Page 68 of Merciless Obsession (The Bloodline #2)

EZRA

I t brought me joy to walk into my house then into my bedroom to see my little Bee lying peacefully under the covers. It was hard to concentrate in court today after learning about the threats she received. If she would have mentioned them before, all of this could have been prevented.

Not wanting to wake her up, I approached the bed, leaned over, and gently kissed her on the temple. Loosening my tie, I turned and walked back out of the room, downstairs to where my brothers, Cashlynn, and Inaya, who was in my living room when we got here, waited for me.

“So what are we looking at here?” I asked, taking a seat and grabbing one of the case files I got from Ryan. With my caseload I hadn’t had time to fully examine them like I would have but after seeing the picture I knew I couldn’t put it off much longer.

“There’s a total of nineteen girls who were murdered,” Nazai said, nodding at a pile.

“Just like Charlie it looks like they had organs removed,” Lucas followed up.

My brows scrunched. “So what does this mean?”

Lucas lifted his head and pushed his glasses up, scrubbing his eyes. “If I had to guess, they’re trafficking organs.”

“So not only did they rape and kill my sister, but they stole her organs too.” We turned our heads and Ziora was standing at the entrance of the living room.

“Where are your crutches?” I jumped up and rushed her.

She waved me off and bounced her eyes around the room. “Lucas, is that what you’re telling me?”

Lucas ran his eyes over her. “Yes. And you should be resting.”

“Ezra!” she yelped when I bent down and picked her up.

“Careful so you don’t bust her damn stitches,” Lucas fussed.

Ignoring both of them, I walked back to my place on the couch and took a seat with Ziora on my lap. She attempted to move but I held her in place. Eventually she stopped fighting and rested against me with an exasperated sigh.

“So not only are they sex trafficking but they’re also organ trafficking. These people are seriously sick!” Inaya commented.

“It’s not surprising,” Emmet spoke up. “Organs are one of the highest trades on the black market next to babies, exotic animals, drugs, and weapons. When people are desperate to save a loved one, they’ll pay anything to keep them alive.

” Emmet turned to Ziora. “Donald Watz was the lead detective on all these cases, yet he didn’t report anything about the removal of organs, which the coroner would have reported. ”

“Emmet’s right. Autopsies would have been done and they would have put it in their reports.”

“Unless the coroner and the detective were working together,” Cashlynn mentioned.

“Watz was a shit cop.” Ziora cleared her throat and adjusted herself. “He barely investigated my sister’s case before chalking her up as a bad seed who got caught up in the wrong things.”

“He was a homicide detective?” Nazai asked. “So why was he working the live cases too?”

“The Sticks’ precinct is smaller than the one over here so the detectives take on more,” I revealed.

“Okay, we need to back up for a minute,” Nazai called out and stood. He paced back and forth for a second then paused. “Watz, we know he was involved, right?”

“Yeah, I’m almost positive. The consistent deposits in his account proved it.

Plus his wife was sick. Insurance only covered so much and on a cop’s salary I doubt he could manage the cost alone.

If I remember correctly, they owned their home but never put out a second mortgage on it.

There were no outstanding loans,” Ziora answered.

“So he was desperate. In order to make money to secure his wife’s treatment, he made a deal with the devil,” Inaya mentioned, looking around the room before stopping on her friend.

Ziora bobbed her head slowly. “And I believe it’s what got him killed. When I tapped into her medical reports, it showed a clean bill of health. So my guess is that Watz was about to retire and wanted out. We know The Veil doesn’t allow any loose ends.”

“So they killed the cop,” Lucas stated.

“Just like the guy who was charged with my sister’s death, his death was ruled as an accidental overdose. Lucas, can you hand me a file?” Ziora pointed.

“Okay, can I just ask…” Inaya spoke up again. “I get you guys are good at your jobs and have been doing this for a long time. But how the hell do you expect to take these guys down? You’re not cops, and even with all the skills on our side, these guys obviously make sure to cover their tracks.”

Nazai twisted and focused on Inaya. He crossed his arms over his chest and widened his stance.

“By outsmarting these people. So far they’ve been working under the radar, covering and erasing their tracks.

No one suspected them and the ones who did or were a threat to them were killed.

Their attack on Ziora is proof that we’re on the right track.

The dots are all there, we just need to connect them.

There’s something we’re missing.” His eyes shifted to Ziora.

“Your board at home is what we need right now. You’ve been mapping all of this out for a long time. Our answer might be there.”

“I would be happy to give it to you, if it wasn’t removed without my knowledge.” Ziora turned and glared at me, causing me to grin.

“Don’t worry, Bumblebee, all of your stuff is safe.”

“I built my computer to meet all my needs and it wasn’t cheap. I hope it wasn’t damaged and don’t think we’re not going to talk about what you did either.”

“Later, right now we need the board. Where is it, Ez?” Nazai asked, clearly losing patience.

“In my office. Down the hall.”

“I’ll get it.” Lucas stood.

While he headed down the hall, Nazai spoke.

“We know that Winston and a few other people in his gang were the ones who hurt Tiffany and helped him cover his tracks. Me and River took care of the two guys whose semen was found in her. The friend sang like a bird, but they knew nothing about how Winston got the girls. Since he’s dead, the only thing we can do is set a trap. ”

“A trap?” Inaya asked.

“Yes, a trap. We have Winston’s phone and no one knows he or Titan are dead yet.

We need to set up a fake inquiry for a girl.

Depending on the location, we can set up to follow whoever picks the car up and get the answers we need.

Major found Rock and handed him over. River’s with him at The Barn.

We get what we need out of him then set up the meeting. ”

Lucas walked back into the room, pulling the board with him.

Nazai walked over and studied it. “Ezra, get with Ryan again. Find out if this Watz guy had any negative marks against him. He obviously was the one who was keeping the cops off the trail of The Veil. Now that he’s dead, someone else had to take over.”

“The new detective’s name is Vincent Parks. I already looked into him. Nothing about him came back,” Ziora mentioned.

“Look again. The Sticks’ police force obviously can’t be trusted.

We don’t know how many of them are working against finding out who’s taking these girls.

I want you and Emmet digging into everyone in their precinct.

The coroner being the first priority. Lucas, find out what you can too and see if anyone has any knowledge of organs being acquired illegally. ”

“I can do that.” He nodded.

Inaya spoke up. “I’ll see what I can find out too. I got some people that might know something.”

Nazai shifted his eyes in her direction. “Who?”

“An acquaintance. His daughter needed a heart, but she had a rare blood type, so while they waited, she got worse. One day he was telling me the doctors were telling him to prepare himself for the worse, next thing I knew she had a donor and was getting the operation. I thought it was odd that it happened so suddenly, but I didn’t question it.

Looking back, I could see him paying for the heart. ”

“Who is it? Do you think he’ll talk to you?”

“Someone I met in the casino and hung out with a couple times. And trust me, he will.”

I wasn’t sure if anyone else noticed but Inaya had Emmet’s full attention right now. I chuckled.

“A’right. Find out what he has to say.” Nazai’s eyes roamed the room.

I stared at my big brother with pride. Determination was written all in his eyes. It was clear he was growing impatient and frustrated about all the dead ends we kept running into and was ready for a win so we could move forward.

____

When I stepped out of the bathroom with a towel wrapped around my waist, I paused as my lips hiked upward. It’d never get old seeing Ziora in my bed and knowing she would be here permanently caused my dick to stir. She was propped up on a few pillows with a book in hand.

“Did you take your medicine?” I asked.

Ziora’s eyes lifted from the book and focused on me.

Exhaustion rested in the pockets of her lids.

It was clear it would take some time for her to feel like her old self.

I made Lucas look at her incisions before leaving.

I know they didn’t want her to leave the hospital yet, but since she insisted, I would make sure she was taken care of.

“We need to talk,” she replied instead. She closed the book and set it on her lap. Her eyes trailed over my body. Her tongue swiped between her lips. Heat emerged in her orbs.

For a second I zeroed in on the healing bruises on her face.

Even though they were healing, seeing the greenish yellow marks on her face made me burn with anger.

It didn’t take away from her beauty, but it made me want to bash someone’s head in with Wilma until they were nothing but splattered matter.

Shaking the dark thoughts out of my head, I smiled at her. “Whatever you want, baby. I’m all ears.” I walked to the bed and took a seat on edge.

Ziora pursed her lips for a second and narrowed her eyes on me. Her finger tapped on the book and her lips twitched.

“I didn’t agree to move in here,” she started, her voice tight but steady. “When you brought it up I told you I didn’t want that. I told you that?—”