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

“That’s incredible,” Junior commented as he leaned down to peer over her shoulder at the screen. “I didn’t know you could hack a phone like that.”

“I’m not supposed to,” she replied curtly. “It’s incredibly illegal, regardless of the reason, as I am sure Director Wallace is aware. I’ll be happy to tender my resignation at the conclusion of this case if I have to.”

I could kiss Fiona right now if I didn’t think Junior would be upset with me for it. She was putting her entire career on the line to do this. I really didn’t know how I’d ever repay her.

“Let’s worry about that later,” Wallace muttered. “Right now, do what you need to do to track the kidnapper.”

“Yes, sir,” she replied. “Okay, it’s ready. As soon as you press the call button, I’ll force the kidnapper’s phone to accept.”

I rushed to retrieve the phone from where I’d thrown it, relieved that it still seemed to be fully functional aside from a crack down the center. I placed it on the table where Fiona could see it.

I was sweating with anxiety. We only had one shot at this. If the kidnapper realized what we were doing, he might turn his phone off entirely. If he did that, we’d really have no way to find him.

I pushed aside my doubts and pressed the green button. Fiona’s hands flew across the keys the second I did, and I waited with bated breath for what she would say.

“We’re in,” she smiled, her shoulders drooping as all the tension left her body at once. “I muted the microphone and speaker, so there won’t be any kind of noise interference to tip him off. As long as he doesn’t look at his phone for the next ten minutes or so, we should be golden.”

“Alright,” Wallace nodded. “Castillo and Chapman, get ready to head out as soon as Gardner has a location.”

“What?” I protested angrily. “I’m going too.”

“Absolutely not,” Wallace rejected me immediately. “You’re too close to this case, Charlie. You’re too emotionally invested and don’t think I haven’t heard about what happened with Davis in Bermuda.”

I ground my teeth together, unsure how to respond to that.

“I’m not saying I don’t understand why you did that,” he sighed. “But you’re in enough hot water as it is. I can’t risk that happening again.”

“It won’t,” I tried to assure him. Before I could offer any more arguments, Wallace’s phone went off.

“It’s Agent Patel,” he frowned as he answered the call and held the phone up to his ear. “Hello?”

A feeling of foreboding washed over me as I watched Wallace’s expression morph from confusion into horror.

“Are you sure about this?” he asked into the phone. We all fell silent as we watched him listen to whatever the person on the other end of the call was saying. “I understand.” He ended the call and turned to face us. “Patel has discovered the identity of the supplier.”

“What?!” Miranda exclaimed. “Who is it?”

“Sandra Baker,” Wallace replied. “The founder of the Hope for Children organization that Charlie and Naomi visited at the beginning of the case.”

“Are you serious?” I asked, shocked by the revelation. “We found that pamphlet in the Weavers’ house, but we assumed they were researching ways to keep their actions unnoticed. We even asked for her help. Patel gave her a business card…” I trailed off as I realized how the group had managed to find our office so quickly.

“That card has her work number on it,” Miranda chimed in. “She’s always been so anal-retentive about being professional. She has all her cards printed with her title and extension. No wonder they were able to keep tabs on us. She was watching us from the beginning!”

“There were kids there,” I interjected as I suddenly remembered the shouts of laughter Patel and I had heard from the back room when we’d gone to see her. “She said they were her foster kids.”

“We need to look into it,” Wallace said. “It’s possible that’s where Amber is, and if not, we now know for a fact that there are other children there.”

“I have something!” Fiona suddenly shouted. “I managed to trace the call to an area out in the middle of the desert a few miles north of here. I cross-referenced the location to properties owned by Sandra Baker, and I got a match. There’s an abandoned mine shaft out there that she owns. According to the city records, she purchased it about a year ago for a pittance since it was condemned due to instability.”

“That’s in a completely different direction than the Hope for Children organization,” I responded. “The building is right here in the city.”

“We need to split up,” Junior suggested. “Two people can go and check out the organization headquarters, and two can go to the abandoned mine.”

“We only have two field agents,” Wallace countered. “Three, if I include myself.”

“So let me go,” I insisted. “We don’t have time to sit around arguing about it.”

“I’ll go too,” Fiona suddenly stood from her seat. “I’ve been in the field before. I know it’s been a few months since Japan, but I can handle it. I’ve been spending every weekend at the shooting range since then.”

“I’m not sure,” Wallace frowned.

“You’re needed here,” Fiona replied. “For Eliza and to handle everything going on with Naomi and the cops. I finished tracing the call, so there’s nothing left for me to do here, anyway.”

“Alright,” Wallace nodded after another moment of hesitation. “You’re right. We don’t have time to argue about it now. We’ll be having a serious discussion about the conduct of this team when everyone returns, though. And I fully expect every single one of you to return.”

“We will,” Miranda responded as she grabbed my arm to pull me out of the office. “Let’s move, guys.”

“I’ll call for backup and have them meet you at the location of the mine,” Wallace called. “Be careful.”

We hurried out of the office and toward the