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

“Why don’t you mind--” the officer tried to retort.

“What’s your problem, huh?” she continued, stepping forward. The officer took a step back instinctively. “Everyone’s fine, right? The kid is safe, and no one got hurt. Instead of wasting your time here yelling at him over a non-issue, how about you make yourself useful and do some crowd control? This case is under federal jurisdiction anyway, so in the end, the call would have been ours to make.”

The officer’s face had gone an unpleasant shade of red, and he looked like he wanted to hit her. For a few seconds, they stared at each other in silence. Finally, though, the cop was the first to give in.

“Stupid feds,” he muttered before turning around and skulking away.

“You didn’t have to do that,” I insisted. “You’re probably going to get chewed out now, too.”

“Whatever,” Miranda shrugged. “That guy was a total jerk. I’m not going to censor myself for the sake of being diplomatic. That’s all Naomi’s territory.”

“Can’t argue with that,” I chuckled. Miranda had never been one to hold back for the sake of playing nice.

“Besides,” she continued slyly as we made our way back to the front of the gas station. “Fiona would have gotten mad at me if I’d let her boyfriend get bullied by some cop with an over-inflated ego.”

“What?” I asked, almost tripping in surprise. “What are you talking about? Did she say that?”

“No,” Miranda shrugged, tossing me an evil smirk. “You just did.”

My jaw dropped as I realized I’d been tricked.

“No, I didn’t,” I fidgeted uncomfortably. “You caught me off guard. And I didn’t say anything, anyway.”

“You didn’t have to,” she teased. “Your face is all red, and you’re stuttering. You’re a detective, Junior. You know as well as I do that body language often says more than words.”

“My body language isn’t saying anything,” I insisted. “We should probably talk to the cops about having the Andersons transferred into our custody. I don’t know if we’ll get much more out of them than we did from Atkins, but we should conduct an interrogation just in case. And you should be the one to talk to the cops about it. Since they’re all mad at me, I mean.”

Miranda glared at me.

“Alright,” she conceded with a dramatic sigh. “But don’t think you’re getting out of this conversation so easily.”

I allowed myself to relax as she walked away toward the police cruiser the Andersons had been placed into. I really didn’t want to share the details of my personal life with Miranda. Not that I thought she would tell anyone or anything like that. It was surprising, considering their personalities, but between the two of them, Naomi was the bigger gossip. That being said, Miranda could be really pushy and intense, and I wasn’t keen on the idea of having her analyze and parse through my relationship with Fiona.

I tensed as Miranda started to walk back toward me, worried that she might start in on her interrogation again. Those fears were allayed, however, when I saw the serious look on her face.

“They’re taking the Andersons straight to our office,” she informed me. “They want to talk to Wallace about ‘your conduct’ anyway, so I guess they’re killing two birds with one stone.”

“Are you worried we’ll be in trouble?” I asked. It was odd to see her so serious just minutes after she’d been teasing me.

“No,” she frowned. “Just got a look at the Andersons when they were sitting in the back of that car. Mrs. Anderson was sobbing again. She looked heartbroken. And Mr. Anderson was just staring straight ahead with this dead look in his eyes.”

“It’s rough,” I sighed. “If you consider it from their perspective. It honestly seems like they were just a couple who wanted to adopt Lakshmi as their own kid. I talked to her a little, and it seems like they were pretty kind to her.”

“That doesn’t matter,” Miranda insisted. She sounded like she was trying to convince herself even as she spoke. “They broke the law. They bought a kid off the internet, for goodness’ sake!”

“I know that,” I huffed. “But doesn’t it seem wrong that they’d be charged the same way as all the other people who were making the kids sleep in their basements and spend all day cleaning and cooking? They were treating her like their own daughter. Mrs. Anderson even had a breakdown at the thought of being separated from her.”

“But she wasn’t their daughter,” Miranda retorted. “Regardless of the circumstances, Lakshmi and her sister were taken from their parents under false pretenses. They were taken to a foreign country, separated, and sold off against their wills. The Andersons might very well be the best parents in the world, but Lakshmi isn’t their kid. She has a mother and a sister who are waiting for her.”

“You’re right,” I nodded as I led the way back to the car. “It just doesn’t feel satisfying. We solved the crime, but it doesn’t feel right.”

“As I told you before,” she smiled sympathetically. “What’s legally right and what’s morally right don’t always align. All we can do is stop the criminals and do our best to make sure we help as many people as we can.”

I knew she was right, and I knew that it was unrealistic of me to want everyone to have a happy ending, including the Andersons. I just had to focus on what was most important, which was finding the missing children. Lakshmi was safe and would soon be reunited with her sister and mother. The thought brought a smile to my face, and I held onto that feeling as I started the car and pulled back onto the main road.

“So,” Miranda hummed innocently as I began to drive back toward the city. “Now that you literally can’t get away, tell me what’s going on with you and Fiona.”

Drat. I should have known better than to let my