Melt (Steel Brothers Saga #4)(72)

She showed us to the door, and Talon and I walked to the car.

“I’ll drive,” I said. Once we were on the road, I cleared my throat. “What do you think?”

“Some of what she said made sense.”

“Are you still convinced that Nico Kostas is one of the men who abducted you?”

“Honestly, I don’t know. If these guys were enemies of Dad, I guess we have to figure out why Nico Kostas would be Dad’s enemy.”

And Tom Simpson. But I hadn’t yet told Talon of my suspicions, and now was certainly not the time.

“If Nico Kostas tried to kill Jade’s mother for a million dollars in insurance money, I guess it would make sense that he would demand a five-million-dollar ransom from some rich rancher,” I said.

“You don’t sound entirely convinced, Joe.”

Sometimes I got freaked at how well Talon could read me. “I’m not. And I’m not sure why. Most of what she said made some sense. And although I didn’t know Dad had any enemies, I certainly don’t doubt that he did. People with money tend to make enemies, even if they don’t know it. It could have been a pissed-off employee for all we know. Or a struggling rancher who didn’t get business because Dad could bid lower. So yeah, he certainly could have had enemies out there that we never knew about.”

“So what bugs you?”

“A couple of things. Things that hadn’t occurred to me before today.” Mostly because I’d been so focused on Melanie Carmichael and Tom Simpson.

“Yeah? What are those?”

“Well, the whole ‘in love’ thing. Wendy is a nice-looking woman, but she hardly seems Dad’s type. Mom was drop-dead gorgeous, on the other hand.”

“Drop-dead gorgeous, but also mentally ill.”

I nodded. “There’s that. And I know looks aren’t everything, but here’s the thing.”

“What?”

“If Wendy and Dad were so in love, why didn’t they get together after Mom died?”





Chapter Thirty–Six





Melanie




I had no idea how long I had been in the room. The man in black had brought me food once, and though I hadn’t been hungry, I ate. I had been over every inch of the room, trying to find an escape, but it was impossible. Whenever I was thirsty, I drank from the sink in the tiny bathroom. I still had no idea what my fate would be.

As if in answer, the man in black unlocked the door and entered. “Good morning, Doctor.”

Did that mean it was morning? I had no idea. I had slept…I thought. Or had I just relived sessions with Gina in a semi-hypnotic state?

“Today’s your lucky day,” he said. “You’re getting out of here.”

Though the thought should have made me ecstatic, I stood there grimly. The memory of Gina’s session—I’d rather die—had numbed me again. Had I missed a cry for help? There’d been no other indication that she might be suicidal. She’d held down a job, done volunteer work at a local children’s shelter…had been in a lot better shape than Talon Steel had been when he first came to me, and he hadn’t been suicidal. To the contrary, his overwhelming will to survive had completely overshadowed his desire to die.

The man in black interrupted my thoughts by pulling me from the bed and turning me around to face the wall.

He bound my hands behind my back, this time with duct tape. “Can’t have you trying anything funny,” he said.

Anything funny? As if I could. The room held nothing that could be used as a weapon, and this man had already demonstrated that he was much stronger than I was.

“Don’t you want to know where you’re going?”

“Not particularly,” I said.

“Okay. Have it your way.”

We walked out the door, and I realized I was in a house. This little room with no windows had been built in the middle of the basement. He led me up the stairs, through a laundry room. To the left was a kitchen. We went to the right. Into the garage. It was a large garage, big enough for three vehicles. However, only one old car sat in the garage.

“This is a very special car, Dr. Carmichael.”

It was huge, like an old pimp car from a few decades ago. “It doesn’t look that special to me. It looks like a piece of crap.”

He laughed. “Yes, it is that. It belongs to someone you knew, and the funny thing about this car is that it’s an older model. I can start it and then lock it so no one can get in while the motor is running.”

“So?”

And then it hit me.

“No!” I tried pulling away from him.

“So you figured it out?”

He pushed me into the garage, against the car, and then jiggled the keys in my face. “You won’t be able to open the door and turn off the ignition without these. And guess what? I’m taking them with me.”

My heartbeat raced as cold fear pulsed through my veins. “Let me go! Let me go!”

“I’m afraid not, Doctor. You’re going to die. In this garage, at the mercy of this car. Just like Gina Cates did.”





Chapter Thirty–Seven





Jonah