
The Cradle Snatcher
Autor:in
Ellery Whaley
Gelesen
439K
Kapitel
30
After the corpse of a six-year-old girl is found on an NYC playground, homicide detective Lauren Ryder vows to catch her killer before he can claim the innocence of a second child...even if that means losing her mind, or her life, in the process.
Age Rating: 18+
Ab Incunabulis
Phillips
Lauren
Phillips
you up?
Ryder
no
Ryder
well, almost. Itâs 5am
Phillips
Hale just called, thereâs a body
Ryder
where?
Phillips
Dewitt Clinton Playground
Phillips
Lauren
Ryder
âŠ
Phillips
itâs a kid
Approximately 24 hours Earlier
LAUREN RYDER
BEEP
After just one blaring tone from her alarm clock, Lauren Ryderâs hand shot out from under the covers and turned it off. It was 6 a.m. on the dot, and her snooze button hadnât gotten any action in years.
Today was no exception.
She slipped into the workout clothes that waited on the bench at the foot of her bed. Then it was straight to the bathroom to brush her teeth and comb her blonde hair.
In the kitchen, the coffee was already trickling into the pot, set on a timer the night before.
Lauren poured herself a cup and added a packet of stevia before pulling out her phone and opening up her to-do list.
The day ahead was jam-packed.
Wake up.
âCheck.â She smiled to herself. She liked adding obvious tasks to the list just for the satisfaction of ticking them off.
Work out.
Debrief w/ Phillips.
Follow up w/ Lt. Hale re: Bollinger trial.
Buy present(s?) for Emmaâs b-day party @ lunch.
She didnât have time to scan the tasks for the second half of the day. She had to get moving or her workout would be cut short.
Lauren poured the rest of her coffee into a to-go mug and moved toward the front door of her tiny apartment.
She passed a wall covered in framed photos of herself with friends and family.
The most frequent faces belonged to her father, her brother Liam, and Laurenâs favorite person in the world: her âalmost six years old!â niece Emma.
Emmaâs birthday was tomorrow, and Lauren couldnât wait to watch her blow out her candles.
Standing in the threshold now, Lauren made sure that she had everything she needed for the day ahead:
Phone, keys, wallet.
Check, check, check.
And the two other things she would never leave the house without:
Badge and gun.
Check and check.
She disappeared into the hall and the door clicked shut behind her.
At age twenty-seven, Lauren had already been an NYPD homicide detective for three years.
She was the youngest person to be promoted to detective in the history of her precinct.
What she lacked in years, she made up for in self-discipline. She stayed later and worked harder than any of the others in her cohort.
And that was just how she liked it.
STEVE PHILLIPS
Detective Steven Phillips, partner to Lauren for the last year and a half, watched as Lauren beat the living hell out of a punching bag hanging in the police station gym.
âWhose poor ass are you picturing today?â the trainer, Dan, asked her.
Dan normally worked with the field cops, but Lauren still wanted to stay in fighting shape, even after becoming a detective.
Steve admired that, though sometimes he teased that she made the rest of them look bad.
âIâm picturing me, yesterday,â Lauren said through grunts. âIf Iâm stronger than her, Iâm doing something right.â
Typical Lauren.
Laurenâs time in the gym meant everything to her. It was her way of burning off the stress of a caseloadâof settling her heart rate after mainlining caffeine day after day.
Phillips knew that other people in the precinct had different addictions to help cope with the pressures of the job. Alcohol, cigarettes, pills, you name it. But Lauren would barely have one drink before cutting herself off.
As she finished her session, Lauren gave Phillips a nod. âYou wanna wait for me in the front?â
Phillips grinned. âSure thing.â
A few moments later, as Lauren jogged down the stairs to meet with him, her phone rang and she plucked it from her gym bag, continuing to descend.
Glancing at the screen, she looked up and mouthed, âLiam.â
Lauren rolled her eyes and answered: âI told you to stop calling me on workdays. Itâs distracting.â
Walking beside her from the police gym to their shared office, Phillips watched with mild interest as Lauren exchanged good-natured barbs with her brother.
âIâll be there,â Lauren said into the phone. After a pause, she repeated, âI said Iâll be there! Canât wait. Have a nice day.â
She hung up and gave Phillips a grimace.
âLiam. Heâs such a nag,â she said.
âWhere does he want you to be? Court?â Phillips asked. Liam was one of the top prosecuting attorneys in the tristate area.
âNo, Emmaâs birthday.â
âOh! Yeah, I forgot,â Phillips chuckled. âThe âalmost six-year-oldâ is actually turning six.â
Phillips was a close colleague from back when they were both uniformed officers. He was as much family as Liam. He had even met Emma.
âSoâfinally ready to get to work?â he asked with a grin as she took a seat at her desk.
âIâm one minute late. Liamâs fault. Update me.â
LAUREN RYDER
Lauren met Phillipsâs eyes, eager to hear what he would say.
âBollinger got his conviction,â Phillips began.
âAnd?â Laurenâs heart started to pound in anticipation.
Kenny Bollinger. Age twenty-two. Struck and killed two pedestrians while driving drunk, before fleeing the scene.
When they caught him he showed no remorseâsmiled in his goddamn mugshot.
Now heâll be sorry.
âFour years with possibility for parole after two,â Phillips said grimly.
âThatâs it?â
âAre you surprised? Thatâs what you get when your weapon is your daddyâs Porsche.â
Itâs not fair.
âThat Hernandez kid got fifteen years for the same thing,â Lauren said, her fists clenching.
âGod Bless America,â Phillips sighed.
Lauren took a deep breath and tried to shake off the news. Once she caught the guy, her part of the equation was over. There was nothing she could do.
But if it were up to me, heâd be celebrating his thirty-second birthday in prison.
She sighed and carried on. âStill no sign of Kagan, huh?â
Robert Kagan. Age thirty-three. His wife was found strangled to death with his belt.
âNope,â Phillips said.
âWe should get eyes on Empire City Casino,â Lauren said. âHis mistress said nothing could keep him away from there. Never underestimate the power of a gambling addiction.â
âNo way he would risk going to one of his usual spots, right?â
âThis is the same genius who left a note that said âOops, sorryâ next to his wifeâs corpse.â
Philips laughed, âI still want to get that framed.â
âItâs a piece of evidence, Phillips,â Lauren said. She didnât even like to joke about breaking protocol.
âAlright, alright. Iâll head down to Empire City while you meet with Haleâif you think you can handle him without me.â He smirked at her.
âHey, donât let the door hit you on your way out,â Lauren called after Phillips as he sauntered out of her office. âOr do. Whatever.â
Moments after Phillips left, Lauren made her way to Haleâs door.
âCome in, Ryder,â a voice called out after Lauren delivered her signature double knock on the door.
She opened it to find Lieutenant Oliver Hale leaning back in his chair. âI heard about Bollinger,â he said, motioning for her to sit opposite him. âEntitled son of a bitch.â
âYeah, so it goes,â she replied.
âWhereâs Phillips?â
âWorking on the Kagan case. Iâm gonna stay in and get through my growing stack of files.â
âThatâs just fine,â he replied, running a hand through his salt-and-pepper hair. But he clearly wasnât paying attention to her words. His mind was elsewhere.
âHey, Hale. Everything okay?â
He shook his head. âA six-year-old girl was taken from her bed last night. Isabelle Mackintosh. No sign of forced entry. The parents just called it in.â
âAnd youâre sure they have nothing to do with it?â
He glared at her. âWhen they can get up off the floor, Iâll be sure to ask them.â
Not a great idea to coddle suspects just because they act upset.
Keeping that thought to herself, she said, âDo you want me toââ
âStay in your lane, Ryder,â he said. âAs of now, we have a missing child. Weâre obviously going to explore all the avenues. Letâs just hope this case never crosses your desk.â
âYes, sir,â she said.
âGet back to work, please.â
She started to leave but then turned back toward her lieutenant. âI heard you went to visitâŠâ her voice drifted off.
Haleâs face softened as he nodded.
âAnd?â
Hale shifted in his seat. âNo change. But it was good to see him. You should, too. When youâre up for itââ
âYeah. Sure. Thanks,â she said, avoiding eye contact as she excused herself from the room.
Lauren returned to her office and started on her paperwork. But as she plowed away, her mind kept flashing to an image of her niece, laughing on the swing in Liamâs backyard.
She couldnât even begin to imagine the pain that she would feel if Emma vanished in the middle of the night.
The idea alone was too much to bear.
Lauren regulated her breathing and focused on the file in front of her.
When it all came down to it, Lauren worked as hard as she did to make the world a safer place for Emma. Medals and accolades were nice, but that was the only thing that really mattered.
***
At lunchtime, Lauren stared blankly at shelves in a toy store, filled with all the latest gadgets in flashy packaging.
Pretend youâre six. Come on. What would you want?
But even when Lauren was six, toys had never interested her. She always wanted a puzzleâsomething she could solve.
Well, maybe Emma would like a puzzle, too.
Lauren picked out a one-hundred-piece puzzle featuring several of Emmaâs favorite superheroes.
We can work on it together.
Lauren smiled at the thought as she took it to the cashier.
Just then, her phone buzzed. And then buzzed twice more.
Phillips
guess who turned up at Empire City
Phillips
you must be good at your job
Phillips
meet at the station
Lauren beamed, threw a $20 bill down on the counter, and rushed out of the shop.
***
As soon as she entered the station, Lauren was ambushed by the smiling face of Naomi Davis. Davis was a twenty-one-year-old, eager, newly minted copâwith her hazel eyes set on homicide.
Lauren had unofficially taken Davis under her wing.
âCongratulations, Detective!â the brunette officer cried out. âHe confessed as soon as Phillips got him into the interrogation room. Isnât that amazing?â
âAw, I missed the fun?â Lauren asked, genuinely disappointed to have missed out on questioning the suspect. âGuess thereâs always a next time.â
Moments later, Hale gave her a pat on the back for a job well done, but praise didnât matter to Lauren.
The only thing that she cared aboutâthe only reason she drifted off to sleep so easily that nightâwas that justice had been served.
***
BUZZ
BUZZ
Lauren Ryderâs hand shot out from under the covers and slammed onto her cell phone. She was confused for a moment. Then she sat up.
At 5 a.m.
This canât be good.
And it wasnât.
A body found at Dewitt Clinton Playground. A kid.
A chill ran down her spine. Lauren was usually unfazed by such reports, but something about this one didnât feel right. It put her on edge.
Lauren didnât know why, but she couldnât shake the feeling that this was only the beginning.







































