Breathless (Steel Brothers Saga #10)(57)

My guts continued their tumbling as anger took hold. I was determined to keep my cool. I had no reason to believe anything this asshole said.

“Why would they be investigating the two of us? We’re innocent.”

“I believe you are,” Ted said.

“There’s no belief required. It’s a damned fact.” Keep cool, Bryce. Keep fucking cool.

Joe was about to become a father. Did he know anything about this? The Steels had connections almost everywhere. If Joe was any kind of target of a federal investigation, surely he’d be aware.

“I’m just trying to give you a heads-up,” Ted said.

“And I suppose you’d like to be compensated for this information?”

He scoffed and looked to the left. “If I wanted compensation, I’d have gone straight to Steel myself.”

Right. Straight to Joe, who he’d already tried to blackmail. I wasn’t buying it. But I wasn’t quite ready to let Ted know that yet.

“Good call,” I said. “Because you know I have nothing.”

“Not true. You have a house.”

“A house no one will buy because of my father’s exploits.”

“Maybe so.” He sipped his coffee. “I’m here solely as a Good Samaritan, to let you know.”

“And how do you know all this?”

“Easy. The Feds talked to me. To me and my son. They asked a lot of questions about the two of you.”

I am not responsible for the sins of my father.

My mantra.

As much as I’d had to convince myself it was true, now Ted Morse was telling me it wasn’t. Why else would anyone ask about Joe and me?

“A Good Samaritan?” I said.

“Yes.”

You’re bluffing.

But I didn’t say the words aloud.

“They’ve spoken to Colin as well, you say?” I asked.

He nodded.

The server arrived with my coffee. I let it sit undisturbed. If I tried to put anything in my mouth, I might puke. Keeping this normal tone when I was raging inside was taking its toll.

“What kinds of questions did they ask the two of you?”

“I’m not at liberty to say. I’m taking a chance just telling you this much.”

“I see.” Though I didn’t see at all.

“You don’t believe me.” A statement.

This time I took a sip of my coffee—a small sip—and let it trickle down my throat. All for show. “Why should I?”

“What ulterior motive would I have?”

“I don’t know. Maybe you’ve got some”—air quotes—“friend in the FBI, someone who could bury this investigation. For a price.”

“If I wanted money, I’d have gone straight to Steel. Wait. I already said that.”

“Then what the hell do you want, Morse? Because the way I see it, the Feds can turn over every rock in my life, and they’ll never find any evidence that either Joe or I are connected to the trafficking ring. Not one tiny shred.”

“I mean no disrespect,” Ted said, “but you’re being na?ve, Bryce. Incredibly na?ve.”

My knuckles whitened around the handle of my coffee cup. Maintaining a level head was becoming increasingly more difficult.

“And you’re being incredibly transparent.”

“How is that?” he asked. “Aren’t you aware of Jonah Steel’s history?”

“I’m very aware of Jonah Steel’s history. He’s been my best friend nearly my entire life.”

“Then you know he paid off prison guards to beat Larry Wade?”

I swallowed, keeping my expression noncommittal. I did not know that. But I knew Joe, and he had a hot temper. Larry Wade was his half uncle and one of the men who’d tortured and raped Joe’s brother. Could I see him ordering a beating?

Yeah, I could.

“Ah. So you didn’t know.”

“Joe wouldn’t do that.” The lie tasted good. Actually good. I’d defend Joe with my life.

“I assure you he did. See? Something you didn’t know about your best friend of all these years.”

“You think prison guards are paragons of virtue? If Wade got beaten in prison, he probably had it coming, and even if he didn’t, a couple black eyes are nothing compared to what he inflicted on innocent children over the years. Joe didn’t order anything, but even if he did, Wade got what he deserved. You know what those men were capable of as well as I do.”

That last part was a cheap shot. Ted’s son had been brutalized at the hands of my father. I never forgot that. But right now, he was trying to implicate Joe and me, so I’d defend us both.

“Jonah Steel is a loose cannon,” Morse said nonchalantly. “You’re his best friend and the son of Tom Simpson. Why wouldn’t they be investigating you?”

“Well, for one, because we’re innocent.”

“Are you? What happened during those camping trips your father took you and Joe on, Bryce?”

The camping trips? The ones Joe and I looked forward to more than anything? We foraged, fished, hunted. Only the three of us ever. No one else would know anything about— Oh, God.

I’d nearly forgotten.

Just once, we hadn’t been alone.