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

the morning. A few yards away from the airplane, a sleek black car was parked by the runway. Miranda was leaning against the side.

She walked toward me as I descended the stairs. We both made it to the base of the staircase at the same time, and I was surprised when she threw her arms around me in a hug.

“Are you okay?” she asked, checking me over as if looking for injuries.

“I’m fine,” I answered quickly.

“What happened to your hand?” she gasped. I looked down to see what she was talking about and blinked in surprise. The knuckles on my right hand were bruised, swollen, and covered in blood. I actually hadn’t noticed.

“I beat up the leader of the organization,” I answered honestly. Miranda’s eyes widened in shock. “After he laughed about taking Amber.”

“Oh, well, okay then,” Miranda chuckled bitterly. “But you’re okay?”

“I will be,” I nodded. “How’s Eliza? Have you guys made any progress?”

“She’s coping,” Miranda bit her lip nervously. “It’s honestly not pretty, Charlie. She’s alternating between being a hysterical mess and pretending like nothing’s wrong. And no, not really. Fiona’s been up all night practically pulling her hair out trying to find any kind of lead, but it’s rough going.”

My heart fell at the news. I had sincerely hoped they would have found something by now.

“Okay,” I nodded. “She’s still at the office, right? Let’s go.”

She led me to the car and slid into the driver’s seat. I got into the passenger’s seat without protest. I didn’t feel like driving right now, and anyway, I wasn’t sure if it was a good idea with my hand like this. I tried flexing it once I was in the car and found that I was having trouble moving it without pain. I was certain it hadn’t been this swollen last night when I’d drunk that whiskey, so it must have gotten worse as I slept. I’d been so focused on Eliza and Amber that I must have just ignored the pain. The four shots I’d taken had probably helped on that front. Now that I paid attention, though, there was a distinct sting in my knuckles.

“Your hand okay?” Miranda asked as she drove out of the airport and onto the street. She floored it as soon as we were on the highway. I smiled bitterly as I remembered how she’d admonished me just a week ago for driving so fast.

“I’m not sure,” I answered. “It honestly didn’t look this bad yesterday. It doesn’t hurt that badly, but the swelling is making it hard to move.”

“We’ll have Junior check it out when we get to the office,” she suggested. “Besides Naomi, he’s the best at first-aid, I think. I’m assuming you don’t want to go to the hospital.”

“You assume correctly,” I replied.

She huffed out a small laugh, and we fell into silence after that. I turned to look out the window as we sped through Las Vegas. By day, the city looked so calm. Gone were the boisterous tourists and the drunken partygoers. Most of them, at least. All the bright lights and flashy billboards were turned off, and the harsh glow of the sun revealed everything for what it really was.

Anxiety clawed at me as we pulled into the parking lot of our office. I felt both an overwhelming need to run to Eliza’s side and an intense fear of how she might react upon seeing me. Would she blame me for what had happened?

Even if she did, I needed to face her. I was going to get Amber back no matter what, and I wouldn’t accomplish that by hiding in this car. I stepped out as soon as Miranda finished parking. We walked into the building together.

“We haven’t really been talking about what happened,” Miranda revealed once we were on the elevator. “I told you before that she’s been switching between crying and acting like everything’s okay, right? Well, Nelson told us she’s probably in shock and that we should try not to mention anything to her that might upset her. Just so you’re prepared.”

“Thanks for the warning,” I muttered quietly. If she was really acting this erratically, it might be difficult for me to talk to her. Nevertheless, I needed to try. I punched my door code into the keypad, then pushed the door open after the light turned green.

Eliza was sitting in the bullpen next to Junior and Fiona. All three of them were holding plates of food. Eliza was smiling, but her eyes were manic.

She looked up at me as I entered the room, and her smile fell as soon as her eyes met mine. The plate of food slipped from her hands and shattered on impact with the ground, and a second later, she was out of her chair and careening toward me.

“They took my baby, Charlie,” she sobbed as she threw her arms around me. I could feel her shoulders shaking as she cried.

“I’m going to get her back, okay?” I assured her gently.

“I know,” she responded as she pulled away from me, wiping at her eyes. “I know you will. Are you tired? You must be tired after that long flight. Do you want some breakfast?”

She was behaving erratically. I glanced behind her at where Junior and Fiona were still sitting in the bullpen, both holding plates piled high with pancakes, eggs, and bacon. This must have been what Miranda meant about her acting like nothing was wrong. Eliza was a professional chef and often used cooking as a way to relax when she was stressed.

Fiona suddenly set her plate aside and walked up to us.

“Hey, Eliza,” she smiled warmly at her. “Why don’t we go into the break room for a little while? Charlie needs to get up to speed on everything, so while he does that, would you mind teaching me how you made those pancakes? Mine always turn out so flat, and I’d love to know how you get them to come out so fluffy.”

Eliza brightened immediately at that