A few days later I was back at my office, thinking naughty thoughts about Ruby Lee. We’d sat together on the flight home—I’d talked her into allowing me to upgrade her to first class again—and talked a lot about wine. I’d promised her a tour of our winemaking facility and the vineyards if it was warm enough.

“Warm enough? You’re a rancher,” she’d said. “Any temperature you can take, I can take.”

I didn’t doubt it. She’d been on her own since her teens. She’d probably learned to exist being cold.

I hated thinking of her living like that, but I couldn’t help but admire her fortitude. She was something special, this one. Scared shitless of a relationship with me, but still special. Frankly, I was a little scared myself. I was feeling things that were foreign to me. I truly had loved Anna, but while talking to Ruby the last night at the resort, being put on the spot and having to describe those feelings, I realized I was feeling something for Ruby that was new.

Completely new.

I wasn’t scared so much of the feelings as I was that she might not return them.

What the hell? I had her number. I was going to call her. I picked up my phone to call her, when it buzzed in my hand.

Hmm… I didn’t recognize the number.

“Ryan Steel.”

“Ryan?”

“Yes.”

“Is it really you?”

“Uh…yeah. Who is this, please?”

“Oh, darling. It’s your mother again.”

My heart slammed against my sternum. Was that the same voice of the woman who’d called me before? It could have been. I hadn’t paid much attention the first time.

Who was this nutcase?

No, wait. I’d blocked the number the previous time this had happened. This had to be a different number. I looked at my phone and quickly scratched the number on a sticky note. Then I hung up.

Why would anyone do this to me?

My mother was dead. Had been for over two decades. I was only nine when she died, and I didn’t have many memories of her. I wasn’t sure why. Talon and Joe had lots of memories, but they were older. Still, nine wasn’t exactly young. Why were my memories of her so few? I had lots of memories of my father and brothers during that time. Honestly, I hadn’t thought much about her in a while. Not until Jade had uncovered my mother’s true birth certificate and we found out she was the half sister to Larry Wade.

Then, all of a sudden, Daphne Steel had invaded my thoughts, and it had hit me like a cement block. I didn’t remember much about my own mother.

Very strange.

Maybe I’d talk to Melanie about it. She’d helped both my brothers deal with the demons of their pasts. Maybe she could help me. Not that my mother was a demon. She had been a loving woman.

I thought, anyway.

How much was my own memory, and how much was me just remembering what my brothers had told me?

At any rate, the loon who’d called me was not my mother. My mother was dead and buried. At least I remembered a little about her. Poor Marjorie had no memories at all.

I had to call my brothers and let them know that this had happened twice now. Once could have been a fluke. Twice? That merited looking into.

I called Joe on speed dial.

“Hey, Ry. What’s up?”

“How’s married life, bro? How’s Melanie?”

“Great.” He laughed. “And she’s good. A little nausea, but she’s handling it like a pro.”

“Glad to hear it.”

“I doubt you called to ask about my wedded bliss.”

“Yeah, well, there is something else. I got a weird phone call this morning. In fact, I got another one before we left for Jamaica. Both different numbers though.” I explained the situation.

“That is weird.” Joe’s voice had a slight edge to it. “Did the woman give you a name?”

“A name? Why would she give me a name? I only have one mother, and she’s dead.”

“Right. Of course.”

What was up with my brother? “I saved the second number. I’m going to give Trevor Mills a call and have him look into it.”

“No, don’t.” My brother’s voice was stern.

“Why the hell not?”

“Because this is just some prank. Mills and Johnson are on Mathias. That’s where they need to be concentrating.”

“Joe, what gives? You know as well as I do that tracing a phone number will take Mills all of three seconds.”

“Yeah, you’re right. I’m sorry. It’s just…”

“Just what?”

“Shit. Nothing. Go ahead and give them a call. Let me know what you find out. Do you want me to call Talon?”

“Go ahead if you want. I’m going to get Mills on this first.”

“Sure, I’ll call him. And Ry?”

“Yeah?”

“Love you, bro. No matter what.”

What? When was the last time either of my brothers had said they loved me? Probably the fifth of never. Not that I doubted their love. We just weren’t a touchy-feely bunch.

“Love you too,” I said and ended the call.

That was weird. Very weird.

After a quick call to Mills to look into the number—I left him a voice mail—I called Ruby.

“Detective Lee.”

“Hey there, baby.”

“Oh, hi, Ryan.”

“Don’t sound so excited to hear from me.” I smiled into the phone.

“No. I’m happy you called. I’m just in work mode.”

“What are you working on?”

“What am I not working on? I have a huge caseload, plus all my spare time is spent tracking my father. I’m also looking into the situation with Juliet and Lisa.”

“Any leads?”

“On my father? No, I’m sorry to say. On Juliet and Lisa? Still no, but I’m investigating kidnapping rings in the Caribbean. There are more than a few. Several women have gone missing from resorts in the area. Not just Jamaica, but the Virgin Islands, the DR, even a few from the Bahamas. These guys don’t discriminate, that’s for sure.”

“Is there any way to find Juliet and Lisa?”

“Not without money I don’t have. They were essentially naked when they disappeared. They had no ID, nothing.”

My nerves rattled. “Ruby, what happens to these women?”

She sighed across the phone line. “It’s not pretty, Ryan.”

“I’ve seen a lot of ‘not pretty’ in my life. You can tell me.”

“They’re usually drugged, deprived of food and water, and beaten and raped to learn submission. Once they submit, they’re fed to gain weight. They need to be attractive for buyers.”

“What if they don’t submit?” A lump was lodged in my throat.

“Then they don’t survive. They are eventually starved and beaten to death.”

God. I didn’t know those two women, but the thought of this… “Thank God Shayna got away.”

“I say that every day,” she said.

“I didn’t mean to start this conversation on a downer.”

“Most of what I do is a downer. Detectives don’t usually investigate good people.”

I chuckled. “Touché. How do you deal with it? All day and every day?”

“I guess you could say I’m driven.”

“What drives you?”

“My father. The guilt I feel for not being able to bring him to justice. So I bring a lot of others to justice instead. It helps.”

Her answer didn’t surprise me. “You’ll bring your father to justice, Ruby. We’re all here to help.”

“I know. But believe me, he’s cunning. He doesn’t slip up.”

“He will. We’ve taken out his two partners. He’ll screw up eventually, and when he does, you’ll swoop in and get him. I promise you.”

“I hope you’re right.”

“Of course I am. Hey, it’s Friday. Do you want to come to my place for dinner? Maybe spend the weekend? You could use a break.”

She laughed. “I just got back from vacation.”

“Yeah, and you’re back at your job and everyone else’s already.”

“I was going to do some research this weekend.”

“Funny thing about my place. I have Internet.”

“Okay, okay. Sure. Can I bring anything?”

“Like a bottle of wine?”

She laughed. “No. Like…I don’t know. Dinner? Do you cook?”

“I happen to be a great cook,” I said. “I’ll make you seared scallops a la Ryan.”

“Seafood? On a beef ranch?”

“Man cannot live on bovine alone.”

She laughed once more. It was a musical sound. I was glad I had that effect on her.

“All right. What time?”

“Be here around six if you can.”

“How about six thirty? I get off at five thirty. I’ll have to…pack a bag.”

“Six thirty it is. Come hungry.”

“I will.” She ended the call.

No sooner had I put my phone down when it buzzed again.

The same number that had called before…