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

and I…” She shook her head, unable to find the words to express her frustration.

“It’s not your fault,” I insisted meekly.

“She’s just a little kid!” Miranda scowled. “She’s, like, what? Five years old? Who the heck would do something like this to a five-year-old?”

“Child traffickers,” I answered derisively. “That’s the whole reason we’re on this case. Snatching a little girl isn’t anything new to them.”

Miranda released a shuddered breath as she raked her hands through her hair.

“Charlie must be freaking out,” she whispered.

“Have you had a chance to call him?” I asked.

“No,” Miranda shook her head. “By the time I got back from picking up Eliza, he was already on the plane. I won’t be able to reach him there.”

“Reach who where?” Junior asked as he stepped into the office.

“Charlie,” I responded. “On the plane. How’s Eliza?”

“Not great,” Junior grimaced. “I felt relieved when she started to calm down until I realized I couldn’t get her to respond at all anymore. Nelson’s in there with her right now. He and Harry were friends back when they were on the force together. He said he’d known her since she was little. Maybe she’ll feel more comfortable with him.”

“I didn’t know they were friends,” I remarked curiously. “I wonder if Charlie knows.”

“I think he does,” Junior responded as he fell into the only other chair in the room. “Charlie mentioned once that Harry gave Nelson a really good recommendation for him when he first applied here.”

“Small world,” I murmured as I folded my arms across my desk and leaned my head down. “So what now? We just wait until the kidnappers make a move?”

Miranda and Junior exchanged uneasy looks.

“I’m not sure what else we can do,” Junior sighed. “But I think this confirms that we’ve been being followed. There’s no other way the kidnappers would have known where to find Amber. She doesn’t actually live there, and neither does Charlie. That means they must have followed Charlie up to Harry’s house the day he visited.”

“That’s a good point,” I agreed. “But that was only four days after we made that original bust in the uptown neighborhood. That means someone’s been tailing us since the beginning of the case. How is it possible they caught on to us that quickly?”

“Someone we interacted with is dirty,” Miranda snarled. “It’s possible that they first became aware of us after the bust, but unlikely. Remember, Wallace made sure our specific agency was never named in the media. And yet, somehow, whoever was tailing us knew right away that this was an MBLIS case and even found the location of our office.”

“We interacted with dozens of people in those four days, though,” Junior interjected. “Cops, social workers, neighbors, the list goes on.”

“Well, we’d better start narrowing it down,” Miranda countered. “It’s the only possibility that makes sense, and the only way someone could have been able to track our movements so quickly. Whoever the supplier is, I think we’ve already encountered them.”

31

Naomi

As I suspected, the police were less than thrilled to learn about Charlie’s little outburst upon hearing that his niece had gone missing. They were even more displeased to hear that he’d suddenly run off after attacking Davis.

“I don’t know how you do things in your country,” the police chief had growled. “But here, we do not just beat suspects in order to coerce a confession!”

“I can assure you that wasn’t the case,” I’d responded, slipping easily into my former role as a diplomat. “Agent Hills had a visceral, if inopportune, reaction to the news that the suspect, Mr. Davis, was directly involved in the assault and kidnapping of his father and niece. Of course, I understand that this matter is not to be taken lightly, and I want to provide you with my fullest assurance that we will be looking into this incident extensively. He will be disciplined accordingly, but again, I want to emphasize the fact that his actions are in no way condoned by MBLIS, and ask that you please allow us to continue our investigation.”

I’d altered the details a bit in an attempt to make Charlie seem more sympathetic. After all, who could blame a man for losing his temper upon hearing that his family had been threatened? Regardless, I needed to find a way to salvage this investigation. If the police chose to kick us out because of what had happened, it could jeopardize the entire case.

“Fine,” the police chief groused. “But only because I’m eager to get this criminal out of my country. Don’t think I won’t be contacting the American consulate over this.”

“I understand completely,” I smiled politely at him.

Unlike Jamaica, Bermuda was technically a British territory, which put us in a hairy situation as far as legality went. It wasn’t the best-case scenario to have found myself in, but at least he was going to allow me to continue with the interrogation.

“He should be patched up and ready to go soon,” the police chief said. “Someone will be out to let you know when you can resume the interrogation.”

I nodded before sitting down to wait. All in all, it had gone pretty well. The fallout of having Charlie physically assault a suspect in custody, while handcuffed no less, could have been much worse. It was easy to forget sometimes that the laws of other countries weren’t always the same as they were in the United States. As agents who were dedicated to investigating international crimes, it was important for us to keep in mind the laws and customs of whatever nation we were visiting.

That being said, I couldn’t really excuse Charlie’s actions as being a result of cultural misunderstanding. It’s not like beating up suspects was allowed in the United States, either. On the contrary, the punishment would have been worse there than it probably would be here.

“Agent Patel?” an officer with striking blue eyes called out to me. I snapped my head up as he spoke. I’d been so lost in my thoughts that I