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CHAPTER TWENTY-FIVE

Noel

It was two days later that Agent Rose finally called to tell us he’d gotten those recordings. All my digging had shown was that warrants and such had led to dead ends, and I wondered if he was having issues getting the family to cooperate.

We’d just finished dinner when he arrived, and we wanted to get this over with, so we brought him to the library and all of us joined him.

“Is it necessary every single one of you be here?” He sighed and placed the recorder on the table.

“Yes.” I clenched my jaw and sat beside Phoenix.

He rolled his eyes. “I got the brother and father to say a few lines. If you could listen to them and let me know, that would be very helpful.”

Phoenix nodded, a blank expression on his face. I hated it because the last few days I’d seen so many smiles, heard laughter, and it was as if he were healing and finding himself once more. I didn’t want this to set him back.

Rose hit the button and a deep voice, almost like the person was sick, said their name, favorite color, same as the others.

“Definitely not,” Phoenix answered.

Rose played the other. Phoenix’s head tilted to the left, he closed his eyes, and listened. He didn’t react at first; then his head jerked up.

“What is it?” The agent hit Stop.

“Play it again?”

Without hesitation, Rose rewound and started it. He did it three more times.

“Is that him?” I reached over and took Phoenix’s hand.

“Where did you record these?” Phoenix pointed to the device.

“The father we had to record at his house. The brother, Jaron, was harder to track down. He’s been busy, so this was recorded in a café downtown. It was the best I could do to get this?—”

“A coffee shop?” Phoenix’s eyes widened.

“There weren’t a lot of people there—no one heard.”

“I don’t care about that. Who was with him?”

I looked at Phoenix, then glanced at JJ, who had a worried expression on his face.

“Was someone with him, Agent Rose?” Aziza asked.

“How’d you know that?”

“Answer his fucking question,” I growled.

“When I met up with him, he was on his way out of town, so he had work associates with him, but they weren’t near us when we recorded Jaron.”

“And yet I heard him.” Phoenix was visibly shaking.

“Jaron?” Rose scooted closer. “That’s him?”

“No.” Phoenix’s hand curled into a fist. “In the background, I can hear him. Play it again.”

Rose rewound it once more and they were faint, the voices in the background, two of them. One declared that black was the only way to drink it, and the other responded that it was gross. How had anyone missed that?

“Which one?” I squeezed his hand.

“The one who said black was the only way to drink it.”

JJ stepped forward. “Who were his work friends?”

The agent was noticeably shocked. There was no way this was how he’d seen this going and if I had to bet money on it, I’d say he’d never bothered to find out who they were because he’d been determined to get Jaron’s voice only.

“I didn’t get their names.”

“If they’re work associates, those men, both with access to the same things the family are, why did it never cross your mind that they’d be possible suspects?” I argued.

“You don’t understand the process of my job.” Rose was red faced—angry or embarrassed, I didn’t know or care.

“Are you sure you understand your motherfucking process?” I stood abruptly, and Rose followed. “You waste time, don’t utilize your resources, don’t even fucking think, for God’s sake. What is it you actually do, Agent Dickhead?”

“I’ve had enough of your mouth.” Rose came at me, but JJ and Aziza stepped in front of him.

“Agent, Noel, knock it off,” Aziza yelled. “This gets us nowhere.”

I took a deep breath, then looked over at Phoenix, who was staring at the carpet, his hands fisted together, knee bouncing. Shit .

“I’m sorry, Phoenix.” I sat down and gathered him in my arms. He hugged me with enough force to crush a walnut.

“Agent, I’ve worked with many agencies throughout my career and always have the utmost respect for law enforcement.

What you do daily isn’t easy, and this case is rough, no one doubts that.

But I have to agree with Noel here on the ineptness that has transpired.

I will be contacting your boss in the morning.

The safety of not only my patient, but the victims of this killer are of great concern. ”

Agent Rose narrowed his eyes at Aziza, but she didn’t flinch. “You’re going to recommend I be taken off the case?”

She pursed her lips. “That’s what you heard?”

“It’s what you said.”

“Agent Rose, it is my professional opinion that due to lack of proper leadership on this case, my patient has been put in more danger than before. I know your boss; I’ve worked with him many times.

He will do what is best, but under these circumstances I don’t think Phoenix should be dealing with you or your team any longer. ”

You could hear a pin drop after she finished talking. Agent Rose stared at Aziza for a few seconds, then gathered up his things.

“You might find you don’t have as much power as you think, Doctor.” He stormed out, leaving us to wonder how or if he was going to be able to find this guy from the coffee shop.

“Are you okay, Phoenix?” JJ kneeled in front of him, a soft smile playing on his face.

“I’ll…I mean, what if I’m wrong?”

“Do you think you are?” Aziza sat in the chair across from us.

Phoenix lifted his head from where is was resting on my chest. “When I closed my eyes, it was like I was there with him. It was too real.…I don’t think I was wrong.”

“It’s up to them to hunt him down and find out if your gut was right.” She squeezed his knee. “You need to talk about this?”

“No, I…I don’t want to think about this anymore tonight.”

“How about brownies?” JJ jumped up. “I was having a craving last night but couldn’t for the life of me decide if I wanted fudge, peanut-butter chocolate, white chocolate, raspberry fudge, or walnut brownies. So, naturally, I made Shep make them all for me, and now there’s too many.”

Phoenix smirked. “I can’t think of a world where I’d say no to brownies.”

“Ha! Exactly, come on.” JJ held out his hand, and Phoenix took it.

“I’ll meet you guys in the kitchen.” I chuckled when JJ waved us off and dragged Phoenix with him.

“He’ll be okay, Noel.”

I looked at Aziza. “I know he will be, I just don’t like this feeling.”

“What feeling?”

I rubbed my chest. “The one right here.”

“Heartburn?” There was a twinkle in her eye.

“No.”

“Heartbreak?”

“No, it’s like…nothing can happen to him, Aziza. I’ll fucking burn the world down.”

She squeezed both of my arms and grinned. “You’re the best thing in his life right now, Noel. The person he chose to connect with, and what you’re feeling is deep. It’s normal, a strong connection, perhaps.”

“It’s awful.”

She laughed at me…and left me with no advice, just her insane laughter.