Clem left early to get to the firehouse before eight, and Linc ran out the door not long after to be on time for his football practice at the school.I got dressed and stocked up at the grocery store, cleaned the sheets on all beds, ran a few loads of laundry, and ran the vacuum.I was about to mop the floors when I saw the large black SUV pull up alongside the curb.
“Please.My Friday flowed straight into Saturday so I haven’t slept and need the caffeine to keep my eyes open.”
“Case heating up?”I inquire, pulling a mug down from the shelf for him.
I’ve skipped plenty of nights’ rest myself when I was in the thick of a case.There comes a point in every investigation—usually when you get close to apprehending a suspect—you can’t risk letting up for even a second.It could be the difference between a successful arrest or a fugitive on the run.
“You could say that again,” he confirms.“But I’m happy to report we were able to apprehend Doyle Benjamin early this morning.”
I almost drop my coffee mug at the news.
“Seriously?”
He nods, a smirk on his face.
“What brought that on?Were you able to unearth more evidence?”
Instantly his smirk disappears and his eyes slide to the stairs.
Shit.
Whatever it is has to do with my boy, and I’m not liking that.
“Tell me,” I prompt him.
He leans in closer, and I automatically do the same.
“We arrested him for the murder of Ryan Wells,” he says in a low voice.“Remi was able to give us enough information to get an arrest warrant.”
Nausea hits instantaneously, and I have to fight the contents of my stomach surging to the surface.
“What do you mean?”I manage breathlessly.
“Your son was able to place Benjamin in the stolen Mustang with Ryan Wells on September sixth.”
I recall the date on the security feed showing the theft of the Mustang was September fifth, and Ryan’s mother reported him missing on the seventh.But I can’t for the life of me remember September sixth.I’m wracking my brain, trying to remember what we might have been doing that day.
“It was a Sunday,” Jason supplies helpfully.“Remi remembered the date because he said it was his father’s birthday.”
“Oh yeah, that’s right.”
I didn’t even clue in.I find it significant my kid does remember that date.
“He said you were working, and he’d been down and missing his father, and ended up talking with Benjamin in their private chat.Benjamin then mentioned he had an errand to run not that far from Silence and offered to swing by and pick the kid up.”
A fresh surge of nausea steals my breath as I consider every single possible thing that could have happened.Was Remi in the car with them?
I’m almost afraid to ask, but force myself.
“Did he go?”
“No,” Mancuso immediately returns.
The air I’d been holding explodes from my lungs with an audible groan.Thank God.
“Your boy recognized Ryan in the passenger seat, and mentioned he’d seen him before at his brother’s football game.According to Remi, the teacher seemed taken aback by that and suddenly announced he had to get going, and left him standing on the sidewalk.”
“Why the hell wouldn’t he have said something before?”I wonder out loud.
