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“I see. What if I ask the nurse if it’s okay if I speak to her?”
“That’s not possible.”
“Why not?”
He stood, shoving his hands into the pockets of his pants. “Because there’s no nurse. I lied. I figured if you thought there was a nurse, you’d leave her alone.”
“For Christ’s sake, Rodney, I don’t want to harm her. I just want to talk to her. Gina was my cousin. And as much as I’d like to forget my bloodlines, this involves my father. She might have information that could help me find him.”
“That’s just it. She doesn’t want you to find him.”
“After what he did to Gina? How can that be?”
“She’s afraid of him. We both are.”
I widened my eyes. I hadn’t considered that, though I probably should have. My father had a warped perception of loyalty to family ties.
“Please. I just want to talk to her. If she gets agitated, I’ll leave.”
“I’m sorry. No.”
Since the woman was crazy as a loon anyway, talking to her was probably futile. I decided not to push it. Maybe Rodney had other information.
“Look, my father was in town last night. He came to the station. He had to have had help. Did he get it from you?”
“No. He wouldn’t trust me to help him.”
“Who would he trust? Wendy?”
“Not likely, and she’s locked up in psych.”
“I know. Who else?”
“Simpson.”
“Dead. Who else?”
“Only one other, though they had a falling out a long time ago. And he’s also dead.”
“And who might that be?”
“Steel. Brad Steel.”
* * *
I sat in the hotel room, typing on my laptop. Ryan still hadn’t arrived, and I hadn’t gotten a text from him in a couple hours. I was starting to worry.
I’d also been worrying about how I was going to tell him about the conversation with my uncle, specifically that, according to him, Brad Steel was one of the people my father trusted…or at least had in the past. That didn’t bode well for Ryan’s father.
Rodney could very well be lying. I didn’t trust any of them as far as I could throw them.
But what if he was telling the truth? What did that say about Ryan’s father and his involvement in this mess?
I didn’t want to think about it. One thing was certain though. If Bradford Steel was alive, we needed to find him. Without him, there would be no closure for any of us.
I jolted when the door handle turned. Relax, it’s only Ryan.
I smiled as the door opened.
