I wasn’t sure.
I’d been wondering lately if we’d be better off just letting it die. Talon was healing, Jonah was healing, and they were both happily married now. We’d brought two of the culprits to justice.
Why tempt fate?
But Ruby had changed my mind. The last of the three, Theodore Mathias, was Ruby’s father. He had to be caught. Even if Talon no longer needed that closure, Ruby did.
So by God, I would see Mathias behind bars…or better yet, in his grave.
“That’s not like them,” Joe was saying.
Like what? Oh, right. We’d been talking about not hearing from Mills and Johnson for a while.
“We could go to their offices,” I said.
“What offices?” Joe raked his fingers through his hair.
“You mean they don’t have…”
Talon shook his head. “Nope. All they have is cell numbers, which change every now and then. Mills has changed his twice since we’ve been working with them. Johnson once.”
“And it never occurred to either of you that that was a little, I don’t know, weird?”
“Nah,” Talon said. “They explained it when I first hired them. They work on the good side, but they have to break some rules to do it. The police know it. That’s why they recommend them. They can do things the police can’t, and they get away with it.”
“So they break the law.” I shook my head. “They’re criminals.”
“Yeah. And we’re good with that, Ry,” Joe said. “It’s not like they commit murder. They hack into databases. They break into records. They don’t assault people or hurt anyone in any way. Sometimes the end justifies the means.”
Ruby would hate this. She was a cop, for God’s sake. Then again, she wanted to bring her father to justice.
“I’m really sorry we didn’t discuss all this with you at the time,” Talon said. “It was your busy season. No one wanted to bother—”
“For fuck’s sake! I’m your little brother. I’ve seen what all of this has done to both of you. You didn’t think I’d let the fucking wine wait?” I shook my head. “I can’t believe this. Why would you keep shit from me?”
“We didn
’t,” Joe said, his voice calm. “We didn’t keep anything big from you. Just that Mills and Johnson sometimes leave their scruples at home. What’s the big deal, as long as they get the job done?”
“The big deal is that I would have liked to have known. You’re springing this on me now, and…” I sighed. And what? I was pissy because Ruby was lying to me? Because my brothers had lied to me by omission?
“I’m just sick of the lies,” I said. “All the goddamned lies.”
“Ryan,” Jonah said, “just what are you talking about here? We haven’t lied to you. You know that.”
No, they hadn’t, although Joe’s voice was a little off. I attributed it to him being a little miffed that he thought I was accusing him of lying to me. “I know that. But…”
“What is it?”
“I think Ruby is lying to me.”
“About what?” Melanie piped in. “Are things getting serious between you two?”
“I don’t know,” I said truthfully. “I just know she’s lying to me. She doesn’t look me in the eye when she’s lying. She left earlier today—”
“Wait a minute. You were with her last night?” Jonah said.
“Yeah, not that it’s any of your business.”