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“Hello?”
“Mr. Eggers? This is Talia Spires. I’m an officer with the Old Town Police Department in Maine, and a member of the Downeast SWAT team based in Orono. I—"
“Has something happened to Fleet? Is he okay?” The cold voice cut her off.
“Fleet is fine,” she assured Mr. Eggers. “But he’s had some trouble.”
“What kind of trouble?” the man clipped, clearly responding with deep suspicion.
Talia figured out his concern quickly enough. A strange cop was calling about his son, mentioning a nebulous kind of problem.
Hell.Mr. Eggers must think she was calling because his son had been arrested. Talia needed to do better.
“Mr. Eggers. Fleet is not in any kind of legal trouble. I promise.”
The voice didn’t exactly warm up as the man responded. “Then exactly what are you calling for, Ms. Spires?”
Talia cleared her throat and began again.
“Has Fleet talked to you in the past week?” She knew she still sounded sketchy as hell, but she didn’t want to drop more on Mr. Eggers than necessary. Hopefully Fleet had called them about his operation, and she’d only have to fill him in about his son’s kidnapping.
Right.Only.
“No. We haven’t heard from him in a couple weeks. You’re sure he’s okay?” Now Mr. Eggers tone was now tinged with worry.
Shit. He hadn’t contacted his parents during his time in the hospital.“Dammit. I’m going to kill him,” Talia mumbled.
“What?”
She heard the renewed panic in Mr. Egger’s voice and mentally kicked herself. Why couldn’t she manage this simple task? Nerves? Maybe. Clearly it was time to play a different card.
“Mr. Eggers. I’m doing this all wrong; making a mess of things because, well,”You can do this, Talia. “I’m not only an officer of the law, I’m…dating your son.”
There was dead silence. Then, “Lodine?” the man yelled. “Get on the extension. You’re going to want to hear this.” He snorted. Actually snorted! “Can you wait for my wife to pick up?” Mr. Eggers asked, his voice a lot warmer all of a sudden.
“Uh, sure. You should both hear everything I have to say, anyway,” she agreed. Better to meet both of the parents at once, right?
“I’m here, Jim,” a feminine voice piped in. “Who are we talking to? Fleet?”
“No, honey,” Mr. Eggers corrected. “It’s not Fleet. It’s hisgirlfriend.”
“Oh… Oh!” Mrs. Eggers responded breathlessly. “To whom do I have the pleasure of speaking?”
“My name is Talia, Mrs. Eggers. Talia Spires.”
Before Mrs. Eggers could respond, her husband added a clear caveat.
“She’s not only his girlfriend, honey, she’s a police officer, as well as a member of some SWAT team where Fleet lives.”
“Oh, my.” Now the woman’s voice choked up. “He’s…he’s not in any trouble, is he?”
Talia sighed deeply. “No, ma’am. Fleet is now absolutely, one-hundred percent fine.”
Mr. Eggers probed. “Now, you say?”
“Right.” Talia drew in a full breath. “A little less than a week ago, Fleet was out in the mountains by himself, bouldering.”
