Burn (Steel Brothers Saga 5)

“Sounds like him, Bryce,” Joe said. “He could have easily come back from Grand Junction that afternoon.”

“Then why didn’t he come home? He told Mom he was staying in the city for a few days.”

Tension was still sliding off Jonah in waves. He gripped his glass with white knuckles, his forearms flexed. “Melanie, do you remember what he was doing in the hardware store?”

“I don’t really know much of anything. I didn’t talk to him. He was buying a few things. Duct tape and rope, I think.”

“You must be mistaken,” Bryce said. “Why would my father need duct tape and rope?”

“Duct tape and rope are pretty normal things to have around,” I said.

And they were also the things the masked man had used to bind my hands and ankles. My heart thudded, and I dropped my mouth open.

“Melanie?” Jonah looked at me with concern. “What’s wrong? Are you all right?”

I looked at Bryce, my knuckles tight as I clenched my glass of water. “Tell me. What color are your father’s eyes?”

Chapter Seventeen

Jonah

“They’re blue,” Bryce said, looking at me. “Why?”

“It’s just… It’s nothing, really.” Melanie looked down.

“Melanie,” I said. “Why did you ask that? Did you see the color of the mayor’s eyes when you were in the hardware store?”

She shook her head. “His back was to me. I had a view of the counter where he was making his purchases. That’s how I know what he was buying.”

“Then why do you want to know the color of his eyes, sweetheart?”

I hadn’t meant to call her sweetheart in front of Bryce, but I couldn’t bring myself to be sorry I had. We wouldn’t be a couple for much longer, once she found out the truth, but for now, it felt kind of good to have him think that we were.

“I don’t know. It was a silly question.” She yawned. “I think I’ll take this glass of water back to my room. I’m sorry to bother you.”

Melanie didn’t want to go back to her room and be alone. I could see it in her eyes, her demeanor. I touched her arm as she walked by me. “You can stay.”

She smiled and shook her head. “I’ll be all right. Just come check on me later, okay?” She shuffled out of the kitchen and down the hallway.

I turned back to Bryce. “Before you ask, she’s staying here for a few days. Her loft was…broken into.”

“I’m sorry to hear that. Seems we have a rash of crime around here these days.”

More than my best friend even imagined, if what I suspected about his father was true. “Bryce, I’m sure your father is fine.”

I was speaking the truth. The mayor was an iceman. I didn’t know where he’d gone off to, but I knew for damn sure that he had a reason for it.

“I hope you’re right. But I need to find out. Can you help me?”

Talk about being between a rock and a hard place. Bryce was my oldest friend in the world, and on a normal day, I would have moved heaven and earth to help him. Today? I wasn’t so sure. One thing niggled at me, though. Why had Melanie asked the question about the mayor’s eyes?

I sighed. “What do you need me to do?”

“Float me a loan of a couple grand? I need to hire someone good.”

That I could handle. “Sure, man. Absolutely. Consider it a gift.” I stood. “My checkbook’s in the office.”

“No, no, I’ll pay you back. Every dime.”