Vesper
Eighty-Four
There was knocking on my door as I pulled Rory closer to me, telling whoever it was to come in. The only person it would be was Widow. No one else would dare knock on my door. “We have a problem,” Widow said. Her eyes went to a very naked sleeping Rory in my bed. “She doesn’t need to see this.”
I carefully got out of my bed and slipped into my sweats and a black, form-fitting tee. “What’s wrong?”
Widow ran her hand through her short hair. “Melisa found another body.”
It was either Cinder or another girl. I didn’t want either option, but I knew if word got out that this person was killing more innocent women, Rory would blame herself. And if it was Cinder, that meant we had to say goodbye to our fearless leader.
The ride to the police department was silent. Another body within two weeks of each other was bad. It meant this person had plenty of time on their hands to find and kill. Melisa met us in the squad room before taking us downstairs to the morgue.
“Seventeen-year-old Belle Mason. Runaway. Just like the other girl.”
While Widow talked with Melisa, I looked at the pictures from the crime scene.
We weren’t able to see it in person like with the other murder, but CSI evidence was just as good.
It would give me something to compare to.
Every killer left a calling card, a mistake or signature that helped identify them.
Belle had a rose left on her body, Ella…
wait a damn minute. “He’s targeting people with names of Disney princesses. ”
“What?” Melisa asked.
“Ella. Cinderella. Belle. Beauty and the Beast. Aurora. Sleeping Beauty. It makes sense. This man keeps calling Rory his princess. He’ll go through women that remind him or princesses until he gets Rory.”
“I have another body on my hands. We are actively looking for clues, but it would help if we could talk to Rory. Anything she remembers can help us with this case and help us find him.”
I nodded, but Widow didn’t look pleased. We both knew we would need to inform Rory sooner rather than later, because it would end in a disaster if we didn’t. Tonight would be the best time to tell her, but we would also need to tell Hades in case she ran off like before.
“Give me a few days,” Widow said. “I need to figure this out.”
“I’m going to show her the files I found in Cinder’s safe,” I announced. We discussed showing her the articles already. Melisa told us that Rory messaged her so if she wanted to know, we shouldn’t hide it from her.
When I got back to the clubhouse, Rory was in the kitchen in a baggy T-shirt that hung off her left shoulder.
I wanted to believe she had shorts on underneath, but Rory was known to walk around the place barely clothed.
No one here cared and it was her home, while some of the other members just came here throughout the day.
She had her pink Beats headphones on, moving her hips as she cooked herself breakfast.
Widow informed me that she had to call the other territories to see if she could gather where both girls had been from.
They were runaways, but they had to have a family or someone who cared for them.
I sent Calloway a message, to which she replied she would call me as soon as she could with some information.
Maybe there was something that we all missed ten years ago.
Rory started to scream some Bad Omens song as she flipped whatever was in the pan. Widow wanted to talk to her together, but we both agreed that we would wait. As long as another body didn’t show up, we should be fine.
Rory knew I was walking up behind her, and she pulled her headphones off and spun around with a solemn look on her face. She had hickeys on her throat, her T-shirt covering up the rest of the ones I left behind. It was intoxicating witnessing my mark on her gorgeous skin.
“Why did you leave me this morning?” she pouted.
“I had to help Widow with something.”
She frowned. “Widow loves pussyblocking me, doesn’t she?” I pulled her into my arms and pressed her against the counter. “I missed waking up to you.”
“I’ll make it up to you, okay? What’s the plan for today, mariposa?”
“I have to catch up with work. I am booked for the next week, hoping that’ll help me buy another bike.
It feels odd riding Cinder's. I feel like it should be a shrine or ready for her when she comes home.” Rory’s face dropped as she fiddled with her thumbs.
She didn’t like thinking of Cinder being gone, but we still had nothing to help us uncover the truth.
I reached for her hand and she took it, looking up and giving me a semi-forced smile. I hoped this wasn’t a mistake. “Can I show you some things? Melisa mentioned it to us, and if you want to see them, I won’t keep it from you.”
She arched her brow. “You have my case files?”
“I didn’t look at them. I found them in Cinder’s office. If we think she’s alive, we need to find clues. And you are our biggest clue.”
I took her hand and walked us to my bedroom.
She sat on my bed and I gathered everything I found in Cinder’s office, carefully setting everything in front of her.
She started with case files containing the medical reports.
I watched intently as she read through them, and her demeanor changed, but it was out of relief.
“No signs of sexual penetration or trauma. My God, I think I can breathe better.” She tucked her hair behind her ear as she went through the articles. “He still touched me. I want to remember.” She looked over more. “Wait, tri-triazolam and sodium oxbate?” Rory slaughtered the wording of the drugs.
Rory looked at me, frowning as I explained, “That’s Halcion and GHB. Triazolam is used to help insomnia and I don’t think I have to tell you what GHB is.”
“Why were they in my system? Cinder said there were no drugs in my system when she found me. Why did she lie to me and to everyone else?”
There were a lot of things I was starting to question about what Cinder was doing. “I don’t know, mariposa, but it might explain the memory fatigue and patches.”