Stolen Child (Coastal Fury Book 13), Matt Lincoln [ebooks children's books free TXT] 📗

this comes to some whole affair on the ocean,” she muttered.

“So was Jackson,” I reminded her.

“Yeah, maybe it’s best if we keep this one to ourselves for now,” she said. “They can be kept in the loop on a need to know basis. We don’t want them complicating things for us.”

“Complicating things?” I repeated, shaking my head in confusion. “The parents? What do you mean? We know none of them had anything to do with this.”

“Yes, but when it gets to this late hour in an investigation like this, families sometimes get desperate and lash out, lose faith in the investigation,” she explained. “They can take important details on the case to the media, hire private investigators, just all around make a whole fuss and inadvertently make it harder for us to do our jobs. And with this case, we’re dealing with even more parents than usual.”

“Ah,” I said, nodding my head at this, my eyes wide at the thought of this happening. “Well, I can’t say I would blame them for getting desperate, but we definitely don’t want any of that. Not yet anyway. But if we can’t find this kid in another twenty-four hours, or at least get a better idea as to what might’ve happened to him, well, maybe we should be thrown off the case.”

“I don’t disagree,” Nina sighed, standing up and motioning for me to follow her. “Though if we can’t find him, I doubt anyone can. Come on. We have work to do.”

20

Ethan

We headed straight back to the boat shop from the station after I borrowed some clean clothes from one of the detectives. We were hoping to catch either the younger or elder Daniel Samuels before he went home for the day.

The area around the boat shop had been excavated as a crime scene for a couple of hours, but then the police quickly left the area, not wanting to draw any more crowds like the one at the mall on the previous day.

We weren’t sure if the boat shop would’ve reopened when we approached, though as we drew closer, I realized that the lights were on when they hadn’t been before.

The closed sign was still flipped, however, and I pressed my forehead against the front door in an attempt to see if there was anyone inside.

All I saw was a bunch of fishing poles lined up for sale, a front desk donning an ancient cash register, and a fridge off to the side containing live bait for fishing, with some life jackets hanging on the wall next to it for good measure.

“Alright, let’s just knock and see if anyone hears us,” I suggested, banging my fist against the door. “Maybe they came back, saw the police, and packed up for the day. They could’ve forgotten to turn off the light on their way out.”

This was a likely enough story, but thankfully, a man who looked to be in his late forties or early fifties, with mousy brown hair and a thinly receding hairline, appeared from a back room behind the cash register and peered at us questioningly.

I pulled out my MBLIS badge and flashed it at him, and Nina did the same with hers from the FBI, indicating that we were law enforcement.

A look of realization dawned across the man’s sharp features, and he nodded and crossed over to open the door for us.

“Must be the nephew,” Nina murmured before he arrived, and I nodded curtly. This was good, considering how the first witness didn’t make out the uncle to be all that lucid, though we would need to talk to him, too, in good time.

The man unlocked the door and ushered us through, locking it straightaway behind us.

“Are you Mr. Samuels?” I asked, holding out my hand to him.

“Just call me Danny,” he said, taking it. “Mr. Samuels is my uncle. And you are?”

“I’m Agent Ethan Marston with MBLIS, and this is my colleague Agent Nina Gosse with the FBI,” I said, gesturing between myself and Nina. “We’re here about the missing boy.”

“Well, I figured that much,” Danny said, scratching the back of his head as he gazed at me. “I heard there was a fight earlier, and when I came back from lunch, some people in uniforms were washing a bunch of blood off the sidewalk right out there. You guys involved in that? Everybody okay?”

“Yes, my partner was shot, but he’s being treated at the hospital now and will be just fine,” I assured him. “Thanks for your concern.”

“That was his blood, then?” Danny asked, raising his eyebrows as he gestured out the window on the front door leading to the spot where Holm was shot. “Damn, I was hoping it was one of the bad guys.”

I hadn’t even noticed that the blood had been washed away since I’d been so intent on getting inside the shop. I probably would’ve noticed it if it was still there, though.

“Well, one of them was shot, too, and it didn’t turn out so well for him,” Nina chuckled. “That was down a bit, though.” She gestured to the right, where I’d shot the perp named Rudy.

“Ah, I came in the other way,” Danny said, glancing in that direction. “Must’ve missed it. I’m glad he didn’t get away, though. Now, what can I do for you?”

“Did you talk to the police when you got back at all?” I asked him, and he shook his head right away.

“No, there weren’t any police anymore when I got here, just those guys in those weird jackets or whatever,” he explained.

“The forensics team,” Nina interjected, and he nodded.

“Yeah, I think that’s what they said they were,” he said. “Anyway, they wouldn’t tell me what was going on. I just assumed it was something to do with the kid ‘cause… well, what else would it be? We hardly even have so much as a traffic violation ‘round here.”

This didn’t surprise me.

“You assumed correctly,” I confirmed, nodding to him. “So, would you mind us asking you some