Chapter 26 #3
“Grace has been handling some detective work of her own,” I gritted out.
“She wasn’t far off, Viper,” Darlene said.
“She found several details that are adding missing pieces to this puzzle. There was some crazy break-in at the pet store and half the pictures she’d painted had been stolen.
Something is going on and I asked my father, but as the chief of police, he can’t tell me what is happening.
He’s on his way hoping to talk to Grace. ”
My fucking God. She was trying to get herself killed. The bastard had been told.
“What else?” I gritted out, barely able to see straight.
“I don’t know if I should be telling you anything else,” Darlene groaned. “She’ll kill me.”
I gripped her arms. “I called and she didn’t answer. That’s not like her.”
“Shit. And I’ve tried to call her back three times.
Oh, she’ll kill me. I did some investigations on my own at her request. Her father took out a restraining order a few years ago.
I don’t think Grace knew. Some threats were made, including a strange note sent just after Grace left for college and while the family was on a last vacation together. ”
“Mike Jenson,” I shot out. “That’s the motherfucker who’s doing this. Right?”
“What? How the hell did you know?”
Snorting, I scanned the bar again, furious that I couldn’t keep a weapon on me. “I recognized the bastard as the strange man who brought an injured dog for her to try and help. The same dog Axe rescued from that goddamn fire. Her yearbook was out with her boxing everything and I saw his damn face.”
“Well, there’s something else. A week before Steve Monroe was killed, he took out another restraining order. I have no clue why it didn’t flag the system when my father began the investigation. I haven’t talked to him yet. He was in with the fire marshal when I tried.”
What the fuck?
The crowd of people near us suddenly began to move to accommodate someone coming through. In seconds, I knew why.
The police chief and a police officer headed for us. “Darlene,” Chief Taylor said. “What are you doing here?”
“Worrying about my friend. She called and left a message that you need to hear. But she hasn’t arrived yet.”
And I wasn’t waiting for anyone to rescue her but me.
I pulled away, taking deep breaths. “Mike Jenson. That’s who you’re looking for. Right? He was the football player who took her to the prom in high school. Something happened other than him just jilting her. Right? Right? I need to know.”
“Calm down, son. We will find her,” the chief said as if we were buddies.
Darlene was beside herself, staring me in the eyes. “She didn’t tell you.”
“Tell me what. Tell me what?”
“He tried to…” She looked at her father. “He tried to rape her, but she fought him off. He got away with the assault because Mike’s father bought everyone off in town. You know what I’m talking about. The son of a powerful man.”
“Darlene,” the chief pressed. “This is a police matter.”
“Sorry, Daddy, but you’ve allowed the Jensons to get away with crazy shit my entire life. Viper, Grace’s father persisted in trying to have Mike arrested. From what I know, Mike hasn’t been in town for years. Maybe I’m wrong because I was away at school just like Grace was.”
“What the fuck,” I hissed. “I will hold you responsible if anything happens to her.”
“We didn’t suspect it because Mike Jenson has been in prison for the past couple years,” the chief admitted, his face grim. “But it had nothing to do with Grace.”
I bristled. “I’m going to find her. Maybe you can’t do your job, but I will.”
“Take it easy, Viper,” Axe encouraged.
“This asshole Mike Jenson has been stalking her, man. I need to get to her.” I started to leave and the chief grabbed my arm.
“Listen to me. The man is dangerous. Because of how it happened with Grace, no charges were brought as Darlene said, but I think he was obsessed with her. That’s why Steve Monroe took out a restraining order.
He never told Grace. Jenson’s father had influence over the old chief of police and members of the prosecutor’s office.
However, less than a year later, he attacked another girl while in college.
At the University of Montana. Given the evidence, there was no way the kid was able to get off scot-free.
He was sent to prison, although with deals made for a lesser charge.
He was kicked out of school and there was nothing his father could do to protect him.
After what Darlene told me, I started putting the pieces together. ”
“Fuck. Let me guess. The second girl’s family owned the sporting goods store,” I snarled.
“Yes. I just learned he was released from prison seven weeks ago. We have an APB out on him,” Chief Taylor said. “We will find him.”
“No, you won’t. That’s who’s been stalking her. She’s in danger. If he knows she’s been trying to find him, then he will do what it takes to keep her quiet.”
I didn’t wait for any reply. I shoved my way through the crowd and to the door.
She was the catalyst, the spark that had started the man’s nightmare and he was going to end it with her.
Over my dead body.