One Kiss

Chapter 26

Mrs. Roman's voice carried down the hallway to Zay's office and he frowned. He had no idea who had incurred her wrath but he was glad it wasn't him. The door burst open and two men stepped into the room. Both wore suits and looked stern and unapproachable.

"Zayden Walker?" one of the men asked.

He frowned at the men and rose slowly from his seat. "Yes, I'm sorry I'm with someone can you wait a few minutes?" He gestured to the boy who sat in front of his desk.

"No, we can't wait. I'm detective Ferrel with the auto theft task force, this is my partner Detective Blaine. Mr. Walker, you are under arrest. You have the right to remain silent ..."

"Wait, under arrest? For what? This is a mistake!" he protested as the officer stalked over, grabbed his arm, and placed him in cuffs.

"Don't say a word, Zayden, I'll call a lawyer," Mrs. Roman shouted as they dragged him from his office.

"This is ridiculous, I haven't done anything! You can't arrest me!" he protested.

"We can, Mr. Walker. You see, someone tipped us off to your little operation," Ferral told him smugly.

"Operation? I have no idea what you're talking about!"

"In the car, Mr. Walker." The detective placed a hand on his head and shoved him down into the car before he slammed the door shut.

He continued to protest all the way to the precinct, though the two detectives didn't respond. Not until they had him in an interrogation room.

"Can you please explain to me why I am under arrest?" While he wanted explanations, the thing he wanted most was to call Seth and have him here for support.

Detective Ferrel placed a large manila envelope on the table between them. "A kid dropped this off earlier today. He said some guy paid him fifty bucks to bring it here. He's been questioned but he can't identify the man. You have one chance to tell us where to find your associates and shut down the theft ring, if you don't want to roll on your partners well then, Mr. Walker you will be going to prison for a very long time."

"Excuse me?"

The detective opened the envelope and pulled a stack of photos from it and began placing them on the table in front of Zayden in a neat row. "Those look remarkably like you, Mr. Walker. Do you want to make this harder than it has to be? We all know you did it, so let's skip the protestations and just go right to the confession bit."

He swore his heart stopped beating the moment he looked down at the images spread before him. Most of the images were familiar, he recognized them as the ones Seth had taken on some of the nights he'd rode along with him. How had someone gotten them? Unless ... he cut that thought off refusing to acknowledge it. His eyes remained fixed on the pictures as he battled the urge to cry.

"Nothing to say now, Mr. Walker?" Ferrel asked him.

"I'm not saying a damn thing until my lawyer gets here. I don't know where you got those but I'm not a car thief."

"That's funny because the evidence says otherwise." The detective pulled a stack of papers from the envelope. "According to statements from several witnesses they saw this truck moments before this list of vehicles went missing." He placed a photo of the tow truck Seth routinely drove on the table and beside it a list of cars. "According to the company the truck was reported stolen six months ago. It would make it easier to grab cars with a tow truck, don't you agree?"

Zay remained silent. If he opened his mouth he'd lose what little composure he had left.

The detectives stared silently at him for several minutes. "If you aren't willing to help yourself then we can't help you." Ferrel tapped the stack of papers. "The tow company tells us along with the truck one of their tablets was taken. A tablet that would allow someone to falsify paperwork stating a vehicle was up for a legitimate tow in case someone confronted the person. Convenient, isn't it?"