Chapter 5

They ended up taking me in, but allowed me to get dressed first. I sat in the interrogation room waiting for an hour, starving. Finally when someone came in, they dropped some papers down on the table I was cuffed to and sat across from me.

“I’m starving here. I haven’t had breakfast, I haven’t had coffee. I haven’t even had my morning shit. Can I get a little respect here?” I asked.

“I’m sorry Mr Barkley, we just have a few questions for you.”

“Well you can ask them either after I’ve been to the bathroom, or I’ve shit my pants. Which is it going to be, Officer?”

I was mad. They’d taken my wallet and my watch, as well as my fingerprints. I was in comfortable clothes, but that was the limit of my comfort. She looked at me, sighing.

“Ok, Mr Barkley, I’ll get you breakfast and a bathroom visit, then we really need to talk.”

“Good, the only reason I haven’t asked for a lawyer is I’m afraid my bitch of an ex would show up.”

An officer uncuffed me, and led me to the bathroom. When I exited ten minutes later, I was cuffed again, and returned to the room. I wasn’t cuffed to the table this time, and a McDonald’s bag was waiting for me along with a McDonald’s coffee.

I added creamer and sugar first then, took a sip with a sigh of satisfaction. She entered the room again, “Mr Barkley, I’m Assistant DA Reyes. I’m sorry this morning has been so difficult for you. We are trying to find the anonymous report that led to the no knock warrant this morning. It seems to be missing.”

“Shit,” I said.

“Yes, that’s my feeling as well. I think your supposition to officer Michaels is correct, you were likely swatted this morning.”

“Then why am I still in handcuffs?” I asked, biting into a cold egg McMuffin.

“There is something odd about your passport. It doesn’t have many stamps.”

“Of course not,” I said chewing through the hard English muffin, “It’s new. I got it in Zurich at the US Consulate in November.”

“There is no record of you in the system,” she said.

“I don’t believe that, the consulate took my fingerprints when I got my passport.”

“No records of you in the US system other than your fingerprints.”

“How’s that a crime?” I asked, “I grew up in Europe, this my first time here.”

“Your English is very good,” she said.

“So is yours,” I replied.

She paused waiting for me to speak, but I knew this game. I started eating my other sandwich.

“Mr Barkley, can you tell me about your breakup?”

“Sure, I called the woman I loved, and told her I was here as a surprise. I invited her over, and ordered some Chinese delivery. She walks in the door, and she’s all over me. We haven’t seen each other for nearly a month. We have fantastic sex, then we eat the Chinese. Then she starts accusing me of stuff, and storms out.

“This morning I’m going thru the clothes that she brought to the apartment, in preparation for my arrival I guess, when storm troopers break down my door, throw me to the ground, and then drag me here.”

I paused for a breath, “Do you guys have somebody watching my door? I don’t think my dad lived in a very good neighborhood, and if somebody steals his stuff while I’m in here, I’m going to be really angry.”

“There is an officer there. I believe they are still looking for secret basements where you might be hiding a captive woman.”

I rolled my eyes, “That’s bullshit, and I think you know that.”

She didn’t agree or disagree. She stood up, and walked out. Only about two minutes later an officer entered with his hand on his gun. My senses sprung out. The viewing room on the other side of the mirrored window was empty. The camera watching the room no longer had it’s little red light glowing. There was another officer standing guard right outside the door.

I grabbed the cop with my power, and banged his head against the corner of the desk. I sealed the door so the officer outside couldn’t come in. Then I untied his shoe laces, placed his gun in his hand, with the safety engaged, and carefully reattached my handcuffs to the table, locking myself in place.

Then I started screaming for help as loud as I could. There were several bangs on the door as someone tried to get in. I sensed several people come into the viewing room, and I just kept screaming.

“Help! They are trying to kill me! Help me! Someone help me! The police are trying to kill me!”

Finally someone brought a crowbar to the door, and I let it pop open, they pointed guns at me but I kept screaming for help.

They dragged the cop out, and shut the door. I just kept screaming. Finally the Assistant DA came in.

“That officer just tried to murder me!” I shouted.

“What happened?”

“He came in, reattached my cuffs, and then locked the door. He said, ‘SWAT should have shot you.’ and pulled his gun. Then he tripped and hit his head against the corner of the table. Then I started screaming for help.”

“I don’t know what’s going on here, but something fishy is going on. What’s the name of your girlfriend?”

“Rebecca Smackley, she works at Smackley and Associates.”

“That’s not good. They are one of the most powerful firms in the city. If her parents are trying to do you in for some reason, then you should be worried.”

“I’m going to ask kindly that you not leave my side, and that you let me have my cellphone so I can get my personal assistant to find me a lawyer. If they are doing this, then it makes me wonder if something fishy is going on with my father’s trust and the will.” I asked.

“Do you know what the trust is worth?”

“Around two billion,” I said.

“Well we have means, motive, and opportunity. That’s a very good start.”

“My father was killed by a sniper in Zurich while he was waiting for me to join him. We were going into the diamond business together. We thought that he had run afoul of a local crime lord who wanted to take his diamonds, now I wonder if it wasn’t something else,” I told her.