Hostage

12

Friday, 8:43 P.M.

TALLEY

Talley was in Mrs. Pena’s home with the Sheriffs, sipping her coffee, rich and heavy with brown sugar and cream though none of them had asked for it that way; she told them it was the Brazilian way. They were watching the security tape.

Talley pointed at the television with his cup.

“The first one inside is Rooney, this next guy is Krupchek. Kevin comes in last.”

Martin watched with the flat, uninvolved expression of an experienced officer. Talley found himself watching her instead of the tape, curious about her background and how she’d become a SWAT captain.

Martin nodded at the screen.

“What’s that on his head, a tattoo? There, on the big one.”

“That’s Krupchek.”

“Right, Krupchek.”

“It says ‘burn it.’ We’re running it through the computer.”

Talley told them what he had learned from Brad Dill about Krupchek and the Rooney brothers, then filled them in on having dispatched Mikkelson and Dreyer to locate landlords and neighbors.

Ellison said, “These guys have any family we can bring out? We had a guy once, he backed us off for twelve hours until his mama gets there. She gets on the phone, tells him to get his ass out of that house, the guy comes out crying like a baby.”

Talley had worked with subjects like that, too.

“Rooney might have an aunt in Bakersfield, but Dill didn’t know about Krupchek. If we can find their landlords or friends, we might get a line on the families. You want, I’ll have Larry Anders, he’s my senior officer here, put your Intelligence Officer in touch with whoever we find.”

Maddox nodded, his face creased with attention.

“I might want to talk to Dill and those people myself. You okay with that?”

“I know the job. Whatever you want. Tell Anders, and he’ll arrange to bring them here.”

As the new primary negotiator, Maddox had the responsibility to form his own opinions on the behavior characteristics of a subject. Talley would have done the same thing.

Martin stepped closer to the television. They had reached the part of the tape where Krupchek leaned over the counter.

“What’s he doing?”

“Watch.”

Maddox joined Martin at the TV. He crossed his arms in a way that Talley thought was protective.

“Jesus, he’s watching that man die.”

Talley nodded.

“That’s what I thought.”

“The sonofabitch is smiling.”

Talley finished his coffee and put down the cup. He didn’t need to see it again.

“We told the Sheriff’s investigators up at Kim’s about the hand. See there on the counter? They should have a pretty good palm print from that, but I haven’t heard.”

Martin glanced at Ellison.

“Run the prints for wants and warrants.”

“Yes, ma’am.”

Metzger came up behind Talley and touched his arm.

“Chief, see you a second?”

Talley excused himself from the Sheriffs and followed Metzger into the adjoining room. Metzger glanced back at the Sheriffs, then lowered her voice.

“Sarah wants you to call her right away. She says it’s important. She says I should knock you down and drag you to a phone, it’s so important.”

“Why are you whispering?”

“She says it’s important. You’re supposed to call on your office line, not use a radio.”

“Why not the radio?”

“Because other people can hear on the radio. She says use the phone.”

Talley felt a hot burn of concern that something had happened to Jane and Amanda. He took out his cell phone, hitting the autodial for his office. Out by the television, Maddox was looking at him, concerned.

Sarah answered on the first ring.

“It’s me, Sarah. What’s up?”

“Oh, thank God. There’s a little boy on the phone. He says that his name is Thomas Smith, and that he’s calling from inside the house.”

“It’s a crank. Forget it.”

Warren Kenner, who was Talley’s personnel supervisor and one of only two Bristo sergeants, came on the line.

“Chief, I think we got something here. I checked the phone number the boy says he’s calling from with the cell company. It’s registered to the Smiths, all right.”

“Did you talk with the boy, or just Sarah?”

“No, I talked to him. He sounds real, saying things about the three guys in that house, and his sister and father. He says his dad’s hurt in there, that he got knocked out.”

Talley worried his lip, thinking, getting just a little excited.

“Is he still on the phone?”

“Yes, sir. Sarah’s talking to him right now on another line. They locked him in his room. He says he’s on his sister’s cell phone.”

“Stand by.”

Talley went to the door; several officers and Highway Patrolmen were milling near Mrs. Pena’s kitchen, drinking coffee and eating cheese enchiladas. He called Martin, Maddox, and Ellison into the room, then led them as far from the others as possible.

“I think we’ve got something here. Kid on the phone, saying he’s Thomas Smith from inside the house.”

Martin’s face tightened, coming together in a kind of expectant question.

“Is this bogus or real?”

Talley went back to the phone.

“Warren? Who else knows about this?”

“Just us, Chief. Me and Sarah, and now you.”

“If this turns out to be real, I don’t want the press finding out about this, you understand? Tell Sarah. That means you don’t talk about this with anyone, not even the other police, not even off the record.”

Talley looked at Martin as he spoke. She nodded, agreeing.

“If Rooney and those other guys see the press talking about someone in the house calling out, I don’t know what they might do.”

“I understand, Chief. I’ll tell Sarah.”

“Put him on.”

A boy came on the line, his voice low and careful, but not frightened.

“Hello? Is this the Chief?”

“This is Chief Talley. Tell me your name, son.”

“Thomas Smith. I’m in the house that’s on TV. Dennis hit my dad and now he won’t wake up. You gotta come get him.”

An edge of fear crept into the boy’s voice when he mentioned his father, but Talley couldn’t yet be sure the call wasn’t a hoax.

“I have a couple of questions for you first, Thomas. Who’s in the house with you?”

“These three guys, Dennis, Kevin, and Mars. Mars said he was going to eat my heart.”

“Besides them.”

“My father and sister. You gotta make Dennis send my dad to a doctor.”

The boy could have gotten all of this information off the news, but so far as Talley knew, no one had as yet reported, or knew, the whereabouts of the mother. They were still trying to locate her.

“What about your mother?”

The boy answered without hesitating.

“She’s in Florida with my Aunt Kate.”

Talley felt a blossom of heat in his chest. This might be real. He made a scribbling gesture with his hand, telling Martin to get ready to write. She glanced at Ellison, who fumbled out his spiral notepad and a pen.

“What’s your aunt’s name, bud?”

“Kate Toepfer. She has blond hair.”

Talley repeated it, watching Ellison write.

“Where does she live?”

“West Palm Beach.”

Talley didn’t bother to cover the phone.

“We got the boy. Get a number for this woman, Kate Toepfer in West Palm Beach, that’s where the mother is.”

Maddox and Ellison exchanged words, Talley not hearing because he had already gone back to the boy. Martin stepped close, pulling at his arm to tip the phone so that she could hear.

“Where you are now, son, are you okay? Could they catch you talking to me?”

“They locked me in my room. I’m on my sister’s cell phone.”

“Where’s that, your room?”

“Upstairs.”

“Okay. Where’s your dad and sister?”

“My dad’s down in the office. They got him on the couch. He needs a doctor.”

“Was he shot?”

“Dennis hit him, and now he won’t wake up. My sister says he needs a doctor, but Dennis won’t listen.”

“Is he bleeding?”

“Not anymore. He just won’t wake up. I’m really scared.”

“How about your sister? Is she okay?”

Maddox said, “Ask him does he know the subject locations.”

Talley raised a hand, the boy was still talking, saying something about his sister.

“What was that, Thomas? I missed that. Is she okay?”

“I said she won’t leave. I tried to get her to leave, but she won’t without our dad.”

Martin plucked at him.

“Can he get out? Ask him if he can get out.”

Talley nodded.

“Okay, Thomas, we’re going to get you out of there as fast as we can, but I want to ask something. You’re alone in your room on the second floor, right?”

“Yeah.”

“Could you let yourself out your window if we were down below to catch you?”

“They’ve got the windows nailed shut. But even if they didn’t, they could see me.”

“They could see you climbing out the window even though you’re alone?”

“We have security cameras. They could see on the monitors in my folks’ room if they were looking. They would see you sneaking up to the house, too.”

“Okay, son, one more thing. Dennis told me that he had set up the house to burn with gasoline. Is that true?”

“They’ve got a bucket of gas in the entry hall. I saw it when they brought me downstairs. It really stinks.”

Talley heard brushing sounds on the phone, and the boy’s voice dropped.

“They’re coming.”

“Thomas? Thomas, are you all right?”

The boy was gone.

Martin said, “What’s happening?”

Talley listened, straining now, but the line was dead.

“He said they were coming, then he hung up.”

Martin took a deep breath, let it hiss out.

“You think they caught him?”

Talley closed the phone and put it away.

“I don’t think so. He didn’t sound panicked when he shut the phone, so I don’t think he was discovered; he just had to end the call.”

“Was Rooney telling the truth about the gasoline?”

“Yes.”

“Shit. That’s a problem. That’s a fucking big problem. All we need is a goddamned barbecue.”

“He also said that there’s a video security system. That’s how he saw your people approaching the house.”

Martin turned to Ellison.

“Have the I.O. check the phone lines to see if there’s a security feed. We might be able to back-trace it to the provider and find out what we’re dealing with.”

Talley started to say that his people had already come up empty with that, but he let it go. If it was him, he’d doublecheck, too.

“He says the father is injured. That’s why he called out, to say his father needs a doctor.”

Martin’s expression turned grim. She hadn’t heard that part.

“First the goddamned gas, and now this. If the man is in imminent danger, we might have to risk a breach.”

Maddox shifted, uncomfortable.

“How’re we gonna breach knowing this guy can see it coming, him with gasoline ready to go? We’ll get people killed.”

“If we have someone dying in there, we can’t ignore it.”

Talley held up his hands like he was pushing them apart.

“The boy didn’t say anyone is dying, he just said the man is hurt.”

He repeated Thomas’s description of Walter Smith’s condition. Martin listened, head down, but glancing at Maddox and Ellison from time to time as if to gauge their reactions. When Talley finished, she nodded.

“Well, that’s not a lot of information.”

“No.”

“All right, at least we know we’re not talking about a gunshot victim here. Smith’s not in there bleeding to death.”

“Sounds like head trauma.”

“So we’ve got a possible concussion, but we can’t be sure about that. We can’t very well call Rooney back to ask about the father. He might get it in his head that one of those kids is calling out.”

Talley had to agree.

“We have to protect the boy. If he gets the chance to call again, I’m pretty sure he will.”

Maddox nodded.

“When I talk with Rooney again I’ll push him to find out how everyone’s doing. Maybe I can kick free some information about the father.”

They agreed that for now the best plan was to let Rooney and the others in the house calm down. Martin looked back at Talley.

“If the boy calls again, he’ll call through your office.”

“I would guess so. He must’ve gotten the department’s number from information.”

Talley knew what she wanted.

“I’ll have someone in my office around the clock. If the boy calls, they’ll page me and I’ll bring you in.”

Martin checked her watch, then looked at Maddox.

“We’ve got to get to it. I want you and Ellison set up in front of that house so we can start breaking these assholes down.”

Talley knew what that meant: They would maintain a high noise level profile, phoning Rooney periodically throughout the night to keep him awake. They would try to wear him down by depriving him of sleep. Sometimes, if you got them tired enough, they gave up.

Martin turned back to Talley, and now her face softened. She put out her hand, and Talley took it. Her grip wasn’t as hard as before.

“I appreciate your help, Chief. You’ve done a good job keeping this situation under control.”

“Thanks, Captain.”

Martin squeezed his hand, then let go.

“You want to relieve your people now, that’s fine. I’d like four of your officers to liaison with the locals, but past that, we’ve got it. I know you have a slim department up here.”

“It’s yours, Captain. You have my numbers. If you need me, call. Otherwise, I’ll grab a few hours’ sleep and see you in the morning.”

“We’re good.”

Martin gave him an uncertain smile that almost looked pretty, then walked away. Talley thought that she probably had a hard time smiling, but people often did, and for reasons that surprised you. Maddox and Ellison followed her.

Talley brought his cup to the kitchen, thanked Mrs. Pena for her help, then went to his car. He brought Larry Anders up to speed, then checked the time, wondering if Jane and Amanda were still at dinner or were waiting at home.

He wondered why Martin had squeezed his hand.

KEN SEYMORE

The television crews wouldn’t share their food, cheap pricks, big urns of Starbucks coffee that someone had brought, Krispy Kreme donuts, and pizza. Just as well, or Ken Seymore would have missed seeing Talley leave.

Rather than eating, Seymore was seated in his car, a Ford Explorer, near the gate. He told the two cops there, who had asked him what he was doing, that he was waiting for a pool photographer to arrive from Los Angeles. Going to snap some shots of the guys guarding the development, he had said. That had been enough. They’d left him alone.

When Seymore saw Talley drive out, he picked up his phone.

“He’s leaving.”

That was all he needed to say.