Page 22 of Burned in Stone
“Good. Mack?”
“Nothing unusual at the gym. But I’ve seen a couple of those new cops coming in for workouts. Keeping an eye on them.”
“All right.” Stone leans forward, palms flat on the table. “Until we know what Summit’s planning, we stay alert. No one rides alone, no one talks to these new cops. Any contact, you report back immediately.”
As everyone files out, Bones catches my arm. “Need to talk to you.”
We wait until the room clears.
“Found something,” he says quietly. “Mercedes Rogers, reported missing from Ailington thirteen months ago by her husband. Divorce papers filed two days before she supposedly disappeared.”
My chest tightens. “Husband? So they are still married.”
“Seems it. Gabriel Rogers. Cop. Fifteen years on the force.” Bones’s expression is dark. “He’s a fucking cop, Cash.”
My blood freezes in my veins. “A cop. Of course he’s a fucking cop.”
Like most of us in the MC, cops were never the good guys in my story. They were the ones who looked at a bruised kid and asked what I did to deserve it. Who found me kicking cans in the alley and picked me up for truancy, telling me I was ‘making a big deal of nothing’ when I tried to tell them what my mother’s dealer did. They were nothing but a bunch of corrupt fucks who were only out for themselves. And now Mercy’s running from one.
“That makes her a cop’s wife, brother.”
My eyes snap to his. “What are you saying? That you think she’s a plant?” It’s like he stabbed me with a broken bottle. “Fuck you, Bones.” I lower my voice, aware Stone might hear us even from the next room. “You think she’s a fucking rat?”
Bones lifts his hands, palms out. “Not what I’m saying. If she was a plant, she wouldn’t be this messy. She’d have a script, a cover story, and she’d stick to it. This...” He shakes his head, the movement quick and sharp, like he’s trying to expel a bad thought. “This is real. Whatever broke her, it wasn’t for show.”
My fists unclench. “So whatareyou saying?”
He digs into the stack of papers he brought to church, slides over a printout from a manila folder. “Gabriel Rogers put in his transfer to Stoneheart PD three months ago. It was approved last week and he’s somehow already starting this Monday. Got a squad car assigned to him and everything.” He slides another page toward me. “Read.”
It’s an internal memo. Gabriel Rogers, decorated officer from Ailington PD, effective transfer date next Monday, specialassignment to Summit’s ‘community safety’ task force in Stoneheart.
Right beneath, in the signature scrawl of the new city manager, is the phrase: ‘Summit Holdings priority assignment.’
I stare at the printout. Gabriel fucking Rogers, right there in black and white. His badge number, his new Stoneheart address, his start date. My hands shake. Monday. That’s less than forty-eight hours from now.
“Three months ago,” I say, my brain blanking on anything but the ugly logistics. “Three months is?—”
“How old little Rose is.” Bones nods, clearly establishing the same connection I am. “Same night you and Mercy...” He doesn’t need to say more.
The night I had her on that table. The night I was seconds from making her mine. That’s when he started the transfer process. Like he was waiting for me to make a move. Like I’m the fucking trigger.
I scrub a hand over my face. “He’s been watching her. This whole fucking time.” My voice sounds scraped raw, like it belongs to someone else. “He’s been watching us, for months. How the fuck has he been watching us?”
And the worst part? How the fuck did I miss it? I know exactly how it feels to be watched by predators. To know someone’s tracking you, waiting for the right moment to strike. I spent years looking over my shoulder. And now Mercy’s been doing the same thing. Running from a cop with a badge and connections. No wonder she’s terrified.
Bones pulls out another piece of paper. “Man took a leave of absence a little after he reported his wife missing. As far as I can tell, he’s been holed up in Halli. It’s the next town over, so it’d be easy for him to move in and out of Stoneheart unnoticed. Looks like he’s been watching her the entire time she’s been here.”
“Fuck me,” I mutter, putting the puzzle together. “He’s been close, just… lurking. Waiting for his shot.”
Bones’s gaze is hard. “This guy isn’t just hunting her, Cash. He’s hunting you, too. And, by extension, us.”
A cold, electric wash rolls down my spine. “And now he’s linking up with Summit. He’s going to use the uniform as cover.”
“Wouldn’t you?”
We lock eyes over the table. “You tell Stone yet?”
“Not yet. Figured I’d hand it to you first, since…” He lets the sentence die.
