Kingston Kidnappings (What Happens In Vegas Book 3) by Matt Lincoln (great book club books .txt) 📗

“That’s not fair!” the suspect sputtered.

“No,” I snapped. “What’s not fair is convincing an impoverished mother that you’re going to give her child a better life and then selling her to a rich American couple to be their live-in slave. If you don’t have anything to say to me, then this interrogation is over. You can spend the rest of your life rotting in prison.” I stood up and turned around as if to leave the room.

“No!” Aaron called. “Don’t leave. I’ll talk to you. But I really don’t have names to give you.”

“Then I don’t see why I should sit here and listen to you,” I sneered.

“Just wait,” Aaron pleaded. “I don’t know their names or where they are. They only communicate with me through texts. They’re very careful about divulging any information. But I do know when the next pickup will be.”

“Pick up?” I asked. “You mean you know when they’re planning on taking the next kid?”

“Yes,” Aaron nodded. “I keep records of what dates the kids are picked up. I don’t know exactly where, but I do know which neighborhood. It’s going to happen tomorrow night. They’ve already spoken to the kid’s parents and are planning to get him tomorrow after the sun goes down.”

“You’re certain?” Patel asked, startling Aaron. It seemed that he had forgotten she was hovering behind him.

“Yes,” he nodded. “I know because it was actually supposed to happen tonight, but there was an issue with the mother. She wanted to change her mind, but they convinced her and changed the date to tomorrow. The child will certainly be taken tomorrow evening in Trenchtown.”

As he revealed the location, I saw a spark of recognition in Patel’s eyes.

“What part?” she asked coldly.

“Near First Street, I think,” Aaron responded. “As I said, they do not share every detail with me, but I am sure I heard them mention that area.”

“Alright,” I huffed as I pushed my chair back to stand. “Thank you for your cooperation.” I believed what he was saying about not knowing anything else, and if that was the case, we didn’t need to waste any more time here. The faster we contacted Wallace and formed a plan to intercept the pickup, the better.

“Wait,” Aaron called as I made to leave. “What about me?”

“What about you?” I asked derisively. I really wasn’t interested in spending any more time with him than was necessary.

“I spoke with you,” he barked. “I betrayed my employer, so what’s in it for me?” I raised an eyebrow at him. It was a little late for him to be trying to bargain now that he had already spilled everything to us.

“I already told you,” I sneered. “If you’re honest with us, then you’ll only be charged as an accessory rather than as one of the main conspirators. You should be grateful that you’re getting any bit of leniency at all considering the severity of this crime.”

“Let’s not forget,” Patel began as she leaned in close to him. “That you shot and killed a police officer right in front of us. Regardless of your role within the trafficking organization, you’ve committed an incredibly serious crime.”

Aaron’s face went white, and he looked like he might be sick. Before he could find anything else to say, I turned and left the room. We’d jumped into action immediately after getting off of the plane and hadn’t had a single moment to relax. Now that the interrogation was finished, I could feel a weariness settling over me.

“Well done,” Patel commended me as she followed me out of the room. “That’s our first significant lead. We should call Wallace and give him an update.”

“Yeah,” I agreed as I led the way out of the police station. The sun was beginning to set, and the air outside felt cool. The surrounding landscape was now awash in muted shades of pink and orange. As I watched the sun sink below the horizon, I felt confident that the information we’d gotten was about to turn the tide in our favor.

20

Junior

It had been about twenty-four hours since we’d arrested the man who’d been using one of the kidnapped children as a drug runner. Since then, I hadn’t had much else to do aside from wait. We couldn’t make a move on the other number until Fiona managed to track down a legitimate address, and we couldn’t interrogate the suspect until he was released from the hospital. The suspect, a twenty-four-year-old man named Collin Atkins, had apparently been doing everything he could to delay being released from the hospital, including exaggerating his pain and claiming he was mentally unsound. Fortunately, the authorities had seen through his act, and he was scheduled to be released into our custody sometime this afternoon.

Until then, however, I was left twiddling my thumbs at my desk. I’d noticed this trend ever since I’d started working for MBLIS. Because our agency was dedicated specifically to investigating international crime, there were often long stretches of time when we didn’t have much to do. The cases we did take on tended to be complex and dangerous, but it wasn’t every day that someone tried to smuggle tigers across the ocean or things of that nature. So I ended up having days of intense action and danger followed by just as many days of downtime.

“I’m so bored,” Miranda whined. “Hey, you want to go hit up a casino?”

“What?” I asked, snapping my head around to look at her so quickly that it hurt my neck.

“Come on, it’ll be fun,” she sang. “We’re right off of the strip. We could literally walk to one and come back before anyone notices that we’re gone. Nothing’s happening right now, anyway.”

“Atkins might be here any minute,” I countered. “What would happen if the suspect arrived and there were no field agents in the office?” Miranda groaned, and she dropped her head onto her desk dramatically.

“It’s such a waste,” she lamented. “We’re in Las Vegas. Right here on the strip,