Page 163 of State of Alert

“What’s going on here, gentlemen?”

Frank spun around to her, his face red and his eyes wide. “I demand to know why I’m being treated like a criminal when you don’t have one scrap of evidence that I had anything to do with my wife’s murder!”

“One of your minor children is our prime suspect, and as such, we need your help and cooperation.”

“You want me to help you nail my kid? That’s not going to happen.”

Sam gave him an assessing look. “We found Jada.”

That stopped him short. “Where?”

“Bound and gagged in a motel room in Columbus.”

“What?”

“Apparently left there by Zoe and Zeke.”

“Why would they do that to her?”

“Maybe she was getting in the way of their plan?”

“Zoe didn’t kill her mother.”

“Then why is she on the run? Why would she ditch Jada in a strange place?”

“I don’t know! But she’s not a killer, and I’m not about to help you make her out to be one.”

“Sergeant Gonzales, please escort Mr. Myerson back to lockup until he’s willing to help us find the person or people who killed his wife.”

“I didn’t do it, and neither did my kid! You can’t hold me unless you’re going to charge me!”

“Sergeant, please charge Mr. Myerson with obstructing a homicide investigation. Perhaps by the time he’s arraigned, we’ll know more about where his daughter is.”

“This is complete bullshit. I want my lawyer. Get Dunning over here.”

“We’ll get right on that,” Sam said. “In the meantime, Sergeant Gonzales will get you processed and settled downstairs.”

“That place is a hellhole. I’ll be filing a lawsuit against you and this department for harassment of a grieving family.”

“Knock yourself out.”

He ranted all the way to Central Booking as Gonzo half dragged him away.

“He’s unhinged,” Freddie said.

“I suppose I would be, too, if it was becoming clear to me that my own kid was capable of murder.”

“Probably.”

“Will you call Dunning and get him over here?”

“Yep. Does this mean he’s un-fired?”

“I guess so. Where are we with Jada?”

“She’s dehydrated and traumatized. She’s receiving care at a local hospital, and then she’ll be brought back here by the marshals. Since they were already on the job in Ohio, we decided not to send anyone out there.”

“Do we have an ETA on her arrival?”

---