I close my eyes for a moment as I grit my teeth. The man has left six messages, one nearly every day. All of them are threatening, like this one. He’s careful about his threats; he doesn’t come right out and state that he intends to kill her or beat the shit out of her, but it’s in his tone.
The guy knows what he’s doing. That much is clear. He is very specific with his word choice. He doesn’t say anything that could be incriminating if she calls the police.
“When was that left?”
“Yesterday,” Mace says.
Tank leans forward, elbows on the table, expression grim and tight. “She’s not his first.”
I flinch. Though I shouldn’t be surprised.
Ghost sighs. “She’s also not his latest.”
My jaw tightens. Apparently, a lot of new information has been uncovered since we last met.
Tank continues, “He’s been married three times. June is his third wife, and I verified they are indeed still legally married. He never signed the divorce papers. Obviously, she could have pursued that further. A judge eventually would have granted her the divorce, but that would have cost thousands of dollars she didn’t have and caused her to come out of hiding over and over to possibly either face the asshole or end up being followed to or from a courthouse.”
I’ve thought of that. All June could have done was file. After that, she had no further power without a lot of cash and exposure. He would have found her and… I don’t even want to think what he might have done. She knows this, though. That’s why she didn’t pursue further legal action.
My girl did the right thing. I’m sad she’s been living in fear and hiding for three years, but I’ve got her now. She’s going to be free of Pete Stark. I will make sure of it.
“And his first two marriages?” I ask.
Tank’s jaw tightens. “The first one died in a mysterious hiking accident. She fell off a cliff.”
“Convenient,” I growl.
Tank growls. “The second wife left him within a week of their wedding. She got an annulment. No contest. I tracked her down. She’s alive and well in Tennessee. Remarried.”
“At least she escaped,” I mutter, relieved.
Ghost holds up another folder. “After June, there was a woman named Kelly. He didn’t marry her. Granted, he couldn’t. Lucky for her. She went to the police and reported him for abuse after he beat her severely a year and a half ago. I was able to track her down after a bit of work. She changed her last name and left the state.”
Mace taps yet another folder. “That brings us to Jessie. She’s the woman he had living in the house until he saw June on the news. He took her to the bus station. She has no idea how lucky she is. We used facial recognition and found her socials. She’s safely at her parents’ house in Texas.”
I rub my temples. This fucker is a serial abuser. Not surprising. “Has Stark been back to June’s apartment?”
Cannon nods. “Only once. Luckily, I set up a discreet camera to watch her door. He returned the day after we were there, picked the lock, and put cameras inside. I assume he thought he would be able to kidnap her as soon as she went home, except she’s never been back, so he’s probably having a tantrum.”
I tap my lips. “Now, what the fuck do we do?” I murmur to myself.
“There’s more,” Mace says. “He’s wanted for a string of burglaries.”
Ghost nods. “I’ve followed him to two locations and watched him stake out the places. They were broken into later that day.”
“Jesus. He’s quite the tool,” I mutter.
“Indeed. What do you want us to do?” Cannon asks.
I inhale deeply. This guy needs to be wiped off the Earth, and it doesn’t make me flinch to take this trash out for good. I’ll be doing society a favor. I’m already plotting, which I’ve been doing for two weeks. It’s time to move on this guy.
Mace’s phone buzzes where it’s sitting on the conference table. I don’t think much of it as he picks it up. It’s his phone. People text him. But suddenly, he jumps to his feet. “Fuck.”
I realize all four guys are on their feet, phones in hand.
The blood drains from my face. This isn’t a coincidence. They’re all getting the same forwarded messages from June’s phone. Unless Rachell suddenly needed to send out an urgent group text, whatever they’re looking at is from Stark.
And I did not get a text from Rachell…
