Page 10 of Merciless Obsession

Emmet wasted no time going to her desk where the double monitors were set up. He set his bag on top of the desk and got to work. I looked around the office while he did his thing.

It was decently sized, with not too much inside. Near the door was a five tier, white bookshelf full of books. I walked over and pulled a few out. There were a lot of nonfiction law books mixed with some forensic ones. Knowing what I knew about her, I wasn’t shocked to see these. On the lower shelves it looked to be fiction books, mainly mysteries and thrillers.

“Mhm,” I mumbled, smiling.

Leaving the bookshelf, I looked at my brother. His face was calm, eyes focused. It was a face I had seen plenty of times.

“You get in?” I wasn’t shocked when I got ignored. When Emmet was working, he zoned out. Everything around him became irrelevant. His hands moved swiftly on the keyboard, bouncing from Ziora’s keyboard to his laptop.

Leaving him alone I continued to scan the room. Near her desk was a three-drawer file cabinet and a large whiteboard on wheels. Walking across the room, I paused at the file cabinet and attempted to open the drawers, but they were all locked. One thing I was learning about Ziora was that she was efficient and high on privacy. I continued to the board and flipped it over. What was on the other side surprised me.

On one side there was a map of Silver Stone with a bunch of red pins. The majority of them all in the same area. Shifting my eyes over, I saw it was an amateur evidence board. There were a few pictures, one being her sister’s and next to it a man with the words “sister’s murderer”. I studied both pictures. I knew her sister was taken and killed but I hadn’t investigated it enough to know all the details.

It was clear Ziora didn’t know who was behind everything. At the top of the board was a picture with a question mark in the center. Written next to it was “leader”. A few cops I was familiar with were on the board with the names “dirty” and “crooked”. The words “child trafficking ring” were written with a question mark in the center of the board. What caused me to halt was seeing my dad’s picture. I narrowed my eyes and stepped back. He had “judge on sister’s case” and “crooked” under his name.

I brushed my hand down my mouth. Now it was starting to make sense why she had it out for my family. If I remembered correctly, the guy accused of killing her sister had a mistrial then ended up killing himself soon after.

“Hand me her phone,” Emmet called out, gaining my attention.

I stared at the board a little longer before giving him my attention. I dug into my pocket and pulled out her phone, using my face to unlock it. While she was sleeping, I unlocked it one night and added my face to it. Handing over the phone, I stepped closer to the desk and looked over his shoulder. When it cameto computers I only knew the basics. I could check my email, write a letter, simple things. What my brother had going on was another language to me.

“Do you mind?” Emmet paused, his voice was tight.

I grinned. “What is all this?” I knew he didn’t like to be bothered when doing his thing. It was why he always worked alone. Even though I didn’t know what the hell was happening on these screens I was curious.

Emmet sighed. He was stubborn, but not more than me. His fingers started moving again. “Her system is good. Something I would come up with. If I’m correct, she has it set up so that one wrong move will wipe the hard drive completely to prevent anyone from accessing what was on it.”

“But won’t she lose everything then?”

“She has a backup somewhere. That I can guarantee. This is gonna take a while. Leave me.”

Just like that I was dismissed.

Knowing how temperamental he could get, I did as he said and turned to face the large whiteboard on the wall next to the desk. On it were a bunch of names, ages, and dates next to them. I tilted my head, taking it all in, then shifted my eyes back to the wooden board.

My Bumblebee was a busy girl.

I turned on my heels and left the office. My next stop was Ziora’s bedroom. It was time to learn the intimate parts of my Bumblebee. I wanted no stone unturned when it came to her. She might like her privacy but she was going to learn there was no hiding from a lion locked on his prey.

____

I stepped into the bedroom where my toy was currently confined to the bed with a toothless grin on my face. Another week had passed since I’d had her.

Staying near the door, I leaned against the frame and ran my eyes over her. Her light brown curls that were normally tamed were frizzy and sprawled all on her pillow. Her high yellow skin looked paler and had lost some of the glow it once had. My favorite thing about her was the brown freckles scattered on each of her cheeks and the bridge of her nose.

My smile heightened as I stepped further into the room and headed for the bed, causing her chestnut brown almond eyes to snap open and shift in my direction. She attempted to break out of the cuffs currently around her wrists connecting her to the bed frame.

“You can’t leave me cuffed here forever. Eventually someone will notice I’m missing and start looking for me,” she snapped, yanking forward.

I snorted and dragged my tongue over my bottom lip.

“The only person who would notice is your friend, what’s her name, Inaya, right? She thinks you’ve been in communication with her the whole time you’ve been here.” I had been texting her friend back on her phone to make sure she wouldn’t be suspicious about her friend’s sudden silence.

Her medium-sized nostrils flared and her jaw clenched as she glared in my direction.

“I knew you and your family were fucked up! When I get out of here I’ma make sure everyone knows how fake the image you all put out is!”

“That indicates I’m going to let you go.” My head tilted slightly.