CHAPTER 17 - Bryan Trevor #2
I need to get them out as fast as possible.
Sadie can’t and won’t carry more pain and trauma than she already has.
I won’t allow it!
“Is that Noah’s sister?” Luke asks, walking over.
“Yeah. She’s the most incredible, clever little girl I’ve ever seen,” I reply, still staring at her peaceful little face.
“You’re already smitten with her,” my brother says.
“How could I not be? She’s so adorable I just want to squeeze her and never let go.”
“If our clients saw you talking and acting with these two the way you do, they’d never believe you’re the renowned professional they hire to protect their families and take out enemies.”
“To Prestige Shield, I’m the Shadow. To my enemies, I’m the worst kind of executioner—the kind who’d drink their blood from a wine glass. But to them, to them I’m just Bryan, or Hunter, as Sadie affectionately nicknamed me.”
The next camera to appear on screen is in Noah’s room.
Then come the two living rooms, kitchen, laundry room, pantry, outdoor area, hallway, front door, library, and one positioned in front of an elevator that probably leads to the basement.
We still can’t get in there, but the information Noah gave me has me very intrigued.
Lauren manages to camouflage all our mini-cameras, and within half an hour, I have the entire fortress under surveillance.
A smile spreads across my lips.
I love the feeling of being in control.
Of catching my enemies off guard.
“I’m going to bed,” Lauren says through our connected earpiece. “When Noah gets to her room, reactivate the house cameras.”
I don’t respond. It’s not necessary. I just watch them both go their separate ways.
Lauren enters her room, then Noah enters hers.
“You can reactivate everything, Blake,” I tell him, unlocking the iPad screen to find him downing a shot of whiskey. “I owe you one.”
“Don’t worry, I’ll collect,” he says, eyes already on the screen beside him, fingers working. “Everything’s back to normal.” He flashes me a cocky smile. “Now I need to go or Jasmine, Liam, and Oliver are going to rip my head off for being out this late.”
“Good luck with them,” I say, ending the call.
Blake Wolf got into a relationship with three other people a few years ago, and despite the initial shock, rumors, and prejudice, they gave society the middle finger and kept advancing their careers and being happy.
I turn my attention back to the screen and find Noah stepping out of the closet with her phone in hand.
“Luke, you can go to bed,” I tell him, dismissing him.
“You staying up all night?” he asks, and I shake my head without taking my eyes off my girl.
“I’ll get some rest soon,” I tell him, and I hear his footsteps retreating.
Butterfly: Did it work?
Her message arrives as I lean back in the chair and prop my feet up on the desk.
Bryan: Everything went as expected, but if he notices the shutdown, my friend will say it was just a system glitch. He has no reason to suspect anything.
Butterfly: I’m still afraid none of this is real.
That he’ll find out and hurt Sadie.
She confesses, and I watch her nervously bite her fingernails.
Bryan: That’s not going to happen. You can relax.
Now I need one more thing from you.
Butterfly: What?
Bryan: Do you think you can draw the symbols you saw on the basement floor? I want to find out what he does down there.
She seems surprised by my message.
Butterfly: I don’t know, I was pretty out of it, but I’ll try.
Bryan: Send me the photo when you can, but for now go to sleep and try to get some rest.
Butterfly: It’s strange knowing you’re watching me right now.
That you can see me whenever you want.
Bryan: Not to me.
On the contrary, it’s fascinating!
“I intend to watch you whenever I'm here.”
Butterfly: You watching me constantly seems kind of obsessive.
Bryan: Would it scare you if I told you that's exactly what I am when it comes to you?
Butterfly: It's strange, but it doesn't scare me.
She responds, and I watch her bite her lip.
Bryan: Good, Butterfly, because I've been obsessed with you for exactly one thousand eight hundred and seventy-eight days.
Five years, one month, and twenty-one days since I met you.
I can almost hear her gasp as she reads my words.
She types, stops, and her response doesn't arrive until a few minutes later.
Butterfly: I think you should go to sleep.
Bryan: Sleep? Not when I can watch your every move until you close your eyes and drift off to sleep. Rest, Butterfly! I'll be by your side until dawn!
She doesn't respond, and despite what I said, Noah doesn't lie down to sleep.
She sits up and grabs a notebook and pencil from the desk beside her.
I light a cigarette while watching her begin to draw.
My eyes stay fixed on her, taking in every detail.
The way she bites the end of her pencil, trying to remember that night.
Her furrowed brow as she concentrates.
Her feet swinging, betraying her nervousness.
When she closes her eyes, I see pain in her expression.
I know she's reliving everything she told me about that night.
Unfortunately, I need to understand what happens down there, and I can only get that from the details she has to offer.
I need more than anything to know what that worm Gavin did to her that night.
It wasn't just the beating—I'm sure there's something more. I hope it's not what I'm thinking, because not even the worst kind of torture would be enough for that despicable worm.
I crack my neck, trying to relieve the tension, and take the last drag of my cigarette before stubbing it out in the ashtray beside me.
I don't know how many minutes pass, but soon I see her snap a photo of the paper, and then my phone beeps.
I have no idea what the symbols represent, but something tells me it's nothing good.
I save the image and run it through an internet search.
Before seeing the results, I reopen the messaging app.
Bryan: Thank you, Butterfly.
Now get some sleep.
She doesn't respond, and I watch her go to the closet to hide the device.
When she returns, she tears the drawing to pieces and throws it in the trash.
When she lies down, she grabs a pillow and closes her eyes.
I watch over her as she sleeps, and only when I notice she's finally fallen asleep peacefully, free from the nightmares that haunt her, do I return to the search tab I left open.
I find websites with some of the symbols she drew, but others—like the divided circle and the man with two children beside him—don't appear in any articles or discussions about their meanings.
Some images are linked to obedience, hierarchy, religion.
I dig into the depths of the internet but find very little related to the drawings, which only deepens my suspicion.
Gavin isn't just involved with his medications, as he makes clear to the world.
No one creates a space hidden from the world and marked by symbols just for the sake of it. I need to find out exactly what happens there and, especially, what he did while Noah was unconscious.
I abandon the search when I notice movement on the camera. Looking at the screen, I see Gavin entering Sadie's room.
My hands clench into fists and I stand up, unable to sit still as I watch him approach her bed.
The bastard hasn't changed one bit.
He's still tall, bearded, strong, with a slightly wrinkled face.
I clench my jaw as he crouches down close to the little girl's face and reaches out to stroke her hair.
Gavin stays there for long minutes, just staring at her with a look that fills me with disgust, hatred bubbling inside me.
His filthy hand travels over the blanket, and I prepare to leave if he dares pull the sheet off to touch her.
I kick the chair, trying to release the fury consuming me, but the urge to storm that fortress and tear him apart limb by limb becomes unbearable when he stands and, with a disgusting gesture, adjusts his pants.
My eyes drop to the spot.
Disgust washes over me when I see the grotesque erection straining against the thin fabric of his pajama pants.
Bastard.
He's not just an abusive and narcissistic worm.
This bastard is a pedophile.
A son of a bitch who deserves to burn in hell.