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“Okay, I’ll buy that. But not only that. Why else?”
“Do we really need a reason other than to see your son?” I smiled sweetly.
“No, you don’t. But I know you, little sis. You and Ruby aren’t that close. Why would you come together?”
“We’re close enough, and Ruby is Mel’s best friend.”
“She’s also an ex-cop. I don’t want you bothering Melanie with—”
“Hold on.” I raised my hand to stop his mouth from moving. “We’re all in this, and Melanie wants to help. She’s the one person who might be able to shed some light on Cade Booker and why he’s doing what he’s doing. Ruby and I were curious, and you know what? Your brilliant wife didn’t let us down. She has a theory about Booker, a theory that makes an awful lot of sense.”
“Still, I— Shit.” His phone buzzed. “I have to take this.”
“Good.” I stood, tapping my foot on the floor. Joe infuriated me sometimes.
Ruby peeked out from the doorway. “All done?”
“As far as I’m concerned. Let’s go.”
“Cade must know that Dominic was working on the other side,” Ruby said in the car as we were driving back to the ranch. “That’s why he used the baseball card. And Colin as well. He used the cufflink to incriminate Colin, since Colin had been a victim of Tom Simpson. He was giving us two suspects.”
“He was going to throw his own brother under the bus?” I said.
“Oh, yeah. Psychopaths will normally throw anyone under the bus.”
“But then you have Tom himself, who went out of his way to keep his son away from this part of his life. Bryce is going crazy over it. He remembers Tom as a great dad, and it’s killing him.”
“Has he talked to anyone?”
“He’d planned to talk to Melanie, but then I got taken, and she had the baby early. There hasn’t been time.”
“I kind of get it,” Ruby said, “in a weird way. My father was, in some ways, the worst of the three, but in the end, he saved my life. He also saved me from his goons when I was at the compound.”
I opened my mouth, but she gestured me to stop.
“I know what you’re going to say. He tried to rape me when I was fifteen. I haven’t forgotten that, and I haven’t forgotten all the heinous things he did to others. In the end, though, he saved my life. How can I not be grateful for that?”
“Have you talked to Mel?”
“Yeah. A little.
More as friends than as doctor-patient. She’s helped me see that it’s okay to have a good memory of a bad person. It’s not like they negate each other. My father was a monster, but I wouldn’t be here without him. I wouldn’t have this wonderful life I found with Ryan. So I’m grateful, in a strange way, and that’s okay.”
“Bryce needs to hear that,” I said. “I’ve tried to tell him the same thing, but it will mean more coming from a professional.”
“He will. Bryce is a decent guy. One of the good guys. He’s struggling with the fact that he always thought his father was the same. In fact, every memory he has of his father would indicate that. So his situation is different from mine and harder. I always knew what my father was. The fact that he had a smidgeon of feeling for his only child at the end doesn’t change who and what he was. What it does change is that I’m here, and I wouldn’t be if he hadn’t had that smidgeon of feeling.”
“And Bryce has your feeling times a million,” I said softly. “Poor baby.”
Ruby smiled. “I don’t know Bryce well yet, but I’m betting he’d hate being called a ‘poor baby.’”
“I know he would, but I can’t help it. I feel for him. I love him so much, the way you love Ryan. I feel everything he feels.”
“I know.” She pulled into the drive leading to the main ranch house. “He’s lucky to have you.”
“And vice versa,” I said. “We had a rocky start, but I can’t imagine my life without him.”
Talon was outside on the front deck when we arrived. Odd. He didn’t usually sit out front. He walked to the car as I got out, gesturing to Ruby. Ruby unrolled her window.
