Page 80 of Merciless Obsession

“I have some more news,” I mentioned, bringing the attention back to why we were here. All eyes turned to me. “I think I found the connection between the missing girls. The community center in my old neighborhood. My sister used to go there after school so she wasn’t at home when I wasn’t there. I recently met with a girl who was almost taken but was able to get away. She went to the community center too. I did some digging and found that at one point all the girls went to the community center for tutoring, sports, or mentoring at some point. From what it looks like, that’s these sickos’ hunting ground. Lucas, you said your friend’s cousin went there, right?”

He nodded. “Yeah, I think so. They have some big sister program, right?

“Yeah, the big sister mentoring program.”

“Once Liyah’s parents were sent away, her grandparents thought her being part of that program would be a good thing for her. She also had just started a volleyball camp there. I remember because Adrian didn’t care for the girl who was mentoring Liyah and complained about her when we talked.”

“The director, Ms. Rubin, has been running the center for the last seventeen years. She’s forty-nine, two kids, a twenty-eight-year-old and a twenty-two-year-old, both boys. She has her bachelor’s in sociology and social work. She’s gotten a few awards for her work in the community and helping unprivileged kids. Never been in trouble with the law, no parking tickets. She’s well loved and respected, no red flags. I wanted to go talk to her but the center’s closed until next week for plumbing issues. I plan on talking to her next week.”

“This shit just keeps getting more fucked up. A community center? A place kids go to stay out of trouble and get help is ahunting ground for pedophiles. How fucked up is that?” Nazai shook his head.

“It doesn’t look like the cops made the connection or they didn’t care enough to look deeper into it.”

“Speaking of cops… I was able to get the official police reports from The Sticks police department.” Ezra stood up. “I’ll look through them and see if anything sticks out.”

“You never mentioned you were getting those,” I stated. “I want to see them.”

The Sticks didn’t start digitalizing police files until the mid-2000s. The earlier cases of missing girls were all on paper so I never got to see those files.

That signature crooked grin formed on Ezra’s face. “We can make a date out of going over them.”

My cheeks flushed. Ezra was not shy when it came to open displays of affection. It wasn’t something I was used to nor wanted. He didn’t seem to care though.

Inaya spoke up. “So with all this information, now what?”

“The community center is listed as a nonprofit,” Emmet started.

“Which makes sense, what about it?” I asked.

“Typically things like that are funded by the city, taxes, grants, and donors to keep it up and running for the community. But the center isn’t. It’s privately owned.”

My face scrunched. “What? By who?” I went back to my laptop.

“A shell company it looks like. I’ll need more time to do a deep dive, but whoever is funding the center isn’t the city.”

I tapped rapidly on my computer, going to the city’s business website and bringing up the community center. It did look to be registered as a nonprofit, but I wasn’t familiar with the name behind it. I did a search for the business name behind the filing.

“What the fuck? How did I miss this?” I said aloud to no one in particular.

“Don’t stress about it, Bumblebee. Shit happens.”

“Not to me,” I snapped.

I was always thorough in my searches. I had investigated Ms. Rubin because she led the center but never thought to look into the center itself.

“It’s going to take time to find out who’s dishing out the money for this center and who owns it,” Emmet continued.

“I’ll do it,” I rushed out.

“No, Emmet will handle it. Stuff like this is his specialty,” Nazai said.

“I can handle it,” I gritted.

“And I said Emmet will do it.” He narrowed his eyes at me.

Ezra’s hand landed on mine. “Bumblebee, let Emmet do it. We’ll focus on Winston for now.”

My nostrils flared and I pushed a rough puff of air through them. “Fine. But I want to be kept in the loop and I still plan on talking to Ms. Rubin.”