My eyes were drawn to the colorful illustration. This was the actual image that had been both hell and heaven to Talon during his time in captivity. The image that had taunted him, was a menace to him but was also his liberation, on whose wings he flew up in smoke, escaping his brutal reality.

I stared at it. It was hauntingly beautiful, with colors of orange, blue, fuchsia, red, yellow.

“I don’t suppose this Biker Bob would remember what any of these men looked like, would he?” I asked.

Talon shook his head. “Believe me, I’ve interrogated him on everything. It took him months and lots of incentive, if you know what I mean, to find this.”

“Have you considered the possibility that this has been fabricated?”

“I have. But Bob seems like a pretty good guy, although I think he spends most of his life stoned.”

“If only he could tell us whether the man had brown eyes,” Jade said. “That’s the only thing you remember about the tattoo guy, right, Talon?”

“Yeah. Unfortunately, I don’t remember what color eyes the one with the birthmark had.”

Blue. I said the word inside my head while looking to Jonah. He shook his head slightly at me. He didn’t have to. I would never have broken his confidence.

But he and I would be talking later. He had to tell his brother what he knew about Tom Simpson. And soon. I turned to Talon.

“We could always go back into guided hypnosis,” I said. “Maybe you can remember something else. Of course, I’m not supposed to be practicing at the moment.”

“Doc, I don’t care. I want you to take me back there.”

“Honestly, Talon, I shouldn’t do it. While my license isn’t technically suspended, I have been asked nicely to take a leave of absence from my practice for three weeks. Gina’s parents have filed a complaint against me with the medical board.”

“Hell, Doc, I’d trust you to hypnotize me even if you didn’t have a license. Besides, you said your license is still valid, right?”

“Yes, it is.”

“Then I want you to do it. I need to find out more. Maybe I can remember something they said while they were talking. Maybe something I saw. There has to be something.”

“Talon,” Jade said, “are you sure you want to go back there again?”

“I’m sure I don’t want to, blue eyes. But I’m sure I have to. I don’t think I’ll ever sleep quite right until I know I’ve done everything I can to bring those fuckers to justice.”

“I understand,” she said. “It’s just so hard on you.”

“I think you need to take what Jade is saying into consideration,” I said. “I’m happy to do the therapy with you if you want me to do it, but remember, as I’ve told you before, your healing is not dependent on finding these guys or bringing them to justice. Your healing has to be something you control. And unfortunately, finding these men and making sure they get what’s coming to them isn’t within your control.”

Jonah smiled and took my hand. “She is brilliant as well as beautiful.”

I warmed. And then it occurred to me that I had said an awful lot about Talon’s healing in front of Jade and Marjorie. But he didn’t seem to mind.

“I honestly do understand what all of you are saying, but this is important. If they’re still out there, they can prey on other children. If I can do something to make sure that doesn’t happen, I want to do it.”

“All right. I can’t use my office right now because technically I’m on a leave of absence. But we can do a guided hypnosis anywhere you’re comfortable. Here, or Jonah’s house. Whatever works for you.”

“You mind if we use your place, Joe? With Brooke here all the time, I just don’t feel comfortable.”

“Of course,” Jonah said. “Anything for you. You know that.”

“Okay,” I said. “Obviously, my schedule is flexible at the moment. And I know you’re always busy. So just let me know when and where, and we’ll make it work.”

“Thanks, Doc. You’re the best.”

Jonah squeezed my hand and whispered to me, “He’s right about that.”

His phone started vibrating on the table, and he picked it up. “Damn.”

He must’ve gotten another text from Brooke.

“I don’t know quite how to tell you this, Jade,” Jonah said, “but I think your mother has been sending me texts.”

“What?”

“This is kind of embarrassing. She came on to me the other day.”

“What?” Jade said again.

“Look, I’ve got nothing against her. I understand where she’s coming from. Her modeling days are over, and she wants to make sure she’s still desirable. I told her I wasn’t interested, and I thought she got the message.”

“Shit, Joe, this might be my fault,” Talon said. “I kind of told her you used to worship her when you were a kid.”

“Yes.” Jonah rolled his eyes. “She mentioned that. Anyway, she’s been texting me. Not anything creepy. Just stuff like ‘I want you.’ ‘You’re so hot.’ This last one says ‘We are meant to be together.’”

“Jonah, I’m really sorry,” Jade said. “I’ll put a stop to this right away.”

“I’d appreciate it. I figured it was her because the number has an Iowa area code.”

“Iowa?” Jade raised her eyebrows. “The number I have for my mom has a New York area code. She’s had it for years.”

“Really? I just assumed, because she was dating that man who said he was a senator from Iowa.”

“She didn’t identify herself as my mother?”

“No, not by name, but the messages started after she came on to me.”

“You mind if I look at the number?”

“Not at all.” He handed Jade his phone.

“That’s not her number, Joe. At least not one that I know of.”

Chapter Thirty–Three

Jonah

Then who the fuck had been sending me texts? It had never occurred to me to actually call the number because I thought it was Brooke. I certainly didn’t want to lead her on. I was still hesitant to call. Now this was getting kind of creepy.