Chance Reddick Box Set 1

by David Archer

  "Okay," Pete said. "Chance, Carol, I know it's already been a long day, but if you—"

  The door to the command center burst open. Angela was standing there, with her dad and Jason not far behind her. She looked beyond furious, and her chest was heaving.

  "Mr. Reddick, how dare you," she hissed through her clenched jaw.

  "Excuse me?" Chance asked.

  "I just got a call from Dr. Harmon. He now wants to talk to me about my future career with him in light of my allegations against him," she continued, still furious. "Do you have any idea how long it took me to get this far? To even get a chance at this kind of research position?"

  "It doesn’t seem like much of a great opportunity if you have to put up with someone like Harmon," Chance said, trying to defend himself.

  "Five years I've been working as a teacher's assistant! I see men that I went to college with, men that I did better than, go on to get research positions that I deserved! They are now in steady jobs, doing what they were trained to do, while I'm stuck in this dead end, fighting for a chance to do what I was meant to do. And finally—finally! —I get the chance to do that, and you ruined it!"

  "We were questioning him to get a lead on this case, on your case," Chance said calmly.

  "More like interrogated," Angela scoffed. "And what did you actually gain from it? What crucial lead did you obtain from ruining my career?" Chance just looked at her, speechless. "Nothing," Angela concluded. "You ruined everything for nothing !" Angela stared at the people in front of her. Her eyes started to water from the pure rage she was feeling. Not wanting to embarrass herself further, she turned away and pushed past her dad, desperate to get away from them.

  Lewis started to follow his daughter, but Jason held him back, calmly shaking his head. Lewis stared after her for a moment before agreeing with Jason and letting her go. She needed some time to cool off. Instead, he turned back toward the Dixon team, who were still stunned at the previously friendly Angela’s outburst. He smiled apologetically at them.

  "I'm so sorry about that," he said barely above a whisper. "I have… I don't know where that came from."

  Angela managed to stay out of sight of her 'bodyguards.' She just wanted to be alone for the time being. She snuck toward the exit of the precinct and practically ran down the front steps. She started pacing around the sidewalk, ignoring the looks she got from people passing by. They didn't matter at the moment. She was breathing heavily and her anger was still maintained at a high level. She could honestly say she had never felt so angry in her entire life.

  Her breathing never slowed its pace, and if she weren't so angry, she might have paid more attention to it. Her heart was racing faster than she could ever remember it pounding before. She slowed her pacing down, as before she even knew it, she was feeling dizzy. Her world was spinning; meanwhile, her heart continued to pound hard and her breathing was getting out of control. She placed her hand around her throat as her heart continued to fiercely pound. She was sure that somehow, her heart was making its way out of her chest and through her throat. She was sure that everything she had eaten in the past week would all come back out. And just for a moment, she was certain that she would die.

  Her legs became weak and she collapsed to the floor, only barely catching herself before her head hit the ground. Somewhere in the back of her head, she could hear the people walking by start to panic for her. She could have even believed she heard someone demand an ambulance. But she couldn't focus on that, not even a bit. Her entire mind was concentrated on her breathing, and the never ending panting as if she had just run two marathons back to back. She couldn't make out words people were saying, and she couldn’t comprehend what she was feeling around her. All she knew was that her heart was in her throat and her breathing was out of control.

  In the back of her mind, she could feel someone grabbing her arm and helping her up. In the back of her mind she could feel herself being guided to a seat, and she could feel herself being prompted to sit down. In the back of her mind she could acknowledge that she probably shouldn't let strangers guide her. But at the front of her mind, she was focused on not dying.

  It took time, but eventually her surroundings started to register. Her vision was becoming clearer, and her heart was finally slowing. She could finally take in deep breaths as she saw fit, and the full control of her movements was once again hers. She looked forwards and was greeted with the most piercing brown eyes she had seen since… well, the night before.

  "You…" she muttered. She took in the face before her and realized she recognized him. She knew this man! She took in a deep breath and prepared to scream, when suddenly, she felt a sharp pain on her neck. As soon as she felt that pain, she knew it was game over. She tried to regain control, she really did, but everything was starting to fade away. The rest of her body was being pushed into what she now realized was a car. The door shut after her, and she couldn't help but lean into it. She could hear the faint voice of reassurance as the man outside assured the crowd that everything was fine.

  The car door beside Angela opened and closed. The engine started and the car moved. Those were the last things Angela remembered before her eyes finally closed.

  Chapter 19

  After Angela had stormed off, Pete invited the two detectives to sit with them at the conference table to bring them up to speed on the case. They summarized again what they had gathered from the trip to the café as well as the meeting with Lance Harmon. They left out what they had learned about Angela’s mother being murdered. Until it was proven to be related to the case, they would keep that detail to themselves. In the meantime, they decided to dig into the family their own way.

  "Jason, if you don't mind me asking, where is your father now?" Pete asked calmly.

  Jason raised an eyebrow. "Why do you need to know?" he asked cautiously.

  "Angela's in trouble," Chance replied, "and we know that your dad is her biological father. Seems to me he’d want to be here while she’s going through such a trying time."

  Lewis and Jason exchanged a look.

  "We didn’t mean to pry,” Pete said. “Angela told Jake, and it's possible that just the smallest detail could make all the difference," Pete continued.

  Lewis sighed and looked down to the table. "He's in San Antonio at the moment. He got asked to consult on a case there. Apparently a cold case he had investigated here may have popped up in Texas and they asked for him and the technical analyst to take a look."

  "And he didn't come back when he heard about Angela?" Chance asked.

  "He… hasn't heard about Angela," Lewis admitted.

  "Why not?"

  "Angela wouldn't hear of it," Jason answered. "I tried calling him last night, but he didn’t answer, and when I said I was going to try again this morning, Angela threw a fit, and insisted we bring her back to the substation."

  "Why not?" Roberts asked. "Does she really think your father would put a case before the girl he considers family?"

  "I don't know," Jason said tiredly. "I think she just… she knows, she's used to it. My father—I think he's emotionally incapable of letting a case go."

  The command center was silent as they all thought about the mother. From what they had heard, they knew Jason’s father hadn’t let go of her case for an entire year. Pete could sympathize, as he had gone through a similar ordeal, and Carol could only imagine what she would do if anything like that were to happen to her.

  The silence was broken when Jason looked out the window and noticed the bodyguards.

  "Lewis… isn't that Raymond and Clint out there?" he asked quietly.

  Lewis turned and looked out the window. His eyes widened and he could feel his heart leaping out of his chest. The two detectives immediately stood up and charged for the door. Chance, Pete and the others stood up quickly, following suit as the two detectives ran through the door to the bodyguards. Lewis and Jason reached them first, the PDI team close on their heels.

  "Raymond, where the hell
is Angela?" Lewis asked urgently.

  "What? I… I thought she was with you," Raymond said.

  In that one moment, the biggest feeling of dread overcame everyone in that room. When that moment ended, they all wordlessly spread out, searching for the youngest Lambert. Jake and Chance went back toward the various conference rooms, wondering if she had decided to find some solitude there. Carol and Roberts searched the bathrooms, and Pete went to Commander Motley. It was Lewis and Jason who frantically sprinted toward the exit.

  Lewis pulled out his phone and tried calling his daughter while still searching the grounds. Jason did a more thorough inspection of the street, hoping she was just sitting outside getting fresh air. It wasn't until he looked down at the ground that he noticed the keys. He picked them up, noticed the NSU keychain, and knew without a doubt in his mind that they were Angela's keys, and he held them out to his partner.

  Lewis's heart broke into a thousand pieces as he stood in the middle of the pavement, and he knew there was nothing he could do to stop it. His daughter had been taken from him.

  Once the detectives had informed Commander Motley of Angela's disappearance, Pete sprang into action. Chance and Roberts were sent to find Jackie Myers. They knew that if he was free at that moment, they could most probably rule him out as the suspect, seeing as he couldn't be abducting Angela at the same time. Carol and Jake were sent to look at the security video and see what happened outside the substation. Pete and Tina gathered several deputies and closed off the sidewalk, declaring it a crime scene. They were then able to take a closer look at the situation. When the detectives, finally welcoming his help, asked what they could do, Pete simply told them to complete the call to Jason’s father.

  A couple hours later, they all regrouped in the command center with somber faces. Lewis and Jason looked heartbroken but determined as they sat around the table. The others joined them, ready with the new information they had gathered. Pete and Chance started off, explaining their run through of the crime scene. The only thing they found was the keys that had been dropped. Other than that, it was clean. Jake and Carol stepped in then, recounting what they had seen in the video. It appeared Angela was having a panic attack and their suspect used this opportunity to guide her to his car, convincing the crowd around him that he was helping. The suspect seemed to know where the cameras were as he avoided showing his face, but a copy of the video sent to Josie allowed her to estimate his height. The car they got into had no license plate, but they could see the make of the car.

  Chance and Carol then told the group what they had found. Jackie Myers was in a lab during the time of the abduction and could prove it with the sign in sheet. When asked about the attention he gave the victims, he and several others defended Jackie, saying he was just a flirt, that was what he did. Jackie also insisted he had no idea who Adrienne Moore was. They all agreed. Jackie Myers was not the suspect.

  "So I guess that brings us back to square one, once again," Lewis said glumly.

  "Seems like it," Carol agreed, just as upset.

  "But we have time, right?" Jason asked. "All the other girls that were taken didn't turn up for another seven days, and during that time they weren't hurt. The same thing will happen with Angela… right?"

  Pete looked at Jake, who gave him an expression that said there was no way to be sure. "That seems to be the pattern," Pete said.

  "But it's not the same," Lewis said quietly. "Angela's not the same as all the other girls. She was drugged, she was attacked, and the damn guy went completely out of his comfort zone to get Angela. He’s done it twice, now." Lewis looked around the room, taking in the serious expressions of everyone around him. "You have no idea what's going to happen to Angela, do you?"

  "He's started to act unpredictably," Pete confirmed.

  "So time is of the essence," Lewis concluded. "And we're in the same place we were weeks ago."

  The room was silent. The PDI Detectives understood how difficult this was for the man, and they knew it would probably be for the best if he wasn’t involved in the case anymore. But they also knew that if it was any of them in Lambert's position, they would never stop investigating.

  Pete’s phone rang, ending the silence in the room. He put the phone on speaker and placed it down on the table.

  "What do you have for us, Josephine?" he asked Josie on the other end.

  “Pete? What’s wrong?” she asked, sounding panicked.

  "Angela's gone," Pete explained. "Techs here tried to trace her phone, but there was no connection."

  “Oh. I'll run a trace now as well,” she said and they could all hear the quick tapping. “In the meantime, I've got news on the Lamberts.”

  "What news?" Jason asked quickly.

  "You looked into us?" Lewis asked in shock.

  "We looked into your family," Pete explained. "Like we said before, it couldn't hurt to learn a bit more about you."

  "And you couldn't ask us?" Jason asked, outraged.

  "I tried," Jake spoke up. "It was clear Angela was hiding something, and in a case like this, time is of the essence."

  "And did you find anything helpful?" Lewis asked with a frown. He wasn't happy with what they did, but he was also very aware that there was nothing he could do about it now. If he wanted to find his daughter, he would have to play nice.

  “Potentially,” Josie answered over the phone. “The files that had your wife’s case were hacked into and copied a month ago.”

  "So you think whoever did it could be responsible for the kidnappings?" Lewis finished.

  “Exactly. The timing was suspicious, so I looked deeper and tracked the IP address of the person who hacked into it. A Mr. Steven Winters, who happens to be the technical analyst for the LVPD. I've sent you everything I can find on him.”

  The PDI team picked up their phones and prepared to be briefed on him, but the detectives started to protest before they could even open the file.

  "No, there is no possible way that's right," Jason insisted.

  "You know him?" Carol asked.

  "Of course we know him! He's Angela's boyfriend!" The room was silent for a moment. "Even if they weren't together, it couldn't possibly be him," Jason continued. "He's with my father in San Antonio on a consultation."

  “That's not what my records say,” Josie countered.

  "Well, then your records are wrong!" Jason snapped.

  “Excuse me? I don’t know who you think you are, but I was hacking code before I was in the third grade. If there is any information out there on the web, I can and will find it. My records are never wrong, and right now they are telling me that one month ago, Steven Winters hacked into the police data files and downloaded everything on Angela’s mother. Two weeks ago he took immediate and indefinite time off and since then has had no action on any of his cards and his car is still parked outside his house.”

  "Steve wouldn't do…"

  "What about Jason’s father?" Lewis cut his partner off as everyone stared at him. "Jason’s dad left with Steve to go on a consultation in Texas. We saw them leave in the same car together."

  They all heard typing on the other side of the phone line before Josie reported back. “Floyd McCoy has also taken time off, at the same time as Winters. His credit cards have been actively used in Texas, so I guess that makes sense.”

  "Bastard," they heard Lewis mutter.

  "Where is he now?" Jason asked.

  “He's been moving around a bit, but for the past week he's been in Austin,” Josie told him. “And if it's any consolation, a little while ago he filled up on gas near Albuquerque. He's headed back to Clark County now, and he's making good time. He should be there in a couple of hours.”

  "Are you positive Steve’s with your father?" Chance asked.

  "Yes," Jason answered. "My father is a stubborn old man. It's been twenty years and he still can't let the case go. There's not a doubt in my mind he roped Steve into it as well."

  "Alright," Chance said, taking Jason’s word
for it. "I guess we really are back to square one."

  * * *

  Angela woke up what seemed like hours later. She had no idea where she was or how long she had been out. For a moment, she even struggled to remember what had happened. All she knew was that she was now in a dark room, sitting down on a chair, and all by herself. To make matters worse, her head was killing her. She never really had a lot of headaches, and only one that was really bad, but this one was worse than all of them put together.

  She tried to raise her hand, intending to massage her temples. She didn't know if it would make a difference or not. That was always what people did, and there must be some help in it. When she tried, however, her hand wouldn't go more than an inch off the arm of her chair. It was only then that she realized she was tied up.

  The events of the day finally came rushing back to her. The case her father and Jason were working on, being attacked in her own home, getting a call from Lance Harmon, and finally the panic attack that sealed her fate.

  Angela groaned and threw her head back. She knew she should be in shock, or she should be scared out of her mind. Instead, she found herself extremely annoyed with herself. Her stupid attitude! It had always ruined her life, and now it’d landed her in this mess! She knew she should have been taking her medications more faithfully, but the thought of needing to take drugs daily just made her feel completely useless. Her dad would definitely be on her ass about that once she got out of here.

  If you get out of here, she thought, and then she froze. Her heart started racing. There was fear and shock, deep down inside of her, bursting through every nerve and every thought. It was burning through her soul like a fire that just wouldn't go out. If she got out of here. Would she? Was it even possible? Did her father and her friends even know she was missing? She tried to calm herself down, forcing herself to take in deep breaths and think happy thoughts, but nothing worked. Her heart continued to race and the dread never left her soul.