
Now that Talon was home.
I didn’t understand what they were talking about. I just wanted the fighting to stop.
It made my stomach hurt.
* * *
I’d been too young to realize it—only nine when she died—but she
had treated me differently after Talon returned. Only slightly, but now, as an adult, it was clear as a sunny day. After Talon came home, my mother became peculiar. She didn’t hug me as much, didn’t read to me anymore. I’d always chalked it up to Talon’s ordeal, but it was more. Much more.
I inhaled, willing my mind to calm. Now wasn’t the time to lose it.
But then all became right with this fucked-up world again.
I saw her face.
The face of the woman I loved.
Ruby peeked around from the hallway leading to the master suite. Thank goodness the child had been taken from my arms, or I might have dropped him.
I ran to Ruby and grabbed her, inhaling her vanilla scent, pressing my lips to her neck.
“My God. Ruby. My baby. Thank God you’re here and you’re okay.”
She pulled away, cupping my cheeks. “Are you okay? Where have you been? What did they do to you?”
She was wearing silk pajamas, very un-Ruby like. Her hair was fresh and hung below her shoulders in a dark-brown waterfall. Her cheeks were a bit ruddy, but her lips were red, plump, and perfect. She looked like an angel from heaven. I bent toward her and kissed her.
She opened for me instantly, and we kissed madly for only a few seconds before she pulled away.
“What?”
“They’re all watching.”
I didn’t much care. “Are you all right?”
She nodded. “Are you?”
“Yeah. We’re okay.”
“Ryan, I found Juliet. She’s here with me. But the others…” She choked and then cleared her throat, her eyes glistening. “We have to help them.”
“We will.”
She looked toward Talon. “Where’s Joe?”
“Still at home. It’s a long story. I’ll tell you everything as soon as I figure out what the hell is going on here.”
“I understand.” She lowered her voice. “That woman is crazy. She keeps a doll in a bassinet that she swears is a baby. I don’t know who she is.”
“Ruby,” I said. “She’s my mother. My other mother. She’s Daphne Steel.”
