Page 59 of What's Left of Me

“So Gabe and I just sit here and wait for orders?”

I waved my hand at him. “Ask Shep if he needs help. Shoo.”

“I’m gonna suffocate him in his sleep,” Gabe muttered as he and Angel retreated to the kitchen.

“What can I do?”

I looked to my left where Phoenix was sitting in a desk chair, amusement on his face.

“Do you know anything about computers?”

He lifted one shoulder. “Probably average, but tell me what you need, and maybe I’ll know how to do it.”

I searched the room briefly. “Where’s Hazel?”

“Doing laundry.”

I nodded. “Okay, so the café Jaron and his cronies were at is called Sogni di Caffeina, some ritzy coffee shop. Never been—but then again, I’d never pay ten bucks for a small coffee anywhere.”

“I’ve never even heard of it.”

“Right. So I’m going through their employee files. Going to try the workers first, then management. If I can get photos on them, do you think you could take a look?”

“I can, but I only saw his eyes and the color of his hair.”

“So maybe I just blow up the eyes, and you can see if they are familiar.”

“Sure.”

“I have an idea.” JJ spun in his chair. “What if Gabe and Angel go to the café with a recorder and talk to the baristas. Phoenix can listen and see if any of the employees match with psycho killer man.”

It wasn’t a bad idea, but there was a problem. “Except he dropped Brady’s body at Saintly Sweets, which means he likely knows what each of us looks like. He’d use that to his advantage.”

“I mean, yeah, probably.” JJ bit his lip. “But maybe not all of us. Matt hardly ever goes there—he works a lot.”

“No.” Nick jumped up from his seat. “I’m not sending Matt in there alone, or at all, JJ. He had a stalker; that could be triggering.”

JJ glared at Nick. “First of all, I didn’t forget that. Second, I never said alone; and third, it’s not your decision.”

Nick crossed his arms over his chest. “And how would you feel if I said to you, ‘I think Shep should go walking in the woods where Phoenix was found and see if he could find more sheds’?”

JJ’s brow dipped. “I don’t know how that would be productive, but it wouldn’t be my call, and he’d be paired up with someone.”

Nick pressed his lips together, and he released a low hum. He wasn’t happy—that was for sure. “You’d hate it, and you know it.”

“I would.”

“And I hate this.”

JJ rubbed his temples. “My hating it wouldn’t mean he wouldn’t do it, because it’s for a good reason. But this is a great idea, and it could really help us figure out if any of the employees are the guy.”

“If you think he knows all the brothers, who are we going to send with Matt?” Phoenix asked.

Nick motioned to Phoenix. “Excellent question.”

“Well, I mean, Nick can go and wait in the car outside.”

I chuckled. “Nick isn’t going to agree to Matt going in there alone as he sits outside, unable to see him.”

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