Page 117 of Haven

“Widow, I'm going to have to get the FBI involved. I know you like keeping Viper business in Briarwood, but this is bigger than me.”

My fingers curled into fists and my jaw tensed. I didn’t like the idea of people digging into Rory’s past, but this was bigger than us. We needed to protect her. She was our priority, no matter what emotions were involved. “Keep it limited. If they need to talk to Rory, you let me know first. I want him caught.”

“I know. We are working on it. Cinder, Rory, and all these girls will get justice.”

“Thank you, Melisa.”

I walked into the clubhouse looking for Vesper. I knew she would be in the garage working on her car since she was waiting for Rory’s arm to heal more. I looked at Mal who was nursing a glass of whiskey. Mal forced a smile that didn’t reach their eyes, spinning the glass in their hand. They exhaled sharply before finishing the whiskey and slamming the glass down. Someone pissed in their Cheerios today.

“Where’s Vesper?” They lifted their finger and a few moments later, I heard Rory screaming as she orgasmed. “I guess waiting is done.”

“In Vesper’s defense, I’m pretty sure Rory seduced her,” Mal said blandly. “V also likes being called Daddy, if you didn’t know.”

I rolled my eyes. “Thanks for telling me something I didn’t need to know. Tell Vesper I need to see her. I’m not dealing with Rory right now. Play poker with her while I talk to V in my office.”

A few minutes later, Vesper was walking into my office with a shit-eating grin plastered on her face. “I thought you were waiting?”

“I was seduced. How could I deny Rory when she was begging me to have her?”

“She has you pussy-whipped.”

Vesper chuckled as she took a seat across from me. “I’m not complaining. You know you’re jealous.”

I was fucking jealous, but I wasn’t going to break the promise I made to Cinder. “It doesn't matter. Melisa found something and she will have to reach out to the FBI because this is starting to get out of her reach. She needs help.”

Vesper’s back straightened. “What did she find?”

“She gave me a file. He attacked a girl. Melisa said the girl looked similar to Rory when she was younger, but he dyed her hair and gave her identical tattoos that Rory had four years ago. She wanted us to look at this together. She warned me that it would be…a lot.”

I pulled the file out and opened it, setting it on the table. One was of her with spotless skin and dark blonde hair. The next was of the same girl with botched pink hair, wounds similar to Rory’s, and a few makeshift tattoos also identical to Rory’s. Four years ago, she didn’t have a plethora of tattoos covering her skin like she did now. She handed me the report the woman made when she was found.

The bastard dressed her as a princess before he raped her. He kept calling her Aurora. The cops thought he had some Disney princess fetish and didn’t look into past cases, but when Rory was found, Jude Booker was the culprit.

Vesper looked over the file, grimacing at the pictures of his handiwork on the poor girl. “Wait, so he’s been watching her? He knew where she was this whole time?”

“That’s what we are assuming. We need to figure this out because the next time he comes for Rory, who knows what he’ll do. He is determined to get her back.”

“Hold on, we need to call Hades.” God, I hated that she was trusting the fucking devil. I hated that Rory was falling in love with Haven Morningstar. This entire situation never should have happened, but who could I truly blame?

“Hey, everythin’ okay?” Haven asked over speakerphone.

I watched Vesper and the way she talked with Haven on the phone. Vesper didn’t let her walls down, especially for the enemy. She shouldn’t trust her simply because they were both dating Rory. I wanted to put my foot down, but I had no claim. Rory would be pissed at me, but she was already angry with me. I wanted to protect her, and if that meant breaking her heart again to save her from being betrayed by a devil, then so be it.

“Melisa found a girl in Nevada that was kidnapped and raped a few years ago. She looked like Rory before, and then he botched her to make her look like her now.”

“Wait, he’s been watchin’ her? He knows about her life?” she asked.

I pressed my lips together as Vesper nodded. “Yeah. We don’t know the details, but there is a lot more going on than we know.”

“We need to find him,” Haven thundered. No fucking shit. “We can’t always be with her and Rory doesn’t like the helicoptering. She wants to come here.”

My fists clenched tightly. Rory didn’t need to go to Crestview where she was in danger, and being in Crestview meant she would be in danger we couldn’t protect. I didn’t want to deal with Rory’s stalker, plus dealing with the fucking Devils.

“I’m going to find a way to catch him,” Vesper proclaimed. “I’m not going to let him play puppet master while we are his unknowing puppets. I’m catching this asshole before he hurts my girl again.”

“You’re going to get yourself killed,” I hissed. I knew Vesper. She wouldn’t think before diving headfirst. Rory had her thinking crazy, and that would get her killed. Distraction was a fast killer.

“Better than Rory dying or getting trapped with him!”