It was late when I got back to the ranch. The lights were on in the main house, so I figured I’d stop and see if Talon wanted to have a drink. I let myself in and gave his mutt, Roger, a pat on the head. No one was in the living area or the kitchen, but light was coming from under the door of Talon’s office. I walked toward the room and knocked.
“Yeah, come in.”
Talon sat at his desk, typing on the computer. He looked up. “Oh, hey, Joe. What are you doing over here at this hour?”
“I just got back from the city. I saw your light and thought I’d stop by and see if you want to have a drink or something.”
Talon raked his fingers through his hair. “Yeah, sure. I could use one.”
“What are you working on?”
“Well, I started going over some of the orchard accounts, but I ended up looking for information on Jade’s ex, Colin Morse.”
“Why are you looking for information on him? He’s dead.”
“I’m not so sure he is. He’s mixed up in all this somehow. I can feel it.” He stood and walked around his desk.
I followed him out into the family room. I sat down on a leather couch while Talon played bartender.
“I ran into a guy the other day,” I said. “Said he knew you.”
“Yeah?” Talon raised his eyebrows. “Who?”
“An old guy named Mike. Met him in an old dive bar around skid row in Grand Junction.”
“What the hell were you doing down there?”
“I could ask you the same thing.”
“I asked you first.”
“I’m the older brother. You need to answer me first.”
Talon shook his head. “Oh, hell, no. You’re not going to pull rank on me. Those days are long gone.”
True, they were. I had lost the right to pull rank on Talon one fateful day when I was nearly thirteen.
“What the hell does it matter why either of us was there?” I asked.
“Doesn’t matter a damn to me. You brought it up.” Talon took a sip of his whiskey and handed me a martini.
I accepted the drink gladly and took a long sip. Mother’s milk.
Definitely time to change the subject. “Why are you researching Colin?”
“Jade says Larry is claiming his innocence regarding Colin. Not that I take Larry’s word for anything but the shit it is, but remember a few weeks ago, when Jade got a call from Colin’s phone?”
“Yeah.”
“It just doesn’t sit right with me. Larry had disappeared. And if he had Colin’s phone, why the hell would he call Jade with it?”
“I don’t know. She was his assistant city attorney. Maybe he was calling to check up on things.”
“Then why didn’t he say something? And if he cared about how things were going at the city attorney’s office, why did he disappear in the first place?”
“I don’t know, Talon. None of this makes any sense at all. Why is Colin even an issue? He certainly wasn’t one of your abductors. He would have been about a year old, at most.”
Talon rubbed his jawline. “He hates me. One, for taking Jade from him, although he dumped her first, and two, for kicking the shit out of him. He is involved in this somehow. How else would his phone and wallet get into Larry’s possession?”
“Easy. Larry offs him, and he takes his phone and wallet. It makes perfect sense to me.”
“Come on, Joe, you’re smarter than that. Dig a little deeper.”
“Talon, did it ever occur to you that maybe you weren’t meant to figure this all out? Maybe you should just concentrate on healing.”
“God, you sound like Dr. Carmichael.”
I stiffened, hoping Talon didn’t notice. “What makes you say that?”
“She says I should concentrate on healing, because whether these guys are ever caught won’t help me either way.”
“She’s a smart lady. You should probably listen to her.”
“By the way, how’s it going with you and her?”
My cheeks warmed. “What do you mean?”
“I mean your therapy, dumbass. What did you think I meant?”
Of course he meant my therapy. He didn’t know about the other…stuff. I sure as hell couldn’t tell him about the sex. I also couldn’t tell him that I was no longer seeing her for therapy, because then he would ask why, and I would have to tell him something, anything, and I hadn’t a clue what that would be.
I had no idea what was going on with Melanie. It was the best sex I’d ever had, and I couldn’t deny the attraction between us. But we wanted different things. She’d freaked out when I slapped her. I would never hurt her, of course, but I liked to play rough during sex. I was a natural Dominant, and I’d never had anyone complain about it before. Then again, she’d given me the best blow job of my life, and she had the sweetest little pussy I’d ever tasted…
“Therapy is going fine.”
“She’s good, isn’t she?”
“Oh, yeah. She’s good.” Of course, I wasn’t talking about therapy.