Kingston Kidnappings (What Happens In Vegas Book 3) by Matt Lincoln (classic books for 10 year olds txt) 📕

“Are you serious?” Finch asked, his eyes wide with shock.

“I’m afraid so,” I said. I kept my voice low and glanced around surreptitiously to ensure that none of the nosy neighbors were listening in. “The neighbor across the street that I spoke to earlier, Emily, told me that there was something unusual about the behavior of several of the people in the neighborhood the last time they were all gathered for a dinner party. She indicated that she suspected something was off about the Bradshaw house, and her suspicion turned out to be correct. I’m going to go speak to her again to see if she noticed any of the other neighbors acting peculiar, but in the meantime, we need to ensure that no one can leave.”

“I understand,” Finch said as he pulled his radio off of his uniform to call for backup. With that settled, I made my way back across the street to Emily’s house. I was only halfway there before I was cut off by a hulking, imposing man in a blue gingham shirt.

“Who do you think you are?” the man sneered. I wasn’t sure what the man was getting at or what it was he wanted me to say, so I simply raised my eyebrow at him. That evidently wasn’t the reaction he’d been looking for, as his face turned a shade more purple as he bared his teeth at me menacingly. “You think you can just stroll into a nice neighborhood and treat people like criminals? I already got your little buddy on camera assaulting Mrs. Bradshaw. I’m going to make sure the video goes viral, and your entire agency goes out of business!”

There was a lot wrong with what this oaf was saying, but I really didn’t have time to educate him, so I just threw him a blank look before stepping around him and continuing on my way. He reached out and grabbed me by the arm, and I reacted immediately. I twisted my arm around underneath his hand and then reached around to grab his wrist before using my other arm to press against the hard part of his elbow. I applied a little pressure, knowing that it would only take a few pounds of force in this position to break his arm.

“Touch me again,” I hissed at him. “And you’ll be wearing a cast for a month.” I pushed the man aside, and he scampered away, gingerly massaging his arm.

“I’ll sue you!” he snarled. “This is brutality!” His words were threatening, but his hunched posture and quivering voice belied how weak the threat was. I just rolled my eyes and turned around to continue on my way to Emily’s house. To my surprise, she was leaning against the open door frame, grinning.

“Wow,” she said as I made my way up the porch steps. “I think you might have made Trent wet himself there.”

“Men like him are always all bark and no bite,” I scoffed. “He talks a lot, but I could tell he’d run off with his tail between his legs the moment he saw what a real threat felt like.”

“Well, he deserved it,” Emily said. “Guy’s a total creep. Always walking around acting like he’s the boss of everyone.”

“Was he one of the ones acting suspiciously at the dinner party?” I asked.

“Trent? Nah,” Emily said. “He’s a jerk and a moron, but it doesn’t go any deeper than that. That’s what was so weird during the party. It felt like everyone was just putting up a front, and there was something deeper going on that everyone was aware of, but no one was bringing up. Like an elephant in the room kind of situation.”

“I see,” I said. “Are there any other couples that you can specifically remember acting strangely?”

“I don’t know,” Emily shrugged. “Aside from me and that new couple, everyone was acting super weird. I do remember the Jeffersons made some comment about how they save so much time now that they’re not cleaning their house anymore. I thought it was a weird thing to say, but a few of the other people started laughing. I remember being really confused about what was so funny, but as I said earlier, I figured they were all in on some inside joke I didn’t get.”

“It appears you were,” I said. “Only the ‘joke’ happened to involve the systemic trafficking of children.”

“What!?” Emily gasped, looking past me at the scene unfolding on the lawn of the house opposite hers. I could see horror bloom across her face as she slowly connected the pieces. “I can’t believe that. I mean, I knew they were all weirdos, but I just thought they were in some new-age cult or doing drugs or something. I never imagined something like that.”

“No one ever does,” I said. “That’s what makes these criminals so prolific and successful. The best ones know how to blend in so that their friends and family never even suspect anything was going in.”

“Gives me chills,” Emily said with a shudder.

“Good, that means you’re a decent person,” I said. “Do you think you could provide me with a list of all the names and addresses of the people who were at the party?

“Sure,” Emily said. “I remember everyone who was there, but I’m not sure where all their houses are. Is that okay?”

“Were they all from this same neighborhood?” I asked, suddenly worried we might be dealing with an even bigger problem.

“Yes,” she confirmed. “I just don’t socialize with them much, so I’m not sure whose house is whose.”

“The names will be perfectly fine, then,” I said as I turned to look out across the neighborhood.

Emily was right when she said that the very thought that people would joke about keeping children prisoner was chilling. As I looked around at all the houses and wondered how many more children might be suffering behind closed doors, I had to fight to