Wendy let out a laugh. “And it can get pretty fun in the bedroom, can’t it?”
My cheeks warmed. I hadn’t expected her to get that personal. “Well, without divulging anything private, I can agree with that.”
“Like father like son.”
I could almost see her smiling through the phone.
As fun as this conversation had the capacity to be, it was getting far beyond why I had called Wendy in the first place. “I believe Talon will tell me when he’s ready. And in the meantime, I’m not going to try to flush out anything he’s not ready to tell me about. But I am concerned. My boss, for whatever reason, wants information on the Steels. And let me be honest with you. I don’t know exactly why. All he told me was that it was classified. He said it was possible that they might be involved with organized crime and money laundering.”
Wendy gasped. “That’s ridiculous.”
“Honestly, Wendy, I don’t think they have anything to do with organized crime. I haven’t seen anything to indicate that they’re involved in anything illegal.”
“I can tell you right now that they’re not. Neither Brad nor his father would have dealt in any kind of crime or dirty money. They were both true gentlemen. Integrity meant the world to them.”
“I believe you.” And I did. “But Larry wanted to investigate them for some reason. Do you know what it might be?”
Once again I was met with silence.
“Wendy? You still there?”
“I am,” she said softly.
“Well, do you have any ideas?”
“I have some ideas, but I can’t tell you without revealing some secrets that I swore never to reveal.”
Were they secrets about Talon? Because if they weren’t, I didn’t understand why she couldn’t reveal them. But she had been more than forthcoming with me already. I would not push her.
“Can you at least point me in the right direction?”
“Talon will come to you when he’s ready. When he does, and when you’ve heard his story, call me again.”
Chapter Twenty-Six
Talon
“Relax for a moment. Clear your mind. You just went through a lot. Do some deep breathing, Talon.”
I took Dr. Carmichael’s advice, breathing in, out. In, out. In, out.
“Now,” she said. “Tell me. What do you remember?”
“The one with the low voice. He has a birthmark. Not the red kind, but the kind
where your skin is just a little darker.”
She nodded. “And where did you see it?”
“On his upper arm. It was the weirdest thing. When I started the flashback, he was wearing a black T-shirt. I couldn’t see anything. But then all of a sudden he was no longer wearing a black T-shirt. He was wearing a black tank top. You know, a wife-beater. How could that have happened?”
“I was guiding you. You told me what he was wearing, and I asked if they ever wore anything else. You told me yes, sometimes he wore a black wife-beater. So we manipulated the vision.”
“Amazing.”
“Hypnosis is a pretty powerful tool, especially when the person really wants to be helped. It’s a good sign, Talon.”
“The birthmark had a shape. I can’t really describe it. Some jagged edges. But it looked like something familiar.”