“Did you? It’s convenient you’re spending time with her now. Did you whip and fuck her when you stayed at her house last night?”
Wes dug deep to hide his response. He wanted to strangle the agent. Instead, he ignored the question. He realized Eleanor and he were being watched. “We spent the night at her home. She wanted to pick up a few things. It was late.”
“Convenient love nest.” Forsyth placed three more photos in front of him. Each victim was partially burned, and each woman’s back had at least one X carved between their shoulders. “Well?”
Wes scanned between the sheriff and the two agents. The sheriff seemed to be taking a perverse glee in the interrogation. Forsyth’s tone seemed to be faltering. And Galloway seemed to have no idea what was going on. Neither of the two agents mentioned the Chase investigation contract. None of this made sense.
“Well what? You’re out of your mind if you think I did this,” Wes said, his temper rising. “This is why you subpoenaed my whereabouts? I’m done talking because you are all nuts. I want to know how you are able to get away with this? Do you have permission to be doing this? I can prove my whereabouts for every date a woman went missing.”
“Calm down, son,” the sheriff said.
“Calm down? I want my attorney.”
“Fine, Wesley Crockett, you are now being detained. For your safety and ours, place your hands behind your back. Deputy, cuff Mr. Crockett please.” Forsyth stood. Once Wes was handcuffed, he left the room, followed by the sheriff.
Wes looked at Galloway. “I see you got attached to another winner. You know this is bogus. Stand up for what’s right.”
Preston stared straight ahead and said nothing.
Six hours in, after a knock, the door opened. “Agent, his attorney is here,” another deputy said.
Wes had no idea who to expect when the door opened. “We were in DC. Caught the helo,” Zach Wentworth said as he and Saoirse Kennedy walked in the door.
“Hello, Agent Galloway, I’m Saoirse Kennedy. I’ll be representing Mr. Crockett. This is my assistant; you remember Zach Wentworth. Where is SAC Forsyth?”
After legal events in Iowa, Zach followed through and studied to become a certified paralegal. Wes bit the inside of his cheek. The idea of Zach, a Dominant, being his submissive fiancée’s assistant amused him to no end. He’d laugh if he wasn’t handcuffed. And calling Forsyth by his abbreviated title told Wes his two colleagues thought of the agent as asackof shit too.
Galloway texted Forsyth. Reading the response, he grimaced. “He’s detained. He told me to deal with you.”
“And deal you will. Take those handcuffs off,” Saoirse demanded.
Galloway nodded at the deputy. Wes rubbed his wrists once they were free.
“I can’t speculate, but this does change things a bit,” she continued. “I see patience is not a virtue. A copy of what I’m about to show you was sent to the FBI Director this morning. First, as to these eleven women: here is a notarized list of Mr. Crockett’s whereabouts on the days these women went missing as well as the five more dates you asked for. They are signed by both Ian and Kieran Chase as well as Martin Bailey, CEO of Chase Security International, and notarized. As you can see, Mr. Crockett was nowhere near Virginia on the dates listed, nor would the travel time to Virginia allow for him to kidnap a woman and return to his noted location. If you think he’s the mastermind of this series of disappearances, how? Should you require it, we can show where he was and provide phone logs for each day of the last five years.”
Wes shot Zach a look. The corners of Zach’s lips curled up. They waited for Galloway to compare the list of victims to his location on the dates of their disappearance.
“It’s clear that Mr. Crockett could not kidnap these women,” Galloway said.
Saoirse placed her hand on the recorder and shut it off. “Agent, the show that was put on by removing Mr. Crockett from the facility he runs and the ease of which we were able to dispute your claims raises questions. Do you know why this was done?”
“No.” Galloway looked down.
“Agent, I’d advise you to find out. I am willing at this point to believe you were blindsided by this detention. But from your history with Chase Security International, I am told I’m giving you too much credit.” Saoirse rose from her seat.
Galloway stood. “I’ll be right back.”
Wes pressed his lips together. “Thank you.”
