Chapter 30 Jagg
JAGG
Ten minutes later, I hovered over my desk, the freshly printed reports still warm in my hands, the email from the warden burning a hole in my inbox.
Eight days ago.
My pulse drummed in my ears, my thoughts moving too fast to keep up. Kenzo Rees—former cult leader, career criminal, manipulative sociopath—was out. Released. On the streets.
The thought made me sick.
Rees had walked free three days before the Cedonia Scroll heist. Five days before Seagrave’s murder. Eight before Sunny was attacked in the woods.
Coincidence?
Not a chance in hell.
My jaw clenched as I compared the height and weight from Rees’s prison file to the grainy street cam stills of the Black Bandit. It was far from conclusive—but plausible. And with each passing second, the possibility solidified into something I couldn’t ignore.
Was Kenzo Rees the Black Bandit?
And if he was…
My chest tightened.
If he was, then he was here for the scrolls—But not only the scrolls.
Sunny.
The warden’s voice ran through my head:
“Short of it, he was going to kill her. Finish the job when he got out. Blamed her for making him hit her and for getting thrown in jail.”
I dropped the reports and pushed off the desk, running a hand through my hair as dread coiled in my chest like barbed wire.
My mind had been circling this case from every angle, every detail—but this changed everything.
She wasn’t just a bystander anymore. She wasn’t just a mystery I needed to solve.
She was possibly in danger.
The kind of danger that didn’t leave bruises—it left bodies.
And what rattled me most wasn’t just the threat Rees posed.
It was my reaction to it. The surge of heat that shot through my veins.
The raw, possessive instinct that lit up my nerves.
I didn’t just want her safe—I needed her safe.
Because somewhere between chasing suspects and dodging lies, I’d started to care about her.
More—much more—than I wanted to admit.
And if Rees laid a single hand on her, there wouldn’t be a courtroom in the world big enough to contain what I’d do next.
I printed photos from Rees’s file and scanned every inch of his tattoos.
A snake slithered up his left forearm, a trio of demons clawing out of his other one.
No clear Pagan or Wiccan ties, though the collar tattoo under his eye backed my guess he’d joined “The Collars” inside.
No signs he’d taken an interest in art, history, religion—or cursed scrolls.
The warden said Rees spent his time lifting weights and fighting, nothing more.
Aside from a few visits from a shady lawyer named “Stilts,” Rees hadn’t had a single visitor during his sentence—not even Sunny. I let out a breath I hadn’t realized I’d been holding. I didn’t want to know how my body would react if she’d gone to see him.
I’d already called Darby and told him to find Rees, whatever it took. I also pulled in the big guns—the Steele brothers from Steele Shadows Security. We’d all run ops together back in the day. They were family. Ruthless, well-funded family.
Gunner would hit the dealerships near the prison and ask about any blue sedans sold recently. Axel and Max Blackwell were tracking Rees’s last known cell. Gage—true to form—was already hitting the ground, old-school style.
I’d called Rees’s parole officer three times.
No answer. No surprise. Those check-ins were a joke.
I’d also left messages for Briana Morgan and called her firm, Harold and Associates, to confirm she was actually investigating the scroll heist. Still nothing.
I didn’t know why she was dodging me, but I planned to find out.
First, though—I had to check on Sunny.