Gem Stone by Dale Mayer Page A

She leaned back and closed her eyes once she'd settled inside. Thankful they'd located Misty, now she was looking forward to a bit of shut-eye in her own bed...
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    Until the van drove straight to the local sheriff's office.
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    Great. They were in for another few hours of futile criticism and questioning. She knew she was considered to be trouble and clarifying that was all they were going to care about.
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    At least Misty had been found. Gem felt numb to the rest. What would happen, would happen. As much as she didn't want to go to yet another home or facility, if that's what happened, then…whatever. She could tolerate anything for a year. Misty couldn't though. She wasn't as tough. Now Gemma regretted that she hadn't really appreciated Misty when they'd had time to enjoy life together.
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    At the station, they were shepherded into a large conference room where the young deputy sat down to wait with them. For what?
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    Gem glanced over at Mark. He caught her look, returned it with a one slight quirk of his lips. He knew how to play the game. A quick glance around at the others showed they weren't too interested in being here either.
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    A second deputy, a huge bull of a man walked in with the sheriff. The two wore genial smiles on their faces.
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    Great. Though they were sure to meet both types, she recognized that the 'good cops' had arrived. Not. Gem snorted. They'd probably decided a honeyed approach would get more cooperation from them than lemon this time of night.
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    As if either would work.
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    She slumped down in her chair and watched the scene unfold.
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    "Sorry to have to bring you in at this hour. We know you're all tired so we're going to get through this as fast as we can. John will be able to take you home again as soon as we're done."
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    Like hell. That would only happen if none of them said anything incriminating while there.
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    "We're going to speak to each of you about what you saw and what you did this evening. Finding the girl is a huge step in the right direction, but we don't want this sort of thing to happen again. Therefore, I need to know what you know so we can catch this kidnapper." The sheriff shuffled some papers on his desk. "Your friend is going to be fine, by the way, but we can't speak with her until she wakes up and that's not going to be tonight." He motioned toward the big deputy.
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    "Ian, take the others out. We'll be talking to you one at a time. You've all been through this before, so this won't be anything new."
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    Gem quirked her lips in a half sneer, noticing a similar look on Mark's face. There it was – the reference to their less-than-savory history. Didn't matter how much any of them had worked to get past it and move on; they'd always be criminals in the eyes of society.
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    Narrow-eyed, Gem watched as all the other kids were removed from the room by the big deputy, leaving her with John and the sheriff. Great. She was first up. She half smiled at the look Mark tossed her way as he walked out.
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    "Gemma Stone. Could you please start in the beginning and tell us exactly what you know?"
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    "About what? About the strangers who came to the house and followed me to the bathroom?" That brought a quick frown to the sheriff's face. John opened his mouth, thought better of it and shut up.
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    "Or when they did a search of the house? Or after that when they tried to stop us from going outside to look for Misty?" Gem knew already how this interview would play out, but thought she'd give them something to think about first.
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    The sheriff studied her face for a moment. "You seem to have the wrong idea here. Those men were trying to help and they had your best interests at heart."
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    She just barely held back a snort. As if.
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    "Right. That's why they wouldn't clearly identify themselves. And when the one did show me ID, he didn't leave it out long enough for me to fully read it. No explanation. Nothing. As you