Gallery of the Dead

Eighty-Eight

Once Hunter joined Corona Freeway heading south, it took him exactly fifty-two minutes to reach exit eighty-five, leading to Indian Truck Trail. From there it was another four minutes until he reached Temescal Canyon Road. Two minutes later Hunter got to the dirt road Agent Fisher had indicated on the map she had sent him. The road was narrow and bumpy, surrounded by hills, bushes and rough terrain. The sky, dense with menacing clouds, cast a particularly dark night where not a single star could be seen.

Hunter drove for another eight minutes until he saw Garcia standing in the middle of the road, signaling him with a flashlight. He instructed Hunter to switch off his headlights and pull up by some heavy bushes on the right, where Garcia’s Honda Civic, a Chevrolet Malibu and an Audi A6 were already parked.

‘When did you get here?’ Hunter asked, as he stepped out of his Buick and zipped up his jacket.

‘About three minutes before you,’ Garcia replied. ‘I got the call around two in the morning.’

‘Yes, so did I. So what have we got?’

‘Just around those trees.’ Garcia indicated a cluster of low trees a few yards in front of them. ‘In a night this dark, headlights can be seen from miles away. This is as close as we can get in a car without announcing we’re coming.’

They rounded the trees and climbed up a short but steep hill covered by shrubs. Agents Fisher and Williams were crouched down behind a couple of leafy bushes.

‘That’s the ranch,’ Agent Fisher said, indicating through the bushes while handing Hunter a pair of binoculars. He repositioned himself and had a look.

The property was about two hundred and forty yards in front of them. There were only two buildings — a two-story wooden house with squared windows on the right and a long and wide stable on the left. Both structures looked old, uncared for and in serious need of some heavy repairs. The place also looked deserted.

‘Cyber Crime traced the Optum platform breaches to this location?’ Hunter asked, handing the binoculars back to Agent Fisher.

‘That’s right. All three of them, but it doesn’t look like anyone actually lives here. Did you notice the state of the place? Most of it is falling apart. If Cyber Crime got this right, then my guess is that the killer probably searched around for a place like this — abandoned, unclaimed and far from prying eyes. You drove up the dirt track, right?’ She looked around just to emphasize her point. ‘There’s nothing around here but hills and rough terrain. No neighbors. No roads. No animals. Nothing. In theory, this place is a safe house. The killer could do whatever he liked in there without ever worrying that he might get caught or disturbed.’

With the number of abandoned and shut-down properties increasing every year all over the land, Hunter didn’t find it at all surprising that this killer had perhaps settled on a disused location to run his operation from. Over the years, he and Garcia had chased a number of perpetrators who had done just that — used abandoned buildings as their ‘headquarters’, or to dump bodies, or to rape and torture their victims before murdering them... the applications varied, but the examples were plenty.

‘Do we know if there’s anyone in there right now?’ Hunter asked. ‘It looks empty.’

‘There’s someone in there, all right,’ Agent Williams countered. ‘I got here about twenty minutes before you guys. See the top window on the right?’ He indicated the house. ‘About fifteen minutes ago, a light came on briefly before being switched off again. We haven’t seen anyone leave.’

‘Can I have those binoculars again?’ Hunter asked.

He spent another minute studying the property and its grounds. No dogs, and he couldn’t see a vehicle anywhere, but then again, a car could easily be parked at the back of the house, or inside the stable.

Hunter turned around and looked down the hill they had climbed. ‘So are we waiting for the strike team?’

‘They’re on their way,’ Agent Fisher replied. ‘But we’re not waiting.’ She quickly decided to explain before the next obvious question came her way. ‘This killer acts alone, we all know this. If he’s in there, and it looks like he is, then the odds are totally in our favor. Four armed and highly trained law-enforcement officers against one probably unarmed civilian.’

‘Probably,’ Garcia said, as he zipped up his jacket and readjusted its collar. The wind had started to pick up, bringing with it a strong smell of damp soil. Rain was clearly imminent.

‘He has no reason to be,’ Agent Fisher retorted. ‘He’s not waiting on a strike. Like I’ve said, this is probably his safe house. The only place where he feels secure enough to let down his guard. Add to that the fact that he’s completely oblivious to the fact that we’ve made this location. He might be in there walking around naked while covering himself in ice-cream. I’ve checked with Cyber Crime — they’ve covered their tracks. They guaranteed me that there’s no electronic, cyber way the killer could’ve been alerted that his connections to Optum have been traced.’

‘And you really think that instead of waiting for the strike team, the four of us storming the property right now is a good idea?’ Garcia asked.

‘Yes, I do.’ Agent Fisher’s voice was firm. ‘Whoever accessed the medical records of Kristine Rivers, Albert Greene and Timothy Davis did it from that house, twelve days prior to their murders. We know that there’s someone in there right now. Maybe that’s what he’s doing again, searching for a new victim, scanning the Optum platform. If he finds what he’s looking for, he might not come back here for days, weeks, months even. Remember, we don’t have a name or a face. All we have is this location, which on paper belongs to no one. What that means is that if he’s in there and we miss him now, we have no other way of tracking him down until he comes back here again, by which time it will probably be too late for whoever he might be selecting right now.’ She paused and looked back down the hill. ‘If you’d rather wait for the FBI strike team to get here, be my guest, but I’m going in.’

Neither Hunter nor Garcia could argue with Agent Fisher’s reasoning.

‘Fine,’ Garcia accepted. ‘We’re in. So how are we—’

‘Light,’ Agent Williams announced, this time indicating the stables. A faint light was seeping through some old wood boards on the far left.

They all went silent and still.

Agent Fisher used the binoculars to have a look.

‘Can you see anything?’ Garcia asked.

‘No, nothing.’

The light stayed on for less than a minute before being switched off again.

Hunter borrowed the binoculars one more time, spending another full minute regarding the ranch.

‘I haven’t seen any movement,’ he said. ‘So he’s either still in the stables, or I’ve missed him as he walked back into the house.’

‘So how do you guys want to do this?’ Garcia asked.

‘I think our best option is if we split up into two teams of two,’ Agent Williams replied. ‘One enters the stables, the other the house.’

‘Do we have any sort of communication device?’ Garcia asked. ‘So the two teams can stay in touch?’

‘I’ve got two headsets in my trunk,’ Agent Williams announced.

‘That will help,’ Hunter said.

Agent Williams quickly ran back to his car and picked up the headsets, handing one to Hunter and one to Agent Fisher.

‘Larry and I can take the stables,’ Agent Fisher said, checking her Glock Model 22 and making sure she had an extra fifteen-round clip with her. ‘You two the house. What do you say? We’ll use the headsets to keep in touch.’

‘No problem,’ Garcia replied. ‘But if I’m going into possible close combat with deaf ears, I’m taking the Twins with me. Hold on.’

‘What?’ Agent Fisher made a face, but Garcia had already rushed back down the hill. A minute later he was back, carrying with him a sawn-off double-barreled shotgun.

‘Meet the Twins,’ he said, indicating his weapon. ‘The bad boys of close combat.’

‘You give your weapons names?’ Agent Fisher asked.

‘Boys with toys,’ Garcia replied. ‘What can I say?’

She shook her head. ‘If possible we would like to take him alive.’

‘Haven’t killed anyone in my career yet.’

They checked their weapons and tested their headsets. All was in order.

‘We’d better get going before the rain gets here,’ Hunter said. ‘If our shoes get wet, once we enter that house, each step will sound like a duck being strangled.’

‘Let’s do this,’ Agent Williams said.

They took off in the direction of the house.