Page 37 of Seeking Evil

“Get your hands in the air, Irv.” Zeke kept his weapon trained on the older man.

Irv jerked around at Zeke’s command.

Cooper took advantage of the distraction and grabbed Irv’s arm that held a knife.

“Don’t hurt him.” Florence called out. “Please, don’t hurt him.”

Cooper wrestled the knife from Irv and got him cuffed as law enforcement rushed into the barn.

“Is everyone okay?” Patrick asked.

Cooper confirmed they were. “We’re fine.”

“Irv, what are you doing?”

Cooper handed the man off to Deputy Drake.

“Trying to stay out of jail.”

Florence now wept openly. Patrick went over and asked her to explain.

“We didn’t think it would hurt anything,” she murmured between hiccupping sobs. “We only took a few things.”

Zeke had a feeling they weren’t about to arrest the people involved in two women’s disappearances.

“Keep your mouth shut, Flo,” Irv yelled at his wife.

“Get him out of here.” Patrick motioned Drake to take Irv away.

“You’d better explain, Florence.” Patrick waited for an answer.

Florence did her best to gather her composure. “Irv and I took some of Dr. Flannigan’s things. We didn’t think he’d miss them. He has so much.”

Zeke’s heart sank. These two weren’t guilty of kidnapping. They were thieves.

“Are you saying you and Irv robbed Doc?” Patrick asked.

Florence nodded. “Just a few pieces of jewelry and some silverware. Nothing much.”

“We’ll sort this out at the station.” Patrick cuffed Florence and led her outside.

“Did you find anything useful inside the house?” Zeke asked his sister.

She shook her head. “There’s nothing that leads us to believe Dawn or Sierra have ever been here.”

Zeke combed a hand through his hair. “So we don’t know if he’s involved or not.”

“Nope.” Hannah glanced around the barn. “We can’t rule him out yet, so let’s take a look around this space.”

She was right. They couldn’t afford to rule anything out.

Patrick returned. “I’m going to take Florence and Irv back to the station. I’ve asked him about the strap but he didn’t seem to know what I was talking about. Could be the strap isn’t related to the kidnappings at all. Drake will stay here to assist.”

Jack thanked him. “Let’s spread out. I don’t want a single inch of this space missed.”

Cooper and Zeke took the right side of the structure. Walking within arm’s length, they started at the front of the barn and moved forward.

“Where’s Irv’s vehicle?” Zeke asked because it hadn’t been in the garage and it wasn’t in the barn.

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