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“How old was Gina?”
“Early twenties,” I said.
“Her abuse was well after mine.” Talon paced around the kitchen and threaded his fingers through his hair. “I can’t fucking believe it.”
“This is Colorado,” Jade said. “Hispanic surnames are common here. This doesn’t necessarily mean anything with regard to your case, Talon.”
Jonah rose. “This whole thing is just too close for comfort. What if Gina’s uncle and one of Talon’s abductors are the same man? It’s not that big of a stretch really. They’re both child molesters. Psychopaths. Killers.”
“Amazing,” I said, shaking my head. “When I first started thinking about this new theory—that maybe Gina didn’t kill herself but had been murdered instead—there was still part of me that didn’t believe it was possible. But now…” Now I was the one to rise, pacing around the large kitchen. “Jonah is right. All of this is too close for comfort.”
“But Gina died before you met Talon,” Jade said.
“True.” But there had to be more to this. There just had to be. I sat back down. “You mind if I look at this file?” I asked Talon.
“Of course not. Look at anything you want.”
I grabbed the file and riffled through the papers. Just dates that fit the time frame and names. The tattoo had been done on the left forearm in each case. And there was a photograph of the tattoo.
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.”
