“That’s great, bro,” Talon said.
This was getting way off track. “It was just one night. Anyway, we were supposed to spend the weekend together, but she decided she needed to leave to handle something work related. Then she said it wasn’t work related, but she wouldn’t tell me what it was.”
“Probably something to do with her father,” Joe said.
“Then why wouldn’t she tell me that? I, of all people, would understand. We want her father caught too.”
“Maybe she was just in a hurry,” Melanie suggested. Then her phone buzzed. She looked at it. “Sorry. I have to take this.” She left the kitchen.
Chapter Twenty–Seven
Ruby
I breathed a heavy sigh of relief when Melanie answered her phone.
“Hey,” I said, “I’m sorry to bother you, but it’s important.”
“You’re no bother. What’s up, Ruby?”
“I got a weird text today. Freaked me out something awful, and in my line of work, I’m not easily freaked out.”
“Who was it from?”
“That’s just it. I don’t know. But if I had to wager a guess, I’d say Wendy Madigan.”
Silence. Then, “What did the text say?”
“It said, ‘Stay the fuck away from my son, bitch.’”
“Wow.”
“You know Marjorie contacted me, right?”
She sighed. “Yeah. Jade and I disagree with how they’re handling this.”
“She told me. I’m in your camp. Did you guys ever find out anything about the number that Ryan was getting calls from? You know, from the woman claiming to be his mother?”
“No. We’ve been trying to get in touch with Trevor Mills since we returned from Jamaica, but he hasn’t been answering.”
“I’m at the office now, running a check on this number. I’ll forward it to you if you want to look into it.”
“Yeah. Please do. Jonah and Talon will want to know about this.”
“And Ryan?”
She sighed. “His siblings still think it’s best to keep him in the dark. I don’t agree, but what can I do?”
My clutch was burning a hole on my desk where it sat. I could almost see it pulse with the plastic bag containing Ryan’s hair.
My heart raced.
I was a cop. I had made the truth my life. And here I was, holding a piece of evidence that could lead the Steel family to the truth.
But I couldn’t betray Ryan.
I just couldn’t.
But I could have the DNA extracted from the hair myself…