Page 19 of Merciless Obsession

Nazai frowned. “With all due respect, padre, don’t tell me how to handle my wife. She’s pregnant and hormonal, that’s it. I’ll handle it.” He turned toward the screen. He stared at it intently without speaking again for a long minute. “Ez.” He turned to face me. “Do you believe Ziora is a threat to the family?”

“No.”

“Why?”

My eyes bounced around my brother’s face before lowering to read his body language. Something I exceeded at.

“Ziora wants justice for her sister.” I paused then grinned. “Let me correct that, she wants to take down whoever is responsible for taking her sister away. She doesn’t trust the wealthy or the justice system. She believed that Dad was involved and that’s why she targeted the family. Just like Abuelostarted this whole business we do to get the men who attacked Abuela. She’s not so different from us, instead of freeing the world of the trash, she just exposes it.” Pausing again I thought about my Bumblebee. I had left her at home, locked in her room. She had a bathroom, and before coming here I made sure to take her something to eat, but I didn’t trust her out and about in my home alone…not yet. I knew a busy bee like her must be going stir crazy in that space. In due time I would free her and allow her to buzz around, under my watch of course.

Nazai stroked his chin again. “Emmet, her computer, did you find anything alarming?”

“I needed more time with it. Her security is as good as mine so I wasn’t able to get full access, but what I was able to locate and unhide, no. Most of the files I saw were related to the girls going missing.” He tapped his keyboard a couple times and the screen switched. “She was digging into a detective that recently ODed. I looked into it and the timing of it was random and unexpected apparently.” Again the screen changed.

“Donald Watz.” Dad scoffed.

“You’re familiar with him?” Nazai questioned.

“Of course I am. He was bolsa de tierra, scum, lowlife with a badge. He was one of the reasons I took the stand because guys like him are the reason why the wrong criminals get off. A few of the guys we had to take care of over the years were cases he was the lead detective on.”

I squinted at the screen. I had a couple run-ins with Detective Watz myself. He was older, should have been retired, and an arrogant son of a bitch. Whenever he was involved in a case I knew to keep my guard up because he was more untrustworthy than a snake.

“I did my own research on him. I didn’t know why Ziora was looking him up but I figured it was worth me doing it too.” Thescreen switched. “He often received random deposits. A couple of them were the same amount every month like clockwork.”

“Dig deeper into him, E, I want to know everything down to where he grocery shopped. Also the guy that was charged with Charlie’s murder, see if you can find out his background too. He was connected to someone and I want to know who. Ezra, keep Ziora content. I want to have another conversation with her.” He stood and adjusted his tie. “I appreciate you coming here, padre, we’ll handle things from here. Now I gotta tame a fire.”

Nazai turned and walked to the door that led upstairs.

“That son of mine,” Dad mumbled, shaking his head, standing. “Sons, it was nice seeing you both. Stop by the house and see your mother soon. If you don’t, she’s gonna start fussing.” Dad followed Nazai.

Emmet silently started to pack up. I watched my younger brother. Most people were wary of him because he was naturally quiet. He was a whiz at computers, highly intelligent, and had a photographic memory. He was resourceful, a highly sought out PI, and could hack even The Pentagon if needed without ever being caught.

“Hey, Emmet,” I called out, causing him to pause.

“Who do you believe is a better hacker, you or Ziora?”

He gave me a blank expression and narrowed his eyes. “The fact that you asked me that is insulting.” He finished packing up.

I grinned and pulled out my phone, tapping the screen a few times. I had installed a couple cameras in the room Ziora was in. I wanted to make sure I knew what she was always up to. I had brought her some books back to the house and right now she was sitting on the bed reading one. I wasbuzzingto be closer to her again, thankfully this was my final stop of the day.

____

“Is the food not to your liking?” I asked Ziora. We had been sitting at the dinner table for the past fifteen minutes and she hadn’t touched her food. She just sat there blankly staring at the chicken parmesan pasta.

“When are you going to let me go home? I have work I need to complete and I can’t do that here.” Slowly she turned her head so she was facing me. One corner of my mouth lifted as I studied her.

“You’re not having a good time here with me.” I reached out to touch her face but she jerked away from me.

“This is not a game! You kidnapped me and now you’re holding me hostage. I don’t know if this is your idea of entertainment but it’s not mine.”

I stabbed the piece of crispy chicken and brought my fork to my mouth. Ziora watched me with defiance. Slowly I licked my lips.

“We spoke with my dad.”

Her brows furrowed and her mouth flattened into a straight line.

“He remembered your sister’s case, but just like my brother told you, he had nothing to do with the case being dismissed. The cops who were investigating it fucked up when it came to evidence. My dad had no choice but to declare a mistrial.”

“And you expect me to believe that?”