“These kind and considerate people behind me, these Websters, didn’t have to give you any grace. But they did. They didn’t want to make a scene in your community by taking you away in handcuffs.”
Janita was completely perplexed. “What are you talking about, Donnally?”
“That’s Chief Donnally to you!”
“What are you talking about, Donnally?” Janita asked him again. Chief be damned! This fool was talking aboutarrestingher.
Minka and Dray glanced at each other. They liked her spunk. They couldn’t stand Donnally either. When their Dadwasn’t around, or Hawk or Matty or Nat, Donnally treated the younger Websters with disdain too.
“The best thing for you to do is to confess right now, young lady,” Donnally said.
Von was beside himself. “And what is she confessing to?” he angrily asked him.
“We know she had something to do with Mrs. Webster’s kidnapping,” Donnally said.
Every Webster in that room were staring at Janita when Donnally said those words. They wanted to see if she acted guilty or not. Minka, Dray, and Babs, and even Nat, all thought it was nonsense and told Donnally so before Janita came. But the jury was still out with Matty and their father. And in their household, their father, followed closely by Matty, ruled the nest.
But while the Websters were staring at them, Janita and Von were staring at Donnally. And it wasn’t a stare of fear. It was a stare as if they were wondering what was he cooking up now.
“Your fingerprints were on that door.”
Von frowned. “The car door?”
“No, you idiot,” Donnally said.
But William cut him off. “Watch your language, Dale,” he said as if he was well acquainted with big-belly racists like the chief of police.
Donnally, who actually feared William and Matty, did calm back down. “The door I’m talking about is that false door they used to take Mrs. Webster out of that dressing room.”
Janita and Von were confused. “What false door?” Janita asked him.
“I just told you which one.”
“There’s no false door in that dressing room. Even Miss Ellen didn’t mention any false door.”
“That’s because she didn’t know about it. We pulled up the blueprints to that clothing boutique and found it. And we found fingerprints on it too. On the outside of it,andon the inside of it. The kidnapper apparently figured we would never find out about some false door the way she had, so she wasn’t as careful. And those fingerprints,” he added, “belonged to nobody else but you!”
Von was floored. So was Janita. “Me? I didn’t even know about some false door!”
“Oh your ass knew about it,” Donnally said. “And it makes perfect sense, too. You’ve only been working for Mrs. Webster for just three months when she was kidnapped. She had no security before. Was able to come and go as she pleased and nobody in Brackenridge bothered her. But as soon as her husband wanted security for her, and she chose you, she ends upkidnapped? That never set right with me. And then we got you when we found those fingerprints.”
“But those aren’t my fingerprints.”
“So the DNA lying too?” Donnally grabbed the handcuffs off of the back of his belt and grabbed Janita.
But Von grabbed Donnally. “Leave my sister alone!” he cried out.
Nat and Dray hurried to Von and pulled him away from Donnally before he got arrested too. “It’s okay, little man,” Dray was whispering in his ear. “It’s okay.”
But Janita was worried about Von too. “I’m alright, DeVontay,” she said as Donnally was cuffing her. “It’s going to be alright.”
After cuffing her, Donnally frisked her and removed her weapon. “Where you’re going, you won’t be needing this for a while,” he said.
And when he said those words, Janita’s heart just dropped. Even Matty and William could see her pain. Butevidence was evidence. They could never turn a blind eye to irrefutable evidence.
“If you just tell us where my wife is,” William said, “then all will be forgiven.”
“I had nothing to do with your wife’s kidnapping, sir. I’m being falsely accused!”
