That was us.
There was a time when I thought my father would have been a part of any brotherhood among us Steel men.
I pulled the future lawmakers ring that bore his name out of my pocket.
No longer.
He’d banded together with a group of sociopaths before any of us were even born.
Talon didn’t speak. He’d always been a little uncomfortable with my hero worship, though he was better now that he’d been healing with the help of his wife, Jade, and Joe’s wife, Melanie, who was his therapist.
Finally, he said, “Dad’s ring?”
“Yeah. I don’t know why I’m carrying it with me. Tom’s is down in my cabin in the safe. But this one…” I tossed it in the air and caught it. Its weight was heavy in my palm.
“Yeah, I get it. Weird to think you’re holding something that belonged—or belongs, for all we know—to Dad. Something we never saw him wear. Something we never imagined he’d wear in a million years.”
“He wasn’t the man we always thought he was,” I said. “Not if he was involved with the other people who wore this ring.”
“How do you think it got in Ruby’s place?”
“Mathias, no doubt. Somehow he got his hands on it and planted it there. It proves he was there when she disappeared. I turned the place upside down before, when I found the Wollstonecraft book, and this ring never turned up.”
“How could Mathias have gotten hold of Dad’s ring, though?”
I blew out a breath of air. “Hell if I know. But we do know this. None of us ever remember Dad wearing a ring like this, but clearly he had one, because he’s wearing it in the yearbook photo of the club. Maybe Mathias has had it since high school. Since Dad bowed out of their business.”
“If Dad bowed out of their business.” Talon cocked his head. “I’m not sure what I believe anymore. This thing with him and Wendy…”
Wendy. My psycho mother, Wendy Madigan. Crazy as a loon but brilliant as Einstein. A lethal combination. She’d been the mastermind behind this whole thing, and according to clues we’d found, the symbol on the ring represented her—an evil female.
I rubbed the ring between my fingers. It was identical to Tom’s except for the name engraved on the inside. I slid my fingers over the black onyx stone, the twisted female symbol on the side, and then to the band at the back—
What?
My fingers hit something raised. I turned the ring in my hand. The back of the band had some engraving on it.
In the darkness, I couldn’t see what it was, and I doubted even with natural light I’d be able to see the tiny figures.
“Tal, check this out.”
“What?”
I handed him the ring. “There’s something engraved on the back of the band, on the outside. I don’t recall anything like that on Tom’s ring.”
“One way to find out,” Talon said. “Let’s go get Tom’s ring and compare the two.”
“I’m supposed to stay outside and keep watch. It’s in the safe in my cabin.” I handed him the key to my room. “The combination is Marj’s birthday.”
“Got it. I’ll be right back.”
Talon returned ten minutes later with the ring.
“I’m not seeing anything on the outside of the band on this one.”
I took the ring and inspected it. He was right. Nothing.
“I need to get a good look at these markings,” he said. “We need light…and probably a magnifying glass.”
“They’ll have magnifiers on the bridge for looking at maps and stuff. Maybe a flashlight too. I’ll go check.”
Again, he was gone only about ten minutes. He came back with a small Maglite and several magnifying glasses.
“This one’s the strongest.” He handed it to me with the ring. “Check it out. I’ll hold the light.”
I stopped for a few seconds to wonder how conspicuous we might be, shining a flashlight in the dark in the middle of the Caribbean, but my curiosity won out. I held the magnifier in front of me and moved it back and forth until the image of the etching became clear. A series of numbers stood out.
My heart nearly stopped. “I’ll be goddamned.”
Chapter Six
Ruby
They put you in this room over a day ago.
I couldn’t wrap my still-hazy mind around Juliet’s words.
Over a day ago?
How long had I been out from that chloroform? No wonder I was so sick.
“Do you remember them bringing me in here?”
“No. When they moved me in, you were already here, asleep with your cheek embedded in the floor. I can tell when a day passes because of the window. They brought me here about this time yesterday. I’m just assuming you got here right before then, but honestly, I don’t know. You could have been here longer than that.”
I shook my head, willing my brain cells to start firing correctly. I was dehydrated. That explained my unquenchable thirst and also part of my fogginess. But there was no way they’d used chloroform to put me under for that long. A dose like that would have killed me. I’d been drugged with something else. I touched my upper arm, searching for a lump or sensitive area where they might have injected me. Nothing.
God, what had they put inside my body?
What had my father put inside my body?
I fought back another wave of queasiness and reached for the pitcher of water. It was nearly empty. I drained it.
“They’ll bring food soon.”
Ugh. Food. But I’d eat. I had to eat. I needed to regain my strength. If it had been close to twenty-four hours, I needed sustenance.
I backed away from Juliet. It was time to get serious. “I need you to be straight with me. Tell me exactly what has happened since you got here.”
Her eyes dimmed. “Did Shayna make it?”
Did she not know? Juliet had texted her friend, but she hadn’t had the phone long enough to know if Shayna had responded, which she hadn’t.
I tried to smile, though I wasn’t sure my facial muscles were cooperating. “Yes. She made it.”
“Thank God! I always held out hope, even though they told us she’d drowned. They didn’t know what an awesome swimmer she is.”
“She nearly did drown. Luckily some locals spotted her and pulled her onto their boat. They took her back to the resort.”
Juliet’s eyes misted. “She’s so brave. So much braver than I ever could be.”
“Listen to me.” I choked out the words, my mouth still dry and tight from dehydration and stomach acid. “You’re brave. You hear me? Look at what you’ve been through.”
She leaned back, closed her eyes, and sighed. “I’m not brave. Lisa was brave. She refused to give in.”
“Lisa’s dead,” I said, my headache returning with a vengeance. “I’m sorry to say it so harshly, but dying is not an option. You do what you need to do to survive.”
“Easy for you to say.”
“It is easy for me to say.” Juliet might not be ready to hear the truth, but she needed to if I was going to convince her she had a chance of getting out of this hellish situation. “I’ve been on my own since I was fifteen because my father tried to rape me. Luckily, I got away, but let me tell you, life isn’t easy for a fifteen-year-old on the streets.”
“I’m sorry,” Juliet said. “I had no idea. You seem so together.”
I doubted I seemed all that together at the moment. “We’ve all been through our hardships. I could tell you stories about what others have been through that would make you think you’re living in luxury right now. Don’t take that the wrong way. You don’t deserve this, and we’re going to get you out of here.” I touched her forearm. It was cold and clammy. “Don’t give up. Do what you need to do to stay alive, because as long as you’re alive, you have a chance.”
“I know that. But Lisa seemed so brave.”