Free Souls At Zero (A Dark Psychological Thriller) by Neal Martin

through it for a second. "According to the two officers on the scene at the cafe on Botanic Avenue this morning, you were drugged by a man who then abducted your daughter. Is that correct?"
    Edger's jaw muscles tensed. "No."
    Black couldn't hide his surprise and he exchanged a shocked glance with McKee.
    "I'm sorry, Mr. Edger," McKee said. "Are you trying to say your daughter wasn't abducted?"
    "That's exactly what I'm saying." His blank stare was unwavering. "There's been a misunderstanding."
    "A misunderstanding?" Black shook his head, unable to believe what he was hearing.
    "Yes," Edger said. "I accidentally overdosed on my PTSD medication this morning. I knew I was going to end up in a bad way so I called my ex-wife's brother to come and pick my daughter up from the cafe, which he did. My daughter is now with her mother, probably in Dublin where I was supposed to take her today."
    Black stared at Edger for a long moment, then he looked at McKee, who sat beside him with a look of disbelief on her face that was bordering on anger. She obviously hadn't picked up yet on what was happening here. But he had.
    "Okay," he said to Edger. "That story is bollocks and we all know it. We have CCTV footage showing a man bundling your unconscious daughter into the back of a blue Ford Mondeo right after he left the cafe, a car which, by the way, was reported stolen yesterday. It's only a matter of time before the car turns up somewhere, and when it does, we will do a full forensics sweep on it.
    "We also have eye witness testimony from the cafe owner himself, and from two people who entered the cafe just as the abductor was leaving. The cafe owner has stated that he saw the abductor inject your daughter in the neck to render her unconscious before he took her."
    He stopped talking for a second to see if anything was registering on Edger's face. The man was clearly tense, but he was hiding it well behind a mask of forced calm, the way any trained soldier would under interrogation.
    "There is no question that your daughter was kidnapped this morning," Black continued. "If you are denying that happened, then that could only mean two things. Number one, the kidnapper has made contact and stipulated no police involvement or he will hurt your daughter. Or number two, you have taken it upon yourself to try and sort this situation out alone. In any case, you can't leave us out of the equation."
    "Like it or not, Mr. Edger," McKee said. "We are involved now, and we will continue to investigate. By not co-operating, you are going to force us to consider you a suspect in your own daughter's kidnapping, which I don't think any of us want."
    "I understand you might be scared," Black said, genuinely sympathetic towards Edger, as he had two teenage daughters of his own. "You don't want anything to happen to your daughter. We get that. But you must know, we have the experience and the resources to help you get her back safely."
    Emotion flashed across Edger's face for the first time since they started talking. "Really?" he said. "You can guarantee my daughter's safety, is that what you're saying?"
    "There are never any guarantees in these situations, Mr. Edger," Black said. "You should know that better than anyone, given what you used to do for a living. But I guarantee you, you'll have a better chance of getting Kaitlin back safely with our help. I think you owe it to Kaitlin to let us help you."
    Edger glanced at his watch, then back to Black. "It's like I told you. This was all a big misunderstanding. My daughter is safe and well."
    Black sighed, as did McKee. He could feel her anger and frustration as she sat tensely beside him.
    "So what's your plan, Mr. Edger?" she asked. "Are you just going to go all Jack Reacher and save your daughter yourself?"
    Edger frowned slightly. "What?"
    McKee made a snorting sound and shook her head.
    "Mr. Edger," Black said. "A serious crime has been committed here, and like it or not, we have to investigate. Once we