Page 13 of Wrecked By a Devil

I was wrong. Ezekiel Kavanagh is staring at me as if he’s debating whether he wants to feed me to the alligators or…

Don’t be ridiculous.

CHAPTER SIX

Ezekiel

“I heard from my friend at the station,” Cain joins me in the booth, handing me the stack of files remaining from last night.

“Any good news?”

“They received a report of a sighting last week, but it turned out to be a dead-end.” After placing down his laptop, Cain picks up half of the files, leaving me with the rest.

One of our allies in law enforcement, detective Michael Gerrard, a friend of Cain’s since they were teenagers, has been working closely with us on solving the disappearances of our dancers. I don’t know how they met, all my brother shared is that Michael owes him some favor, but over the years they seem to have developed a get genuine friendship.

“It’s impossible to commit a perfect crime.” I’m already skimming through the first file, when a redacted section grabs my attention. “Hey, look. This is from three years ago, look.”

Cain leans in. “These documents shouldn’t be redacted, what the hell is going on?”

Just as I’m about to speak, something on the stage grabs my attention. Riley is waiting for her turn to practice and looks even more nervous than she did during the auditions. She looks tired and she’s not wearing a lot of makeup.

“Should we call Dad’s ex assistant?” Cain asks, interrupting my stare.

“Yes, let’s arrange a meeting with him as soon as possible,” I loosen the top buttons of my shirt, exposing my collar bone. “It might not be related to Ronan Devlin at all, but it’s still worth checking.”

We’re close enough to the stage for me to monitor the rehearsals and evaluate the dancers, but far enough to be able to keep our conversation private. Riley hasn’t seen me yet. My jaw tightens as I scan her from head to toe. She’s wearing ankle boots, with short jeans and a long-sleeved top, leaving a lot to the imagination.

“It’s Mal, I have to take this,” Cain runs moves away to pick up the phone call, leaving me alone at the table.

That’s when Riley notices me and our eyes meet. I was right, she is exhausted and I wonder if witnessing what she shouldn’t have kept her up last night. I grin, noticing the fear in her eyes.

“They had no luck with the security footage from the apartment building either,” Cain drops his body back into the booth. “Everything from the day of the disappearance was erased.”

“At this rate we will have to verify the location of each staff member on that day,” I whisper.

“I was thinking the same thing,” my brother nods.

The music stops, drawing my attention back to the stage. It’s time for Riley to get on with Diana and Hanna. Every time we hire new dancer, the training process includes the guidance and help from senior, more experienced dancers, alongside with the training they get from Jena.

I watch them move awkwardly together, Riley struggling to keep up as if she’s feeling uncomfortable. Jena stops the practice and patiently explains to Riley how group dances work. The hazel brown eyes seem determined to get it right and she nods, following along as the girls and Jena instruct her to.

She avoids looking at me again.

No matter how hard I try to focus on the conversation with my brother and the documents we’re supposed to be revising, my attention keeps going back to her. It doesn’t take long beforeshe’s in sync with the other two girls, bringing a big smile of satisfaction to Jena’s face.

“Malachi will be back soon,” Cain speaks. “When he gets here, I’ll head north to see what I can find.”

“Good,” I look down at the documents. “Bring Eliott with you.”

“He’s going to ask for a raise at this rate,” Cain laughs. “With Levi needing him on his ass twenty-four-seven …”

Eliott is our night-shift chauffeur and bodyguard. He used to be a law enforcement officer, but likes the higher pay. He’s the guy we call when we are walking into danger. However, my youngest brother often gets himself in trouble and in a way, Eliott has become his personal driver.

“If anyone deserves it, it’s him,” I close the last document and pull it to the side.

The north side of the city is known as the most dangerous part of town. No one goes there unless they cannot afford living in a nicer neighborhood, or they are looking to get their hands dirty.

The song changes again and now Riley is dancing alone. She’s finally let loose and moves naturally on the stage, her body following every beat as if they’re becoming one. The thing that draws my attention is that she hasn’t taken any of her clothes off. Unlike the rest of the girls that came in barely wearing anything,Riley looks more like the girl next door going for an afternoon walk.