Melt (Steel Brothers Saga #4)(70)

“If Dad was the love of your life and you were his, why didn’t he just take care of Daphne and the baby but stay with you?” I asked. “He certainly had the money.”

“Believe me, that’s what I wanted him to do,” Wendy said. “But your father was nothing if not an honorable man. He didn’t want a child of his growing up without his name. So he decided to marry Daphne, but he and I continued to see each other.”

“That doesn’t sound very honorable,” I said. And I also wasn’t buying it.

“No,” Wendy agreed. “But you have to understand the passion and desire we had between us. This may be hard for you to hear, but we couldn’t stay away from each other. God knows, we both tried it more than one time. But we always failed. We were in love.” She looked to Talon. “Jade has been very frank with me about what you two feel for each other. Trust me when I say your father and I had that same thing. I would’ve done anything for him, and he would’ve done the same for me.”

“Which is why you helped him cover up my abduction,” Talon said.

Wendy nodded somberly. “Please believe me. I tried to talk him out of that, Talon. I knew it would do no good to bury it. I knew you needed help dealing with it, and so did Brad and Daphne.” She looked to me. “You and your brother too, probably. The whole family could have benefitted from counseling, but Brad would have none of it.”

“Why?” I asked. “That’s the thing that puzzles us the most. Why did Dad allow this to happen?”

Wendy downed the rest of her scotch and set the glass on the coffee table, loudly this time. She looked at both of us intently. “What I told Jade was the truth. A lot of it was because of Daphne. She was so unstable, and she had just had the premature baby. Brad didn’t think she could handle the pressure.”

“So you’re saying my father forsook me for my mother?” Talon said.

“In a way, I suppose he did. But he did love you, Talon. Please believe that. He loved all you kids. The four of you were the reason he and I never got together.”

“What do you mean?”

“He refused to disrupt your lives. He wouldn’t divorce your mother. I also think your father didn’t understand the magnitude of what had happened to you. He refused to contemplate it, even acknowledge it. Male-on-male rape, especially on a child, is a hard thing for most men to deal with.”

“You don’t have to tell me that,” Talon said.

“I know I don’t. I’m so glad you finally got the help you needed. You and Jade will have a great life together. She’s a wonderful girl.”

“That she is.”

“But understand, what your father did, he did for love. He thought he was doing the right thing for you—for all of you, including your mother.”

“There must be more to this, Wendy,” I said. “What is it that you’re not telling us?”

Wendy sighed. “Your father had some enemies. There was a part of him that thought…”

“Thought what?” Talon said.

“I haven’t said this out loud in twenty-five years.”

“Now is the time,” I said.

Wendy drew in a breath and fidgeted with her hands. “Your father thought it was possible that…you had been taken on purpose.”

Talon nearly jerked off the sofa.

I opened my mouth to speak. “That is directly contrary to what Larry Wade says. He told Jade that Talon was never meant to be taken.”

Wendy leaned forward. “Do you hear yourself? Who are you going to believe? A psychopathic pedophile or a former newswoman?”

She had a point there.

“Who are these enemies you’re talking about?” I asked. “And why would they be involved with taking Talon? And why would they be involved with Larry Wade?”

“About a week before you were found, Talon,” Wendy said, “your father received a ransom demand.”

“Let me guess,” Talon said. “The demand was for five million dollars.”

“I don’t know. Your father wouldn’t tell me the amount, so I honestly don’t know anything about the transfer. But that’s my guess,” Wendy said.

“Why wasn’t any of this made public?” I asked.

“For the same reason none of the rest of it was made public. To protect you, to protect your mother, and for some strange reason, to protect Larry Wade.”

“How did our uncle even get involved in this?” I asked.

“Your uncle is just a sick man. He got involved with some even sicker people. And when push came to shove, he couldn’t let it happen to you.”

“Couldn’t let it happen?” Talon gasped. “It happened. I assure you.”

“But he did get you out of there, Talon. I’m not defending him,” Wendy said. “But their plans were to kill you if they didn’t get the money.”

“Are you saying this whole thing was a conspiracy? To kidnap Talon?”

“I don’t think it had to be Talon. It could have been any one of you three. In fact, they probably wanted all three of you, but Talon was the one they got.”

“What about the other kids? What about Luke Walker?”

“The other kids were a ruse. They were setting up their MO. That way, when they took one of you boys, the police would assume it was the same kidnappers that were working in the area.”