“We need to talk.”
“I really need to make a phone call,” she said. “Please. Then I’ll answer any questions you
may have.”
“You can make the call after we talk.” He nailed her with a stare. “You said your tools were
part of your job. You’re stationed at Fort Sam, right?”
“I am.”
“What is a soldier in the United States Army doing with a satchel of tools and weapons?”
“Those are all military issue.”
“You need to be more specific.”
“It’s classified.”
“I bet.”
“Call the manager. Please. She’ll tell you it was my apartment I was trying to get into. Or let
me make a phone call. You don’t understand what’s at stake.”
“Oh, I think I do. See, I’m not only interested in what I saw you up to this evening. Tell me,
does the name Jeremy Ramos or Ramos Incorporated ring a bell?”
She looked baffled. “No, it doesn’t. Should it?”
“It should. It’s the company your brother swindled ten million dollars from.”
Her gaze zeroed in on his name tag. “And you think I have something to do with it?” Anger
flared in her eyes. “You know damned well I wasn’t breaking into someone else’s apartment.
You’ve got me down here, trying to squeeze information out of me about my brother.”
“Ms. Kaslov, you’ve hit the nail on the head. I want to know exactly what you know about
your brother’s latest scam.”
“Okay.” She leaned forward. “I know exactly nothing. Zero. Zip. Goose egg. The last I heard,
the little idiot was washing a lot of dirty buildings in downtown Houston. We’re not exactly
close.”
“Surely, you don’t expect me to believe you. Gypsy families—”
“Romani,” she said.
“Romani families,” he hissed as if it burned his tongue, “besides being as dishonest as the day
is long, are known for sticking together.” She stared at him but remained silent. “Don’t look so
insulted. You’re not the first Romani I’ve come across, and you won’t be the last. Let’s try again.
What do you know about your brother’s most recent criminal activities?”
“Nothing.”
He didn’t believe her, but she stuck to her story. She crossed her arms. “I’m not answering
another question until you let me make a phone call,” she said. “We can sit here all night if you
like. Or I can ask for an attorney, and you’ll be SOL until a public defender shows up sometime
tomorrow. But you’ll have to charge me first, and we both know you have nothing to charge me
with. So, officially, this is an unlawful custodial detention. By law, I can, and will, get up and
leave right about now.”
Well, fuck him.
He handed her the phone.
She turned away and spoke quietly and urgently to a “colonel.”
Probably the nickname of a fellow criminal.
She hung up and dropped the phone into her handbag, and he wiggled his fingers for her to
hand it back, which she did.
“Now, where were we?”
“You were asking me questions I don’t have the answers to.”
“See, that’s where we differ. You’ve made your phone call. Start telling me what you know.”
She shook her head tiredly. “I’m doing you a solid by not walking out and jamming you up.
Believe it or not, officer, we’re on the same side.
“Now, I’ve told you I don’t know more times than is necessary. I’m not going to sit here and
tell you my brother’s lily white, because I know he’s not. But it has nothing to do with me.
Nothing.”
“What about the rest of your family? Are they into the same crap your brother’s into?”
“No.”
“Come on. I don’t believe you for a minute.”
“I don’t expect you to. We’re used to prejudice.”
“You know what? I can think of maybe ten million reasons that might be true.” He was about
to press further when night sergeant Bud Shipley snapped the door open and strode inside.
“Ms. Kaslov, you’re free to go. I apologize for the inconvenience, ma’am.”
Preston reared back. “What? I don’t think so.”
“I said she was free to go,” Bud reiterated, pissed and not looking like he was trying to hide it.
He handed her the satchel and turned to Preston. “Give her the phone.”
She held out her hand, and he slapped the phone into her palm. She turned to Bud. “Thank
you. I’ll need a ride to my car.”
“Officer Ramos can take you.”
She looked at him and shook her head. “Can someone else take me? At this point I don’t trust
Officer Ramos to get me there. He seems to have some issues concerning Romani in general, and
me and my family in particular.”
Preston felt the flush creep up his neck from anger and embarrassment.
“Of course,” Bud said. “I’ll have one of the other officers drive you.”
She turned to go.
“This isn’t over, Ms. Kaslov,” Preston said quietly. “I’ll be keeping an eye on you.”
She shrugged and walked out.
He opened his mouth, but Bud beat him to it. “What the hell was that all about? I had three
calls in ten minutes, including one from some big-shot colonel and one from a pissed-off general.
The one who’s in command of Fort Sam Houston, and he was raising all kinds of hell because
you detained her without cause.
Emily Mims
“They both said you could’ve verified her story within five minutes, and she could’ve been on
her way. Instead, you hauled her down here and badgered her for the better part of an hour. She
was part of something important, and you messed it up royally. Care to tell me what that was all
about?”
“Her brother swindled ten million from my dad’s company. I wanted to find out what she
knows. And she knows something. I guarantee it. I think it was worth a couple of hours to find
out what.”
“Maybe she does, maybe she doesn’t. Damn it, boy. You’re too close to the matter to be
questioning anyone about it. And, because of your stupidity, you brought down the wrath of the
fucking U.S. Army on us tonight.
“Got news for you, asshole. You may’ve thought it was worth the time, but they didn’t, and
they’re as pissed as all get-out. You understand what that means for you? For the SAPD?”
Preston understood completely.
He just didn’t give a fuck.
Thank you for hosting me today.
ReplyDeleteThank you for posting about Mission: Betrayal, the book covers are gorgeous and the synopses and excerpt have intrigued me, this sounds like a must read book and series for me
ReplyDeleteI always enjoy a good military romance. This one sounds great.
ReplyDelete