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

in there by yourself. I mean, seriously, Junior? What the hell was that?”

I let out a shaky breath.

“I don’t know,” I shrugged. “I just got a bad feeling. Like if I didn’t do something fast, someone was going to end up hurt. I didn’t really think about it. I just knew I had to do it.”

Miranda shot me a stern look.

“Okay, I get it,” she shrugged as she moved to lean against the side of the building beside me. “The local cops are probably furious, though. I wouldn’t be surprised if they’re on the phone with Wallace right now tearing you a new one.”

I pursed my lips as I thought about the severity of what I’d done. It was completely against protocol, and honestly just plain stupid. I didn’t regret it, though. I couldn’t. Not when Lakshmi was here holding my hand, safe and sound. I’d seen a little girl in danger, and I’d acted accordingly. I’d accept the consequences of my actions, but I wouldn’t apologize for them.

“Alright,” Miranda declared. “I’m gonna go figure out what the situation with the Andersons is and see about getting in contact with Social Services for Lakshmi. You should probably just stay here with her for now.”

I nodded in response. There wasn’t a doubt in my mind that my actions had probably caused quite a ruckus, and I wasn’t opposed to hiding out for a little while. I slid down the wall onto the ground, and I smiled as Lakshmi followed suit and sat down next to me. I looked out over the horizon that stretched ahead of us. The gas station was located in the desert on the outskirts of central Las Vegas. There was something relaxing about looking out over the wide-open expanse, bathed in warm shades of orange and brown. In the distance, I could see some palm trees. Their fronds were swaying in the slight breeze, and I could feel my heartbeat slowing as I watched the slow and gentle movement.

“Are you feeling okay?” I asked Lakshmi. She didn’t look upset or scared, but it was possible she was just in shock.

“Yes,” she nodded. “Are my other mommy and daddy going to be in trouble?” My eyes widened in surprise at her words.

“Do you mean the people who brought you here?” I asked.

“Mhm,” she hummed in response. “My first mommy is at home in Jamaica. She asked my new mommy and daddy to take care of me.”

“Is that what they told you?” I asked her. She nodded again.

“They said they’d take me to visit her someday,” she sniffled. “I want to go now, but they said it wasn’t safe.”

“Why isn’t it safe?” I asked.

“They said because some mean people might take me away,” she whimpered sadly. “Then I won’t get to see them or my first mommy again. Is that true? Are you going to take me away?”

I was struck dumb by her innocent question. I couldn’t really deny it.

“Yes,” I answered truthfully. “I’m going to take you away from the Andersons.” Her small face fell, and I hurried to continue speaking. “But what they said about not being able to see your mommy anymore wasn’t true. My friends and I are going to help you find her.”

“Really?” she asked, perking up immediately.

“Yeah,” I smiled. “And guess what?”

“What?” she asked, her eyes shining with curiosity.

“Your sister Kamya is waiting for you,” I smiled.

“Really?” Lakshmi cried as she jumped to her feet in excitement.

“Really,” I confirmed, happy to see that she no longer looked upset over the prospect of being taken away from the Andersons.

“There you are,” a gruff voice called, slicing through the joyful atmosphere like a knife. It was one of the police officers that had been inside the gas station. He was tall and broad-shouldered and looked like he was in his late forties or early fifties. Beside him was a tall, slim woman with long thick braids of hair.

“Hello,” she smiled. Her voice sounded much kinder than the cop’s had. “I’m Irie. I’m the lead social worker assigned to this case. I met with one of your colleagues, Agent Patel, a few days ago.” I scrambled to my feet to shake her outstretched hand.

“Hello, I’m Agent Chapman,” I responded. “Are you here for Lakshmi?”

“I am,” the woman nodded.

Behind me, I heard a gasp as a set of tiny arms wrapped themselves around my legs. Lakshmi was attempting to hide behind me.

“It’s okay,” I replied gently as I turned around to look at her. “She’s one of my friends. She’ll take you to see your sister.”

“You will?” Lakshmi asked as she peered around me to look at Irie.

“Of course,” Irie smiled and held her hand out to Lakshmi. She took it cautiously, and Irie waited patiently for Lakshmi to move at her own pace. “My car is the red one right there. Shall we walk to it together?”

Lakshmi nodded and began to follow Irie to the car.

“Bye-bye,” she called back to me over her shoulder as she walked away. She threw me a small wave before finally turning around to leave with Irie.

I smiled, glad that Lakshmi was finally safe and off to reunite with her older sister.

“Wipe that smile off your face, boy,” the gruff officer sneered at me. The anger in his voice snapped me out of my thoughts. “You want to tell me what you think you were doing running in there like that? You could have gotten everyone in there killed!”

“I was trying to prevent anyone from being killed,” I countered. “Your officers were treating the Andersons like kidnappers. That’s not-”

“They were kidnappers!” the man yelled at me. “Or did you not send out that missing child alert? We have protocols that we follow for a reason. I don’t need some stupid kid acting like a cowboy and getting my officers killed-”

“Hey!” Miranda’s commanding voice stopped his ranting in an instant. “Why don’t you lay off?” She stepped between us, getting directly in the officer’s face. She was about a foot shorter than