The Night Stalker_ A Novel of Suspense - James Swain [28]
“Do you have any money?” I asked.
“About forty dollars. Why?” Lowman asked.
“Because you’re paying for the cab to take us to the police station.”
The fare to the Broward County Sheriff’s Department headquarters came to $26. I pulled two crisp twenties out of Lowman’s wallet and told the driver to keep the change.
The booking area was in the rear of the building. As I escorted Lowman through the front doors, I took a step back in time. The smells were the same—strong coffee, foul body odors, forbidden cigarettes—and so were the faces, including several silver-haired deputies I’d known since the day I’d started.
There was a long line at the intake booking area. For safety’s sake, each perp had his wrists handcuffed behind his back, and stood three feet away from the suspect in front of him. I pushed Lowman to the front of the line, and rapped my knuckles on the desk. “I’d like to make a citizen’s arrest,” I announced.
Captain Mike lifted his eyes from a stack of forms. His job was to process perps and bag their personal belongings. A smile lit up his face.
“Jack Attack,” he said.
“Hello, Captain Mike,” I said. “How’s the family?”
“Everyone’s well. Who’s this clown?”
“A child molester who was running security at a local theme park. I helped Ron Cheeks bust him.”
“Where’s Cheeks? Dunkin’ Donuts?”
“He went to the hospital. He wasn’t feeling too well.”
Captain Mike filled out a processing form for Lowman. I helped by removing Lowman’s watch, wallet, belt, rings, and shoelaces, which Captain Mike bagged, tagged, and inventoried. When we were done, Lowman edged up beside me.
“You’ll never find the Grimes boy,” Lowman said.
“Is that a fact?” I said.
“I’d put money on it,” he said.
Taking a Sharpie from Captain Mike’s desk, I wrote PERVERT on the back of Lowman’s shirt, then handed him off to a pair of deputies, who led him to a holding pen yelling his head off.
“Does the brass know Cheeks went to the hospital?” Captain Mike asked.
I shook my head. I hadn’t bothered to call anyone, having assumed it would be taken care of when Cheeks was admitted to ER.
“I need to tell them,” Captain Mike said. “Make yourself comfortable.”
I took a chair in the waiting area. There was red tape on the floor to signify that the section was for visitors, and not people in custody. I had always found the tape comical, considering the crimes most of these guys were in for. A man dressed in a tailored suit materialized beside me.
“Your friend looks like he needs some help,” the man said.
“Are you a lawyer?” I asked.
He said yes, and reached for his business card.
“Do you represent child molesters?” I asked.
“All the time,” he said.
“Go fuck yourself.”
Captain Mike called me back to his desk. “I just spoke with the chief. He wants to see you in his office.”
“All hail the chief,” I said.
Captain Mike cleared me through the booking area, and I walked down a long hall to a bank of elevators. A minute later, I was sitting across from Sheriff Lester Moody, the man who’d ousted me from my job nine months ago. Moody was a big man with a mane of silver hair and a face like a slab of granite. Since getting the top job, he’d started wearing ill-fitting suits and bright neckties, and looked like a used-car salesman.
“I spoke with Cheeks,” Moody said. “The doctors are keeping him for a few days at Memorial Hospital. Giving him aspirin was a smart call.”
“Cheeks needs to lose some weight. You, too,” I said.
“Can’t anyone have a civil conversation with you?”
“Want me to leave?”
“Not until I finish what I have to say.”
“Then say it. I have a little boy to find.”
Moody’s cheeks burned. He drummed his desk while glaring at me. He was accustomed to talking down to people. I wasn’t letting him do that.
“I want to find Sampson Grimes, too,” Moody said. “Unfortunately, Cheeks didn’t bring anyone into the loop regarding the investigation. From what I can gather, you know as much as he does.”
“More,” I said.
“All right, you know more. I’d like to offer you a deal.”
“I’m listening.”
“I’m putting another detective in charge of finding