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CHAPTER SIXTEEN

Noel

The name of the man who was kidnapped was Brady Cunningham. That was what I was deep-diving into. There were a lot of sickos in the world, and they’d try desperately to put out feelers to see the man being tortured in the inky void.

Adonis had never uploaded anything regarding his dolls, but this wasn’t a normal situation and if what Aziza had told me prior to her session with Phoenix was right, he was going to realize how much Phoenix being found had fucked up his plans.

We’d all thought at one point or another that he just didn’t care that Phoenix was gone; he had others. But the reality of it all likely hadn’t hit him yet…until Brady.

If I happened upon a room looking for Brady torture porn, it wouldn’t be up long—the FBI and other alphabet agencies were good at dismantling them. I just needed a minute or two to try and grab names, maybe a photo showing where he was being held. Anything.

I didn’t want anything to happen to Brady, but I wasn’t delusional—I knew that if The Broken-Doll Killer wanted to end him, I was in no position to get there in time.

Sure enough, there were a few inquiries. I wrote down their handles and tried to obtain as much info as I could prior to the rooms being closed.

As soon as the news had run Brady’s disappearance a few hours ago, I’d known the clock had started running down; I was just hoping I could get something before it hit zero.

When everything went silent on the Brady front, I dove into Hank Zaffy, the man Phoenix believed might be Adonis. It was easy to see he wasn’t one hundred percent about that, but I wasn’t trusting the authorities on this. I was going hunting myself.

Hank was pretty unimpressive if a little creepy.

He enjoyed taxidermizing roadkill and selling his creations.

He took pre- and post-pictures of himself with them and had a sell site on Tor.

I was surprised it hadn’t been dismantled but if he was being looked at, I was sure the powers that be didn’t want him to become suspicious.

He ran a funeral home with his father and brother, and they used that embalming shit that was used on the victims. Never married, no kids.

None of that mattered. He did live in the attic of his parents’ house and I found a lease to a small building on the west side.

I wondered if that was where he made his creepy creations.

He also had a storage facility and owned a car. He wasn’t hurting for money, but it made me curious as to why he still lived at home.

I also was perplexed as to why Rose had only gotten Hank to talk into the recording and not his father and brother. I’d have to find that out.

When my eyes began to get blurry, I ventured into the kitchen for a drink and a snack. Phoenix was sitting on the back porch, and Aziza was nowhere to be found. So I grabbed two waters and a bag of Smartfood and went to join him.

“Hey.” I plopped into the seat beside him. I slipped my sunglasses on because the sun was a little bright.

“Hi.” He smiled when I offered him the water. “Thanks.”

“No prob. Popcorn?”

He chuckled and shoved his hand in for a fistful. “White cheddar, huh?”

“It’s the best kind. I said what I said, no arguments accepted.”

He huffed good-naturedly, ending it there.

“Good session?”

He shrugged. “She wanted me to try and remember anything I could about him, something I’ve suppressed. It’s so hard. She mentioned, like, hypnosis?”

Ah, yes . “She did that with Four and Two.”

“It worked?”

I wiped my hand on my pants—classy, I know—and took a sip of water.

“I don’t know if it did for Two. But Four was able to unlock a lot that way, and it really was the clincher in her ability to help him heal.

There was a time I would never have entertained the idea that Four would like anyone romantically—then came Lizzy, and it was amazing. ”

He was silent for a few seconds, so I let him be and just enjoyed the wind on my face, and the fading sun began to dip into the sea beyond the cliffs.

“Four was held for years.”

I looked over at him; he was decimating the label on the water bottle. “You’re comparing.”

He sighed and hung his head. “It’s not the same. But how can I not compare?”

“It’s not the same—you’re right. Motive played a huge part in both of your stories.

” I shifted slightly, angling toward him more.

“Four was bred to be a killing machine, raised as a weapon to be pointed and set to hunt. You were taken to be broken, to be killed. Comparing your trauma to his is like saying that because I had kidney stones once, I can relate to a woman giving birth. Pain nonetheless, but the outcomes were way different.”

He glanced at me, mirth playing in his expression. “You had kidney stones?”

I gasped. “That’s what you took from my plethora of wisdom?”

He laughed, his head back and mouth wide, a genuine and beautiful laugh. “Yep.”

“I’m wasting my brilliance on you.”

He calmed down and relaxed more in his seat. “I try not to compare to anyone. It’s hard, though. One of the things he drilled into my head was how I was different from everyone in the worst possible ways. Maybe hypnosis isn’t a bad idea.”

“Aziza knows what she’s doing. If she believes it will help, I’d trust that.”

His hazel eyes met mine. “Would you…” He didn’t finish his sentence, and I found myself leaning farther in, needing him to say what he was thinking.

“Would I, what? Please ask.”

“Would you stay for it?”

“When she hypnotizes you?”

He nodded, and the vulnerability in his expression made me want to promise him the world.

“Absolutely.”

He smiled. “Thank you, Noel. You’re a surprise.”

I snorted. “Am I?”

“When all of this happened and I saw Hazel, in my heart I thought she’d be the only person I’d want to be near or talk to about anything.

No one else felt safe. I believed they all thought the worst of me, and trusting them wasn’t even in the cards.

Then I came here. You’re all wonderful, but you…

I dunno what it is about you Noel Saint, but I feel like nothing could touch me if you’re near. ”

I didn’t know what to say to that. Could I tell him I’d really love to touch him right now, feel those trembling lips, lick away the burdens that lay heavy on his body, drink in his sorrowful sighs and fill him with all the amazing feelings in the world?

I didn’t say any of that. I did reach out, glad when he took my hand, and told him, “I’m happy I can do that for you. And I promise, nothing you don’t want will get near you as long as I’m standing.”

He squeezed my hand, and we spent the next half hour watching the day pass by.