Flame (Steel Brothers Saga 20)

“True. It’s up to us, then. And the experts. The problem is…can we trust the experts?”

“I suppose if we trust Uncle Joe, we have to trust the experts.”

“Here’s the thing,” Dale says. “Uncle Joe is one of the people who kept shit from us in the first place.”

“Are you saying you don’t trust him?”

“No, I’m simply saying that his goal in this may differ from ours.”

“What about Dad?”

Dale pauses, as I knew he would. It’s still so difficult for Dale to say anything negative about our father. As difficult as it is for me to say anything negative about our mother.

Finally, “Man, I trust Dad. I trust him with my life. Hell, he saved our lives once, and I know he’d do it again. But damn it, Donny. Damn it. I think we need to do this on our own.”

“We already brought Uncle Joe in. And Brock.”

“Maybe we talk to Brock on the sly.”

“He’s as devoted to Uncle Joe as you are to Dad, Dale.”

“Yeah, yeah. I know. Let me think on this. When are you coming home?”

“Tomorrow, I guess. Or we could drive home tonight. I’d like to take Callie and Rory out to a nice dinner, though.”

“Go ahead. Don’t take Callie for granted. Family first.”

“Callie’s not family, bro.”

“You love her, man. I can hear it in your voice, see it on your face when you talk about her. She’ll be family one day. As much as I want to get to the bottom of this, I won’t sacrifice my relationship with Ashley for it. Not even a little bit.”

I nod. “Got it. I’ll be in touch. I’m going to give Mom a quick call and check in on Dad.”

“I just did,” Dale says. “He’s good. They think they’ll send him home by mid next week.” Dale rolls his eyes. “Mom’s already planning a welcome home party for him.”

I join in the eye roll. I love my mother, but my God, she and Aunt Marj take any excuse to plan one of their legendary events.

“I’ll give her a call, anyway. Let her know I’m thinking about both of them. I’ll check in with you tomorrow, Dale.”

“Good enough.”

I end the FaceTime.

Then I stare at the document I’m still holding. GPS coordinates. Three different sets. And five phone numbers. A gentle breeze drifts over my face. We’re nearing November, and the weather has become brisk. I scan the coordinates once more. I’m no geographical expert, but I think they’re all in western Colorado. Easy enough to look up. I grab my phone as another breeze—

“No!” I scream, as the wind snatches the paper from my hand.

Chapter Forty

Callie

I raise my hand to knock on Rory’s door but stop midair when I hear raised voices coming from the room.

I turn to head back to Donny’s and my room when the door opens.

“Oh.” Raine Cunningham stands before me. “Hi, Callie.”

I clear my throat. “Hi, Raine.”

“Go ahead in. I’m leaving.”

“What’s going on?” I ask her.

“Ask your sister. I’m out of here.”

“Raine, wait!”

She’s already halfway down the hallway to the elevator. I tentatively enter Rory’s room. She’s sitting on the king-size bed, her head in her hands. I approach her.

“Ror?”

She lifts her head. Her eyes are red and glistening.

“Hey,” I say.

She shakes her head. “Raine and I almost never fought while we were together. I mean, we had our disagreements, but a knock-down, drag-out? Never.”

“Until now?” I hedge.

She nods. “I’m not sure what I was thinking, calling her, inviting her over here to talk. It’s so over.”

I sit down next to her. “Tell me.”

“It’s worse than I could have imagined, Cal. It’s Lamone. He did get to her.”

I rub my temples against a headache that is already threatening to cloud my brain. “Oh, man. What did he do?”

“The same lies he told Donny,” she says. “That I slept with him and loved it. That you were next in line. That we’re gold diggers.”

“And she believed him?”

Rory scoffs softly. “No, she didn’t.”

“Then what’s the problem?”

“It just reinforced her feelings about my bisexuality. She doesn’t think I’ll ever be able to be in a relationship with a woman without wanting men.”

“That’s the dumbest thing I’ve ever heard. I guess she’s okay with you being attracted to other women, then?”

“I know, I know. It makes no sense at all. I told her she was being insecure and that maybe she was the one with the problem, and as you can imagine, it escalated from there.”

“She is the one with the problem, Ror. She has a trust problem.”

“Yeah. She does.”

“And it’s her problem,” I say. “Not yours.”

“Except I lost her.”

“A few days ago, you were okay with that.”

“I still am, I think. It just hurts, you know?” She sniffles. “I can’t be with someone who doesn’t trust me. Relationships don’t work that way.”

My previous conversation with Donny plays over in my mind. I promised to tell him everything. I can’t renege on that promise. He has to know I trust him.