Page 39 of Haven

Once was a coincidence, but twice? Someone had planned this. We just needed to figure out who.

When we rolled up to the docks, Vesper was with Melisa. If she was here, that meant whatever happened was worse than I thought. Cinder was the main one to keep her updated about Viper business, and Vesper and I would reach out when needed.

“What’s going on?” I asked, striding up to the women with Cinder hot on my tail.

“Just follow me,” Vesper said, walking to one of the shipping containers. The pier was the main target. The fire had been an attack, but what the hell were we about to walk into? A destroyed shipment without any injuries wouldn’t require Melisa to be here, and if someone was hurt there would've been an ambulance on site, so there was something else going on.

Vesper opened the latch, not looking into the container. Cin and I peeked our heads inside, and I felt rage soar through my veins. “What the fuck is this?”

The shipping container was filled with pictures of Rory from the three years she was with Jude Booker. We knew what had happened for the most part, but Rory didn’t go into detail. These pictures were…detailed. I grabbed one, and it was like a punch to the gut. Bruises. Cuts. Fear. She was maybe fourteen in the picture, and the pink princess dress he put on her was torn and covered in blood.

I’m coming for my pretty princess

“Why the fuck are their pictures of my little sister in here? Who the hell did this?” Cinder roared, her rage mirroring my own.

She had killed Jude Booker. I wasn’t there with her, but she confirmed he was dead. A person couldn't survive a bullet to the head and a severed penis. She stayed there until he took his last breath before calling the cops. Cinder was close to getting arrested for manslaughter with the way she gutted Jude, but when they saw Rory and her state, they had let her go.

These pictures were crystal clear, straight from a camera, not choppy video footage. This person had been there with her when that happened, rather than paying to watch that bastard brutalize her. I looked at Cinder, and she was brimming with fury. Her pale skin was red as a lobster and the vein in her forehead was about to burst.

“Was there anyone else there when you found her?” I questioned. Cinder was the only one there when she found Rory, but now we had to dive deeper.

“No.”

I looked at Vesper, who was still standing by the entrance of the shipping container, and realized she hadn't moved. “How did you find this?”

She unlocked her phone and handed it to me. “I don’t know why they chose me and not you or Cinder. Whoever it was watched me until I got here. I thought it was a prank.”

UNKNOWN

Container 531. There’s a surprise for you.

“The docks are my responsibility, so I figured I would check it out myself. When I found this, I called Melisa and immediately got you two here.” I scrolled down through the messages, positioning the phone so Cinder could read it, too.

UNKNOWN

Once upon a time, there was a pretty princess, and she was mine.

We would get married after the king had his fun.

My princess was beautiful, but the wicked sister took her away from me.

And then there were videos.

Against my better judgement, I played the video. The first part of the video was Rory when she was maybe sixteen, and she was in a dress. Someone came into the room with her and cut it off her body. She looked dazed. From the reports I read over when I was released from prison, there was no mention of drugs in her system.

“She was drugged?”

“I have to look at the tox screen again.” Cinder’s voice trailed off.

UNKNOWN

I’m taking my pretty princess back.

“Someone is with her at all fucking times. Do you understand me?” Cinder proclaimed angrily.

“Cin, we have to tell her,” Vesper pleaded. I didn’t like it, but she was right.

“No—”