Melt (Steel Brothers Saga 4)

“What about Jade’s ex-boyfriend, Colin?”

“The cops are looking into that right now. Since they found his belongings on Larry, they figure they got the right guy. They just don’t have a body, and Larry’s maintaining his innocence. But Larry’s such a liar, so I have no idea.”

“Do you think Larry was set up?”

“It’s possible. If he was set up, it was probably by the other two sickos who took me.”

What Talon said did make sense, but there was no way to be certain, unless we found out who the other two were.

“Okay, Talon, so we have one who has a phoenix on his left forearm, and the other has a birthmark on his arm that looks kind of like the state of Texas.”

“Yeah.”

“And you’re still determined to find them.”

“I will find them, Doc. I swear.”

I had talked to Talon before about not mistaking vengeance for healing, that he needed to heal whether he found the others or not. I thought he understood, but it wouldn’t do any harm to say it again. “You need to continue your healing, whether the others are caught or not.”

“Yeah, I know that. You’ve told me.”

“I don’t mean to repeat myself, but sometimes I think you get so caught up in finding the others that you put that goal over your own healing. You’ve come so far already, and I’d hate to see you slide backward. Revenge is not healing.”

Talon leaned forward. “I do hear what you’re saying. I really do. I know you think I’m looking for a needle in a haystack. And maybe I am. I promise, I am healing. I’m sleeping in the same bed with Jade every night now, and I don’t fear I’m going to hurt her. I know I would never hurt her. And my dreams, well, they haven’t disappeared altogether, but they are lessening.”

I nodded. It had been a while since Talon had told me about a dream. “When was the last time you had a dream?”

He shook his head. “Wow, I think it’s been about a week at least.”

“That’s good. Do you remember what you dreamed about?”

“No. I normally don’t. Unless I wake up right in the middle of it. Usually what happens is I wake up agitated and know I had one, but I don’t remember the content. Then I look next to me, and I see Jade sleeping peacefully. I caress her soft shoulder, maybe give her a kiss on the cheek. And I go back to sleep.”

“That’s great. Really.”

“Thanks.”

“So how are things going at home? I mean with Jade’s mom being there.”

He rolled his eyes. “I don’t like to say this, but she’s kind of a diva. She keeps Felicia running. And Jade, when she’s there. She doesn’t ask me for much of anything. I gave Felicia a significant raise for dealing with her.”

I smiled. “That’s generous of you.”

“No, not generous. Believe me, Felicia earns it.”

“I don’t doubt it. What do you think of Jade’s mother? Other than that she’s a diva.”

“I only really know what Jade and her father have said. She does seem to want to make amends with Jade, and I appreciate that. I don’t want Jade to have any bad feelings in her life.”

“And Jade? How is she doing?”

“There are days when she wants to strangle her mother. I try to talk her down from it, and I’m usually successful. But it’s important to her that Brooke be there and that we help her. A nurse comes in once a day for a few hours to check on her, do some PT, give her meds, and the nurse also takes her into the city overnight for more therapy once a week. It’s great for Jade to get that time off from Brooke.”

“And what will happen when Brooke is ready to live on her own?”

Talon sighed. “Jade and I haven’t had that talk yet, so I don’t know. I can set her up somewhere on the ranch, but I really don’t want to.”

“I understand. You can figure that out later.”