I turn back to the office and slowly push the door open. Thankfully, it opens without the hinges making a sound.
My first glance is at the books I saw earlier, the shelves covering every inch of the right and left walls. They’re filled with different colored spines and various trinkets and pictures. The far wall has a large window that overlooks the city.
In the middle of the room is his desk where a lamp was left on and pointed toward the clean surface. It holds a double-screen monitor system set up with a Bluetooth keyboard. I head to it as quietly as I can and run my fingers over the keyboard without pressing the buttons. I’m not going to dive into what he does on this computer. Chances are I really don’t want to know, and investigating his side of the business would be pointless. I need Andre’s side. I know what Nix does, and if he’s willing to take down the rest of the operation and his boss, I doubt it gets much worse.
I pause on the space key.Or maybe it does.
With a quick glance at the door, I press the key. The monitors come to life, but a password is the first thing that shows up. I wrinkle my nose at this ‘doorstop’ and move on to the shelves. Knowing Nix and his secrecy, there’s no way I’m going to figure out his password. I just have to trust that, whatever other parts he played, he really plans to change his ways from them. It’s a big decision, to choose me over all this and everything he’s worked for, but he’s putting it aside for me and that means something to me. I just have to figure out how to repay him for deciding to help me. I still don’t know how I’m going to protect him like I promised, but hopefully, I have some time to figure it out.
My fingers run across the spines. Some old, some new. From what I can tell, the right side of the room holds business and non-fiction books, and with a quick glance at the left, it looks mostly fiction. I didn’t know he liked to read, and that’s something I would have never considered if I hadn’t walked in here.
It’s almost like him. One side is the reality he lives in, and the other side is hopes and dreams that he thinks will never happen. It makes my heart hurt a little that he lives a separate life in private, one that doesn’t involve the real world.
In the dimness of the room, I almost walk right past it. Squatting on a shelf is a small picture, and I bend a little to get a better look.
Within it, three people stand against the background of the streets of what can only be New York. By the looks of it, it’s not a very good place in the city. The buildings have seen better days.
I turn my attention toward the three people. They’re definitely teenagers if their youthful features are anythingto go by. Immediately, I spot Nix. His blonde hair is a little wilder than it is now, and his clothes appear too big for his thin body.
Next to him is a darker-skinned young man who has to be the same age. His black hair is cropped so close to his head that he might as well shave it. To the right of this boy, and holding his hand, is a blonde young lady. Another teen – same age. She’s much smaller than the boys, but she looks the healthiest of both. Her clothes fit her better, and her hair appears to have received more attention than the other two.
Nix has never talked about anyone else in his life, minus Megan. Is this her? Who is the other guy? Why are they holding hands? Were they dating?
So many questions swirl around in my head, and I’m curious enough to take the picture frame off the shelf, flip it over, and unclasp the back. Once the back is off, I take the picture out and peer at the handwriting on the back.
It says, “2005, Feenix, Noll, and Megan.”
I was right about Megan, but who is Noll?
“I didn’t peg you for a snooper.”
I jump at Nix’s voice. It’s clear and deep, as though he truly hadn’t been sleeping like I had thought. The frame nearly falls from my hand, but I scoop it up before it can crash to the floor.
Pinching my lips together, I gently put the picture frame back together and set it carefully on the shelf. “It’s in my job description to snoop.”
He raises his eyebrows at me. “Am I under scrutiny?”
“Just your life.”
“Why?”
I shrug. “I know nothing about you.” I glance over at the picture. “Who is Noll?”
He steps into the room a little, leans against the doorframe, and crosses his arms over his chest. “My childhood best friend.”
“Do you still talk to him?”
“Yes.”
“Is he still your best friend?”
He heads farther into the room and approaches me. Sliding his hand to the small of my back, he steers me from the room and answers, “Yes,” once we are out in the hallway.
Quietly, he shuts the door, and it feels a little like he’s shutting me out permanently from the subject.
“Don’t do that,” I say softly as I turn toward him in the darkness.
“Do what?” I can’t see his face, but I imagine it’s the usual careful blank.
