J. Jance - Fire and Ice

“You’ll have to talk to him outside,” Joanna said as she prepared to return her Taser to its holster. “Get her out of here, Detective Howell. Let’s secure the scene.”

The truth was, Tom Hadlock should have handled that. Joanna was disappointed that he hadn’t.

Obeying Joanna’s order, Debra approached the woman. “Excuse me, Ms. DeLong,” she said calmly. “If you wouldn’t mind coming with me-”

“I most certainly would mind.” Alma’s answer was close to a snarl. “I already told you. I own this place, and I’m not leaving. You’re the ones who need to step outside. If you know what’s good for you, you’d better have a properly drawn search warrant. You can’t come charging onto my property without one of those.”

Joanna was in no mood for a lecture on police procedures from someone like Alma DeLong. “We don’t need a search warrant when lives are at stake,” she explained. “Several of your ‘residents,’ as you call them, appear to be in dire need of adequate medical care. They have all been transported to hospitals for treatment, except for the one who apparently walked away from this facility on her own earlier today.”

“Someone walked away?” Alma echoed. “That’s not possible. Our residents aren’t allowed outside unaccompanied.”

“I’m sure they’re not,” Joanna replied.

But Alma didn’t appear to be listening. Since there was evidently no answer at the first number, she immediately ended that call and punched in the numbers for another one.

“I believe the incident occurred late this afternoon,” Joanna continued. “At a time when your facility was left unstaffed for several hours.”

“Unstaffed?” Alma repeated in disbelief, holding the phone at arm’s length without punching the “send” button. “That’s utterly preposterous! There’s supposed to be someone here at all times. If my people weren’t here when they were scheduled to be, I’ll fire every single one of them. As for you, get out.”

“You don’t seem to understand,” Joanna said. “This is a crime scene now, and it’s a serious matter. You’re welcome to make your phone calls, but please do as Detective Howell suggested. Make them from outside.”

Defiantly, Alma pressed “send.” “And as I already told you, I’m not leaving. Crime scene or not, this is my property, and you can’t force me to leave.”

“Yes, we can,” Deb Howell insisted firmly. “Come along now, Ms. DeLong. Let’s go.”

Furious, Alma snatched her arm away from Debra, then spoke into the phone. “Don, it’s Alma. Please call me as soon as you get this message. You’re not going to believe what’s happened. Some moron cops have taken over one of my homes, the one down in Palominas. They’ve invaded it! It’s utterly outrageous, and they’ve taken my clients away-kidnapped them. You’ve got to do something about this.”

“I said, ‘Let’s go,’” Deb repeated. “As Sheriff Brady said, you can finish your phone calls outside.”

“Don’t you understand?” Alma raged. “I’m talking to my lawyer. Now get your hands off me, you stupid bitch!”

Brandishing her phone, she took a single swipe at Deb’s face. It was an ineffectual blow which the detective easily dodged. For a long moment the two women stood staring at each other.

“That’s enough now, Ms. DeLong,” Joanna warned. “Either you go with Detective Howell or you risk being booked for disorderly conduct.”

“Disorderly conduct?” Alma retorted. “She was trying to manhandle me, and now you’re threatening me with arrest? No way! It’s not going to happen. I haven’t done anything wrong.”

“For starters, you’re interfering with officers of the law, to say nothing of criminal assault. If Ms. DeLong refuses to go willingly, Detective Howell, cuff her and read her her rights.”

With a nod, Debbie produced a pair of handcuffs. At the sight of them, Alma went wild. She began backing away, as if preparing to make a run for it, but by then Tom Hadlock had appeared at the far end of the hall. When Alma saw him and realized she had lost that avenue of escape, she evidently decided to take her chances with Debra. First she flung her phone full in the detective’s face, then sprang after it. For a moment the two women grappled there in the hallway. Before Joanna could join the fray, Tom waded into the fight. In a matter of moments the two officers wrestled Alma DeLong to the floor. Once they had her down, Debra snapped the cuffs in place.

“My outfit!” Alma screeched as they hauled her back to her feet. “Look what you’ve done to my outfit. You’ve ruined it. That floor is filthy.”

“Maybe you should have had someone clean it,” Joanna suggested.

Deputy Matt Raymond appeared just then to offer his assistance. Taking over from Tom, he and Detective Howell headed back down the hall, holding the still-struggling woman between them.

“What got into her?” Tom asked.

“She’s upset,” Joanna said. “She should never have been allowed inside here.”

Tom nodded. He had been charged with securing the scene, and he hadn’t done so. “I know,” he said. “Sorry about that. I was talking to a reporter from Tucson when a car drove up and stopped behind me. Before I had a chance to stop her, she hopped out of her car and came racing in here.”

“It’s okay,” Joanna told him. “Don’t worry about it. For right now, we’re charging her with interfering and assault. Those will do for starters.”

Just then Peggy Whitehead of health department fame arrived on the scene. Dealing with another irate woman was pretty much the last thing Joanna needed.

“What’s going on here?” Peggy demanded. “If this is a health-related issue, my department has jurisdiction. You’ve got no reason-”

“I have every reason in the world,” Joanna interrupted. “This is now a criminal matter, Peggy. It’s also a crime scene. If you’d been doing your job, maybe it wouldn’t be. Get her out of here, Chief Deputy Hadlock. Now.”

Joanna realized immediately that she should have been more diplomatic. As she was still shaken from the confrontation with Alma DeLong, however, diplomacy wasn’t high on Joanna’s list. And once the words were out of her mouth, it was too late.

Tom Hadlock didn’t come right out and say, “With pleasure!” but the slow smile of satisfaction that spread across his face spoke volumes. Peggy Whitehead had done everything in her power to make his life miserable. Now Joanna had handed him an opportunity to return the favor.

“Right this way, please, Ms. Whitehead,” he said politely.

Peggy hesitated for a moment, then turned and strode away.

Good riddance, Joanna thought, watching her go. Good riddance to both you and Alma DeLong!

She stood there for a long time staring into yet another appalling room-a room with soiled and stinking bedclothes along with a handy supply of damning Flex Cuffs right there on the nightstand. She doubted Alma DeLong would spend more than a single night in jail before being bailed out, and she would be staying in far better conditions than the poor residents of her “care” facility. It was a shame Joanna couldn’t have ordered her to be locked up in one of these very rooms. The same went for Peggy Whitehead. Wasn’t she supposed to see to it that places like this didn’t exist? To Joanna’s way of thinking, the head of the health department deserved to be locked up as well.

Dave Hollicker, camera equipment in hand, came hurrying down the hallway behind Joanna. “Are you all right, boss?” he asked.

“I’m fine,” she said, and she meant it. For one thing, her officers were all safe, and so was Alma DeLong. When their shifts ended that night, all of her people would be going home to their families, and so would she.