Altercation Read Online Free Page B

dad’s vanished. “I’m sure that’s all it is.” She dried her face with her fingers.
    “So, you’re crying because your brother doesn’t like school anymore?”
    Seth was only part of the reason. But she couldn’t tell him that. “You’re right. It’s not that bad. Show me the fitness room. I hope it has a treadmill.”

October 27, Idaho Falls, Idaho
    D etective Carl Hamilton marched past the hum of the copy machine, strolling between the two officers flirting by the water fountain, the woman giggling as she held her cup of water in one hand and touched the man’s chest with her other. He let himself into Chief Miller’s office, closing the door behind him to drown out the noise.
    Miller glanced up from his phone call and lifted one finger, then turned his eyes back down to the desk calendar, twirling a pen mindlessly.
    Carl pressed his lips together. He didn’t like being ‘ordered’ to the boss’s office. Made him feel like a school child again, sent to the principal’s office. Even worse to find the boss too busy to deal with him. He forced his fingers to relax around the Styrofoam cup of coffee, letting his eyes drift around the organized office. A stainless steel cubicle on the desk held paper clips, pens, and post-it notes in neat cubbies. A flower bloomed in a pot on top of the cabinet behind the desk. The file cabinet stood open, making Carl feel a twinge of trepidation.
    Miller waved the pen at him to sit down, mustache twitching over his lip. “Yes. I understand. Thank you for your patience. All right. Goodbye.”
    Carl still stood by the door. “You asked to see me?”
    “Sit.” The chief motioned again.
    Exhaling, Carl sat down hard. His coffee sloshed but remained in the cup.
    “Do you know why you’re here, Carl?”
    “I can guess. You want an update on the Rivera case?”
    Miller nodded, pressing the tips of his fingers together and leaning back. “What did you find when you searched the house?”
    Carl hated this. Shortly after Rivera’s daughter, Jaci, was kidnapped, the man vanished. Normally Carl could pull a lead out of coworkers or friends, but in this case, they had all vanished with him. “Nothing. Yet. I’ll go back this week.”
    “You are one of my best. But I think I’ve overloaded you. You’ve got this case, The Hand, and your other cases to take care of.”
    “What are you suggesting? A partner?” Carl wouldn’t mind one.
    “Actually, I was thinking of taking you off the case.” Miller put his pen down and entwined his fingers.
    Carl blanched. Anything but that. He had built this whole case; he was invested until he solved it. “With all due respect, sir, nobody knows this case like I do.”
    Miller nodded. “I know that’s true. But the FBI and Interpol are already involved. What more do you think you have to offer?”
    A fair question. Carl mulled it over. “I’m going to find this guy. The police in Texas are sending me the hard drive to the computer system we found at Rivera’s work. As soon as I get some names, contacts, I’ll know where he is.” And I’ll find out exactly how he’s connected to his daughter’s kidnapping. “I have some questions for his daughter, too, now that she’s been found.”
    “What news on The Hand?”
    Carl’s shoulders relaxed. Now this case was hot. “I’ve reviewed the preliminary reports we got from the kidnapped girls. They were brief, and the FBI should have more information soon. I’m flying to Ohio in five days to meet with them. From there I’m flying to Montreal. I know I can find his hideout.” Before The Hand kidnapped the four girls, including Rivera’s daughter, he was not a high priority. The kidnappings and subsequent murder of one of the girls had changed all that.
    “The Hand has put a lot of effort into retrieving them. Did the reports give any idea why?”
    “Nothing concrete,” Carl admitted, “though I have put a few theories together. First of all, he must know they can identify