NYPD Red - 03 - NYPD Red 3 by James Patterson

Author:James Patterson
Language: eng
Format: mobi
Tags: Thriller
ISBN: 9780316406994
Publisher: Little, Brown and Company
Published: 0101-01-01T00:00:00+00:00

Chapter 43

“Nobody’s here,” Kylie said when we got to PS 114. And by nobody she meant only five cop cars, a fire truck, and an EMS unit, which is not exactly a massive turnout for a school 911.

“There were no kids inside, and dispatch put it on the air as a B and E, so nobody’s connected the dots yet,” I said. “Let’s get in there before they do.”

We started with the maintenance worker. Augie Hoffman was the witness every cop hopes for. Organized, clearheaded, and in complete command of the details. But he was dumbfounded.

“It doesn’t make any sense,” he said.

Then he told us what had gone down. Good Samaritan rescues kidnap victim. Victim zaps Samaritan with stun gun. He was right. It didn’t make any sense.

Augie turned down a free ride to the hospital in the EMS bus. “I’m fine, but my new girlfriend will kill me if I don’t pick her up at the airport on time. I have to check her flight, but the kid took my phone. You got one I can borrow?”

“If he has your cell, we can track him,” Kylie said. “What’s your number?”

He gave it to us along with his girlfriend’s number so we could reach him.

Lonnie Martinez was next. His account of the abduction matched Mrs. Gittleman’s. The only difference was that she referred to the man with the red beard as an undercover cop. Lonnie called him the kidnapper. After all the denial we’d heard from Alden, it was nice to finally hear one of the victims using the K-word.

“Did he say anything about ransom?” I asked.

“Like how much? No, but he said Tripp’s father wouldn’t pay unless Tripp made a call to prove he was alive.”

“Did he tell Tripp who to call?”

“No. Just who not to call. No family. He pulls out Tripp’s cell and says ‘Pick one of your contacts.’ Tripp says ‘Peter, my driver.’ The guy says no way.”

I looked at Kylie, then back at Lonnie. “Did he say why?”

“He said ‘Peter’s like family—he’s too close. Pick someone else.’ So Tripp called one of our teachers, Mr. Madison.”

I believed him. Partly because it synced up with what I already knew, but mostly because after listening to Augie, I knew this wasn’t the part that Lonnie Martinez was going to lie to us about.

“One last question,” I said. “When the police arrived, you and Mr. Hoffman were in the cage, and Tripp was gone. How’d that happen?”

“It was crazy,” Lonnie said. “Just when Hoffman was cutting us loose, the guy comes back. He sees us, and then bam, bam, he drops me and Hoffman, but Tripp runs for it.”

“Where do you think he ran to?” Kylie asked.

He gave us his best clueless look.

“I didn’t realize he shot you too,” I said. “You need to get to a hospital.”

“I’m fine. What I need is to get to a pizza joint. I’m starved.”

“We can’t let you go until we take a look at the wound,” I said. “Can you show me where it hit you?”

He pulled up his shirt and showed us a bruise on his shoulder.

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