I stood just out of sight by the door and waited until the footsteps were just outside the entrance.
“Freeze!” I shouted. “Who’s there?”
A beat of silence passed before a voice called out in response.
“This is Officer Brian Williams with the Las Vegas PD,” a man shouted. “We’re here to assist.”
I chanced a glance around the entrance of the room and nearly collapsed with relief when I saw the group of police officers standing there, flashlights in hand.
“I’m pulling my credentials out of my pocket,” I warned so they wouldn’t be alarmed at me suddenly reaching behind my back. I presented my MBLIS identification, and the officers relaxed. “We’ve apprehended the suspect. He’s the only hostile we found in the mine. The children are just through here.”
I stepped aside to let the police enter. Once they’d relieved Junior of his guard duties and I felt confident that the suspect was fully restrained, I picked Amber back up.
“Are you okay?” I asked Junior. He was clutching his arm again and looked pale.
“Hey, Amber,” he smiled at her. “It’s just a little blood loss, I think. It doesn’t actually hurt that much.”
“That doesn’t sound good,” I frowned.
Junior shrugged, then hissed when the movement caused him to jostle his injured arm.
“Did you get shot by a gun?” Amber asked sadly. “That man from before was nice, but he always had a gun. I didn’t like it.”
“Yeah, he did get shot,” I nodded. “But we’re going to take him to see a doctor. Then we’ll go see mom, okay?”
“Okay,” Amber grinned.
Junior and I trudged our way back up to the entrance of the mine slowly. Junior seemed to be losing strength, and I felt shaky now that I’d finally recovered Amber. A couple of paramedics rushed toward us just as we were getting to the entrance again.
“We need a stretcher!” the woman hollered over her shoulder as the two rushed straight to Junior. Now that we were in the light, I could see that his entire arm was covered in blood, and his skin was turning a sickly shade of white.
“I don’t need a stretcher,” Junior protested weakly.
“Just go,” I admonished. “You look like hell. I think you could use it.”
He glared at me, but he didn’t resist when the paramedics helped him climb onto a rolling stretcher. I watched as they loaded him into an ambulance.
“Are you going to go to the hospital, too?” Amber asked.
“Yeah,” I replied as I watched the ambulance pull away. “I’ll go check up on him later. Right now, though, we’re going to go see your mom.”
I walked back to the car and noticed for the first time just how extensive the damage I’d done to it was. The front bumper was dinged and dented, and the entire bottom half of the car was scratched and gored all the way around.
“I hope MBLIS has good insurance,” I mumbled as I placed Amber into the backseat. I closed the door and took a look around at the scene. Technically, I was supposed to stick around and help deal with the aftermath here, but I didn’t have it in me to make Eliza wait any longer.
The police seemed to have everything under control, so I climbed into the driver’s seat and started the car. Once I was inside, I fished my phone out of my pocket and dialed Wallace’s number.
“Hello?” he answered immediately.
“We found him,” I responded. “I got her back.”
38
Charlie
I glanced up into the rearview mirror at Amber as I pulled into the office’s parking lot. She’d been quietly looking out the window the entire car ride. I wanted to ask her a hundred questions about what had happened to her in the short time she’d been kidnapped, but I didn’t want to upset her. She seemed fine right now, and I didn’t want to prod her with too many questions.
I held her hand as we walked together into the building and toward the elevator. I glanced down at her more than once, as if to make sure she was really there. It felt a little surreal, and part of me was worried I might suddenly wake up and realize this was all just a dream.
I led Amber down the long hall on the top floor that led to our office. I punched my code in and pushed the door open as soon as the light turned green.
“Mommy!” Amber cried as she raced into the room. Eliza had been waiting just a few feet in front of the door. Wallace had likely told her that we’d found Amber and that I was bringing her back.
“Hi, baby,” Eliza fell to her knees in front of Amber and stroked her daughter’s face lovingly. “Are you okay? Did that man do anything to you?”
“He gave me some candy,” Amber replied after thinking about it for a moment.
“He did?” Eliza smiled, but her eyes were filled with horror.
“Yep,” Amber nodded. “He gave all of us candy. I didn’t really like it. It was really hard, like a lollipop, but round like a ball. I didn’t eat it, but now I’m hungry.”
“It’s alright, sweetheart,” Eliza croaked as she ran her hand through Amber’s hair. “I’ll make you whatever you want as soon as we get home, okay?”
“Really?” Amber asked, her eyes shining with excitement. “Even hamburger pizza?
“Whatever you want,” Eliza smiled.
“How about chocolate pizza?” Amber giggled. “Or chocolate hamburgers? Or…”
I turned toward Wallace as Amber began to list off increasingly bizarre food combinations.
“Have you heard anything about Junior?” I asked quietly.
“He’s in surgery now,” Wallace responded. “The bullet was still in his arm, so they’re going to have to remove it surgically. They’re worried there might be some nerve damage, but it’s too soon to tell yet.”
“That scumbag,” I muttered darkly. “He shot us when we were completely blind in the dark. How soon can I get an interrogation started?”
“No,” Wallace shook his head. “You’re off this case, Charlie.”
“What?” I
