Chapter 12
Zachariah
“What?” I growled out as I answered the phone.
Since the finding of 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.
“So, you want to marry my daughter,” he started off, staring me down.
“Yes,” I replied, staring right back. He didn’t frighten me. I frightened him, and he hid that well.
“Why?” he asked out next.
“She needs protection. I know for a fact that the man you previously had lined up backed out after she went missing. I’m not afraid of threats,” I replied, leaning forward. “Whoever was behind her kidnapping will strike again. I have the means to keep her safe, no matter where she is.”
“Even in my own home?” he said, fighting to roll his eyes. He didn’t believe me, but who wouldn’t if they were trying to get rid of their own daughter? I had an inkling that this man here was the brains behind the girl’s disappearance.
“Even here,” I said, leaning back in my seat. “I can set up eyes and ears around this house and the church. No one would know but you and me.”
“Alright,” he sighed out, almost like he knew he was out of options himself. “Have you met her before?”
“Nope.” The lie slipped out without a second thought. “I’ve seen her picture, but who hasn’t?”
“Everyone has. Makes keeping her safe a bit tougher,” he laughed. That was true, but there was nowhere safer than with me.
He then invited me to stay for dinner, and there wasn’t a reason why I should not accept. It gave me the perfect reason to see Avidya again. Cody didn’t say much else about her, but that was okay. Whatever he would have to say wouldn’t do her justice, or wouldn’t be who she was. She was so much more than the simple well-mannered girl this couple had raised.
During dinner, my anger was nearly boiling over at how Avidya was treated by her father. It was glaring obvious that she was not of the same blood. She was too pure. Even her mother was stuck up, given she was probably just trying to live her life as well as she could with being married to a man that was demanding and keeping his secrets to himself.
Avidya, though, took everything better than I expected. Either she was just used to how her father was, that his words no longer had much effect on her, or she was somewhere else mentally. I was pretty sure it was a mixture of both. How much damage had Cody caused her?
I couldn’t wait to have her in my home and find out who she truly was. She’d be mine soon enough.