Chapter 16
CHAPTER SIXTEEN
Ezekiel
“Did you drop the copy of the footage at the station?” Malachi asks as soon as Elijah and Levi set foot inside the small office at Malachi’s house.
After sending Elliott to pick Riley up and drive her home, I find myself constantly checking my phone in case she calls me, to hear if she got home safely.
“Yes,” Levi is the one to respond. “And before you ask, we made sure to act as if we’re incredibly worried and willing to cooperate.”
Elijah gives our youngest brother a look that screams about how badly he has to struggle not to break Levi’s nose. “We are all those things.”
“Are we?” Levi raises an eyebrow. “Because as far as I know we gave them only the footage that you and Zeke carefully revised and approved of. And we never work shoulder to shoulder with the police.”
“That doesn’t mean we don’t care about the missing girls,” Elijah says through his teeth.
“Well,” Levi throws himself on the sofa, his tablet in his hands. “I wonder if any of you would be as worried as you are if their disappearance didn’t make our family look bad.”
“That’s enough,” I don’t raise my voice, but the tone of my voice as I speak is clear enough for both of them to shut up immediately. “We got here to see what we can find on the security tapes. Whatever fight you want to pick, do it later.”
“I found something,” Cain speaks for the first time since we gathered. “I’m sharing my screen with you.”
When he connects to the main computer, I can see exactly what he’s talking about. “The camera has a blind angle,” I point out, noticing right away what Cain noticed.
“This looks like it’s just enough for a person to move without being caught on camera,” Malachi agrees. “We need to see if other cameras have blind angles too.”
“But this isn’t right,” Elijah protests. “I personally overlooked the installation of our latest security system at the club. There were no blind angles.”
“That can only mean one thing.” I hate to admit this, but everything has been pointing to it since the start. “We have someone on the inside making sure that we remain blind to what they’re doing.”
We end up finding enough blind spots to confirm Malachi’s theory about someone being able to move on the inside without being caught on camera.
“Diana also disappeared after her last performance,” Levi points out. “We see her get off stage and walk backstage. Once she gets there, she becomes a ghost.”
“But there is no way all three girls possibly knew that our security is flawed,” Elijah shakes his head, refusing to believe that Diana or any of the girls could have been involved in any of this.
I grip the pen in my hand so hard it breaks in half. Malachi is by my side side-eying me, but he remains silent. “Did the police say anything when you dropped the footage earlier?”
“We only spoke with the lady at the reception,” Levi explains. “I think her name was Officer Garcia. The detectives were out in the field, working some other case.”
“I see.” Just as I suspected it, the police doesn’t care enough about three missing strippers. Even though they’re trying to convince us they do, a professional dancer working in a night club is never high on their list of priorities.
“Maybe, instead of putting a babysitter on your girl’s ass, try to hire more security for the club,” Levi leans back casually, lifting his boots on the coffee table.
“What?” Elijah looks confused, his eyes drifting between our youngest brother and me.
“What did you just say?” I jump to my feet, having had enough of him behaving like a spoiled brat.
“Oh, you’re surprised I found out?” Levi looks relaxed, as if he’s discussing the weather, but the next thing coming out of his mouth is filled with resentment. “You seem to forget that I’m also part of this family, and that I have access to what the people working under us are doing.”
“What the hell is going on here?” Malachi steps in front of me, stopping me from walking across the room and teaching Levi a lesson. “Is he talking about Riley?”
“So Mal knows too,” Levi laughs. “I guess some of us are not worth enough to you…”
“Shut up, Levi,” Malachi’s voice is as calm as always. “You’re making things worse.”
“Zeke, what is he talking about?” Elijah is the one to speak.
“I sent Elliott to give Riley a ride home.” My voice is cold and completely unbothered.
“Is that your plan to protect the girls?” Malachi asks, a serious look on his face. “Because that might actually work, if we had more than one Elliott.”
“It’s not my story to tell,” I reply. “But Riley needs a little more protection than the other girls do.”
No one says anything. There is a moment of silence, my brothers and I all lost in our own thoughts.
“We need to figure out what to do about this before they all go missing,” Malachi sits back down in his chair, his attention back to the screen.
“Or before girls stop auditioning to work at the Eden.” Elijah has a point. Our reputation has already been damaged enough, but if anything else happens, we’re entirely screwed.
“I need you to get in touch with the people who installed the security cameras,” I speak to Elijah. “See if they have anything to do with this. If they are in any way involved, you know what to do.”
“I’m on it.”