REprisal - Kathy Coopmans Page 0,22
the other side. We both step inside.
“Barb, this better be important. I need to get this paperwork done before I leave for the weekend,” he complains, not looking up from a stack load of papers on his desk.
“We aren’t Barb,” Martinez says smoothly.
The doctor lifts his head in shock as he glances back and forth between the two of us.
“What the hell?” he starts.
Then his gaze locks on mine and I know in that instant he knows who the fuck I am. An expression of surprise shadows his face along with what I know to be fear. He instantly reaches for the phone on his desk, I assume to call security.
“Put the damn phone down,” I bark.
He wavers, placing the receiver back on the cradle. Martinez and I stride forward until we’re planted right in front of his desk.
“I’m going to chance it here, doc, and say by the look on your face you know who I am.”
He nods his head in agreement.
“I know who you are,” he confirms. “What I don’t know is what the hell you’re doing here.”
“Oh, but we think you do, Caleb.”
Martinez leans over the desk.
“No, I really don’t. If this is about your mother, I haven’t seen that bitch in years.”
I scoff. So does Martinez. The asshole is lying.
“Look, Caleb. May I call you Caleb?”
Martinez takes a seat, and I follow. I grasp the sides of the chair before I jump over this damn desk and kill this fucker. He says nothing as his Adam’s apple bobs up and down. The little prick is scared.
“I’m going to get right to it, then. We have reason to believe Tina may be involved in the disappearance of her daughter, Clove. You wouldn’t happen to know anything about such disappearance, would you? For the sake of your career, doc, I advise you not to lie.”
“Fuck.”
He rubs his hands across his chin, staring at the still open door behind us. Finally, he comes from around his desk and shuts it, then turns back to us.
“This shit has been eating away at me for way too long, now,” he sighs, sitting back in his chair.
“Where is she?” I stand, towering over the desk. “You fucker, where is my-”
“Zack! Don’t do anything crazy,” Martinez warns. He turns to Hollis.
“Look, doc. Let’s do this the right way. Call your lawyer and have him meet you here.” Hauling his wallet out, he places his card on the desk. “You’re coming with us.”
We march him downstairs and out of the building, as he tries to avoid eye contact with the hospital staff members who are staring and whispering as we pass.
“Get in the car asshole,” I growl, placing my hand on his head and shoving him in the back seat of the car. I slam the door shut and toss the keys to my truck to Detective Brock, who showed up and was waiting by my truck with a car to escort Caleb to the station.
“You need to calm down, Zack,” Martinez barks when I climb into the passenger’s seat.
“I know. But hell, he has answers. He knows where she is.”
I take a deep breath to try and calm myself. It doesn’t work. Fuck, nothing is going to work! The only thing that will calm me is seeing Clove. Making sure she is all right.
“Do you realize how damn lucky we are that he is giving in so easily? He has guilt and shame written all over his face, man. This is the break we were looking for.”
He grasps my shoulder and I force myself to give him a tight smile. My attention turns back to the road in front of us. My fingers itch to kill the man in the back seat. As a cop, I do know how rare it is for someone to succumb so easily, but as a brother whose sister has been missing for a year, I want my answers now.
************
“What in the hell, Chief? This is my sister we’re talking about. I need to be in on that interrogation, damn it!”
I pace back and forth, caged in with my fucking boss while Martinez and another officer interrogate Caleb Hollis.
“Look, Zack. I know how bad you want in there. Do you realize how easily the two of you got him to cooperate? He’s no fool. He knows his life is fucking over and yet here he is confessing, not giving it a second thought. If I let you in there and you lose it, his lawyer will put a