Page 28 of What's Left of Me

I dipped my chin. “And you think this man, he’s replacing me?” I didn’t understand how she’d think that would surprise me. I wasn’t special to him or anyone; of course he was going to find another person to fill the spot I took.

“That’s the thing, Phoenix. He can’t replace you. I believe he thinks he can, and I also feel this will blow back on him, and the repercussions of that will be devastating.”

Devastating… “For whom?”

She nodded. “You’re so smart, Phoenix. It will be devastating for the man and you.”

“Me?”

“As I’ve told you, I feel he’s following the path of Adonis, probably why he refers to himself as such. This victim he has, it doesn’t fit the pattern of behavior. His creations, rebirth. You fell through the cracks before you came to fruition. He can’t rush the process; in his mind it can’t happen. And so, I fear he will snap. The man will pay the price, and he will leave the scene for you.”

“I…I don’t understand.”

“In the next week or so, I truly believe, if I’ve profiled Adonis correctly, we will come face-to-face with what happens when his plans are messed with. I want to find the man he kidnapped, but at the same time I need you not to spiral backward. He will blame you for this, but you’re not at fault.”

“You believe all this?”

“I do, Phoenix. So I’d like you to sit here and tell me all you can remember about him. If he can create a monster in your head, we can break it down so you see he’s imperfect, he is not the god he thinks he is…that he’s convinced you he is.”

It seemed Noel wasn’t the only one deep-diving into the darkest recesses today after all.

CHAPTER SIXTEEN

Noel

The nameof 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?”

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