Captive Justice: A Private Investigator Mystery Series (A Jake & Annie Lincoln Thriller Book 4) by Rayven T. Hill Read Free Book Online

there,” Dr. Gould said.
    Jake looked at his watch. “I’m expecting the call at 4:00. I’d better get back to the office, but I’ll let you know what the kidnapper’s instructions are.”

 
     
     
     
     
    Chapter 12
     
     
     
    Wednesday, August 31st, 3:51 PM
     
    ANNIE LET HANK in the front door and she motioned toward the office.
    “Jake’s waiting for the call,” she said, and looked at her watch. “It’s almost four o’clock.”
    Hank followed Annie to the office and settled into one of the guest chairs.
    Jake was behind the desk fiddling with his iPhone. He looked up as Annie slipped into the other empty chair. “I’m just checking the app to make sure it’s working properly.” He set the phone in front of him. “It seems to be ready to go.”
    “I’m sure it’ll be fine,” Annie said, and then asked Hank. “Did Simon King find out anything?”
    “He found Mrs. Gould’s car in the underground parking where you said it was. He got a forensics crew there right away and they went over it. No surprise, they didn’t find anything.”
    “Fingerprints?”
    “Just the one set, presumably Mrs. Gould’s. And no prints on the door handles except hers and they went over it thoroughly. It’s been towed to the auto pound on Cherry Street.”
    “What about the people she works with?” Jake asked.
    Hank slipped out his notepad and leafed through it. “Just three other people. Two of them were already gone for the day when Mrs. Gould left. The receptionist took the bus home, but one of the partners, Williams, also parks in the underground parking. He never saw anything suspicious when he left at approximately five o’clock.”
    “And the third person?”
    Hank consulted his pad. “Whitney Thresh, the other partner. He said Mrs. Gould left just after five o’clock as usual. He was in his office at the time. She said goodbye to him and that’s all he knew.”
    “So no leads there,” Annie said. “What about the burner phone?”
    “Between Callaway and King, they managed to track down the guy who had it. If the kidnapper’s prints were ever on it, they were long gone by the time they got to it. The only prints were from the bum who found it.”
    “And inside the phone?”
    “Three outgoing calls. One to here, the one to Dr. Gould’s house line, and the one when he sent the picture to the doctor’s cell.”
    “What about the dumpster where the phone was found?” Jake asked.
    “They were able to track that down, but it’d been emptied in the meantime.”
    Annie said, “I doubt if there would’ve been anything else in there.”
    Hank shrugged. “Not likely, but they went over it anyway.”
    Jake said, “And what about—”
    The phone rang.
    Annie jumped. Hank leaned in.
    Jake glanced at Hank and picked up his iPhone. He touched the screen and put the call on speaker. “This is Jake Lincoln.”
    A deep, synthetic voice spoke. “Jake Lincoln, it’s nice to talk to you again.”
    “Unfortunately, I can’t say the same.”
    “Now Jake, there’s no need to be rude.”
    Jake said nothing.
    “Are you ready for my instructions?”
    “I’m ready.”
    “There’s no point in putting it off. We’ll make the exchange this evening. Do you have my money?”
    “I have your money. Just tell me when and where.”
    “You’ll go to Richmond Valley Park at seven o’clock. I’ll meet you there.”
    “Richmond Valley Park is a big place. How’ll I find you?”
    “Come in the north entrance and sit on the bench by the hotdog vendor. Just be there by seven and I’ll find you, Jake.”
    “Anything else?”
    The unnatural voice became ominous and even deeper. “I’m afraid I must repeat myself. As long as the police are not involved, everything will go off without a hitch, but...”
    “I’ll be there,” Jake said. “What about Mrs. Gould? Where’ll we find her?”
    “Mrs. Gould is safe, Jake. In fact, she and I were just having a lovely talk. She so longs to see her husband again,