Possession (Steel Brothers Saga 3)

“Do you have the original airbag? The one that didn’t deploy? I assume you put in a new functioning airbag.”

“We sure did. I’ll have to look around and see if we still have the old airbag. It was trash. I don’t know why we would have kept it.”

“Do you remember anything odd about the airbag when you removed it?” Friedman asked.

“Can’t say that I do, but again, I wasn’t looking for anything.”

“Sensor could’ve been bad, or the airbag could’ve been an old airbag with holes in it,” Tyson said. “Anything like that?”

Shem shook his head again. “I wish I could help you fellows. But like I said, we weren’t looking for anything.”

“Likely you’d have noticed if the airbag was bad itself,” Friedman said. “I’m going to have to assume it might’ve been a faulty sensor. And now that the new one’s been installed, we have no way of proving the sensor was faulty in the first place. Even if it was a faulty sensor, that doesn’t mean someone put it there. It’s a machine. Parts go bad on their own sometimes.”

I sighed. “Do normal people off the street know how to put in airbag sensors?”

Shem laughed. “Are you kidding? We get so many doctors and lawyers in here who don’t have a clue. I used to work as a mechanic before I got into bodywork. It’s amazing how the most intelligent people in the world know nothing about cars.”

“Then it’s doubtful that the owner of the car could’ve fiddled with the sensor himself.” I was thinking aloud. I’d have to find out who had serviced this car in the past. I turned to Friedman and Tyson. “Gentlemen, I appreciate your time. Very much.” I handed them each an envelope full of cash.

“Thank you, Mr. Steel,” Friedman said. “I wish we had better news for you.”

“It was a long shot. I appreciate you coming out on a Saturday evening.”

I said my goodbyes to all three and got in my car. Somehow, I had to figure out where that car had been serviced in the past. And if Nico Kostas was who I thought he was, and if he had done what I thought he’d done, the trail would be difficult—damned near impossible—to pick up.

Chapter Twenty-Three

Jade

“Hello, Ted.”

“Jade, how is your mother?”

I didn’t think for a minute that he gave a damn about my mother. “She’s doing well. Out of the woods.”

“Good, good. Glad to hear it. I suppose the cops have talked to you by now?”

“I’m sure you know that they have. I’m sure they’ve given you a full report.”

Ted cleared his throat. “Yes, of course.”

“So what is it that you want?”

“Information, Jade. You and those Steel punks—”

“Excuse me?”

He cleared his throat again. “The Steel brothers. You and the Steel brothers were the last to see my son.”

My nerves jumped. Where could Colin be? “That doesn’t mean any of us know anything about where he is.”

Silence for a moment. Then, “I understand you are now dating Talon Steel, the one who attacked my son.”

Good news traveled fast. I was the one who’d wanted to make the relationship public. I guess I’d asked for this. Ted Morse, with his blue-blooded money, could’ve hired a PI to find out anyway. “Yes, Talon and I are involved.”

“Interesting…”

“I don’t see why it would be of any interest to you.”