Page 92 of Merciless Obsession

“Sorry, I got distracted.” Ziora rubbed her arms.

Inaya narrowed her eyes and looked her friend over before moving her eyes over to me. She leaned in and studied me for a second before her eyes widened in realization. A sly grin slowly split her face.

“Oh… now I understand. Ezra? I didn’t expect to see you here.” Inaya’s bounced her eyes between me and Ziora. “And you two are matching.”

“I didn’t expect him to be here either,” Ziora mentioned. “Or matching me. Which leaves the question.” She stepped closer to her friend then turned to face me. “What made you dress as the Joker? Did you know I was gonna be here? How the hell do you always seem to know where I am? Do you have a tracker or something on me?”

I kept my eyes locked on her, but said nothing.

“Ziora.” Inaya touched her arm, but Ziora pulled away.

“No, I need to know. What made you dress as the Joker and come to this party? Answer me, now!” Her words were rushed and grew louder.

“Bumblebee…” I started.

“Don’t.” She put her hand up. “You’re about to try to patronize me or avoid the question. Tell me the truth or I’m walking away.”

Still, I said nothing. Maybe I should have said something to put her mind at ease, but this wasn’t the place. Ziora was clearly battling her feelings for me and now lashing out.

“You have nothing to say?” She glared at me and poked her lips out.

I finally spoke. “When you calm down we can talk.”

Her nostrils flared. “No. Either tell me now or that’s it.”

I blinked once then twice.

“Fine.” She glanced at her friend. “Let’s go.” Ziora turned and stormed off and I didn’t stop her.

Inaya looked like she wanted to say something, but snapped her mouth shut and rushed after her friend.

I smirked.

Little did Ziora know that fight and drive in her was the one thing I craved the most with her.

The party was still in full swing with no indication of slowing down. People were walking past me, heading for the trail that led to the haunted houses and maze. No one cared that it was themiddle of fall and cold. They had heaters on the patio, but they could only do so much. Everyone was still enjoying themselves. It was like this every year. The Kents’ Halloween party was one of the most looked forward to social events of the year. The costume contest would be happening soon.

I stuck around for a little longer before deciding to leave. The reason I was here had left so there was no point in me sticking around anyway.

____

“I looked into the community center’s financial records and the main funding behind them was given anonymously from an offshore account. Just as I expected, the company that now owns the center is a shell company. From what I gathered, they took over the center fifteen years ago, when it was at risk of being shut down due to lack of funding. I checked city records to find out who purchased it, but that led to nothing. Whoever did it made sure to cover their tracks well,” Emmet explained, then looked across the table at Ziora. “You said the lady running it has been in charge for the last seventeen years, so she has to know who bought it from the city.”

Two days had passed since the Halloween party. She had been ignoring me but still allowed me to watch her. After I left court or the office I would go to my townhouse and wait for her to go into her bedroom. She never closed the curtains, in fact it was like she purposely undressed in front of them. She even lifted her blinds to give me a better view. The photos I’d gotten of her were stunning.

Now we were at the farmhouse. Nazai wanted to know what Emmet found out about the community center and wanted to close the Winston thing. We had two cases back-to-back, onethat caused me to leave Ziora’s house and one last night. Having so much on his plate was starting to get to my brother.

Since being here Ziora hadn’t blessed me with her attention and made sure to sit away from me. I chose to sit across from her since that was the game she wanted to play.

“I did a deep dive into her life and still nothing stood out. She was a worker there at first and eventually took over as coordinator when the previous one retired. I spoke with the girl who got away again and asked about Ms. Rubin. She had nothing but good things to say about her. I don’t think she’s aware of the shady business going on, but I plan on speaking to her this week now that the center’s back open.”

Nazai nodded. “Good. Let me know what she has to say. What about Winston?”

Ziora tapped on her laptop and soon her screen replaced Emmet’s on the wall. “These are his bank records. You see the highlighted withdrawals. Four times he’s withdrawn the same amount of money, each time within the last year. I’m sure that’s the money he’s using to get the girls. He has one house in his name and I found a storage unit he’s renting out. He withdrew money again yesterday which makes me think he’s ready to get rid of the current girl and get a new one.”

“My guys saw the girl a couple times,” River cut in. “He keeps her close. When she walks out, her eyes are always facing the ground and hands at her side.” He tossed some pictures on the table.

“Fuck, look at the bruises on her arms.” Lucas grabbed one of the pictures and examined it.