voice booming over Gavin’s. “You have no blood of mine in your body. And you’re not getting a penny of my money.” He turned to Shaw. “My theory is that genius here decided to get his lab tech friend to help blackmail me. When that didn’t work, he hired the gunmen, probably also friends of his, to make it look as if I wanted to steal my DNA.”
Shaw shook his head. “That’s a lot of trouble to go through to set you up because you tried to get him fired. People died during that hostage standoff. A baby is missing.”
“Well, I’m not responsible,” Rouse insisted, jamming his thumb to his chest. “Things probably got out of hand, especially if those gunmen were friends of his. They probably just panicked and screwed up.”
“I didn’t do this!” Gavin shouted.
The two men launched into a loud argument that could probably have gone on for hours, so Shaw stood and put an end to it. “There’s one way to settle this. Bothof you give me DNA samples, and we’ll see who’s telling the truth.”
Well, the truth about fatherhood anyway. And it might be a start to the truth about why the hostages had been taken, if Rouse was truly Gavin’s father.
“You want my DNA sample?” Rouse asked, but he didn’t wait for Shaw to answer. “Then get a court order. Oh, and good luck with that. Unlike the incompetent legal eagle here, I have an outstanding team of lawyers who’ll fight you every step of the way.”
“Thanks,” Shaw said sarcastically. He reached out and took the tape recorder. “Now I can confiscate this. As potential evidence in a quadruple murder investigation.”
“Keep it. Use it to put that weasel behind bars.” Rouse flashed a dry smile at Gavin and walked out.
“I’ll give you a DNA sample,” Gavin volunteered.
Again, that seemed to imply he was innocent, but without Rouse’s DNA for comparison, it was an empty gesture. Still, Shaw wouldn’t turn it down. It would come in handy if they managed to get Rouse’s.
“Go to the dispatcher at the front desk. He or she will make arrangements for a DNA swab,” Shaw told him. He helped Sabrina to her feet. “In the meantime, I’ll see about getting the court order for Rouse’s sample.”
“Do that, because he’s my father, and I want him to pay for what he’s done.”
Shaw left Gavin still fuming in the interview room, and he led Sabrina back toward the flop room. “You think either Rouse or Gavin could be behind this?” she asked.
“Maybe. But I keep going back to that third deletedfile. Taking your DNA test, I understand. Maybe things went wrong, and the gunmen decided you’d make a good hostage to cover their tracks. I can even understand Rouse wanting his DNA file deleted to protect his name. Or Gavin deleting it to make Rouse look guilty. But then what was in that third file?”
Sabrina made a sound of agreement. “Will your computer techs be able to recover it?”
“They’re trying. I got an update while we were at the clinic, and I found out that there’d been two recent attempts to break into that lab at the hospital. That’s the reason the new security camera was installed. The head of security had also changed the codes to access the DNA storage room.”
“Yes. That makes sense. The gunman, not Burney Monroe, but the other one, he was furious when he couldn’t open the door. That’s when he shot the med tech. And then he shot the lock on the door. That’s how he got inside.”
So, maybe the Gavin or Rouse theory was right. If the dead med tech had agreed to help either of them, for a price, of course, he would have been a loose end. That could have been the reason he was killed so early on in the standoff. The gunmen no longer had any use for him. That meant Shaw needed to look for a connection between the gunmen and the lab tech.
Shaw opened the flop room and looked around, just to make sure there was no gunman or rogue cop lurking around and ready to attack. After the incident in the hotel, it
Shaw shook his head. “That’s a lot of trouble to go through to set you up because you tried to get him fired. People died during that hostage standoff. A baby is missing.”
“Well, I’m not responsible,” Rouse insisted, jamming his thumb to his chest. “Things probably got out of hand, especially if those gunmen were friends of his. They probably just panicked and screwed up.”
“I didn’t do this!” Gavin shouted.
The two men launched into a loud argument that could probably have gone on for hours, so Shaw stood and put an end to it. “There’s one way to settle this. Bothof you give me DNA samples, and we’ll see who’s telling the truth.”
Well, the truth about fatherhood anyway. And it might be a start to the truth about why the hostages had been taken, if Rouse was truly Gavin’s father.
“You want my DNA sample?” Rouse asked, but he didn’t wait for Shaw to answer. “Then get a court order. Oh, and good luck with that. Unlike the incompetent legal eagle here, I have an outstanding team of lawyers who’ll fight you every step of the way.”
“Thanks,” Shaw said sarcastically. He reached out and took the tape recorder. “Now I can confiscate this. As potential evidence in a quadruple murder investigation.”
“Keep it. Use it to put that weasel behind bars.” Rouse flashed a dry smile at Gavin and walked out.
“I’ll give you a DNA sample,” Gavin volunteered.
Again, that seemed to imply he was innocent, but without Rouse’s DNA for comparison, it was an empty gesture. Still, Shaw wouldn’t turn it down. It would come in handy if they managed to get Rouse’s.
“Go to the dispatcher at the front desk. He or she will make arrangements for a DNA swab,” Shaw told him. He helped Sabrina to her feet. “In the meantime, I’ll see about getting the court order for Rouse’s sample.”
“Do that, because he’s my father, and I want him to pay for what he’s done.”
Shaw left Gavin still fuming in the interview room, and he led Sabrina back toward the flop room. “You think either Rouse or Gavin could be behind this?” she asked.
“Maybe. But I keep going back to that third deletedfile. Taking your DNA test, I understand. Maybe things went wrong, and the gunmen decided you’d make a good hostage to cover their tracks. I can even understand Rouse wanting his DNA file deleted to protect his name. Or Gavin deleting it to make Rouse look guilty. But then what was in that third file?”
Sabrina made a sound of agreement. “Will your computer techs be able to recover it?”
“They’re trying. I got an update while we were at the clinic, and I found out that there’d been two recent attempts to break into that lab at the hospital. That’s the reason the new security camera was installed. The head of security had also changed the codes to access the DNA storage room.”
“Yes. That makes sense. The gunman, not Burney Monroe, but the other one, he was furious when he couldn’t open the door. That’s when he shot the med tech. And then he shot the lock on the door. That’s how he got inside.”
So, maybe the Gavin or Rouse theory was right. If the dead med tech had agreed to help either of them, for a price, of course, he would have been a loose end. That could have been the reason he was killed so early on in the standoff. The gunmen no longer had any use for him. That meant Shaw needed to look for a connection between the gunmen and the lab tech.
Shaw opened the flop room and looked around, just to make sure there was no gunman or rogue cop lurking around and ready to attack. After the incident in the hotel, it
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