“It would still take a lot of work. I only have a fragment of the drive, but it might be enough with the key.”
“And you want me to go torture Gary to get you this encryption key?” Adam asked, fire shooting through his blood at the prospect of finally getting a little alone time with the piece of shit who hurt Noah.
“Pretty please,” Calliope said.
“Why not just go get the full hard drive from Gary’s house?” Noah asked.
“I’m not opposed to that, but I would still need the encryption key to get any information,” Calliope said.
“And I’ll get it for you,” Adam promised.
“We already have it,” Noah said.
Adam frowned. “We do?”
Noah smiled for the first time in hours. “Yep. I think I know why Gary was so desperate to get that backpack back. It wasn’t the guns or the drugs. It was the crumpled up paper I found in the small inner pocket. It was just a string of nonsense, so I tossed it back in the bag. The encryption key is in your dad’s garage behind a fake panel under the bench in the kitchen.”
“This is why I like Noah better,” Calliope said. “In case you were wondering.”
“So, I don’t get to torture Gary?” Adam said, voice huffy.
“Not yet,” Noah muttered. “But soon.”
“How fast can you go get it?” Calliope asked.
Adam toweled his hair. “I can go now.”
“We can go now,” Noah clarified, then gave a jaw cracking yawn.
Adam shook his head. “No. You’re exhausted. You get some sleep. I’ll run and get the encryption key, drop it at the meetup spot, and be back in an hour.” Noah chewed on his bottom lip until Adam tugged it free and kissed him. “It’s going to be okay. Let me do this.”
Noah nodded. “Yeah, okay.”
“Perfect. Text me when you make the drop,” Calliope said before disconnecting.
“Get some rest, baby. I’ll be back soon.”
Noah did go to bed, and he was exhausted, but it was impossible to sleep. He couldn’t stop his racing thoughts. No matter what he did, Calliope’s words kept creeping back into his head. “They could still be living with their abuser, like Noah was.”
Like Noah.
There were dozens, maybe even hundreds, of kids who were just like him, victims of the worst kind of abuse. The kind that stains a person’s whole life, even when they didn’t remember it. What were those children’s lives like? Had they been lucky enough to forget, too? Had they even lived long enough to talk about it? Were they spiraling like Noah had before he met Adam?
Calliope was right. They needed to find these kids and, somehow, make sure they got some kind of help or, at the very least, justice. If Adam had known Holt was not his father but his abuser—if he’d remembered the abuse and torture he’d endured sooner—he would have thanked Adam for killing the man. Even if foster care had sucked. Even if he’d spent years living in a constant state of uncertainty. Holt being dead would have been worth all of it.
Noah couldn’t imagine a world with Holt still in it and felt a wave of relief every time he remembered the man was dead. He scrubbed his hands over his face. What if the fragmented hard drive showed nothing? They’d only managed to get half of it at most. Noah knew nothing about computers, but he knew the whole drive had to be better than half.
Noah sat up, throwing off the covers. He could go get it. He still had the key. He could slip in and out without Gary even knowing he had ever been there. Then Calliope would have the whole drive, not just pieces of the puzzle.
As quickly as inspiration stuck, it evaporated, disappointment replacing his excitement. Even if he could get to Gary’s house, he didn’t know anything about cloning hard drives or any other technology outside a cell phone. Adam had taken care of that part. He didn’t even fully understand what cloning was, but he assumed it was like taking a photocopy.
Noah flushed at his own stupidity. He didn’t need a photocopy. Gary was already onto them. Noah just needed the original. He could take the laptop. There was no way Gary wasn’t putting it all together, even if he hadn’t installed the cameras in the storage unit. Noah didn’t have to be careful anymore, and even he could steal one fucking laptop. Hell, he’d stolen Gary’s backpack right under his nose.
If he took the laptop, Calliope would theoretically have everything. Even if the boys’ names weren’t on it, there had to be something to help them unravel this fucking mess of victim and abuser. He took a deep breath and let it out, just as Calliope had done earlier. He was doing it. Even if it was a bad idea. Even if it was the worst idea ever. Those kids deserved some kind of justice.
He grabbed his phone, looking at the time. Midnight. Gary would definitely be at the club at that time of night. Noah dropped his phone back onto the side table and stood, shoving his legs back into his jeans and throwing on a t-shirt. Once he had his phone and wallet, he ordered an Uber and went to meet it out front.
He slipped into the icy interior of a Lincoln Navigator, shivering as the leather seats grazed his skin. He was grateful the driver didn’t try to make conversation. It already felt like there was a hornet’s nest in Noah’s stomach. Was he really doing this? Yes, he was, and Adam was going to fucking kill him.
But Adam wasn’t the boss of him. At least, that was what he told himself. Still, Noah pulled his phone out, firing off a text before he could think better of it.
Can’t sleep. Going to get the hard drive from Gary’s. Be back soon. Love you.
He hit send before he realized what he’d typed. He stared down at those last two words. It was true. He did love Adam, but he’d never said so. For a number of reasons. They barely knew each other. It seemed insane to declare his love after just a couple of weeks.