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

severe reaction for an innocent bystander just enjoying Carnival.”

“What can I say?” Davis sneered. “I was surprised to see two federal agents approaching me so aggressively. I will admit that my reaction was a bit dramatic, but I never meant any harm.”

“You shot a bystander,” I deadpanned, shocked by his blase attitude.

“And I deeply regret it,” Davis hung his head in mock shame.

“How did you know we were federal agents then?” Patel asked.

“I don’t understand,” Davis responded.

“You said you were shocked,” Patel continued. “About seeing two federal agents approaching you so aggressively. How did you know we were federal agents and not just a couple of tourists enjoying the festival?”

“Lucky guess,” Davis smiled, though it seemed more strained than his previous one had been.

“Of course,” Patel replied sarcastically.

The interrogation continued in this way for thirty minutes. No matter what angle we approached him from, Davis maintained his calm exterior and dodged our questions. Finally, I reached my breaking point and pushed my chair away from the table with a loud scrape. I stood without another word and silently stalked out of the small room.

“What just happened?” Patel asked as she followed me out of the room and closed the door behind her.

“I just needed a second to compose myself,” I muttered. “He was seriously ticking me off in there. If I had to look at that stupid smirk for another second, I might have punched him.”

“He is unusually obstinate,” Patel sighed. “Usually, suspects crack by now, even the most hardened ones. It’s like no matter what we say, nothing lands.”

“There has to be some chink in his armor,” Officer Tucker suddenly interjected. “There’s no man in this world who doesn’t have some kind of weakness.”

“That’s true,” Patel agreed. “Though usually, we’d have found it by now. Reading people is a part of our jobs. Davis just seems like he’s toying with us and having fun doing it.”

I was about to respond when my phone buzzed. I slipped it out of my pocket and frowned when I saw the name flashing on the screen. Eliza was calling me. I felt fear grip me like a vice. Eliza knew that I was overseas on a mission. She wouldn’t have called me if it wasn’t important.

“What’s wrong?” Patel asked. She could probably see the apprehension in my face.

I ignored her and answered the call instead, bringing the phone up to my ear.

“Hello?” I asked and immediately had to pull the speaker away from my head. She was screaming so hysterically that I couldn’t make out what she was saying. “Eliza, stop. I can’t understand you.”

“She’s gone!” she wailed into the phone between sobs.

“What?” I asked frantically. My heart felt as if it would explode out of my chest. “Who’s gone?”

“Amber!” she cried, her voice cracking over the name. “I don’t know what happened. Dad was babysitting. There’s a huge mess, and he’s not responding, and I can’t find her anywhere.”

The edges of my vision filled with static, and my entire body felt cold. I could hear Patel saying something, but her voice sounded far away. I glanced back at Davis through the two-way glass. He seemed to be staring straight at me, that insufferable smirk glued in place.

29

Charlie

“Call Junior,” I mumbled through the ringing in my ears. “You have his number, right? Tell them what happened and have someone from the office come and get you.”

“Okay,” Eliza whimpered, her voice thick. The call ended, and I couldn’t hear anything else past the blood rushing through my ears.

“Charlie, what happened?” Patel asked me firmly. “I heard someone yelling, is everything alright?”

“They took Amber,” I replied dumbly as everything suddenly clicked into place.

“What?” Patel shook her head. “What are you talking about?”

“Nelson said Junior and Miranda were hit by a delivery truck, right?”

Patel nodded slowly.

I took a deep breath. “We did see one about a week ago, right when we were starting to investigate. But that wasn’t the only time I saw one. There was one just like it when I went to visit Harry the day before we flew out. I remember thinking how difficult it must be to maneuver such a big truck through narrow mountain roads. Harry’s daughter Eliza just called me and told me that someone attacked Harry and my niece Amber is missing.”

“Oh my word,” Patel gasped. “You think it’s related to the case?”

“Of course I do!” I snapped at her. “First, we see one outside the office, Junior and Miranda get hit by one, and the same day Amber goes missing? How could it not be related?!” I was yelling now.

Patel stared at me with wide eyes. In the back of my mind, I knew it was wrong of me to take it out on her, but I couldn’t think clearly right now. I snapped my head back toward Davis, who was still smiling serenely on the other side of the glass. My legs were moving before I’d made any conscious decision, and I was through the door and rounding on Davis in an instant.

“Where is she?” I roared as I slammed my fist on the table in front of him.

“Whoever are you talking about?” Davis jeered, the smile on his face widening as he took in my enraged expression. He started to laugh, and I saw red.

“Agent Hills, I don’t--” He started to say, but he never got to finish his sentence because I was on him in an instant.

I leaped over the table and brought my fist down onto his face, and felt a sick thrill of satisfaction as I felt something crack beneath my hand. He was handcuffed and unable to defend himself. It wasn’t a fair fight, but I didn’t care right now. Somehow, he’d orchestrated the kidnapping of my niece. Even if we weren’t related by blood, Harry was like a father to me, and I considered his family to be my own.

“What did you do?!” I screamed as I shook him by the collar of his shirt. Davis bared his teeth