to protect his little sister. I doubt the guy will be back tonight. Mom seems upset enough to get a restraining order to keep him out of the house after this.” Dallas stopped and faced Kira. “We can’t do anything right now. We had Mom perform some maneuvers, and it doesn’t appear she’s intoxicated. We put out a BOLO for Mickey. Oh, sorry, that means be on the lookout—’”
“I know what a BOLO is. But…” Kira grabbed his arm to keep him from walking away.
He glanced at her hand and pulled his arm from her grip. “I know it isn’t easy, Miss Matthews, but it’s not a crime to break a window or scold your kids. We don’t know that the kid actually hit the man, or whether Mickey hit him first. We simply don’t have enough to take further action yet.”
She couldn’t believe it. “Look, Officer—” She caught herself. “Dallas, I appreciate your attempt to get to the bottom of this, but we are obligated to ensure the children’s safety.” Kira touched her finger to her chest. “I am, anyway.”
“Don’t start that battle,” Dallas warned. “The boyfriend is gone, and Mom doesn’t think he’ll be back. For now, that is the best we can ask for. We’ll increase patrols in the area. Pete is getting a description as we speak. The boyfriend is probably staying away on purpose, but until he returns, we can’t just yank kids away from their custodial parent on a ‘maybe’ or a hunch.”
Kira spoke softly, but firmly. “First of all, I’m not yanking kids away from parents, I’m protecting them. It isn’t a hunch. There’s a whole lot more than meets the eye going on here. For one thing, how was a little tiny girl like Betsy able to get out of the basement so easily?”
Dallas shook his head and shrugged his shoulders. “You know as well as I do, kids are industrious. Don’t tell me you never snuck out of your parent’s house when you were a kid.”
She answered without hesitation. “As a matter of fact, I did.”
He got a look of satisfaction in his icy blue eyes, without having to say ‘I told you so.’
Before he distracted her, Kira added, “I snuck out of every foster home I was in until the Matthews family adopted me. But kids run for a reason. We need to find out why Betsy was sneaking out of her home.”
The complacency disappeared from his face. Replaced by a look of dismay. She might have taken some satisfaction in her small victory, but was simply happy to have his attention, finally.
“I’m sorry. I’d have never guessed you had such a difficult childhood.” His mouth twisted into a forced smile. “As much as I’d like to change the outcome of this call, Miss Matthews, I can’t. No crime has been committed. My gut tells me we don’t know the full truth, but we don’t have any reason to press charges. If I were a gambler, I would lay odds that we’ll be back before the weekend is over. Like you, I hope nothing happens in the meantime.”
Kira shook her head. “I’m not waiting to take action. Did you get a good look through the house?”
Dallas shook his head. “Officer Ford hunted for the girl, but he didn’t see anything out of line or he’d have said something.”
“He obviously didn’t check the basement, or he’d have found Betsy. Right?”
Dallas face reddened. “What are you talking about? If you’re still upset about me telling you to stay in the car, we followed policy for your protection, and ours.”
“I know police policy, Officer. I grew up with it every day. I’m talking about something odd in the basement. Betsy said she locked the secret door.”
“What?”
“When I was trying to get Betsy to come out of the basement, I saw an odd glow in the next room. Through a doorway.”
Dallas raised an eyebrow. “Glow? Such as?”
“Fluorescent lights. Not the normal glow of table lamps.” He wasn’t catching her hints. “They have a really large garden in the basement.”
“I get it, Kira. You think they’re growing illegal drugs. I’m trying to stay in chronological order, so, you tried to get her to come out? You instigated it?”
Kira shook her head. “I was standing next to the car, as instructed, when I looked up to see if you were around. Betsy peeked out of the window well and was ready to escape, so I went to talk to her.”
Dallas was taking notes. “That’s it?”
“No, that’s not it. I didn’t know if you were coming after her, and if so, if you’d be able to find her if she got out before you caught up with—”
“I’m not questioning your decision, Miss Matthews,” he said impatiently. “I’m trying to determine if the suspicious plants were in plain sight or if you went looking for some reason to take the kids away from their mother….”
“Social Services doesn’t go looking for reasons to take children from their families.” She placed her hands on her hips. “How dare you think such a thing. This is a perfect example of why—”
“Let’s stick to this case, if we could.” He stared at her with a slight smile as he radioed the other officer. “Officer 138 to PD. Pete, stay with the family.”
“I have jurisdiction with the children, you know,” Kira said.
Dallas nodded, then took a step toward the house and checked out the basement windows.
“We’re not leaving the children here.” She felt her blood pressure rise.
“You’re barking up the wrong tree, Miss Matthews. I’m on your side. I just want to be sure we do it by the book so the charges stick. Was the window open when you got there to help the girl, or did you open it?” He started walking, shining his flashlight along the foundation. “Let’s go back to the window Betsy was in.”
“Around the corner, kind of behind that lilac bush, in the shadows…” Kira extended her right arm in that direction as he followed.
“Now, just to clarify, you didn’t touch the window at all, and the little girl climbed out on her own?”
“Yes, I knelt down when I got here. I startled her, and she disappeared back into the house. That’s when I bent down to look for her. It just looked dark at first, but then I noticed the glow, and a sort of greenhouse in the other room.”
Dallas leaned down to peer inside, shining his flashlight in the open window. He turned his light in each direction, and froze. “Whoa,” he said with obvious shock.
“What? It’s marijuana, right?”
He stood and pulled out his cell phone and dialed immediately. Dallas took several steps away from her and talked so quietly she couldn’t hear.
When he returned, he took her by the elbow and led her to the house.
She shook her arm loose. “What’s wrong?”
Dallas’s mood had turned 180 degrees. “Get the kids ready to get out of here.”
“Dallas,” Kira said impatiently. “Is it meth?”
He walked closer to her and hurried her along. “Agents from the Drug Enforcement Administration have been watching the guy, Mickey Zelanski, waiting for the chance to bust him and his dealers. We shouldn’t have been sent here. They’ve searched his house half a dozen times and can’t find the stash.” He motioned to the other officers. “Don’t let anyone near that window,” he said to them. “The DEA is sending agents over to take over the investigation. Stay out of sight until they arrive.” He instructed them where to stand before he returned his attention to Kira. “We need to take care of business as quickly as possible, but first, I need to talk to Betsy, find out how she’s getting in there.”
“You think that lunatic is watching?”
“With