Killer Unknown

Chapter 25: We Have Nothing

The next day, Sgt. Greg called Mr. Cruz and asked if he could bring his family in to speak with him. At first, Mr. Cruz refused to come into the station. He claimed that the officers were out to get his son and would stop at nothing to do so. Slick on his tongue, Sgt. Greg reminded him what it looked like when suspects didn't cooperate with the police. He mentioned his girls and his illegal girl friend not being able to see each other. Mr. Cruz said fine and hung up the phone. Sgt. Greg figured that Mr. Cruz would seek his attorney's advice and give him the run around for sure, until he was paged to come to the lobby. He was shocked to see Mr. Cruz, Ms. Hernandez, and the girls waiting on him. He walked up to them and introduced himself to them as he held his hand out for them to shake it. None of them shook his hand, but they did speak. They followed Sgt. Greg to his office and sat down.

"I came in here, so that you didn't drag my girls through the mud over this foolishness about King. Let's get on with it and don't put words in my daughter's mouth!" Mr. Cruz yelled while pointing his finger at Sgt. Greg.

"Settle down, Mr. Cruz! First off, no one is going to put words in anyone's mouth. I don't know who you have been dealing with in the past, but this is strictly a follow up appointment. Where it goes from there is up to you. Please don't point your finger in my face again or I will have to detain you as a threat. Now we can have a peaceful conversation or you can make this a fight, which is it going to be?" Sgt. Greg explained.

"We will be peaceful, I'm sorry! You have to excuse him; he is under a lot of pressure," Maria said.

"Don't speak for me, Maria!" Mr. Cruz snarled.

"Detenlo ahora (Stop it now)! " Maria yelled at Mr. Cruz.

"Get on with it..." Mr. Cruz grumbled as he folded his arms across his chest.

"You look like you need a moment to cool down; I'm going to start with the girls. How are you both?" Sgt. Greg greeted.

"Fine! Is this a real police station?" Josefina asked.

"Yes it is, dummy!" Esmeralda snapped.

"Esmeralda, don't call your sister names!" Maria ordered.

"Si, Madre (Yes, mamma)!"Both girls replied.

"Yes, this is a real police station and I am a real policeman. We are going to play a game called, mini detectives. In this game, you are my mini detectives and you have to help me solve a case. The case is called who took you on a vacation. Now, can you tell me about your vacation?" Sgt. Greg inquired.

"What are you doing?" Mr. Cruz asked.

"Mr. Cruz, if you are going to continue to be disruptive, I am going to have to ask you to leave," Sgt. Greg said.

"No, continue!" Maria urged.

"How did you know about our vacation?" Josefina asked.

"Oh, it's no secret, honey! Everyone knows that you went on a super fun vacation. Can you tell me about it, because I don't believe what the other officers are saying?" Sgt. Greg explained.

"It's true! We went to the zoo, rode the train a bunch of times, and ate lots of food," Josefina raved.

"Wow, how nice! Can you tell me about the person who took you?" Sgt. Greg asked.

"Why, do you want to know?" Esmeralda questioned.

"Well, we just need to make sure that he doesn't do that again without talking to your mom and dad first, okay? There were a lot of police officers looking for the two of you and we were all worried that something had happened to you. Were you scared of the person who took you?" Sgt. Greg said.