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CHAPTER THIRTY-TWO

Phoenix

These guys didn’t mess around. When I’d said, “let’s do this,” they’d jumped in. Noel left the living room for a few minutes and returned with all this stuff to wire Angel and Gabe up. Mini cameras, little microphones, it was unreal.

“Wow, what did I miss?” Matt asked as he returned from work.

“JJ tried to use you as bait with a serial killer, but thankfully Mason values your life, and so we’re going with Angel and Gabe instead.” Nick smiled, pecked Matt on the lips, and then continued taping a wire to Gabe’s chest.

Matt panned over to where JJ was gaping at Nick.

“What the hell, JJ?”

“Now, hold on a second.” JJ held his hands up. “Nick’s explanation was horrible.”

“But true.” Nick shrugged.

“All I said was to have Matt go into Sogni di Caffeina and order some coffee, get the baristas and employees talking and see if Phoenix recognized any of them. And I only suggested this…emphasis on suggested , because we believe The Broken-Doll Killer knows what the brothers look like.”

I watched Matt’s eyes widen with each word out of JJ’s mouth.

“That’s absolutely bait. Oh, my God. JJ, have I angered you in some way? Is this about the time I accidentally left a red sock in the wash and your whites turned pink?”

JJ huffed. “No. You wouldn’t have been alone?—”

“Um, you literally said I or someone would be outside waiting, so technically he would be alone,” Nick made sure to add.

“It doesn’t matter.” JJ motioned to Gabe and Angel. “See? New plan.”

Matt pointed his finger at JJ and moved it back and forth between them. “You and I are going to have a discussion about this at some point. Be ready.”

“Okay, Angel, you’re all set.” Noel stepped away from his brother. “Cameras are in the buttons. There are three in case one fails. Under the shirt are the microphones, so we can hear you. This is yours. Put it in your ear, and you’ll be able to hear us.”

“Got it.” Angel slipped the tiny earpiece into his ear.

Once Nick was done suiting up Gabe, they did a bunch of checks and whatever technical stuff…I didn’t understand half of it. Then the two of them left as though what they were about to do wasn’t insanely dangerous.

“Is anyone going to follow them?” I asked as a million scenarios ran through my head.

“Nah. They have each other’s sixes, and they’ll be in a public place. Besides, if more than just the two of them leave, those cops at the end of the driveway will get suspicious.” Nick was typing on his keyboard, and visuals from Gabe’s and Angel’s cameras began popping up on monitors.

“Oh.”

“Are you okay?” Noel sidled up next to me and wrapped his arms around me.

“I’ll be fine.”

A small wrinkle formed between his eyes, one I’d seen before when he wasn’t convinced what I was saying was true. “We’re gonna get him, I promise.”

“This is so dangerous, Noel. I don’t like putting any of you in this situation.”

“You didn’t put us here, Phoenix. We want to help you, and this guy has got to go. This is what we do. Let us, and trust that we’re going to do everything in our power to end this for you and all his victims.”

He was so determined, and I didn’t want to burst his bubble with all my worrying, so I smiled and nodded. “I trust you.”

“Good. Now, why don’t you have a seat?” He guided me to one of the tables with four monitors.

“You’ll see Gabe’s and Angel’s views here.

The speakers work, so you can hear. Nick’s and my headsets can talk to them, so if anyone sticks out let me know and I’ll tell them, or you speak into the mic I showed you earlier. ”

“Got it.”

Gabe and Angel talked about their plan once they got to the café and what they’d do. I wasn’t sure if it was a good idea, but they didn’t sound even a little afraid, and maybe they were used to this stuff and I was nervous for no reason.

When they arrived at Sogni di Caffeina, they waltzed in without a care in the world. Angel made sure to turn his body enough to get the whole layout.

One employee was cleaning tables, and two others were behind the counter. There was no way of knowing if anyone was in the back, but they both said they’d keep returning until they covered all the workers there.

“Good afternoon, what can I get you?” The first barista was a woman, so I already knew she was a no-go.

“I’ll have a regular coffee with a pump of vanilla—medium, please,” Gabe ordered.

“Very good, and you, sir?”

“Uh, large coffee, black.”

She nodded, told them their total, and went about making their orders. The other barista behind the corner was turned away from us, but Angel got his attention.

“This is our first time coming here; what are the best desserts?”

The guy faced them and pursed his lips. “Hands down, the lemon scones are my favorite.” He had a southern twang to his voice, and it was easy to discount him.

“Not him, definitely not southern.”

“Unless he’s disguising his voice because he’s figured out that’s how Phoenix is identifying him,” Four said from his perch in the corner. After he’d finished with the armory, he’d come in and plopped there.

“Good point.” Noel hit a few buttons and zoomed in on the guy’s eyes. “What do you think?”

“They’re brown, so no.”

“Not him,” I heard Nick say, so I knew he was talking to Angel and Gabe.

Once Angel and Gabe had their coffees, they moved to the table closest to the guy cleaning them.

“Excuse me.” Gabe got his attention.

“Yeah, what can I do for you?”

“I was wondering if there was a bookstore near here?”

I listened to the man’s voice, but it was nasal and high-pitched. “Nope.”

“Shit. So he’s not there, or he’s in the back,” Nick released a frustrated breath before letting Gabe and Angel know that no one had fit the profile.

Once they were clear of people, Angel spoke softly. “We’ll stay awhile and see if anyone comes from the kitchen or changes shifts.”

“I think it may be the manager,” Four said out of nowhere, and all of us turned to look at him.

“Why do you think that?” JJ asked.

“Well.” He shifted and gave us his attention.

“Whoever Adonis is, he got access to the embalming stuff. Do any of these baristas look like they’d have the ability to do so?

I think the guy who owns the café is who you’re looking for.

This café brings in close to a million a year in profit, which is insane.

The owner is rich, and while Phoenix didn’t recognize the Zaffys as The Broken-Doll Killer, that doesn’t mean they aren’t aware of who he is.

If he’s paying them for the fluid and they know what he’s capable of, why would they sell him out?

” He gestured at the monitor, where the three employees were standing around and talking.

“You need to start looking behind the curtain.”

“Shit.” Noel sighed. “That makes so much fucking sense.”

“How’d you know how much the café made?” Matt grinned at Four.

He lifted a shoulder. “I googled.”