Page 96 of Haven

“He wants to limit our resources,” Widow said, looking at her phone. I knew she was talking to Cher. “He’s planning something. It’s the only thing that makes sense. He killed the girls to keep Melisa busy. He put half of our people in the hospital. He either doesn’t realize Rory isn’t here, or⁠—”

“He knows Rory is in Crestview.” Widow narrowed her eyes on me as Mal looked at me with a curious brow. “Haven called me. I don’t know everything, but he knows she is there. He delivered things to her.”

“What kind of things?” Widow demanded.

“Pictures of Cinder. They’ll be back tomorrow. Melisa is aware that we will be meeting at the station. We need to work on this together, and maybe we can figure out who he is and why he’s doing this.”

Mal cleared their throat. “Isn’t it obvious?” We both looked at them, and they immediately shot their hands up. “He wants Rory. He’s making distractions so he can get her alone. You know how she is. The guilt will eat at her.”

Mal was right.

We would be distracted with everything else going on around us, and he would lure Rory to him. And Rory would do whatever she could to get him to stop hurting the people she loved. Fuck. When she learned about the attack, on top of everything else, she would be heartbroken.

“How are the Vipers? Cher takin’ good care of them?”

Mal sighed, running a hand down their face. “Fang is critical. She saw the car and had a bad feeling, so she went to the head of the group. Her history in the marines helped, but she couldn’t prevent the blast. She got most of the Vipers to a safe distance, but she got the brunt force of it.”

“Cher said Fang should pull through, but she has burns and several broken bones. I’m going to see her later and she’ll tell me more. The rest of the Vipers are okay. Bree had shrapnel in her leg, but nothing severe. The other Vipers have scrapes and bruises, but they will survive. Cher won’t let them leave the hospital until she’s looked at them.”

Cher was a scary woman when she was pissed off or scared. And now she was in doctor mode while pissed off and scared.

Widow looked at her phone again. “You and Mal see what you can figure out. I need to go see Melisa. This bastard left something for us.”

“Keep us updated with what she says,” Mal said as Widow vanished out of the clubhouse.

Eighty

Widow

Ididn’t like how easily this Devil was worming her way into the club. First Rory, then the Vipers, and now she was getting under Vesper’s skin. She shouldn’t trust her this easily, none of them should. They welcomed her with open arms, failing to remember who her father was. If Cinder was here, she would have a stroke, but there was only so much I could do.

Melisa was doing her best to help us, but with two murders and now the attacks, the police department had their hands full. Normally, our town was pretty obedient with minimal crime since Cinder handled it. Melisa and the police department had to deal with petty theft from time to time and the occasional shooting, but no one disobeyed Cinder. Cinder made sure the town she called home and the one she brought Rory back to would be safe.

Now without her, it was falling apart.

When I walked into the police station, it looked like a stereotypical mess we’d see on TV. There was no sense of law and order, only panic and disorder. Maybe I needed to help her out and send some Vipers. A handful of them came from law enforcement, but hated the corrupt system. We were already limited, but if Briarwood fell, then we would be open for even more attacks, and something told me that was his plan. With us distracted and weakened, he could get Rory. This asshole was smart.

“O’Connell, where is the file on the McIntire case?” Melisa asked, frustration in her voice. “You act like you’ve never worked in a dumpster fire before. Get your shit together and find that fuckin’ case file!”

Melisa was fiery when she was pissed off. Maybe that’s why Cinder liked her so much. A woman who could put her in her place, even if Cinder wouldn't admit it. “You seem busy.”

Melisa glared at me. “I’m a detective. I’m not a captain, a lieutenant, or a sergeant; I have no rank, and yet I am the only goddamn person who knows how to control the shitstorm. Men piss me off.”

“If you aren’t in charge, why do you get the fancy office?”

She barked out a laugh. “‘Cause I kicked the lieutenant out. Come on.”

“Do you need help? I can spare a few Vipers to get this shit together.”

“Half of your people are incapacitated, and you want to help our department?”

“Ehh, if the department falls, we are open for weakness. Cinder knew what she was doing. You need help. Like we all need help. We have one mission in common, and other than keeping our town stable, we are protecting Rory from her stalker. Now what did you have for me?”

She took me to her office, closing the door. “I opened it ‘cause my name was also on it and I regret my choice. There are pictures of Rory and of Cinder.”

I grabbed the file, opening it. He was there, and he had access to the camera or the SD card he had because Rory looked young in these pictures. I knew Jude got custody of her when she was thirteen. Who knew how many pictures and videos this bastard had, considering she was rescued two months shy of her eighteenth birthday.

I grabbed the picture that had a little boy dressed as a prince with a dazed Rory. “Can we run any kind of facial recognition on this boy?”