Total pages in book: 75
Estimated words: 78227 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 391(@200wpm)___ 313(@250wpm)___ 261(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 78227 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 391(@200wpm)___ 313(@250wpm)___ 261(@300wpm)
“She could turn on tears like a fucking water faucet,” I say. “I was nearly convinced until we found the ring.”
“Wow. What is it with that ring?” Rory asks.
“I don’t know. The original apparently belonged to my grandmother, but it’s not her initials that are engraved inside. They’re the initials of her mother, or her brother. It doesn’t make sense. There’s a mystery there, and we need to solve it.”
“In the meantime, how are you going to deal with the human traffickers?”
“My father’s having all the GPS coordinates combed for evidence, and then we’re going to destroy everything there.”
“So let me get this straight. Brittany is being set up with the red fingernails, and someone wants your family to think she was at those places.”
“Yeah, and at this point? I’m not sure she wasn’t.”
Rory shakes her head. “Brittany can’t be trusted. Clearly she’s a bad person. But is she a killer? A trafficker? No way.”
“At this point, I trust Doc more than I trust her.”
“Really?”
“Yeah. I mean, look at the evidence. Ten years ago, my family didn’t give Doc a full-time job on the ranch. His income suffered, so he started the guard-dog business. It wasn’t until after that that he got involved with the traffickers. But Brittany?” I shake my head. “She was already tranquilizing you and Callie right around that time. She thought nothing of hijacking her father’s medicine cabinet and his email accounts. In essence, she stole from his business. Whatever went wrong with her went wrong a long time ago.”
“It was probably Pat’s influence.”
“Maybe. And she was just a kid back then. Seventeen years old. But Pat Lamone? Do you really think he had that kind of control over a teenage girl?”
“High school is rough, Brock. When you’re not born a Steel, it kind of sucks.”
“Did it suck for you?”
She blushes then. “No. I was lucky. I was born beautiful.”
“And I was born a Steel.”
“So you get it.”
I nod. “I do. But you know what? There are plenty of other people—the vast majority in fact—for whom high school is a shitty time, and they don’t resort to crime.”
She nods. “I know. You’re right. Take Callie for instance. She’s a beautiful girl, but she allowed one remark by Pat Lamone to color her entire high school career. She thought she was an ugly duckling. She felt invisible.”
“But she didn’t engage in any criminal activity,” I say.
“So you really think,” Rory continues, “that Brittany, even though she attempted to give you the information via that safe-deposit box in Donny’s name, is actually not on your side.”
“I feel it very strongly. She didn’t do it for us. She did it for Pat.”
“You may be right. I don’t know her well enough. I have no desire to know her.”
“I don’t blame you. I wish none of us knew her. I look back, and I think… Even if my father had given Doc the job with our ranch, Brittany was still a bad seed. Even before that.”
“You’ll get no argument from me.”
“I wish I could stay,” I say, “and continue the tour with you. But I can’t. I have to go back home. I have to see this thing through with my family.”
She softens then. Crawls into my arms. “I understand.”
“Thank you.” I kiss the top of her head. “You mean everything to me, Rory. Everything. At least while you’re on tour, I know you’re safe.”
CHAPTER THIRTY-ONE
RORY
Brock joins the band and me for breakfast at a local diner and then picks up the tab, which everyone appreciates.
Even Jesse is coming around on the Steels. In fairness, it was never Brock he had a problem with.
Once Brock is on the road back to Colorado, we finish packing the van and head to our next venue.
My mood is a mess. I’m worried about Brock and about what his family has to go through right now. I’m pissed off about the whole agent thing. I mean, Selena Campbell had no intention of signing us. She only wanted to bed the band. Which she did, according to Jesse. Apparently Cage and Jake gave her that threesome she wanted.
That only pisses me off more.
But I’m all in. I can’t let Jesse down, so I will continue with this tour. Maybe we’ll find someone at the next venue.
Or maybe we won’t.
Maybe the idea is just to play our hearts out, to sing and be heard, to enjoy ourselves and provide enjoyment for the audience.
And that’s never a bad thing.
CHAPTER THIRTY-TWO
BROCK
I’m home by lunchtime, and after saying hi to Sammy, I head straight over to the main house.
My father’s not home.
“He went into the office early this morning,” Mom says.
“Okay. I’ll see him there.” I give her a kiss on the cheek.
Then I drive to the office—or rather, the office building on Steel property where we conduct our business.