Page 93 of Haven

He sipped the beer. “I dunno much. No one sees Ole Jimmy, but Ole Jimmy sees everyone else.” He coughed, bringing the bottle to his lips once more. “I ain’t see his face, but he talked ‘bout a plan. Pissed at some person for stealin’ his princess or somethin’ like that.”

“He say why he shot at Rory?”

“Decoy.”

Fuck.

If we would’ve started a war with Axel, then it would’ve been pointless. “Thanks, Ole Jimmy. Tell Davena if you hear anythin’ else.” He grumbled as I stood up, leaving him my own untouched beer. It wasn’t much, but it was something.

When I got to the police station, Melisa was in her office. Her desk was scattered with papers and there was a framed picture of her and Cinder with her daughter, Alice, when she was maybe two years old. I had never been in here before so I never saw that picture, but I always assumed the two of them dated or kept their relationship a secret for some reason.

Melisa looked at me, clearing her throat and wiping her eyes. In all my years of knowing this woman, I never saw her cry. When she was pregnant and hormonal, she never even cried then. The only time she shed a tear was when she gave birth and held her daughter for the first time. Melisa didn’t like people seeing her emotional, and she wore a persona of a badass. Don’t get me wrong, she was a badass, but she sucked at covering her emotions.

“Widow? What are you doing here?” She wiped her eyes, shuffling papers into a folder before quickly tucking it in a drawer. I sat in the chair in front of her desk, relaxing back against the hard wood.

“Sorry. I was in town and wanted to see if you found anything out. Are you okay?”

She chuckled. “I’ll be okay when I get home to my little girl. I’m expecting a call soon from Detective Calloway, but she said the information was the same that we had. I feel like there is something more to what is happening.”

“That’s what I’m thinking. I talked to Ole Jimmy down at Davena’s bar, and he said he heard this man talking. He set up the drive-by.”

Melisa’s back went rigid. “Why? That would mean he wants war?”

“I’m not sure, but something isn’t adding up.”

She ran her fingers through her dark hair before she paused. “Do you think he’s been watching? Not just Rory, but everyone? Everyone knows Cin hated Axel, but he would need to watch to learn,” Melisa pondered. “Do you think he could be hiding evidence?”

I furrowed my brows. “How? Unless he’s a cop, he couldn’t get into government computers.”

“If he’s been planning this since she was rescued, who knows what he is capable of.”

I nodded slowly. We knew there was a boy who might’ve been related to everything, but I thought that kid would be a victim, too. “Do you know where the kid went that they found wandering, asking about his princess?”

She looked through the files on her desk. “No. They wanted to get him checked out, but he vanished. There were no other reports of him in the area. I’ll talk to Detective Calloway when she calls me with an update. We are going to find him.”

“Thank you, Melisa, and go home to your little girl. Cinder wouldn’t want to see you crying over her.”

With that, I left her in her office. I knew they were together or at least fucking since Cinder couldn’t let herself love. Melisa, on the other hand, was head over heels for Cinder, and now I was seeing her crumble without Cinder here. We were all starting to crumble, but I needed to be the one to pick up the pieces.

Seventy-Eight

Rory

It was official—I was in love with Hades. She truly did have the hands of a doctor, and there was no other way I could explain the way her hand felt digging into my back as she worked out the truckload of stress in my muscles. The precision in her fingers found the exact tension in my back, and they melted away like butter.

I groaned when her fingers dug deeper into my back. “Fuck, I think I’m pregnant.”

Hades laughed, her hands rubbing the oil into my skin. Her fingers were quick and precise. If she did this, I would drop to my knees with a paper ring and buy a diamond later. “This confirmed it. I’m gonna marry you one day,” I moaned as she dug her fingers into my back.

“Is this your way of proposing?”

“Fuck, probably. It’s not nearly as romantic as you deserve, though.”

She tangled her fingers into my hair and pulled my hair back. The sound I made was ungodly. “Oh, it is romantic cause either way, I’ll have you screaming my name before you take my last name.”

“Goddamn. You think Vesper would like your name, too? Are you okay with me being in love with Vesper and Widow, as well as you?”

She let go of my hair, and I turned around so she could straddle my hips. “Yes. I’m not going to change you, Rory. You’re poly, so be it. Vesper’s pretty hot. Besides, I need my revenge for her holding that gun to my face and turning me on.”