“What?” Joe said through clenched teeth. “What went too far, Larry?”
Wade shook his head. “I can’t do it. I can’t. Not even for the children of my sister. I barely knew her, you know.”
“For God’s sake,” Joe said. “We mean nothing to you. Don’t try to play the sister card.”
“Besides, Simpson is dead,” I said. “He can’t get to you.”
“Mathias isn’t dead. And he isn’t even the most dangerous.”
“Then who is?” I asked.
He stared at me eerily. “You have your mother’s nose,” he said again. Then he stood and motioned to the guard. “We’re done here.”
Chapter Twenty–Nine
Ruby
Marjorie and I ended up at a small café for a late lunch. Melanie joined us. She had driven into the city with Jonah and Ryan, who were visiting Larry Wade. I was nervous, waiting for a call from Tuck. I knew we probably wouldn’t hear anything for a while, but Tuck could be speedy sometimes, especially where a lot of money was involved.
I’d rather he take his time and get it right.
“I’m thinking…” Melanie began.
“Yeah?” I took a bite of my BLT. Tasted like sawdust with mayo.
“We’re not too far from that psych place where they’re holding Wendy Madigan. Would you be willing to go speak to her?”
I nearly jumped off my chair. Go talk to the woman who might be my lover’s mother? A woman who was batshit crazy? A woman who knew my father a hell of a lot better than I did? “Hell, yeah.”
“Would they let us in?” Marjorie asked.
I pulled my clutch open and pulled out my badge. “This will.”
Melanie nodded. “I was hoping you’d agree. I just want to talk to her. I’m not looking for any specific information. Just want to get a feeling, you know?”
“Actually, with your psychological expertise and my investigative training, we might be able to get somewhere.”
“If you two don’t mind, I’m going to bow out of that one,” Marjorie said. “I’ll do some shopping. I’m afraid I might just kick the shit out of the bitch.”
I felt Marjorie’s pain. “I understand.”
“Me too,” Melanie said. “We’ll text you when we’re done, and we can meet up later.”
I shuddered. This would be another betrayal of Ryan. But I was all in already. I’d given Marjorie his hair and arranged to have the DNA testing done.
God, I hoped it was negative and we could all go our merry ways. Still, that in itself would be a lie. What had I gotten into?
Didn’t matter. The test would be positive.
In the depths of my marrow, I already knew the truth.
Wendy Madigan was Ryan’s mother.
And she was going to answer to me.
* * *
Wendy Madigan had medium-dark hair with gray roots. Her eyes were a dull blue. She might have been quite pretty in her day, but now, her hair was slicked back on her head and she wore hospital scrubs.