Thirty-Two
Widow
Someone wanted to die today. I grabbed my phone from the nightstand and glared at the screen.
It was ten in the goddamn morning. Did Vesper ever fucking sleep?
I knew I should have gone to my cabin after Rory kissed me last night, but I stayed at the clubhouse in case she needed me. I was a glutton for punishment.
Vesper
Whatever it was, had to be important or she wouldn’t have me poking the bear this early.
Cin was a monster if she didn’t get her beauty sleep.
I rolled out of bed, slipping into jeans and a black tee, running my fingers through my shortcut as I left my room.
Cin got home at five last night and, knowing her, she had just fallen asleep.
Vesper better have something serious or we would both kill her.
We had already faced one issue this week; we didn’t need any more.
My hand collided with Cin’s door, waiting for her to chop my head off, but she opened it with a disheveled look and sleep in her eyes. Her brow arched as she glared at me.
“Vesper has something for us at the pier. We are both needed. It sounded urgent.” She grunted, closing her door, and I heard her shuffling around in the room.
As I walked past Rory’s door, I was tempted to peek inside to see if she was awake or even at the clubhouse.
She was never home, staying either at her tattoo shop or off on an adventure.
I didn’t know what she did, but I tried not to pry.
Having her hate me and keeping my distance was best for everyone.
It was the best way to protect her from getting hurt again.
If I broke her heart a second time, I wouldn’t be able to live with myself.
I had made a pot of coffee and downed a cup by the time Cinder met me in the kitchen. She was a bitch if she didn’t have coffee. Before she could say anything else, I handed her the black mug and she took a few big gulps. “What is this about?”
“No clue. V said it was urgent, so we should get going.” Cin looked upstairs, and it didn't take a genius to know what was going through her mind, her protective instincts roaring. “She’s twenty-six, not two. She’ll be fine. Let's go.”
The twenty-minute ride to the pier was quick as our bikes flew through the busy streets, weaving between honking cars and pedestrians.
The wind whipped at my face, adrenaline pumping through my veins as I revved the throttle.
The city was alive, but my mind was on whatever Vesper had waiting for us.
After the fire at the pier, I hadn’t expected anything so soon.
Parker said they didn’t find any incriminating evidence that Axel was behind it.
We couldn’t go in there guns blazing based on a thought.
Something was off.
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—”
“Cinder, we can’t do this without telling her.
” Cin looked ready to tear into me. “She needs to know!” I barked.
Not telling Rory would cause more harm than good, not to mention that it would put a bigger strain on their relationship.
“If she finds out that you knew and didn’t tell her, she will be furious. She deserves to know.”
My friend’s face softened slightly, and that’s when I saw the fear in her eyes. She didn’t let certain emotions show, but right then, they were seeping through the cracks. “I can’t lose her. Not again.”
I pulled Cinder into my arms. This was enough to make the strongest person shatter.
The pictures alone showed what happened to her, not to mention the video Vesper received.
She never broke in front of people, but the people in this room weren’t strangers.
We knew everything that had happened with their mother and how she felt when she couldn’t find Rory.
“Something happened last night,” I started, knowing Rory would hate me for this. “She called me because she was scared. Someone was at her shop and left her flowers.”
“Why didn’t you tell me?”
“She didn’t tell me until I was there, and when I got back to the clubhouse, you were asleep. I was going to tell you today, but this happened.”
Cinder looked at Melisa. “Do you have any footage or activity with strangers in town?”
“No. This is the first report of anything, but I will keep looking. Do you have anything for me?” Melisa asked.
“Not now. We all know Jude Booker is dead, but this person has detailed information and videos of Rory, so he must’ve had a partner no one knew about.”
Cinder tensed. “I’ll get in touch with the detective from Nevada. Until then, I guess we’ll get back to the clubhouse and tell Rory.”
Rory was in danger, and it was our job to protect her.