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A lec Malone answered his phone, frowning as he saw it was Jake. “That bastard better still be behind bars.”

“Course he is,” Jake replied, knowing who he was talking about. “He got Judge Barfoot. You know how badly he takes any abuse against women or children in his county.”

Not all of the judges in this county were like Barfoot. But Jerry Barfoot had been raised by a single mother, had a wife he adored, seven daughters and fifteen granddaughters at last count.

“Good. What are you calling me about then?”

Jake sighed. “We’ve got a situation.”

“If one of my brothers is locked up in your jail?—”

“It’s not that,” Jake interrupted. “I just got a heads up from Duncan that his brothers are on their way here to talk to me.”

Alec Malone tensed.

Duncan Jones had a lot of brothers, but there were only two who he thought would be coming to speak to Jake. And if it was those two brothers, then something bad was headed their way.

And the fact that Jake was telling him this meant that it somehow affected his family.

“Who?” he demanded. “Who is it about?”

“Opal.”

Jake sounded exhausted. Alec got it. He’d aged several years after they’d learned that Opal had been kidnapped.

“How can her kidnapping be a federal issue?” Alec demanded

“I don’t know. Apparently, his brothers didn’t tell him much.”

“Assholes. When are they arriving?”

“Should be here in a few hours.”

“I appreciate the head’s up. Have you called Renard? He’s Opal’s guardian now.”

“I know. I also know that he’s got a temper and any threat to Opal is not going to be met well.”

“There’s a threat to Opal?” Alec asked.

“I don’t know. That’s the problem. And if I tell him that the FBI wants to talk to her . . . well, it could go a couple of ways, couldn’t it?”

“If you don’t tell him, it’s definitely going to go bad.”

“Figured I’d hear what they were here for first, then make that decision,” Jake said tiredly.

“I want to be there.”

“That’s what I thought you’d say. Can you get here in the next hour?”

“Yeah.”

* * *

Alec arrived before Duncan’s brothers. They didn’t look at all happy to see him when they walked in.

“He can’t be here,” Eli said to Jake who was seated at his desk. Duncan was leaning against the wall behind him. Eli raised his gaze to his brother, giving him a chin nod. “Duncan.”

“Eli. Kellan.”

Jesus. Not exactly a warm, family greeting.

But there was shit going on with the Jones brothers. Why had Shaw returned? How come Remington had taken a temporary job as a doorman?

Anyway, none of his business.

“He’s here because Opal is his family,” Jake explained. “You know the way that Haven works. You weren’t prepared to tell me what was going on over the phone. Plus you told me not to tell Opal that you were coming. I did those two things. However, Alec is here for her.”

“You’re her guardian?” Eli asked Alec.

“No, I’m not,” Alec replied. “But she is part of my family. Renard is her guardian.”

“Renard? The chef who works for Joel Saxon? The guy who was discharged from the military after his team was all killed?” Eli asked. “Jesus. Is he even stable? How can he be anyone’s guardian?”

“I don’t think we’re here to discuss whether Renard is capable of being a good guardian,” Alec snapped. “And do you really think I would allow him to be the guardian of one of my women if he wasn’t?”

Although he couldn’t say that he hadn’t had similar thoughts about Renard. However, he’d proven him wrong.

He and Opal seemed right together.

And the way the guy had looked and acted while she’d been taken?

Yeah. Alec had changed his mind about him.

And he now had a lot of respect for him.

“Yeah. Him,” Alec said, crossing his arms over his chest. “So you want to tell me why I’m here to discuss something about Opal?”

Not that he didn’t want to know what the fuck was going on.

He did.

However, Renard should be here.

“And why I’m here as well.” Saxon stepped into the room.

Fuck.

This really wasn’t good.

“Seriously, Jake,” Eli snapped. “I get that you’re the sheriff of a town that thinks they are above the rules. However, you are not. And neither of them should be here.”

“They’re here because this town has its own rules,” Jake replied. “And you damn well know it seeing as you lived here for eighteen years.”

“Got out of here quick,” Eli muttered.

“The way we grew up wasn’t Jake’s fault,” Duncan said quietly. “What happened to us wasn’t on him. Or on this town, although some people failed us. All the blame lies with our old man.”

Kellan placed his hand on Eli’s shoulder as he went to retort.

“Renard should be here because he’s Opal’s guardian,” Jake said quietly. “And you both know that. But it’s only been a few days since Opal was kidnapped and beaten. So she needs him with her. Also, he’s got a slight temper issue. And any threat to her is gonna be met with a lot of resistance.”

“Threat?” Alec whispered. “What threat to Opal?”

Whatever it was, Alec would need to make it disappear.

He glanced at Saxon who gave him a grim nod back. He knew he had help there.

“Fuck,” Eli said. “There is nothing you guys can do to shield her from this if it turns out to be true."

"Tell us,” Saxon said.

“We’re here to speak to Opal Meadows, whose name is actually Patricia Smith,” Eli said.

“What?” Alec asked.

“Yeah, Opal isn’t her real name. And whoever made her a new identity did a good job.”

Alec was confused. He knew that the girls had gotten new identities when they’d escaped Stefan, but Opal was meant to be her real name.

“I don’t get it. When did she start going by Opal?” Jake asked.

“As far as we can make out, about three years ago, when Patricia disappeared. It’s also likely that’s when Opal became the mistress of Stefan Masters. Can any of you confirm when Opal hooked up with Masters?”

“Nope,” Alec said easily. Although he thought that timing could be right.

“So you’re saying Masters created this new identity for her when she became his mistress?” Saxon asked. “So he could keep her hidden?”

“Maybe,” Kellan said. “Perhaps to make sure no one came looking for her. Who knows? Only Opal can help us with that.”

“Which means talking to her.” Eli scowled at Jake.

“She’s fragile at the moment,” Alec told them.

“Reading about her, she doesn’t seem that fragile,” Eli said.

“You can’t figure someone out by reading about them on a piece of paper,” Saxon drawled. “You should know that.”

Eli nodded. “Fine.”

“So why do you want to talk to Opal or Patricia?” Duncan asked. “What does it matter if she changed her identity?”

“Because Patricia Smith is wanted for questioning in a murder.”

Fuck.

Fucking fuck.