Page 8 of What's Left of Me

“Good idea, Matty.” I heard the smack Matt gave Nick, likely on his ass.

“Let’s get to it, then…Nicky.”

Relationships had never appealed to me; I loved my freedom. My brothers were all shacking up, and that was their thing. I’d never wanted to be tied down. Aziza had once told me it was because I hadn’t found the right person. We’d see, I guess. Matt and Nick were cute, though—I could admit that.

I chuckled at their antics while I continued to follow Phoenix on the cameras. We very much believed in privacy, but that didn’t mean we didn’t have camera access in the bedrooms. What if someone managed to get on our property and climb in through the window? It was farfetched, but we didn’t leave anything to chance.

JJ was saying something to Phoenix and Hazel, motioning to the adjoining door. I clicked the audio button.

“Your rooms connect in case you want to be together.”

“Wow, thank you, JJ.” Hazel smiled. “This house is gorgeous. I really appreciate you all helping us out.”

JJ waved her off. “We have the ability to do so, and this is what we do.”

Phoenix was staring out the window. He didn’t say anything, and I imagined he wasn’t sure what he should or could say. He’d been through a trauma, one that many couldn’t comprehend and many didn’t want to delve into. He had secrets in his head that might help the Feds catch this nutjob, and it was likely that none of them understood why he wasn’t telling them.

I sat back in my chair and watched him. Whatever this killer had done, it was mental. I was sure of it, and not a lot of people realized the power words had. I wasn’t sure Phoenix was scared, but I’d bet money that whatever he saw and heard while he was kidnapped, he believed and that acceptance was deep in his bones.

“Lunch is probably ready. If you’d both rather have it in your rooms, that’s fine. I can bring some up.” JJ and Hazel lookedat Phoenix. I had a feeling everyone would be taking their cues from him.

Phoenix shrugged. Hazel faced JJ. “We can try downstairs, and if it’s too much I’ll come up here with Nix.”

JJ nodded. “Great. I’ll leave you guys to get settled. If you go the way you came, when you get to the bottom of the stairs, turn left and follow the sounds of my idiot family.”

Hazel laughed. “Thank you, JJ.”

JJ excused himself, and I watched for a few seconds as Hazel and Phoenix settled in, but it felt intrusive, so I shut the screen off and left the room to join my family for lunch.

The tablein the kitchen wasn’t big enough to fit everyone, so we convened in the dining room. There was a large salad, homemade tomato soup, and a mountain of grilled cheese sandwiches. The perfect lunch for a cool windy day.

Hazel and Phoenix entered shortly after we’d all fixed our dishes. It was important not to make either of them feel uncomfortable and that was where people like JJ, Matt, and Mason came in. Those three were great with people.

“How are the rooms?” Mason asked as he offered to fill their soup bowls.

“Amazing. I can’t tell you how wonderful it is that they’re adjoining.” Hazel took her bowl from Mason.

“Nick and Noel almost took those…you know, the twin thing.” JJ pointed his thumb our way.

Hazel and Phoenix looked over at us, and while her eyes smiled, his seemed devoid of much emotion, but they locked on mine…Hazel. Like his sister’s name.

“Yeah, well, that would have been a disaster,” I muttered.

“You mean awesome!” Nick scoffed.

“They may look alike, but they’re actually quite different.” Mason smirked and regarded Matt. “And just think, if they were connected, you’d have Noel in and out of your and Nick’s room all the time.”

Matt let out apffft. “Like that doesn’t already happen.”

I held up my hand. “After the last time I did it, I will never do it again.”

JJ grinned. “You saw some things, didn’t you? Some dark things.”

A balled-up napkin hit the side of JJ’s head. “Stop. You’re making it weirder than it is.” Shep ducked when JJ threw it back at him.

I glanced at Phoenix, who was eating so quietly it was almost as if he were hoping to go unseen. But there was no way I couldn’t notice him. His eyes watched everything and everyone. There was no quirk of his lips at our ridiculousness, no emotion or even an idea of what was going through his head. I’d never seen anyone like that. Well, Four—but he’d shown anger, and as time had gone by he’d become really good at expressing what he was feeling even if he didn’t show it.

As soon as there was a lull in the conversation, Hazel spoke up. “I meant to let all of you know. Hopefully, it won’t be a problem. Nix agreed to sit down with Agent Rose tomorrow and tell him what he knows. Is that all right?”

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