Page 162 of Random in Death

Yes, some were just born twisted.

“Meanwhile, you have the right to remain silent.”

“Fuck you, whore!”

“Keep it up.” She tapped her lapel. “Record’s on. You have the right to legal counsel,” she continued, unfazed, and read off the rest of the Revised Miranda.

“I need somebody to transport him to Central while we clean things up here.”

“We got him,” Jenkinson said.

Reineke nodded. “Be a pleasure. Come on, young sir. We’ll escort you to your first cage in what will be a long line of them.”

“I want to go home! You’d better get your hands off me! Do you know who my father is?”

Perp-walking him away, Jenkinson turned and grinned. “Who’s your daddy?”

She would have laughed, but she spotted Roarke walking toward her. He wore a black tee, which would’ve been fine. Except for the park logo of the silly face with its wide, toothy grin.

“Are you kidding me?”

“She didn’t want to let go of the shirt. McNab ran off and got it for me.”

“It would be McNab.”

“Peabody’s with the girl in the ambulance. Delaney Brooke. Del. Whatever he used on her is wearing off.”

“I need to talk to her.” She turned. “Let’s get that ride blocked off. We can use local sweepers to process, and…”

She trailed off at the look from Feeney. “Sorry, you know what to do. I’ll be with the girl.”

As she walked off, Feeney clapped his hands. “All right, boys and girls. Let’s get things done.”

Chapter Twenty-two

Eve walked over to the ambulance. Peabody sat inside with the victim, talking softly. The locals set up a perimeter to keep the crowd away, but three girls stood beside the ambulance in a kind of teary group hug.

Eve signaled to one of the MTs.

“Status?”

“We need to take her in, get a full workup, but she’s stable, and she’s lucid. BP’s still a little high, but she’s coming out of it. We can do a surface scan with the mobile.”

His dark, rawboned face tightened. “He dosed her. Injection site, left biceps. Rohypnol, but other additives we need the lab to identify. She’s got some bruises, but he didn’t rape her. Didn’t get the chance.”

“Give me a few minutes with her.”

“Go ahead. You got him, right? I got a kid her age.”

“We got him.”

When Eve climbed in, Peabody turned back to Del.

“Del, this is Lieutenant Dallas.”

“You were there. The lights came on all of a sudden, then you were there. You went after Francis.”

“That’s right. He’s in custody now.” Pretty brunette, Eve noted, about sixteen, with brown eyes still on the glassy side. “He told you his name?”