Chapter 18 Oscar #2
The stairs leading up were tucked behind the front door. A pair of female legs wearing yoga pants was halfway down. Upon seeing the commotion in the entry, she turned and ran up the stairs. Wilson was on top of Forsander. Burke took the stairs two at a time. “Federal agents! Stop!”
At the top of the stairs, a door slammed shut. Burke tried the door when he reached it. It was locked.
He knocked. “Federal agent. Open the door. I’m not going to hurt you!” He waited a few seconds. “Zoe, are you in there? Zoe Reopelle?”
The door swung open and he came face-to-face with the young woman who had gotten out of the pickup truck. It was not Zoe Reopelle. This girl was a few years older than Zoe. “I’m not Zoe. Is that what this is about? She’s not here.”
“But you know her?” Burke asked.
She hesitantly nodded. “Yeah, but she’s not here.”
“Come back downstairs with me and let’s sort this out,” Burke prompted. He followed her down the stairs.
Wilson had Roderick Forsander secured with his hands zip-tied behind his back. “Help me get him up,” Wilson said to Burke.
Burke pointed to the couch in the front room. “Why don’t you have a seat in there, and we’ll help him up and let him sit beside you.”
Burke and Wilson kept an eye on the unknown young woman while they pulled Forsander to his feet.
Burke had not searched her, and knew they should, but they also were quite sure she had information and thought the chances were better to get it from her if they didn’t search and restrain her.
They sat him beside her, and they stood in front of the couch, their backs to a wall.
Burke was positioned to see out of the window and also the stairs and entry areas. No one would get the drop on them.
“First off, you could have saved yourself a lot of trouble if you’d just cooperated,” Wilson said to Forsander. “Now tell me the truth this time. Is there anyone else in this house?”
“No,” Forsander answered.
Wilson’s gaze shifted to the young woman. “What’s your name?”
“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 in trouble. 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 her yoga 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.
He was pretty sure she was putting it into a text message. “Tell her we’re federal agents who were told she disappeared and there is concern she’s in trouble. Make sure you tell her we don’t suspect her of doing anything illegal. And tell her whatever it is, we can and will help her.”
Elly tapped away with her thumbs. Then she set the phone on the table. “Okay, it’s sent. It usually takes a day to hear back. She doesn’t have a phone on twenty-four-seven, only has it on a few times a day to check for messages.”
Burke found that odd. “Is she safe where she’s at?” Burke asked.
Elly nodded. “Yeah.”
“Have you actually talked to her and heard her voice since Frisco picked her up outside of her dorm in October?”
Elly looked surprised that he knew that. She nodded.
“Are you part of the group too?” he asked in a quieter voice.
“What group?” Elly asked.
“The group that believes a civil war is coming. The group that believes being prepared is smart.” His voice was still quiet.
Elly shrugged. “I think it’s smart to be prepared,” she said in a whisper. “And it doesn’t hurt anything to be prepared, but I’m not like many of them.”
“What about Zoe?”
Elly looked more nervous with that question. “I think she bought into more than I do.” She shrugged again. “And if they’re right, what does it matter?”
Burke flashed her a grin. “True. A lot of people think it’s better to be safe than sorry. As long as there’s nothing going on that’s illegal.”
“There isn’t,” Elly insisted.
“Okay, please let me know when you hear from Zoe. And if I’m wrong and her parents aren’t the reason she left school and dropped off the face of the planet, please tell her they just want to talk to her to make sure she’s okay.
They have some money for her to live on, too, and we have a finder’s fee for whoever gets her in touch with us.
Her mom feels bad about how their last few phone calls went.
She’s their daughter, and they say they love her and just want to be sure she’s okay.
Even if she doesn’t want to talk to her parents, I want to talk to her. ”
Elly nodded.
They went back into the front room. “We’re good,” Burke said. “Cut him loose and let’s go.”
Wilson removed the tape from Forsander’s mouth. He immediately began to scream and swear at Wilson.
Wilson pulled on his arm. “I’ll help you up and then cut your hands loose.”
“I’ll have you fired!” Forsander yelled.
“How about you calm the fuck down?” Wilson said. “If you take a swing at me, we will arrest you for assaulting a law enforcement officer. You brought all this on yourself. All you had to do was cooperate like your sister.”
Forsander gave his sister a death stare and shook his head at her.
“It’s Zoe’s choice if she talks to them,” Elly said to her brother.
Wilson cut his zip ties. The two men exited without incident. Once in the car, Burke advised Wilson he’d successfully pair her phone. Through comms, Wilson had heard his conversation with Elly. Now they would have to wait. But it was the best lead they had on her so far.