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

“Hello?” Wallace’s anxious voice answered after just a few rings.

“Sandra Baker is the supplier,” I blurted out. “The founder of the Hope for Children organization. She’s the one who took Amber.”

35

Charlie

The five of us waited anxiously around the phone. I’d sent the message to the kidnapper, offering monetary compensation in exchange for Amber’s return. The sum I’d offered was ridiculous and way more money than I had, but the kidnapper didn’t know that. If my hunch was correct, the prospect of money would be enough to at least lure him into calling.

I glanced over at Fiona, who was staring determinedly at her computer screen. The plan was for her to start tracing the call as soon as the kidnapper answered. If we kept him on the line long enough, we would hopefully be able to pinpoint his location. She’d seemed terrified by the plan when we’d first proposed it to her. I could understand her apprehension. After all, everything came down to her and whether she’d be able to trace the suspect. It was an unfair amount of pressure to put on her, but it was our best shot. Now, though, there was no sign of the earlier fear. In her eyes, I could see only anger and determination.

I froze as the phone we used to contact the kidnapper suddenly rang, his number flashing brightly across the screen.

“I’m ready,” Fiona announced, her hands poised to begin moving above her keyboard.

I answered the call.

“Hello?” I called. For a long moment, my greeting was met only with breathy silence.

“Hello, Agent Hills,” the kidnapper finally replied with a chuckle.

“I’m assuming you got my message,” I spoke deliberately slowly, trying to give Fiona as much time to trace the call as I could.

“I certainly did,” the kidnapper replied. “And yesterday, I might have taken you up on that offer.”

I felt a sense of dread at his words.

“You still can,” I started to say, trying my best to remain calm.

“You shut up when I’m speaking!” the kidnapper roared. “I didn’t have anything against you, you know. I wasn’t planning on hurting her. But imagine my surprise this morning when I received a phone call from my mother, letting me know that my brother was found dead in Jamaica.”

My head was spinning. I had no idea what he was getting at. I hadn’t killed anyone while we were in Jamaica. I’d had a few scuffles, but no one was dead at the end of them.

“I don’t understand,” I ground out.

“Leroy Jackson,” the kidnapper stated coldly. “The man you arrested three nights ago in Trenchtown. Rumor has it one of the cops there enjoyed using him as a punching bag during your interrogation with him.”

My heart sank as I realized who he was talking about. Jackson was the suspect that had made lewd comments toward Patel. He’d finally cooperated with us after one of the police officers at the station physically hit him several times.

“I didn’t kill him,” I tried to explain.

“No, you didn’t,” the kidnapper scoffed. “But you may as well have. He was found dead this morning in his cell. Apparently, word got out that he had committed crimes against children, and someone decided to enact their own form of justice against him.”

My heart began to pound as I realized that the kidnapper had no intention of letting Amber go. He was looking for revenge.

“I didn’t mean for that to happen,” I argued.

“It’s too late for apologies, agent,” the kidnapper cut me off. “By the way, I know you’re attempting to trace this call. I won’t be staying on this call for much longer. Say goodbye, sweetheart.”

I was about to come up with some excuse to keep him on the line, but my words died in my throat at his last sentence.

“Hello?” A tiny voice I would recognize anywhere came through the line. “Who is this?”

“Amber?” I called frantically. “Are you okay? Tell me where you are.”

“Hey, Uncle Charlie!” Amber responded. She didn’t sound scared, but I couldn’t find it in myself to feel relieved. “Are you going to come to pick me up soon?”

“Yes,” I responded. “Just tell me where you are.”

“Time’s up, agent,” the kidnapper’s gravelly voice taunted. “Now, you’ll get to feel what I did when I received that call this morning.”

“No!” I screamed, but the call had already ended. I threw the phone to the ground and yanked at my hair while I cursed up a storm. This wasn’t fair. I hadn’t even been the one to kill Jackson. How could I have even known that would happen? If we’d just moved a little faster, we could have gotten in contact with him before he heard about it.

“Charlie,” Miranda’s voice broke through my rampage. “You need to calm down.”

I wanted to scream at her. How was I supposed to calm down? The kidnapper was going to kill Amber in retaliation for something I hadn’t even done. Instead, I just dragged a hand roughly over my face.

“Fiona,” Wallace called. “Did you manage to trace that?”

I could have laughed at that. We’d barely been on the phone for a minute. Maybe two, max. Contrary to what the movies depicted, that was not enough time to trace a call.

“No, I didn’t,” she responded, furiously typing away at her computer. “But I might have something better.”

I snapped my head up to look at her so fast I made myself dizzy.

“What do you mean?”

“I didn’t trace the call,” she admitted. “I had a feeling we wouldn’t have enough time. Instead, while he was on the line, I was hacking into his phone. If I give myself remote access, I’ll be able to control his phone without him ever knowing. We can call him again, and I’ll force his phone to answer before it even rings. He’ll have no idea we’re calling him, and we’ll have as much time as we need to track him down.”

I could hardly believe what I was hearing. I’d owe Fiona for the rest