Page 73 of Love & Vendettas

“This does all seem so personal. Do you think they’d come after you, though?”

“To get to Zaire? Absolutely. Whoever is doing this isn’t caring, and they’re trying to hurt him in all the ways that matter. Kidnapping me was just the tip of the iceberg. I don’t think that they’re finished yet, and who knows what’s next.”

“Or maybe they did know that you’re the owner and felt that you suffered enough.”

“No, I doubt that. When enemies come after you, they don’t give a shit how they hurt you, and they don’t have mercy on certain areas of your life. I honestly believe that if they had a chance to, they would have killed me.”

“Then why didn’t they?”

“They were waiting on orders. The order didn’t come quick enough, I guess.”

Sighing, I drop my head back and close my eyes.

“I just want my life back, Rye. I want us to be happy and healthy, and everything to be going well.”

“And it will be. Patience is what Daddy always preached when things became overwhelming.”

“Thanks for being here for me, little sister.”

“No place I’d rather be than with you, big sister."

She leans in, kisses my cheek, and then rests her head on my shoulder, reminding me of how important our sisterly bond is.

God, how I miss my man.

33 – ZAIRE – THE PEOPLE’S NEWS

“Hey, Parker. Let me call you back. The cops are coming my way.”

“A’ight. I’m heading over to GG now. Shit’s wrapped up here at CK, and there’s nothing else we can do until you get that estimate and the go-ahead to start building.”

“All right.”

I end the call. No sooner than I’d received the call that there was a raid on the car lot, I left the Gentleman’s Garden and rushed over to the car lot with my attorney, Frances Kay, in tow. My other attorney, Marc Silver, remained behind at the other location, wrapping things up.

I glance around as a detective places the drug-sniffing dog back into the SUV.

“Whatever they’re about to say, Zaire, I need you to keep your cool. Do not lose your temper on these assholes because we’ll drag them in the end. You understand me?” Frances asks.

I give a brief nod.

“Remember, don’t say anything unless I clear you. No matter what the threat is.”

“All right,” I mumble.

“Can you meet us downtown? We’d like to ask you a few questions,” Detective Coronado states as he walks up to me.

“You can ask me whatever you want to ask me right here. I’m not going anywhere with you.”

Frances slants a gaze my way.

“Fine, if you’d like to do it here. We can do it that way,” the detective replies, sniffing.

“We’ve finished investigating here, and we have some questions that we need answers to. Would you like to answer some questions?” his partner, Detective Moton, asks.

“I’m listening,” I reply after Frances nods.

Detective Coronado reads me my rights first before they begin speaking about their investigation.

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