“Elly Forsander.”
“Relationship?” Wilson asked.
“She’s my sister,” Forsander said, his tone hostile.
“Elly, do you know Frisco Oliveira and Zoe Reopelle?”
“Don’t answer that, El,” Forsander said. “They don’t have a warrant, we haven’t been read our rights, and we don’t have an attorney.”
“That’s right,” Wilson said. “We told you. You are not a person of interest to us. Do you feel you need an attorney for another reason? Have you done something illegal?”
“No, but I know how these things work,” Forsander complained.
Burke kept his eye contact with Elly, who now looked very confused. “Elly, we’re not here to jam Zoe up if she isn’t involved in something illegal. We’re worried about her, think she’s introuble. And if she is, we can help her. If she’s not, we’ll leave her alone,” he repeated for her benefit.
“I’m not going to talk to you,” she said.
Wilson pulled his phone out and hit dial. Ops was listening in through their comms, so the call was for the benefit of Roderick and Elly Forsander.
“Ops, go,” Yvette answered.
“I need all the information you have on Elly Forsander, sister of Roderick Forsander.”
Elly looked frightened or shocked by his words.
“You can’t do that, man,” Forsander exclaimed. “She isn’t involved in anything, is innocent.”
“Unlike you, you mean?” Wilson asked.
“Stop!” Elly demanded. “Rod isn’t involved in anything illegal. And neither is Zoe. She’s an adult. She can leave school if she wants.”
“Yes, she can,” Burke said. “We just want to talk to her to be sure she’s okay. And we can help her if she’s in trouble.”
“You can’t,” Elly said.
“Elly enough!” Roderick Forsander scolded her.
“We can,” Burke assured her, hopeful they’d gotten their first confirmation that Zoe was in trouble. “And her parents want to talk to her. It’s almost Christmas. She’s their daughter.”
There was no answer from either one of them, just a silent glance between Rod and Elly that shouted, they both knew something.
“Unless her parents are part of the problem beyond having fights about money. Are they the reason she went off the grid? Is that it, Elly? Are her parents into something illegal that Zoe knows about?” Burke asked.
“How can you help her?” Elly asked.
“Elly, don’t!” her brother yelled.
Burke pulled on her arm. “Come with me,” he said. He pulled her into the kitchen, even though her brother protested loudly. He pointed to a chair. “Sit. I promise you, we can help Zoe.” He took the seat beside her as her brother went silent. Burke was sure Wilson had gagged him. “Now please. Help Zoe, whatever it is. Ask her if she’ll talk to us. Do you have a way to reach her?”
Elly nodded. “I can get a message to her. I can ask her if she will talk to you. But I have to tell her who you are and how you think you can help her. And then it’ll be her decision.”
Burke nodded. “That’s fair.” He pulled his phone from his pocket and accessed his pairing app as Elly pulled her phone from heryoga pants pocket. “Will you give me your phone number so I can get back in touch with you?”
“No, you give me your number, and if she agrees, I’ll either pass your number to her or I’ll get back in touch with you.”
“Fair enough,” Burke said. He set his phone face down, on the table, the pairing app in the process of linking to her phone.
“What’s your number?” Elly asked. She tapped it into her phone as he recited it.
