Breathless (Steel Brothers Saga #10)(59)

The latter was what concerned Jade and me.

I swallowed my fear. “Well, if the guy is someone from Dale’s past, he should be found. We don’t want him hurting anyone else.”

“Of course we don’t. I just thought…”

She didn’t have to complete her sentence. I understood. She’d just thought what we all thought. The FBI had raided the compound, the bad guys were dead, and this nightmare was finally over.

And now we had to face the fact that perhaps it wasn’t.

Donny came in, and I made him a quick snack. Talon was still speaking to Dale in the bedroom. He’d been gone a half hour when he finally emerged. He ruffled Donny’s hair and smiled, and when the little boy retreated back outside, he turned serious.

“I need to talk to Joe and Ryan.”

Jade and I exchanged a worried glance.

Again. It was all starting again.





Chapter Thirty–Eight





Bryce





I sat in Joe’s office—not his home office but the office in the ranch business building. That had been my choice. I wanted privacy. Not that Melanie wouldn’t give us our privacy, but I didn’t want the chance of anyone walking in. I’d even managed to convince Joe to let his assistant and secretary leave early.

His dark eyes were heavy-lidded and troubled when we finally sat down together—alone—in his office.

Even then, I was freaked. Was this office bugged? I still wasn’t sure Ted Morse had been straight with me. He could be playing games, trying to get a payoff. I had no idea. But at this point, given the vague memory that had popped into my head, I couldn’t chance it.

“What is it, Bryce?” Joe asked. “You’ve got me a little on edge.”

Joe on edge was not a pretty sight. He had a hot head and a quick temper. I’d seen it in action many times, and I needed him to remain calm.

“Can we get out of here?” I asked.

“What? You just made me send my staff home so we could speak privately. There’s no more private place on this ranch right now.”

I couldn’t say anything more, not here. My whole body tensed and tingled, as if myriad eyes and ears were watching and listening. Probably in my mind, but given what Joe and I needed to discuss, I wasn’t willing to take the chance.

“I need a walk.” I coughed into my hand to relieve the lump in my throat. “Now.”

“What the—”

“Please,” I said softly, looking toward the door.

Joe stood quietly, seeming to understand. I sighed in relief. We walked out of the office together.

“Where to?” he said.

“Outside. It’s a decent day. Sun’s out.”

He nodded and we left the building. Once we were a couple hundred feet from the building, he turned to me, his gaze serious. “Tell me what’s going on. Now.”

“I met with Ted Morse.”

“Yeah?”

“I don’t know what his angle is, Joe, but he claims the Feds are investigating the two of us.”

“You and me?”

“Yeah. Now I don’t know if it’s true. Whether it’s the Feds or if it’s Ted pulling something, which I wouldn’t put past him, but he mentioned the camping trips you and I took with my dad.”

Joe’s face reddened. Yup, here went the hothead.

“Joe…”

“Fuck.” He grabbed a fistful of his long hair. “Fuck, fuck, fuck.”

“I know. So you remember?”

“Did Morse mention that time?”

“I’d forgotten, honestly. What was it? Nearly thirty years ago now? We couldn’t have been more than eight or nine.”

“Fuck.”

“I told him we were always alone with my dad. And we always were…”

“Except for once,” Joe said.

“He claims my phone and my house are bugged. That’s why we needed to get out of there. He didn’t say anything about your office, so I originally thought we’d be safe there. I mean, you have the best security and all. But these are the Feds.”

“It’s only the Feds if Morse is telling the truth.”

“True. But how would he know about the camping?”

“Fuck if I know.” Joe paced in circles.

“Does anyone else know? Your brothers?”

“I never told anyone. I trusted your dad. And like you, I’d forgotten until now. It was pushed back in my head, a nonissue, you know?”

“Yeah. Nothing ever happened. The family moved away. I mean, I assume they did. Hell, I can’t even remember his name, can you?”

“Justin? Or Dustin?”

A memory sparked in my mind. “Justin. You’re right. Justin… What was his last name?”

“I can’t remember. I feel like it’s in my brain somewhere.”

Recall came trickling back. Justin had been a new kid in town. He was nothing special, but for some reason, he never quite fit in. He didn’t blend. He was quiet and always alone, and…

“Whose idea was it, anyway?” Joe asked.

“It was mine,” I said, thinking. “I asked my dad if we could bring him along.”