Cold Reign by R.W. Ringwald II (best novels for beginners txt) 📖

coffee cup on her desk, he hadn't drank any of it.

He got in his car, a 1969 Carousel Red GTO Judge. His friend Hank had given it to him in his will, he treated the car like it was priceless, because it was, it had only been refurbished, and that was the driver's seat.
He turned the key, the engine revving as he did so. He sat for a moment, and thought of Janet, who he hadn't actually sat and talked to in a while. And then Hank's kids, Camilla and Ren, who he had taken out to lunch and the zoo two days ago.
Janet had only looked at him like that once before, right after Hank had died, when she needed him, and he wasn't there. He took a deep breath, and pulled out into the road, he had a lot of ground to cover today, and it was already two.
He had an appointment with a doctor at Sacred General hospital. Dr. Rio was the one who stitched him and Hank up more than once, and he knew the hospital better than anyone. Best of all, he knew Caulder, and his kind of business.
He pulled the Car into the parking garage next to the hospital, got out, and walked to the service hub. The guard let him in. he walked down the quiet hall towards Dr. Rio's office. He had a new assistant today, she told him he'd have to wait, but Rio walked to his door.
“Alyssa, he's okay,” Rio said, motioning for his him to join him in his office, he closed the door behind Caulder. “It's been a while, Mr. Reign.”
“I know, doctor.”
Rio pulled a soda out of his mini-fridge. “You haven't been in for several months, how's work?”
“That's why I'm here, Juan, a case, for a friend of a friend,” Reign said. “I have a couple of questions.”
“How's Hank's wife, Janet, was it?”
“She's as good as a woman can be four years after her husband died,” Caulder said. “I haven't really been able to talk to her in a while, too many cases.”
“He was your friend, Caulder, and so is she,” Juan said, sipping the clear liquid. “So, this case for a friend of a friend?”
“Its about six months ago,” Caulder said, looking out the window. “Someone came in with a gunshot to the leg, wound like that, he'd have limped or rolled out of here.”
Rio looked at him over his glass. “Lower leg?”
Caulder shook his head. “Same as Angelou.”
Tony Angelou, the captain of the police force, was a great captain, but his tenure ended as soon as he took a bullet in the lower leg. The hollow-point ended up taking out bone and most of the muscle.
“There was one, but the patient disappeared soon after he stabilized,” Rio said, running his hands over his keyboard adeptly. “All we have from him is a blood sample from the incident.”
Reign thought for a moment. “That will prove something, could you point him out in a lineup?”
“People change a lot in six months,” Rio said, continuing his analysis on the computer. “But we still have all of the surveillance from the event, including pictures.”
“Pictures?”
“He hit a Nurse, gave her several stitches. We took pictures of everything.”
Caulder sighed. “You, Doctor probably saved a man from jail.” His cell phone started ringing. “One minute.”
“Hello, is this Caulder Reign?”
“Mister Olathe?”
“Yes, I was wondering if I would be able to get your help on the case,” he asked. “It would mean a lot to us.”
“Well, first things first, call Doctor Rio at Sacred General, he has evidence that will at least postpone the trial,” he said, closing his eyes. “But, for now, I'm looking in to other leads.”
“Thank you,” Olathe sounded overjoyed. “Will you be in touch?”
“Of course,” Caulder told him, and ended the call.
“I'll bee here,” Dr. Rio said. “If you get hurt.”
“Don't worry, Juan, I'll be okay,” he said, and left the room.
“But you don't have Hank to watch your back,” Dr. Rio said, finishing his soda, and leaving his office.
Chapter 2 - Hindsight

Caulder sat in the parking garage for a moment, his eyes closed, and he thought. Then he remembered: Aaron had only camped out in abandoned buildings after his other jobs, and there was only one place near Sacred City.
New Sun apartments, a complex started some eight months ago, sat almost completely abandoned on the edge of town. If he was there, it would be dangerous to go alone, but he was his only backup. He'd stay quiet, keep to the shadows, and keep his eyes open, all he needed was confirmation that he was there, and if he wasn't, the cops would have a manhunt.
He pulled the car to the side of the road, just outside, but she was loud, there was always a chance to be heard in the Judge. The lights, built by the city, were still on, mainly to keep kids from partying in the complex.
He slid under one of the pieces of plastic, and into the main building, some quarter mile from where he parked. It was almost eight now, and the inside of the building eerie in the half-darkness.
Then, there was a noise, not too far up from where he was: a radio playing classic rock. Someone was here. He walked up the stairs, quiet as he could, he was only here to do a bit of light recon, and call the police on his way out.
Admittedly, he'd much rather make the arrest, but his jurisdiction ended with the information. He walked to the edge of the unfinished wall. The place reeked of urine and other smells he'd rather not contemplate.
He heard voices in the room, both of them were men, but one of them had a European accent, it sounded Italian.
The Italian spoke first. “Do you know when your men will have her?”
“Don't worry, man, they have it all covered,” the other man, an American, said, judging from his accent, he was from California.
He peered into the room, it was just a twilight meeting, but neither of the men were Aaron. He slid back to the shadows, but it sounded like a kidnapping, and the cop in him told him to listen.
“She was supposed to be at the market, did they get her or not,” the European sounded angry.
“Chill, they have her, and they're taking her to the location I told them to go,” the American replied. “We won't let her out of our sight until the job is over, and that wont be for a while, so you only have to worry about the food.”
“I don't know why they only want her out of the way for a while, in the old days, you could take recordings, and drop her in a ditch,” the European said. “But these days, it's all about the guarantees and leverage, it's just so much to worry about.”
“Yeah, but Johnny my boy, think about the green we'll make off of this job, ten times easy what we spent on putting her away,” the American said, slapping the other man's shoulder, and they started walking towards the door.
Caulder sneaked to the shadows, and up the stairs. He wished he knew more about that, or knew who she was. Anything that would help, but for now, it was back to the job at hand, finding Aaron.
He combed the rest of the building, but all he found was a room full of food wrappers, and a makeshift bed and toilet. If Aaron was staying here, this was his room. He combed around the trash, and found one of the wrappers with an expiration date. It was two weeks from today.
Which meant he was still around somewhere, or he had just left. Caulder closed his eyes as he sat against the wall. Finally, he remembered the trail of dust, he had almost not noticed it before. It was a thin white powder that covered the path from the entrance, up the here. It would show anyone that wasn't Aaron.
And that, of course, meant he was still paranoid, probably still had a sizable amount of cash hidden here somewhere. He touched his phone, and dialed the cops. He left enough information for them to send a squad out, he needed to get back to his car, and get away before they arrived.
He slipped back down the stairs, the two men were gone, and he noticed a slight variation in the dust on his way down, Aaron was either watching him, or on the move. He wouldn't get far enough away, judging by the way his footsteps in the dust looked.
A fist came out of the shadows, almost catching Caulder off of his guard, but he was ready for it. He ducked out of the way, the man overexerted himself, and fell forward, but caught himself on the door frame. Caulder caught an blow with his forearm, but twisted out of another.
He brought up his own arm, and struck the assailant in the chest, knocking the wind out of him, he brought his other arm up, and clocked him in the jaw. Aaron stumbled back into the light, but he was still able to fight, bringing his fists up for another attack.
Caulder dropped, spinning, almost too fast for Aaron to see, and used his momentum to swing a leg under him. Aaron was knocked off of his feet, and hit the floor. Caulder grabbed his lower leg, and Aaron screamed. He only held on long enough for Aaron to pass out.
He ran out of the building, he was careful enough to have worn gloves, but with the dust, he'd definitely have to buy new shoes, if they came knocking, of course. But he dialed the hotline for an anonymous tip. Left a tip about suspicious activities, maybe a murder, happening in the abandoned apartments. Either way, they'd arrest Aaron for being there, and that would be as long as Caulder would need.
He drove rather quickly back to the streets of Sacred City, and pulled his car off to the side as a string of police cars ran through the street. As soon as they passed, he pulled his cell phone out. He heard a tone, and then Janet answered.
“Caulder?”
“Janet, tell me the girls are safe,”
“They are both here, they're still watching a movie with Ren,” she said. Her tone changed. “What's wrong?”
“I heard some talking, and it sounded like a kidnapping,” he said. “Lock your doors, and shut the blinds.”
She was quiet, and he heard the lock click. “Are you coming over?”
“Janet.”
“Caulder, if things are this serious, I don't feel safe.”
“Sure, but give me a few minutes, and let me make a call.”
“See you in a bit.”
Caulder hung up the phone, and dialed the police department. “Sergeant Holcomb please.”
“One moment.”
Holcomb picked up his phone. “Who is this?”
“It's Reign.”
“What do you need, man?”