Page 29 of Wyatt
“Fine,” he said, releasing a breath. “I did suspect that something was going on, but not this. She said she took a summer job, and the purse was a dupe. It wasn’t real.”
“And you believed that bullshit?” growled Ethan.
“You’re going to tell me that your perfect little girl,” he said, pointing to Ulani, “never did anything that your gullibility bought into the lie?”
“Never,” said Ethan emphatically. “She never did anything I was ashamed of, nor did she ever lie to me.”
“Well, good for you. Father of the year,” said Barber.
“Ezra, I don’t think you get it,” said Asa. “You’re going to be terminated for this.”
“I didn’t do anything!” yelled the girl.
“Shut up, Bethany,” said Ezra. “You drugged those men. You might not have done anything else to them, but you drugged them, and we have no idea what happened after that.”
“Do I have your permission to continue with the questioning?” asked Ulani. He stared at her, wanting to hate her, but knowing that she was doing what he would do.
“Yes,” he whispered.
“How were you paid?” asked Ulani.
“Cash,” said the girl. “They would give us an envelope of cash.”
“Who are the other girls?”
“I don’t know. That’s the truth. I saw one of them one time when I was getting paid, but I didn’t know her name. She looked a little older than me.”
“And she was at the pier as well?” asked Ulani.
“Yes.”
“These hoodies they wore? Did they have a logo on them or on the ball cap?”
“No. They were either plain gray or black. The hats were always black.”
“Not suspicious on the beach in the summer,” frowned Wyatt.
“How much were you given in total?” she asked. The girl looked up at her, then at her father.
“Dad…”
“Tell them,” he said.
“Twenty thousand.”
“Twenty thousand!” yelled Ulani. “How many men did you drug?”
“Four. Twenty divided by five is four. Duh.” Ulani wanted to leap across the table, but it was her father who spoke up.
“Do not be disrespectful! You’re already in so much trouble you can’t even fathom it. There will be no private school for you, except a boarding school.”
“Dad!”
“Shut up! Boarding school unless you’re tried and convicted as an adult. Then you’re going to jail.”
“But you’re important. It won’t happen to me,” she cried.
“Is that what you thought?” asked Ulani. “Did you think that because your dad was a director with the CID, you were untouchable?”
