90. Vesper
Ninety
Vesper
HADES
We need to talk.
Before I had the chance to respond back to her she FaceTimed me. “Can you meet?”
“Why?”
“I have information that will help this. Zade found something when looking into Rory’s time in Nevada, and it’s something I don’t want to discuss over FaceTime or via text.”
I nodded, glancing behind me to make sure no one heard us. I couldn’t just waltz into Crestview because of the agreement. “There’s a diner on the edge of Briarwood and Crestview. I will meet you there.”
The drive was intense knowing Hades had information that could shift everything.
Cinder went alone back then to get Rory; she could have missed something with everything else going on.
No one would blame her, either. I, too, would have been more concerned about saving her than inspecting every inch of the house she was in.
When I pulled up, she was leaning against her cherry-red Camaro like she owned the place.
One boot was crossed over the other, and her arms were folded.
She wore red leather, matching her car that clung to her sinful body, and her eyes cut into me when I stepped out of my Escalade.
I hated that I noticed how she looked, but I couldn’t deny the pulse in my chest. Fucking hell.
This was not how I should react to this woman.
“What did you find?” I asked, cutting straight to the chase.
She didn’t say anything for a moment, reaching into the front of her car and pulling out a plain manila file. She handed it to me without a word.
I hesitated for a second before I grabbed it, our fingers brushing. It felt deliberate, like she also felt this growing tension between us, or maybe I was imagining things. Even if it meant something, whatever she had was more important than this chemistry we shared.
I flipped the folder open, my gut twisting at the articles about Rory. As I inspected the papers, I stopped in my tracks at seeing the police report. “What is this? Detective Calloway didn’t tell us anything when Cinder talked to her.”
“Because this wasn’t from Detective Calloway. It’s from the FBI. This file was from a year ago.” The Bureau? Melisa said something about the FBI poking their noses in Briarwood, but I didn’t believe they would keep it a secret from Cinder, let alone the officers. Something wasn’t adding up.
"Why would the FBI have a file on a girl, but we wouldn’t know anything about her? Do you have names on the agents?”
Hades’s eyes hardened. “Caroline Hart and Adam Turnage.”
“That’s not possible, because those are two of three agents that died five years ago.”
“Something isn’t adding up. Zade said it took a lot to find it. He had to bypass a firewall and he is pretty sure someone tracked him, but he scrambled his location so I don’t know if they wanted this to be found. It could be fake.”
“Did he get a name?” Vesper asked.
“Melody A. Her last name wasn’t disclosed because she was a minor. Zade is trying to see what he can find out, but it’s taking him extra time because of the security, but he’s good.”
I ran my hands through my hair, tugging my hair slightly as I let out a sigh. There was too much going on and not enough answers to the million forming questions. “Was she with Rory or was this before?”
“It looks like it was before Rory, but this girl is a ghost. There’s nothing on her. No medical files, no case files. It’s like she doesn’t exist.”
Jude had various princess dresses and torture equipment in his house, according to the reports and what Cinder saw. What if there were other girls, but he killed them?
“Did she endure what Rory did?”
“I don’t know. Did Rory ever mention anything about a girl with her?”
I glanced at the files once more. “No. She barely remembered the boy. Unless the girl wasn’t with her at the time, and she was their first victim.”
“Has anything happened in Crestview?”
“Widow didn’t want me to say much, but we had two bodies of teenage girls. Runaways. He dressed them up like princesses before killing them.”
Hades stiffened, crossing her arms across her chest. “Does Rory know?”
“No. If we tell her, she will be heartbroken. This is different from letting her see the case files. She can’t know about the girls.”
Hades nodded slowly, eyeing me suspiciously despite the tentative agreement. She knew that Rory would freak, it wasn’t worth it. We both just wanted to keep her safe