Page 27 of Justified Fear

Ryan was still staring at the screen.There was no picture of Keely in the news article.Her family had kept her hidden.

“Her family believed her,” Ryan murmured.

“Yes, I think so too,” Charity said.“And an important thing about that possible kidnapping.”

He looked at Charity, who was staring straight at Ryan.“What?”

“No other kidnappings happened after Keely’s incident.”

Six

Ryan walked into TFH early the next morning, frustrated with the situation.They couldn’t find out any more information about Keely’s “abduction.”

There was considerable speculation in the original report that she was mistaken.Another idea was the insinuation that she was throwing a fit.They claimed that she’d had a fight with her parents.There was no basis for this, just a rumor from one of her friends.

But something was bothering him about it.Keely said she wasn’t feeling well after having a snack.She was also reportedly confused by some of the simple questions at first.The EMTs took her vitals, but the cops didn’t order a blood test.The investigation was shoddy at best.

Maya trotted over to Rami to get her pets in for the morning.His partner had always been aloof to most of his teammates back in LA.He should have known that the team he worked with was dirty when she wouldn’t even let them pet her.Maya was a good judge of character.

“Hey,” Ryan said.“Have you seen Charity?”

He shook his head, and the elevators dinged.Drew strode out.“Hey, Ryan.I heard you wanted info on those earlier abductions.Charity has an appointment this morning, so she had me pull them in and compare them.You were right.The five who survived all reported the same thing.Eating or drinking something, and then they felt funny.”

“What are you thinking?”Rami asked.

“I think they were all drugged.They were all in malls where teens congregated once upon a time.They all had some kind of food or drink before being abducted.”

“Keely?”Rami asked.

He nodded.“Thanks for the update, Drew.”

“No worries.Ping me if you need anything.Charity will be back after lunch today.”

“You’re thinking they were roofied?”

He nodded.“It would be easy to target all of them.They were preteens or teens, just hanging out with their friends.”

“But what does that have to do with this?”

He sighed, frustration filling the sound.“Not sure.It’s just an odd thing.”

Kap and Nikki walked in at the same time, chatting.When they saw Rami and Ryan, they walked over.

“Do we know if the boss is in?”Ryan asked.

“He’s in some kind of closed-door team leader meeting.”

Ryan nodded.

“What’s up?”Nikki asked.

“Ryan thinks the kidnapped kids could have been drugged,” Rami said.

“That would make it easier,” Nikki said.“You think there’s a connection?”

“Not sure.It’s just odd that Keely was at two different crimes, both of which seemed to be about her.”

Kap was eyeing him.“I get that you have a thing for her, but what do you have to tell you this is about her?She survived.Everyone else is either dead or missing.”