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

whoever’s number this is knows something about the supplier. I say it’s worth trying if it means we’ll be one step closer to solving this.”

Fiona still seemed unsure and looked over to Junior.

“I agree,” he nodded resolutely. “I think we should try calling. Start tracing the call as soon as they pick up, and in the meantime, we can attempt to appeal to the buyer.”

“Okay,” Fiona replied. “I’ll get everything ready.” She opened several programs before connecting her own phone to the computer. “I’ll spoof the number to make it seem like it’s the supplier calling. They’ll be more likely to answer if it’s a number they recognize.”

“Is that legal?” I asked as she pressed the call button.

“Don’t ask questions you don’t want to hear the answers to,” she responded curtly. The three of us waited with bated breath as the line rang once, twice, then three times. It seemed as though no one was going to pick up, and just as I was about to sigh in resignation, there was an audible click as the call connected.

“Hello?” A tiny voice cracked to life through the line. It wasn’t the voice of a woman or a man, but distinctly that of a child’s. I saw Fiona’s eyes go wide as she heard the little girl’s voice, and I knew that my expression must mirror hers.

“Hi,” I stuttered, collecting myself quickly and thinking fast. “My name is Miranda. Can I ask what your name is?” I spoke slowly, trying to buy as much time as possible for Fiona to trace the call. As soon as I spoke, she began furiously typing away at her keyboard.

“I’m Lakshmi,” the girl replied, and I heard Junior gasp.

“That’s such a pretty name,” I smiled. “Do you have a sister named Kamya?”

“Yes!” The little girl exclaimed, her voice rising in volume. “Is she there?”

“No, sweetheart,” I frowned. “I’m sorry. But I know where she is. I can take you to see her, but first, I need to know where you are so I can come to get you.”

“I’m not supposed to talk to strangers,” Lakshmi replied, suddenly sounding much less excited. “I’m not supposed to use the phone. They’ll get mad at me if they find out I touched the phone.”

“It’s okay, Lakshmi,” I assured her as I desperately tried to think of how to keep her on the line. “How about we play a game of hide-and-seek?”. Even if I wasn’t able to get any pertinent information out of her, I only needed to keep her on the line long enough for Fiona to trace the call.

“Okay,” Lakshmi responded.

“Perfect,” I replied. “I’ll start counting, so you go and hide somewhere with the phone, okay? Stay very quiet and don’t hang up.”

“And then you’ll come to find me?” she asked. I swallowed painfully at the question.

“Yes, I’ll come to find you,” I promised. “Are you ready? Go and hide now, okay?” I could hear tiny footsteps through the line as Lakshmi scampered off to follow my instructions.

“Fiona, how close are you to tracing the location?” Junior asked.

“I’m going as fast as I can,” she mumbled, her eyes glued to the monitor in front of her. “Just a little longer.”

“Uh-oh,” Lakshmi’s small voice came through the phone’s speaker.

“What’s wrong?” I asked.

“I think they heard me,” she whispered, and my entire body went rigid. “I can hear them coming. I need to go now.”

“No, wait,” I called frantically. “Just a little longer, okay, Lakshmi? My friend is trying to find you right now. Just stay quiet and keep the phone with you.”

“I’ve got it!” Fiona declared. “The call’s coming from a residential area about an hour south of here.”

I was about to inform Lakshmi that we’d be there soon, but before I could speak, I heard a muffled clattering coming from the phone.

“Lakshmi?” I asked nervously.

The next moment, I heard the sound of a man’s voice, and then a short, high-pitched scream before the line went dead.

I couldn’t move. The seconds seemed to stretch on ceaselessly as every worst-case scenario flashed through my mind.

“Miranda!” Junior’s voice finally snapped me back to reality. “We have to go, now!”

I nodded numbly before getting up out of my chair and following Junior out of the office at a run. Still, no matter how quickly we moved, Fiona had said that the house she’d traced the call to was an hour away. A lot could happen in an hour. I only hoped we would make it there before anything did.

22

Naomi

After getting Wallace up to speed on everything that had happened on our first day, Charlie and I had headed to the hotel to get some rest. By that point, we’d been awake for over twenty-four hours, so we both went to bed early. The next morning, I was feeling refreshed and ready to begin the day.

Aaron Brown, the suspect we’d arrested the day before, had revealed to us that a child pick-up was scheduled to take place that evening in one of Kingston’s most dangerous slums, Trenchtown. Later today, we would be meeting with a police officer before heading to the location, but until then, we had the day free. As I got dressed that morning, I wondered how I should spend the free time.

I opted for a silk t-shirt and a pair of linen shorts, rather than my usual ensemble of pressed button-downs and skirts. I also swapped my high heels for a more sensible pair of flat boots. As much as I enjoyed dressing in a feminine yet professional style, Charlie’s comment about my choice of footwear the day before had been right. There was a good chance that I might find myself engaged in a physical confrontation while on this case, especially considering we would be heading into Trenchtown this evening. The temperature was also rather balmy, which would make running around in normal office wear both impractical and uncomfortable.

As I finished pulling my hair back into a sleek bun, I considered going to visit some of