He waved his hand in the air. “Don’t worry about it. If it helps solve this fucking case, then take all the time you need.”
I replied, “I won’t need much time off. Just today. Jocelyn and I are going to look at a few back channels to find out what we can on Benjamin James.”
“The police couldn’t help with that?”
“Nah,” I said. “My contacts at the department haven’t been able to find anything on him since he dropped off the radar a couple of years ago. We were able to find out that he was adopted at the age of thirteen by a couple here in the city.”
“Have you talked to the parents?”
I shook my head. “His adoptive mother died five years ago, and the father died a year after that. They were an older couple who fostered and finally adopted him when he turned thirteen. Apparently, he was a hell raiser for them, but everyone saw it as normal teenage stuff.”
“You don’t think that’s what it was?”
“I know it wasn’t. I was able to reach one of his former teachers, who said they’d found him starting fires. It was minor, so the school didn’t seek to have him arrested. His criminal record was clean, which is how he was able to make it through the department’s initial background check when he applied.”
I knew there was something in his past that had started all of this. I just needed to uncover it. Whatever his past involved would likely be the key to finding him.
Captain cursed as the alarm sounded, calling the station to a fire.
The usual excitement whenever that bell went off shot through me, but I hesitated as the Captain moved past me, exiting his office.
“Are you sure you don’t need me? I can stay,” I said, watching him and the rest of my squad suit up.
“Get out of here, Alvarez. We’re overstaffed right now. Let us handle this fire. You’ve got more important things to concern yourself with.”
Sighing, I nodded and watched as Carter, Captain Waverly, Eric, and Emanuel loaded into one of the trucks while four more of my teammates loaded into a second rig. Helplessly, I watched them speed out of the station garage. I knew I had other imperative things to do elsewhere.
Before I could even pull out my phone to call Jocelyn and let her know I was on my way over, it buzzed.
“Holy fuck.”
White hot anger flashed through my entire body as I looked at the pictures that had been sent to my phone. Months ago, I’d had Hallease add me as one of Jocelyn’s emergency contacts. The security alert I’d received showed inside Jocelyn’s office. A man I couldn’t quite make out held a gun on her.
Clutching my phone for dear life, I jumped in my truck and peeled off, headed toward Jocelyn’s office.
I made it across town in record time, barely putting the truck in park before I leaped driver’s seat. I barged down the hall, my heart palpitating in my chest as I burst through Jocelyn’s office door. Just inside the office, I spotted a pair of legs lying behind a desk.
Please, no.
Moving closer, I saw that it was Hallease lying on the floor, motionless. I stooped and felt for her heartbeat. A breath of relief whooshed from my lungs when I felt a strong pulse.
“Hallease,” I called, noticing the blood coming from the wound on her head.
Her eyes fluttered open, and she appeared dazed, looking around.
“No, don’t try to sit up,” I said. I tore off the shirt I had on to press it to the wound on her head, to slow the bleeding.
Hallease insisted on sitting up.
“Can you tell me what happened?”
She looked at me with frightened eyes. “Oh my God, Don. Jocelyn, what happened to her?”
She sat up and looked around wildly, searching for Jocelyn.
“Stay here,” I barked.
I checked out the remainder of the office. Both relief and anger consumed me when I didn’t find Jocelyn.
