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Scott's have a
girlfriend? Friends? He was sure that his son had those things, but
did not know who they were.
    “I don't...know,” he admitted.
    “Okay. No problem.” Oscar jotted down a few
words. “We have a B.O.L.O out on Scott. We will find him
eventually. I just want things to go down nice and smooth. If I
have any further questions, which I probably will, I will give you
a call. ”
    “Damn it, Oscar,” Ashe swore. “Don't put me
on the sidelines.”
    “It is already done.”
    Silence.
    Ashe wanted to swear and yell but it would do
no good. When he planted himself, Oscar Harrison was like a wall,
stubborn and immovable. But, no matter how tall or long most walls
were, there was a way around them or over them. If he had to, he
might have to find a way through.
    “Ashe?”
    “What.”
    “If it helps, I don't believe that Scott did
it either. He was always a good kid,” he admitted. “But I need to
know what did happen and why Scott ran from it. He needs to
come in...soon.”
    “Are we done?” Ashe asked.
    The detective took a deep breath. “For
now...I believe.”
    Without saying goodbye to his friend, Ashe
rose and exited the office. All he wanted to do was run home and
clear his head. His thoughts were jumbled, crammed together
uncomfortably. It was a mess of worrisome ideas and troublesome
notions.
    On his way out of the police building, he
pulled out his cell phone and dialed Scott's number. A recording of
his son's voice instantly greeted him. He hung up without leaving a
message.
     

Chapter 5
     
    Ashe quickly changed his mind about clearing
his head at home. It simply wouldn’t work. His head would never
clear. And for what seemed like hours, all he was able to do was
drive fast and angry with no discernible destination before him. He
circled and circled the city of Youngstown, his knuckles tight and
white on the wheel, while obsessively checking his mirrors for the
flashing blues and reds of an approaching police car. He couldn't
remember the last time both his car and his mind raced with that
much frantic uncontrollable energy. The last thing Ashe needed was
a speeding ticket.
    Youngstown was calm and quiet, even for a
night in the middle of the week. The hush of the empty streets was
the polar opposite to what was going on inside of Ashe. He couldn't
get his mind wrapped around what Oscar had told him.
    Scott was suspected of murder.
    His career as a forensic psychologist, in
which he had many years of experience, was aimed at understanding
the motivations and behaviors of people, even criminals. And he
always considered himself to be somewhat competent. But he never
thought he would have to figure out and maybe even justify the
actions or suspected actions of his own son. Never in a million
years. As a child, Scott had always been outgoing and outspoken,
even from his first word, which was “no.” Yet, no matter how
outgoing and outspoken Scott had been, he had always been kind and
giving and never violent or aggressive, even when he played pee-wee
baseball and football. He was always competitive, like his father,
but Scott would never hurt another person.
    But that was Scott as a child...and even as a
teenager. How well did Ashe know his son as an adult, though? There
were too many possibilities and unknowns in Scott's present life
for Ashe to be comfortable making any type of decision or opinion.
There was simply too much that he didn't know. He just didn't know. And it made him feel confused and uncertain
about the innocence of his own son. Could Scott have murdered
someone? He wanted to say no...no way…but he knew better.
    No matter how much he desired to seek out the
unknowns, though, Oscar Harrison had abandoned him to the sidelines
of the investigation. Ashe had been labeled compromised and
forced to witness everything through an electrical fence, with the
information and clues that he needed out of his view and reach.
    He had never been forced to the outside. The
state chose to