Page 26 of Justified Fear

“You’re taking too long, Franklin,” Charity said, taking the clicker from him.“We found out one of the reasons.Sixteen years ago, there was an incident at a Texas mall.”

“So, that would have made her fourteen?”Nikki asked.

Charity nodded and hit a button.The screen showed an old newspaper article from the San Antonio Star.

Riki Templeton’s Daughter Left Shaken

“What happened?”he asked.

“They said that she told authorities that someone had attempted to kidnap her.The cops didn’t think she was telling the truth.Now, they never use her name.Pretty sure the family had something to do with that.Did she tell you all about that?”

He shook his head.

“No,” Kap said.“Not that we really asked.We just knew there was something off.”

“Off?”Seth asked.

“Her father is trying to get her to go back to Texas,” Kap said.

“She told him to stuff it,” Ryan said.

Kap laughed.“It was something to see that big man being taken down by his daughter.”

“We need to dig into this.We need to make sure that no one is looking for her.”Seth glanced at Charity.“Did anything come of it?”

“No.I did a deep dive and read some of the reports.”

“You got them that fast?”

“No comment.”

Seth sighed.“Okay.What did they say?”

“Cops seemed to think she was trying to get attention, which I call BS on.”

“Why?”Rami asked.

“She wasn’t like her brothers.Didn’t play sports, wasn’t in the family business.Later on, after school, was the only time she was interviewed, and that was when she was starting her restaurant.”She glanced at Ryan.“You know about that douche she was involved with?What a piece of garbage.Anyway, she never really wanted attention in that way.There was one detective who believed her.The rest of them were a bunch of misogynists.”

“Are you going to tell us, or are we going to have to read it?”Rami asked.

“Okay, she was at this mall,” she said, clicking on a picture that brought up a picture of a mall with a giant boot in front of it.“She was there with some friends, but decided she wanted to go home early.She wasn’t feeling well after they had some snacks.”

“Friends?”Ryan asked.

“Yeah.Girls’ day out.Anyway, she called her parents, and when they arrived, they couldn’t find her.After about forty-five minutes, a mall security guard found her walking around one of the hallways that customers aren’t supposed to be in.He reported that she was dazed and confused, but when EMTs checked her out, they said she had no injuries.”

“And?”

“That’s it.Nothing came of it, but that reminded Hammer of some incidents that happened around that time.Houston, El Paso, and San Antonio all had kidnappings of rich kids.They were usually kids, and the incidents all happened at malls.By the time they realized what was happening, the abductions stopped.”

“And the kids?”Seth asked.

“All returned when the ransoms were paid.”

“Is there any indication that her family did that?”

She shook his head.“This all happened within an hour or two.The other kids were usually released within seventy-two hours.About the time it would take someone to get that money lined up.”