Chapter 32
Avidya
As the window was being replaced the following day, Detective Nathan Stone was knocking on the front door. I had just reached the foyer when Travis opened the door, allowing him in. Zachariah was not far behind me and hadn’t been the last day and a half. He hardly let me out of his sight with the whole Cody scare.
I couldn’t blame him one bit. I didn’t want to be left alone as it was. I couldn’t help but wonder if one of Cody’s men would try to come for us next. We still didn’t have a clear view on why Aaron wanted us dead.
I wasn’t entirely sure why this man was here, other than I knew that he worked for my husband in some sort of fashion. So far, I had stayed out of wanting to know who works for Zachariah and what they did. Sometimes, the less I knew, the better off I was.
I was just happy that the mess from yesterday had been cleaned up fairly quickly. I knew my husband had a number of men, and within an hour, the house was cleaned, the dead bodies of whoever was on guard were taken care of, along with Cody’s.
Another thing I was happy to be left in the dark on. I didn’t want to know what happened to that man, nor his body. I could still hear the echo of the gunshot from the back yard. Not just one shot, but three. Apparently, one shot to each knee as he attempted to run. Then one to the head afterward.
“Good morning,” Detective Stone greeted as he saw us, his eyes instantly moving from me to my husband. His light brown hair was the same as I remembered, although a little bit grayer around the edges. Like the first, and only time, I had met this man, he wore laid back clothes as though he didn’t care what people thought about him.
This was one of a handful of men that worked inside the police department for the Melendez family.
“What can I do for you, Stone?” Zachariah asked, his voice becoming business-like.
“Just a few questions about someone that seems to be missing,” the Detective answered smoothly. “Figured I may as well start with here since it does pertain to Miss Ray.”
“Mrs. Melendez,now,” Zachariah stated with clenched teeth. I didn’t think these two were so rude to each other before now, if I could recall. Or maybe Zachariah was just a bossy butt when it came to how I was addressed by nearly everyone around him.
“My apologies,” Detective Stone stated, bowing his head. “Glad you picked this man, Miss.” He paused, wetting his lips. “Can we talk a little more private?”
“Follow me to my office,” Zachariah stated, eyeing the man that was quickly working to get the new window into its frame. At least his tone wasn’t so hard towards the man that was just doing his job.
“Do I want to know what happened to the window?” Nathan Stone asked, following as my husband lead the way.
“Not really,” I answered. “That is one thing best left alone.”
“Gotcha,” Nathan sighed.
Zachariah, although not needed to do so, told me to not say a word on what exactly happened. He didn’t want word to get out that his house was targeted just because of me. It wasn’t new news that I was a target, and that there were too many threats over the both of us as it was.
Once in the office, Zachariah closed the door, then motioned for us to sit in three of the four leather chairs that were placed around the office. I sat closest to my husband while Nathan took a seat more across from the both of us.
“I am here on official police business,” he began. “So be wise about what you say.”
“Understood,” Zachariah stated with a nod of his head.
Not understanding myself, I looked at my husband questioningly.
“Means that what we say here, can and most likely used for whatever reason. Detective Stone will do everything in his power to make sure we are not held accountable, but if any information we give can help close a case, it will be used,” Zachariah explained to me.
“Oh,” I said. “Okay. Makes sense.” It did in a way.
“Alright, let’s get this over with, shall we?” Nathan asked, more to himself. “I have been contacted, about three days ago, that Cody Ray was missing. No one had seen him in church and a few of his fellow churchgoers were growing concerned about his disappearance. It’s not like him to just leave without letting a number of people know.”
That was true. Cody always made sure to let the people at church know where he was going if he was planning to leave town for a day or two. It certainly would cause some concern among the people who thought he was the best man alive to spread the good word of God. If only those people knew just how sick and twisted that man was. Nothing was as it always appeared to be.
“I was wondering if either of you have seen him,” Nathan hinted.
“He had stopped by the other day,” Zachariah stated, his voice calm despite the horror he had just faced. “He wasn’t here long, to my knowledge.”
“Do you know what he wanted?” Nathan asked.
“Cody had said he wanted to see me. Something about him being concerned about my well-being,” I answered. My answer was putting it mildly.
