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"Can't get your brain to shut off, huh?"
"Always been a problem," he admitted.
"Then let's go downstairs to your place. I'll sleep on the couch. You can work."
"You wouldn't be comfortable."
"It won't matter. These days I'm lucky to sleep at all. And I'll feel less guilty if you're in your own bed."
"Downstairs works, but you can take my bed. The couch in the living room pulls out. I'll get some work done and crash when I'm finished."
"Are you sure?"
"Yes. For whatever reason, your mother helped support my mom during a rough time, and she supported me. Let me help you get through the night." He paused, frowning. "That didn't come out exactly right. You can trust me, Brynn. I hope you know that."
"I want to trust you, but I'm feeling like a fool for trusting anyone."
"Well, I can promise that you'll be safe with me."
I could hear Dani's voice in my head screaming at me not to be stupid, but Dani wasn't here, and I wanted to believe him, so I said, "Okay. I'll come downstairs. But first I need to call Inspector Greenman and fill him in."
* * *
Thirty minutes later, I walked around Kade's living room, looking at the various stages of his art pieces. It felt even more chaotic than the last time I'd been here. I picked up a strand of copper wire. "What do you do with the wire?" I asked.
"Depends," he said, taking the wire out of my hand. "The bedroom is in there."
"I know. But I was thinking I could watch you work."
"No one watches me work."
"What is this going to be?" I asked, looking at the splashes of paint on a nearby canvas.
"Not sure yet."
"Really? You don't know where you're going with this?"
"Have you ever written music?" he asked.
"Yes, or at least, I've tried, but I've never been able to finish anything. I get random ideas, but I can't finish them."
"Why do you think that is?"
"I don't know."
"Try again."
I shrugged. "Maybe I'm scared to finish because then I'll have something that can be judged and when it's judged, it will probably be bad."
"Why does it have to be bad?"
"I can play music, but I don't know if I'm good at creating it. How do you find the confidence to be so bold?"
"It developed over time. The first few things I painted got laughed at by kids who didn't understand."
"Or maybe they were jealous."
"I told myself that to feel better," he said with a small smile. "But I was also just trying out stuff. I didn't start out to be provocative. I was playing it safe, attempting to give people what I thought they wanted. Eventually, I realized I could only create what made me think or gave me an emotional reaction, what felt right, even if it looked all wrong."
