Captive Justice: A Private Investigator Mystery Series (A Jake & Annie Lincoln Thriller Book 4) by Rayven T. Hill Page B

out the briefcase. If there’s anything to find, they’ll find it.”
    Hank dropped onto the couch as Annie returned to her chair. Jake undid the holster and removed his outer shirt and vest. He dropped them onto the floor beside the couch and sat at the other end. “That feels better.”
    “Make sure you lock that pistol up safely,” Hank said.
    Annie leaned forward and eyed the vest. “It doesn’t look comfortable.”
    “It’s not too bad,” Jake said. “But as it turned out, I didn’t need it.”
    “It’s a good thing,” Annie said. “It might stop a bullet, but it could still knock the wind out of you.” She laughed at Hank’s perplexed look and continued, “I do a lot of reading.”
    Jake turned to Hank and explained. “She’s got a whole stack of books on police procedure, crime scene investigations, you name it, she’s got it.”
    “You can never know too much,” Hank said, as he looked at his watch. “I’m waiting for Callaway. We suspect there was a tracer attached to your vehicle. He’s on his way and he’ll go over it thoroughly, but for now all we can do is wait until Mrs. Gould returns. Hopefully, she’ll have something we can go on to track this guy down.”
    “I’m worried about Dr. Gould,” Annie said.
    Hank said, “I’ve been in contact with the doctor and needless to say, he’s anxious. I’ve convinced him he has to wait, and there’s an officer there with him, but he’s almost out of his mind with worry.”
    “I can understand that.”
    Hank turned to Jake and slipped a notepad from his inner jacket pocket. He flipped it to a blank page and found a pen. “I have to get your statement, every detail.”
    Jake told him everything that had happened while Hank took notes. Finally, Hank folded up his pad and tucked his pen away. “We’ll get your official statement later.”
    Annie leaned forward. “So, the original plan to do the exchange in the park was just a ruse?”
    Hank nodded. “It seems that way. And his instructions had us confused as to which direction Jake was heading.”
    “But how did he know you had men covering the park?”
    “I’m not sure,” Hank replied. “I believe he just assumed we did.”
    “Is it possible there’s more than one of them?” Jake asked. “If he truly was at the park, he wouldn’t have had enough time to get to the drop-off point before I did.”
    “That might explain it,” Hank said. “However, our officers were well hidden in plain sight. Anyone nearby couldn’t have known for sure who they were.”
    “And this guy is careful,” Jake added. “I don’t think he would take that chance.”
    Annie turned as soft footsteps padded down the steps from upstairs and Matty wandered in.
    “Hey, Uncle Hank,” he said, greeting him with a fist bump and then perching on the couch between Hank and Jake. He looked at his father, “What’s going on?”
    “Just working on a case.”
    The doorbell rang and Matty jumped up. “I’ll get it,” he said, charging from the room.
    In a moment, Callaway appeared in the doorway. He held up an evidence bag. “We found a tracker hidden under the rear bumper.” He walked over and handed the bag to Hank.
    Hank inspected the device, squinting thoughtfully. “I presumed we’d find this. We’re not dealing with an amateur here. He had this well planned in advance.” He turned the bag over. “It’s magnetized.” He thought a moment and then handed it back to Callaway. “Get this to the lab and see what they can find out about it.”
    Callaway took the bag and nodded. “Right away.” He turned and was gone.
    Matty found a seat on the floor and leaned back against the wall.
    “I’ve seen those trackers at Techmart,” Jake said.
    “I’m surprised you haven’t bought any yet,” Hank said dryly. “To go along with your pen camera and your baseball cap video recorder.”
    Jake shrugged and gave a half grin. “Haven’t needed one yet, but perhaps I will.”
    “I’ve been