Page 2

CHAPTER ONE

Noel

“You’re going into the shop?”

I grabbed my bag, hauled it onto my shoulder, and faced my twin brother, Nick. “I am. The security cameras are outdated, and there are blind spots in the alley behind the store.”

He nodded. “Okay, well, Four asked me to drop him off there, but since you’re going, can you do it?”

We’d rescued Four two years ago. He’d been born into this world to be molded into an assassin, and he’d pretty much been in the thick of that until JJ, Shep’s partner, had found him dirty and covered in blood.

We’d helped him, fought back—which had almost killed JJ—and now he was family…

and not-so-secretly dating Lizzy, who worked at our shop, Saintly Sweets.

“Sure.”

“Great. I’m going to be out for the day.

Matt is taking me on an all-day date.” My brother’s face broke into a grin.

He and Matt had been together for over a year and were stupidly in love.

We’d helped Matt with a stalker, who’d turned out to be his landlord, and he’d been living in our big-ass house for the same amount of time.

“Have fun.”

I followed him out; he went through the front door and I went toward the kitchen, where Four was sitting with Mason and JJ, finishing his breakfast.

“Morning.” I placed my bag on the counter and poured myself some coffee. “Four, I’m headed to the shop, and I told Nick I’d take you.”

“Okay.” Four wasn’t much of a talker, and it was rare that he showed much emotion unless he was talking to Lizzy. Then, it was as if he were a totally different person.

“Shep is there; he had to drop some things off, and he’s baking. I’ll be there later, so if you’re still hooking up your cameras or whatever and Four wants to leave, I can bring him back,” JJ offered.

Another thing—Four didn’t drive. Not for any reason other than he didn’t want to. Which, for the most part, none of us minded but we all hoped that one day he’d latch on to it and decide to learn.

“Sounds good.” I drained my coffee, rinsed my mug, and put it in the dishwasher. “Ready, Four?” I grabbed my bag, and he followed me out to my car.

Saintly Sweets was the family bakery. It was a guise for our not-so-legal business.

We helped people when everything else they’d tried had failed.

Minus Four and Matt, who we’d taken no payment for, we did pretty well.

We didn’t take out ads so if a client came to us, they’d come because someone we trusted had given them our info.

While it masked our other work, it really was one of the best bakeries ever and that had to do with that Viking of a man, Shepard Saint. If you looked at him, you wouldn’t think he loved making cupcakes and brownies, but he did.

The main area of the store was managed by Lizzy.

She’d begun here while she was in high school.

Now she was in college but worked after classes and anytime we needed her.

We weren’t sure if she knew what me and my brothers did on the side, but she wasn’t dumb and I would bet Four had told her at some point.

Darby worked with her. She was a spunky, colorful woman with a smile for anyone. We had a few high school kids that filled in now, and it was going pretty smoothly for us.

I entered the bakery through the back, and Four didn’t waste a minute; he went through the door that led to the front of the store to see Lizzy.

“Hey.” Shep didn’t look up from kneading dough.

“Hey.” I put my bag on the opposite counter and started taking out the cameras.

“Lizzy has a visitor.”

I turned to face Shep. It wasn’t that it was weird that Lizzy was talking to someone—it was the way he’d said it.

“And?”

Shep shrugged. “I don’t know. I was in here, and Lizzy came through the doors a little frantic, asking if she could take a break and for Darby to cover. She had someone here who needed to talk to her.”

I leaned against the counter and cocked my head. “How long has this visitor been here?”

“Twenty minutes.”

“And?”

Shep sighed, plopped the dough into a bowl, and placed a cloth over it.

“And, whatever this person is here for, it’s something serious.

” He tilted his chin toward the window on the doors separating us from them.

“I peek in every so often. The girl she’s with cries a lot, and Lizzy is doing that thing where she bites her lip and hangs her head. ”

“The worried thing?”

Shep nodded. “I wanted to go out and ask what’s up, but it felt intrusive.”

I walked over to the window to look. Four was sitting next to Lizzy, his hand in hers as the woman was shaking her head, tears falling from her eyes.

I glanced at Four again and he was staring at her, unblinking, but it was the way he was clenching his jaw that told me that whomever this was, they were in trouble.

“You’re right. It’s definitely something.”

“I was going to listen in but, it felt wrong.” Shep moved next to me.

We didn’t fuck around with our home and business. Security was everything, so each table in this shop had a device under it that would let us listen in on patrons’ conversations. It was not something we’d ever done, but it was an option if we needed it.

Lizzy stood suddenly, and Shep and I rushed back to our original places. We didn’t want her to think we were eavesdropping. A second after we’d started appearing busy, she came in. We looked up, and she gazed from me to Shep.

“You okay?” Shep asked her.

“I…I need to talk to you both.”

I met Shep’s eyes. “Uh, sure.”

Shep wiped his hands, and we approached Lizzy. Four was obviously staying with her friend.

“Before I begin, I need you to know I’m aware that this shop isn’t exactly how you make your money. Four’s told me things, mostly because he wanted me to know what he’d been through. So, it’s why I truly believe you all can help.”

“Lizzy.” I reached out and squeezed her arm. Her eyes were glassy, and it was the first time I’d ever seen her look so torn up. “Whatever it is, of course we’ll help you.”

She nodded curtly. “It’s not actually for me. It’s for my friend Hazel.”

“The girl you’ve been talking to?” Shep wondered.

“Okay, so sort of for her, but more for her brother, Phoenix.”

Suddenly, there were many people involved in this thing. “Why don’t you start from the beginning?”

Lizzy took a deep breath. “Maybe you two can come out and talk to her. It’s a lot, and I don’t know how I can help her. I can offer a shoulder, a hug, an ear. What she needs is someone to keep her brother safe and alive.”

“Safe and alive from what, Lizzy?” Shep asked.

She winced. “He’s that guy who was rescued. He was on the news. He was held by that serial killer.”

My eyes widened. Anyone paying attention to current affairs knew about The Broken-Doll Killer, and it was widely known that one of his victims had been found alive.

Shep and I looked at each other briefly before he turned to Lizzy. “We can hear what she has to say, but what you’re asking for…”

Lizzy swallowed loudly. “I know. Just, hear what she has to say?”

“Sure. Let’s go talk to her.” I pushed the door open and locked eyes with Four. For a man who showed no emotion, he was nailing rage.

I had a feeling that what I was about to hear would give me nightmares forever.