Chapter 12
Zachariah
“What?” I growled out as I answered the phone.
Since thefindingof Avidya Ray hit the news, my phone kept going off. It was getting on my last nerve, and I about had it. No one but Jonas knew my role in all of it, but since Avidya had given Gem’s name, everyone was questioning what truly happened.
Gemini. That man had been a thorn in my side for way too long. My men should have known that already. He would have ended with a bullet in his head sooner or later. Most likely sooner. That didn’t stop my men from wanting answers. Answers they would not be getting.
Now, Shemoli would have answers. Between Gem and Shemoli, I knew that they were two men that never listened to what I demanded. In time, Shemoli would be facing the same fate as his little buddy. I could play the game he was trying to play as well as he could.
“About time I got ahold of you,” replied Nathan Stone, one of my trusted contacts that worked in the police department. “You are a very hard man to get ahold of.”
“What do you need, Stone?” I sighed out.
I knew Nathan from my teen years when he helped bail me out of some trouble I ended up finding myself in. Somehow, he talked my father into letting my error slide. I can’t entirely remember what I had done, other than popping a few pills at the time. In my family, that was enough to get my ass shot.
He still helped me. Now was no different.
“Avidya Ray,” he said without missing a beat.
I could picture him at his home office, watching his teenage son on his computer monitor, a glass of water in front of him. He knew his purpose to me, but also, he was a family man that hated seeing his son suffer from poor life choices.
“Should I know her?” I asked, not wanting to give anything away.
“She asked for me the night she was found, so I am assuming so. Jonas wouldn’t tell a soul on who he is associated with,” Stone said. “You didn’t do it, did you?”
“No, Stone,” I huffed out. “I would never go that low. If I wanted the girl, I would have gone about getting her a different way that did not go that route.”
“Just checking,” he sighed, relieved. “You do know Jonas said that someone was following her the past few months?”
“Yes,” I replied slowly. He had never mentioned anything, but it was also not his place if I wasn’t involved. I did know someone was keeping tabs on her father, therefore also Avidya in turn. Jonas was the man that kept track of it all, and he’d sure as hell tell me if something was suspicious.
“Just be careful,” with that, Stone ended the call. Also, a man to the point with little chat.
Seeing the time, I pocketed my phone and grabbed my keys for the car. My dark blue BMW M6 was parked in front of the building, just as I had left it. I nodded at the man that stood guard before getting into my car and driving across town.
It didn’t take long to where I knew Avidya lived with her parents. After doing a bit of research the days before she left my small apartment, I had looked into who exactly her father was. I knew the surface, as it wasn’t a secret on who he worked with, but what I found digging around was not surprising.
He hid his family ties well underneath the pretend role of being a Pastor. It did give him favors to keep secrets from many men, but his ideas were sick and twisted. I refused to let his daughter be part of his plans. She was the most innocent person in all this, even with being dragged into it by not only my men but others as well.
It still nagged at me about where the girl originally came from. Only her parents held that information. The only way to get that information was to get on their good side, which would be harder than I would like. I loathed getting close to the enemy to gain their trust, and Cody Ray would be one of the hardest yet.
But I wasn’t the type to just give up.
Ever.
Mr. Cody Ray already had the door opened before I ever got out of my parked car when I pulled up. The house wasn’t anything compared to what I had, but decent for his job title. Of course, not many people knew how he was able to have such a decent home. His work was more than surface deep, and he’d rot in Hell once I killed him after I gathered the information I needed.
His dark hair was combed over the side, hiding his balding middle. His age was beginning to show now more as the stressful years went by. His light brown eyes were lined with wrinkles, along with his mouth. His brown suit was fading from use, but yet he still held himself as though he ruled the world.
Mrs. Ray didn’t work outside of the house. She volunteered at the church at least three times a week, but that was about as far as she went work wise. Lynn did want any wife should do – keep the house and children. Granted, she only had one child, who wasn’t even biologically hers.
“Thank you for coming by,” Cody said, allowing me inside. “Let’s go to my office.”
I followed him in, looking around the clean house. Too clean for being lived in. The house smelt like Pine Sol cleaning products. Nothing was out of place, but there were also no pictures of anyone on the wall or sitting around. It was almost like they were only staying here for a short time instead of living fifty years here.
The office was at the front of the house, and once seated before the light oak desk, Cody shut the door tightly. He didn’t do small talk, much like myself.
