Page 15 of Ruthless Vengeance

“What happened to Ciara?” Maddox asks.

I slide the folder, which I’d been flipping through while Maria talked, towards him and watch his eyes widen as he takes in the photo.

“Holy fuck!” Maddox exclaims.

Maria turns away and even Mitch averts his eyes, no doubt having already seen it and not wanting to look again. I’m not sure there are words to describe the carnage staring up from the page. I close the folder as Mitch begins talking.

“According to the police report. Ciara was kidnapped on her way home right from under her guards’ noses.”

Maria interrupts, “Theo believed it was an inside job, and as the guard was one of Darragh’s…well, you can understand why he blamed him. There were rumours a rival family were responsible, but Theo believed it was something else. He and Darragh were working with several different outfits at that time, so it could have been any of them.”

“Okay, this is all very interesting and explains a lot, but how does this help us? What could Kavanagh want with Rox?” I ask, looking at Maria first, who shakes her head. “We’re missing something.”

Mitch pulls the file forward, flipping through pages until he finds what he’s looking for. “This might answer that question.”

Spinning it round, Maddox and I take a look. It’s a photo of Rogers embracing none other than Kavanagh.

“What the actual fuck?”

“My thoughts exactly.” Mitch says, flipping to the next page, which shows other photos of Rogers. “This photo along with others and a video of a murder scene have all been taken by some stringer that, as yet, hasn’t been identified. Whoever is taking these shots needs to be found. Preferably before Rogers does. Aside from that, this picture right here shows there’s a connection between Rogers and Kavanagh, and given recent events, I’d say you need to find out what.”

“Great fucking idea, Mitch. Zak, why don’t you call up Rogers and ask him his game plan, and what’s his deal with Kavanagh?” Maddox barks sarcastically, slapping a hand down on the counter. Maria moves away from the counter, briefly placing her hand on his shoulder before putting the kettle on.

“Hold on, that’s not such a ridiculous idea, Maddox.” His head swivels round, eyes snapping to mine. “Hear me out. Rogers came to you about Bonner, right?” He nods, and I can almost see the cogs turning inside his head. “Why don’t we return the favour?” Mitch frowns, but Maddox is intrigued and catching on quick. “Set up a meeting at The Watchtower with Bonner and show him the photo of Rogers and Kavanagh.”

“You know they could all be working together, right? Maddox states.

“Yeah, but if they’re not then it will spook Bonner, or at the least make him question Rogers’ loyalty to him. We both know Rogers isn’t loyal at fucking all, and Bonner is paranoid. If they’re all working together then they’ll know we now know too. It will make it harder for them to play us off against each other.”

“Good. Set it up with Mickey for later tonight. Mitch, what’s Noah’s deal?”

“Your guess is as good as mine. The guy is NCA, and I thought he and Roxy were close—”

“Not any fucking more,” Maddox growls. “Stick to the question, Mitch.”

“Up yours, Maddox. No, not anymore, but it won’t be because you or I decide so. It will be Roxy’s choice. Whatever was between them, he fucked her over, so you can bet your damn arse she won’t let him back in again. Just remember that before you get any fucking ideas about you and her.”

“Too fucking late for that!”

“And just what the hell does that mean?” His eyes narrow, but before I can say anything, he continues. “Please, for the love of God, tell me you didn’t? It’s not bad enough that you drop back into her life, fucking up her career like this, but you have to complicate things even more by taking her to your…” He visibly cringes at the thought. Fuck knows what he’d say if he knew the real truth.

“Like you said, that’s Roxanne’s decision. It has fuck all to do with you.”

Mitch takes a step forward, and I’m aware that this could go south soon, so I edge in closer to the two of them.

“She’s like a fucking daughter to me. She’ll probably never speak to me again now, no thanks to you. So don’t you dare stand there and tell me it has nothing to do with me. You made it my business the night you asked me to look out for her, keep track of her—”

“Okay, enough. This is not gonna help Rox,” I say, stepping between them. “You can fight it out later. I’m sure she’ll love it. Maddox, go burn off your rage somewhere else. Mitch, go and found out what you can about Noah.” They take a moment to fire optical daggers at one another before both heading off. Once they are both gone, I drop my head to the counter and count to ten.

“I imagine that will be an interesting conversation,” Maria pipes up behind me.

“Yeah, well, Mitch wasn’t wrong about her never speaking to him again. You didn’t see her after she realised we know each other. Imagine what she’ll do when she finds out we’ve known for years what happened to her mum. Never mind the other ticking bomb. Not that it makes any difference when we still have no clue where Star is or if she’s alive.” I push up and away from the counter, my eyes catching on the folder Mitch left here.

“She’ll come around, Zak. She’s a smart woman.”

“I told her we love her. Before the cops took her, I told her we love her, but I don’t know that she believed me, or if it will be enough. Hell, she might have even thought it was us that fitted her up.” The thought hadn’t really crossed my mind till then. I replay my words in my mind, ‘Listen to me, we love you. And I need you to trust that. I need you to remember that. Please, Rox.’ “Damn!”

Maria grabs hold of me as I try to walk away. “Roxy Whitmore knows who you are, who Maddox is, and she damn well knows who she really is, Zak. Yes, she’s hurting right now, and she will be even more when the truth is revealed, but you have to have faith she’ll make the right choice. Just like you’re asking her to trust you, you need to trust her.”

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