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Ryan and Marjorie both shook their heads.
“It must have been Joe then,” Talon said. “Oldest brother and all. He probably volunteered.”
“Call him,” I said. “Let’s get to the bottom of this.”
“For Christ’s sake,” Talon said.
He got up and left the room, Ryan and Marjorie following.
“This is a lot for them to take,” I said to Jade. “I’m sorry about that.”
“It’s not your fault,” Jade said. “You’re asking the kind of questions a cop asks. As for me, I’m going to do the lawyer thing and check this out.” She fingered the death certificate of John Cunningham. “If I were a betting person, I’d bet this isn’t anywhere in the requisite database. Scratch that. I’ll bet it is, right down to the number on the cer
t. But I’ll bet it bears Brad Steel’s name, and that John Cunningham never existed, according to records.”
Chapter Ten
Ryan
“This is ridiculous,” I said, as Talon punched in Joe’s number.
“Do you trust Ruby?” Marj asked.
What a loaded question. A week ago, the answer would have been yes. Now I wasn’t sure. But I did trust her cop instincts. “Yes.”
“Jesus.” She swallowed. “This is all so…”
“Twisted?” I said.
“Yeah. That’s the word, all right.”
Talon laid his phone down on the table in the kitchen. “You’re never going to believe this.”
“What?” Marjorie and I said in unison.
“Joe didn’t identify Dad’s body. He was going to, but someone else volunteered to do it for him, and he allowed it. He didn’t want to see our father’s dead body.”
“Who?” I asked.
“Wendy Madigan.”
I had to stop myself from doubling over. Swallowing down nausea, I fell into a chair at the table. “My mother.”
“We’ll figure this out, Ry,” Marj said, touching my arm.
But I didn’t want a sisterly touch. Or a brotherly touch. That wasn’t going to cut it right now.
I craved something more. Someone more. And she was still downstairs.
I got up, saying nothing to my brother and sister.
“Ry,” Talon said. “Joe’s on his way over. Where are you going?”
“I’m leaving.”
“No. You can’t.”
“The hell I can’t.” I walked to the basement door and down the stairs.
