Dead Cold Mysteries Box Set #1: Books 1-4 (A Dead Cold Box Set), Blake Banner [classic children's novels txt] 📗

His face went crimson, and his eyes locked on to the table like a vice. I glared at Dehan. Her cheeks were flushed, and her eyes were bright with anger.

“Will you excuse us a moment, David? Detective Dehan, a word outside, please.” We stepped into the corridor. I closed the door and said, “Are you going to hold it together or not? You just sabotaged my interrogation. I’m going to try and get it back on track, but I don’t know how much damage you’ve done.”

“I’m sorry. I’ll keep it together.”

“He’s not going to talk with you in the room. For now just stay in the observation room.”

She nodded. “Okay. I’m sorry.”

I went back in and sat down. “Wooh! Women!”

He smiled, but he looked scared.

“You never know what they are going to do next. So, where were we? We were talking about Dr. Stephens. And if I understand you, he advised you to lie to your uncle and your mother about where you go in July and December. Am I right?” Before he could answer, I went on. “I want you to know that as far as I can see, I don’t need to tell your uncle and your mother that you have been lying to them.”

I gave him a while to think about that.

“So did he advise you to lie to them?”

He nodded. “Yes.”

“Okay, a good doctor. So let’s start with the cities you go to. Where do you go in July?”

He stared hard into the right-hand corner of the room. This was a different tell. Now he was deciding if he wanted to tell me or not. Finally, he said, “San Diego.”

“Nice town. How about December?”

“L-Los Angeles.”

“L.A., huh? Okay, David, we are doing really well.” He smiled. “Now what I need to understand is what it is you do in San Diego in July.”

His face flushed and his eyes shone. He stared hard into the corner. I raised my hands and gave a small laugh. “Hey! I’m with Dr. Stephens. Whatever it takes to get you strong.”

He licked his lips, kept pursing them. There were tears in his eyes. “B-bring your… bring your dreams a-a…”

“Alive?”

He nodded. He looked like he thought I was going to start beating him. I thought for a while. After a bit, I said, “That’s all any of us want. There is nothing wrong with that, is there?”

He shook his head. “Mom… Mom and Uncle Howard say that m-my dreams are ch-ch…”

“Childish?”

“Yes. And w-w…”

“Wicked?”

“Yes.”

“What is it about your dreams that they say is childish and wicked? Can you give me an example?”

“B-B…” He paused. “Batman. Conan…”

“You like Marvel and DC comics, huh? I like them myself. I once met Stan ‘the Man’ Lee in person.”

He was smiling into the corner. “I shook his hand.”

“So are you telling me you go to Comic Con?”

“Yes.”

“And how about in the evenings?” The smile faded. “Did Dr. Stephens tell you not to talk about it?” He nodded. “But you can tell me, David. Just like you told me everything else, because you know I get it. I understand.”

His face flushed again, and he stared down at his fingers. He was ashamed—ashamed of his pleasure. “I visit my f-friends.”

“Girlfriends?”

He nodded.

“Do you enjoy those visits?”

Again the secret smile. “Th-they do nice things to me…”

“Does Dr. Stephens give you special pills to help with that?”

“I h-had e-e…” He stopped and breathed. “Erectile d-dysf-f…”

“Dysfunction? You had erectile dysfunction?”

“But he gave me pills. Now I’m okay…”

I nodded. “That’s good. Let me see your shoes, David, will you?”

He frowned at me. He pulled his chair back and stood up, then walked around so I could look down at his shoes. They were blue-and-white Converse trainers.

“Thanks. They’re nice shoes. Do you have any special leather shoes that you use for special occasions?”

He shook his head. “No. These are the only sh-shoes I like.”

“Okay, David, let’s take a break. I’m going to take you back to work in a while. But for now just take a break. You okay?”

He nodded at the corner.

I stepped outside and opened the door to the observation room. It was empty. I poked my head into the detectives’ room. She wasn’t at our desk. I asked a couple of people. Nobody had seen her. I went downstairs. I looked outside. It was raining. Don was on the desk. “You seen Detective Dehan?”

“Yeah. She went out about five minutes ago.”

I called her on my cell. It rang a couple of times, then cut off. I looked at my watch. Maybe she was at the deli getting lunch. My phone rang. It was Dehan. I felt an unexpected surge of relief. I pressed the green button and said, “Where are you?”

There was a moment’s silence, and then a giggle and a voice that was almost all breath said, “Tick… tock… tick… tock…”

Eighteen

I had a strange sensation like the world rocked. I could hear the blood pounding in my head, and there was a voice telling me it was essential to stay calm and focused because Dehan’s life depended on me not fucking up. My hands were shaking, but I managed to call Bernie at the bureau.

“Bernie, he has Dehan…”

“What are you talking about, Stone?”

“I haven’t got time to explain. He took her in the last five or ten minutes.”

“Who did? You’re not making sense.”

“The serial killer! The guy who cut off the girl’s arms twelve years ago, goddamn it! He took Dehan about five minutes ago. I need you to trace her GPS on her phone!”

“You’ve got techs who can do that…”

“For crying out loud, Bernie! By the time I get through the red tape she