Noaz (Van Doren #2)

31. Briar

31

brIAR

Noaz grips my hand tightly as they drive. We’re not heading toward the airport in Flagstaff. I’m not entirely sure where we’re going until I see a sign for H.A. Clark Memorial Field. A privately owned airstrip, I surmise.

We park right outside a hangar that has its massive door wide open and a jet inside. It isn’t until we’re walking around the side to the stairs that I read ‘Van Doren’ across the tail end. I chuckle, shaking my head. Honestly, I’d be surprised if they didn’t own an entire fleet of planes.

There’s a man waiting by the stairs who takes the suitcase from me. I chose the largest one and stuffed it with clothes for the both of us until it was full. I have no idea how long we’ll be gone, so my marker was when I could barely close it.

“Hello, Mx. Van Doren,” the man greets. “I’m Nick, your flight attendant. The pilots will be out in just a minute.”

Noaz nods. “Thank you.” They take my hand and lead me up the stairs. The inside is as luxurious as you’d expect, with couches, large tables, and reclining chairs. There’s probably a full bathroom and bedrooms, too.

We take seats on the couch and wait in silence. It isn’t more than two minutes before the pilots come in to introduce themselves and then Nick is closing up the plane. Minutes pass as the pilots do their thing. Checks and announcements. Then we taxi down the runway and it’s less than ten minutes after our arrival by the time we’re in the air.

Once Nick checks on us and brings us water, he tucks himself away in the flight attendant’s compartment, which is a room that’s also filled with luxuries, according to Noaz.

They turn in my lap and look at me. “I have to tell you something.”

I nod. “Okay.”

“I… Well, there are obvious reasons I haven’t told you this before, but I hope you still love me once I tell you.”

Frowning, I make sure their hands are secure in mine. “There’s nothing you can say that’ll change how I feel about you.”

I’m not expecting the sad look on Noaz’s face. “I’ve killed people,” they say.

I raise a brow. For just a minute, I wonder if maybe they’re saying this as a trial, to soften the blow. But it becomes clear that Noaz is very serious. “Okay,” I hedge.

Sighing, Noaz straightens their shoulders. “You asked what I did in New York and I told you I run a crew that’s cleaning up the city to make it safe. A task we run parallel with the police.”

“You did,” I agree.

“That’s not a lie. It’s just an oversimplification. My crew does clean up the city. We clean it up by focusing on removing the violent population. So, gangs and stuff.”

“You… turn them in? ”

Noaz sighs. “We kill them. There are some here and there that we drop at a police station, making sure there’s sufficient evidence to indict them, but the police system is failing. We have hypotheses, but at the moment, we’re busy working on eliminating a single gang that’s been overrunning the city. It’s a white supremacy group—like the KKK. Yes, they conduct hate crimes just as vulgar and cruel as the KKK. For the past six months, we’ve been working on identifying individuals. Just before I dropped in on my brother and cousins, we’d begun enacting karma, which is when we kill them in the same cruel ways they’ve killed their victims.”

My jaw drops at this point as I stare at Noaz. I’m not sure what to say. “Does Jalon know?”

Noaz gives a nervous laugh. “Yes. My entire family knows. I’m not the only one.”

It feels as though the air is punched from my lungs. “Loren?”

They chew the inside of their lip for a minute. “I trust you,” Noaz says. “Please, please understand that what I’m telling you is never to be repeated.”

I nod. “I won’t tell.” It sounds childish from my mouth. Like an adult telling a child to keep a secret and the child is afraid to do anything other than comply. I swallow.

“Loren is a killer of a different kind. He’s a contract killer. A mercenary of sorts. People hire him to kill their target—any target. Loren doesn’t have empathy or morals in the traditional sense. So Myro vets the contracts and then the triplets will go over them a little more thoroughly to determine if the target is someone we —the Van Dorens as a whole—are okay with killing.”

I shake my head. “What? How do you make that decision? ”

“The trauma behind the request; mothers wanting justice against their child’s rapist who got off on an insanity plea, adults who were trafficked as children, victims of abuse. But we also take other cases. Some of which might sound a little frivolous. I won’t get into those, though we have reasons for taking them. To be clear, Loren is the contract killer. Well, Loren and Myro.”

“Myro?” I ask, imagining him with Honey Bee. “Fuck.”

“She’s safe, Briar. We don’t kill people for fun. We kill people who deserve karma’s punishment. I know you’re not ignorant of how corrupt politicians and law enforcement can be. Or how the law can far too often work against the victim instead of for them. We don’t have that issue.”

“Like Dexter.”

Noaz smiles. “We aren’t that righteous in all the underside dark dealings, but yeah, I suppose. It’s honestly not about the law and those falling through the cracks. We don’t kill people just because it’s a Tuesday and someone is angry that their neighbor’s dog shit on their lawn but… yeah.”

“Okay. Are you all… killers?”

“Yes. We’re all trained to kill and defend. My brothers and I—excluding Jalon—each oversee a different city. Kairo has Chicago, Oxley is in Anaheim, Arath is in Philly, and NYC is mine. Or it was mine. Though it was a subconscious decision, I’d been ready to do something different. That change just happened to coincide with meeting you and getting news of our baby.”

I close my eyes for a minute, letting it all process. “What else?”

“Voss is a technical genius. Unlike the idiots who run SpaceX or governmental programs, he didn’t just hire geniuses to make advancements for him after his first couple of personal successes. Voss is a genius, and he works for himself. I mean, he works for Van Doren, but the things he does and creates, he does himself. There’s nothing he can’t do.

“The triplets are lawyers. They’ve passed their Bar Exams and are fully licensed, though they don’t truly practice in the traditional sense. They’ve chosen to concentrate as contract lawyers. That’s not a simplification of the truth. That’s truly what they do. All kinds of contracts. However, they usually take on favors for friends or tend to family matters.”

“But they’re all… killers,” I prompt.

Noaz nods. “Yes, but Jalon least of all. He doesn’t have time for that, but in a pinch, he’ll do what he needs to. Oxley, Ara, Kairo, and I do so in the cities; with our cleanup crews. We don’t like Loren being out on his own because he doesn’t have empathy, and he doesn’t have the same sense of right and wrong as the rest of the world. Imry usually goes with him. Because they spend so much time together, they’re very close. Loren’s trust in Imry runs deep, which is why Imry’s Loren’s first and sometimes only acceptable choice to keep Oakley safe when Loren leaves for a contract.”

“But he knows you all kill, right?”

“Loren or Oakley?”

I wince. “Loren, but now I’m wondering if Oakley knows too.”

“My understanding is Oakley knows Loren has killed for him. His stalker and the serial killer that Oakley ran into.”

“What?!”

Noaz stares at me. “…Which part didn’t you know?”

“The serial killer part.”

“Oh. Uh… yeah. He walked into a serial killer’s hunting ground and became the target. I don’t know what story they gave you to ex plain why he had strangulation marks around his neck, but he was nearly dead by the time Loren found him.”

A pit forms in my stomach. My sweet, over-trusting Oakley. What. The. Fuck.

“I’m sorry,” Noaz says, gently touching my face. “I didn’t realize you didn’t know that.”

I take a few deep breaths. “He’s safe. And alive. That’s what matters.”

Noaz nods hesitantly. “So, uh… yeah, Oakley knows Loren has killed for him. As far as I know, he’s unaware of Loren’s true profession. And yes, Loren knows that the rest of us are killers, too. But Loren trusts what he sees and I’m sure he’s seen Imry kill many, many times. That’s why he prefers Imry to protect Oakley over anyone else.”

“The other two triplets have been going with Loren in Imry’s absence.”

They nod again. “Yes. Which I imagine is a little counterproductive because they’re attached at the hip. It makes moving around more difficult. There’s also a level of… uh… fear that keeps their attention split between protecting someone they love and taking care of the threat. Does that make sense?”

“Why doesn’t someone else go with him?”

“I’d be surprised if that doesn’t happen, eventually. Loren’s patience isn’t very long. But he’s also tried to convince my brother he’s done killing because he doesn’t want to leave Oakley.”

“Jalon thinks he’s lying,” I suggest.

“No. A sociopath often leans toward violent tendencies. One of the reasons we began contract kills was to give Loren a productive outlet. ”

“I’m going to ask this again?—”

“Oakley is the safest person you’ll ever meet, Briar. I swear.”

I sigh. “Fine. What else?”

“I don’t know. I guess that’s it for right now.”

“What’s the plan? Why are we really going to Colorado?”

“You and I both know Miranda didn’t change her mind. She didn’t run away. She loves her family and her partner. But something Vanessa said and then especially what the detective said made the hair on my body stand on end. There’s something wrong with what they’re telling us. I can’t pinpoint what it was about the conversation with Vanessa that sits wrong with me and maybe if we hadn’t spoken to the detective, I might not feel it so strongly.”

“They’re not telling us something,” I say.

“I don’t know if that’s it. I’m just uneasy, and I want to talk to the detective in person so we can see his body language. But I also want to talk to Heath and Miranda’s family. I want to know the last place she was so Voss can tap into whatever cameras are around. I need to see for myself, and if there’s any chance we find a trail, I’m going to follow it.”

“We’re going to follow it.”

Noaz bows their head. “You don’t feel differently about me?”

I hate the insecurity in their voice. Pulling Noaz close, I wrap them in my arms and hug them tightly. “I love you. Your truths don’t change that. I’m not sure how I feel about it, but it doesn’t make me love you any less.”

Noaz takes a breath. “Okay, I’m going to test your resolve a little bit.” They pick up their head to look me in the eye. “It’s rare that this feeling means I’m overreacting. We’re going to run into trouble. Can you shoot?”

“I—A gun?”

The corners of their mouth quirk in a crooked smile. “Anything at all.”

“I’ve never tried for accuracy, but yes, I’ve shot a gun. A long time ago.”

“Remember when I just said Avory and Ellory weren’t good partners for Loren because their attention is divided?”

I smirk. “I’m not going to be a liability and you’re not going to leave me behind. I go where you go.”

“If you can’t shoot?—”

“Give me a scope or something. I’ll figure it out.”

“Briar—”

“You’re not going alone, Noaz. Maybe that’s how you operated in the past, but no more. I won’t lose you.”

Their face falls into that soft, sappy expression where their eyes get glassy.

“Besides, I can kick ass hand-to-hand. Just trust me. Okay?”

“I do trust you. That’s why I’m bearing all our family secrets to you. But I need you to trust me. I need you to listen to me. If I tell you to shoot someone, you need to do so without hesitation. Can you live with the knowledge that you’ve killed someone?”

“If it means you’re alive and I’m alive and our baby and Miranda are alive? Yes.”

“I really hope you’re right,” Noaz says .

I cup their face in my hands, bringing it close so we’re eye to eye. “I will never live without you. Am I clear? I will do anything to make sure our family goes home whole.”

Noaz’s eyes close. A tear tracks down their cheek and I kiss it away. “Please listen to me. Okay?”

“I will. Your word is law when I have a gun in my hand.”

They huff.

For a minute, we remain in silence, with nothing but the sound of the jet engine roaring in our ears. Noaz is in my arms, wrapped up in my hold as if they’re afraid I’m going to disappear. Everything they’ve told me over the last forty-five minutes continues circling through my head in a loop.

We land, and as we’re taxiing to the hangar, I ask, “Do you honestly think it’s going to come down to that?”

Noaz nods. “Yes. The closer we get, the more convinced I’m right. I’m not sure what we’re going to find and… I’m not sure we’re here in time. But I know with every fiber of my being that someone is lying to us.”

“We’re going to find out who.”

“The Van Dorens have an unofficial motto,” Noaz says as they get to their feet while Nick opens the door. “Fuck around and find out. I have a feeling a lot of people are going to find out what happens when you threaten a Van Doren.”

“Even an unborn Van Doren,” I add.

They meet my eyes over their shoulders with a wicked smile. No more tears. No more insecurities. No more vulnerability. That moment is in the past. Now it’s time to find what’s ours and bring it back .

“Especially an unborn Van Doren.”

Their tone makes chills break out over my entire body. I have a feeling that this trip is going to live rent-free in my head for a very long time.