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Chapter Twenty-one
At the end of the hour, Eve swiveled in her chair. “Status, Peabody?”
“I’ve got it down to five.”
“Better than me. I’m at eight. Okay.” She pressed her fingers to her gritty eyes. “We’re going to switch it up. Computer lab takes the cars, we take the locations. Fresh—well, not fresh. Different eyes. Roarke?”
He waved her away. “Sticking. May have something.”
Less than nine hours now, she noted. And that second wind had died. Resigned to taking a booster, she started to rise.
“And there you are! Bloody bastard, I fucking see you now.”
“You got it?”
“This one’s important, as he buried it deep. Not much in it, just under four million. I might’ve missed.”
“Four million,” Peabody said as she pushed up and struggled back a yawn. “Not much? Shows the rich are really different.”
“Name,” Eve demanded.
“There’s the other thing. Two names on this account. Reginald and Alicia King.”
“Alicia—close to Alice. He’s still obsessed. Wait, wait, I saw that name. Alicia King.”
“It’s in mine! Wait, wait!” Peabody rushed back to the table and her PPC. “I got it, I got it! A 2060 Mercedes EQE, black, registered to Alicia King, 154 Riverside Drive.
“Jesus!”
Eve started to tag McNab, then heard his bounce, and the others coming behind him.
“We’ve got three solid that hit—”
“Reginald and/or Alicia King, 154 Riverside Drive.”
“That’s one of them. Hell, yeah!”
“Peabody, call in the team. Add Officer Carmichael. I want him and five of his best. McNab, tag Feeney and Callendar. They’re here. Now.”
She yanked out her communicator.
“Commander. We’ve got him. I’m calling the team in now.”
“On my way. Good work.”
“It’s good,” Eve said as she pocketed her comm. “But not good enough until Potter’s in cuffs.”
“And the boy.”
She turned to Summerset. “In a couple hours. Three tops, the boy’s home with his family. His safety’s priority.”
“How many do we expect? How many police officers?”
“Ah…” Her brain, back in business, still couldn’t quite do the math.
“Including the three here,” Roarke said, “seventeen. Eighteen with Whitney.”
“Sounds right. Why?”
“They’ll need chairs and something to eat.”
“That’s where you get it from,” she said to Roarke. “Fine, but make it fast. They can eat while I brief them. Roarke, get me the house, exterior visuals, blueprints.”
“Already on that.”
“Lieutenant. I know you need time to plan your op. When you have him in custody…” Marjorie looked at the others. “We need to see him. We don’t need to speak with him, and won’t interfere in any way, but we need to see him.”
“Need to lay eyes on him.” Nodding, Harry gave Marjorie’s hand a squeeze. “And it’d sure bloody well suit me if he lays his on us.”
They’d earned it, Eve thought. Earned the justice of that and the closure.
“I can make that happen. When we have him, Roarke will contact Summerset. He can arrange your transportation to Central. I’ll clear you for Observation.”
“Your visual’s on-screen.”
She walked back. “Yeah, good-sized two-story house, with full basement and attached two-car garage. Nice water view’s wasted on this asshole. Gated entrance to keep the riff from raffing on that water view. Not much grounds, the house takes most of the lot. But that’s good for him. He doesn’t need a big yard. That’s just maintenance.
“Front door, side doors, south and north, big glass doors on the river side main entrance, and a walkout from that end of the basement. Second-story deck with double doors—that’ll be the primary. I’m going to need you and the EDD team to take out all the alarms, cams, locks.”
“Understood. I’ll access the schematics for the security system.”
“He’ll have made some of his own adjustments,” Cyril told him.
“Also understood. We can work through it. Blueprints coming up.”
“There.” As she moved closer, Eve pointed. “Storage area, southeast corner of the basement. That’s where he’s keeping the kid. No windows, only one door.”
“Poor little boy,” Iris murmured. “It’s been hours for him now.”
“Just a couple more. Roarke, can you dig up the description from when the house was last listed?”
“If you give me a minute.”
“Take your time. We’ve got time now. There’s a good-sized bedroom with bath on the main level, but the biggie, the main with the larger bath and that access to the deck, is on the second. Got a fireplace. He’d take that for himself. Three more rooms up there and another bath. One room listed as a bedroom, but it’s smaller.”
“Good size for an office,” Peabody commented.
“Yeah, good place to put in a command center, his e-toys. This one here, walk-in closet. Maybe the costumes. And the third, smaller closet, but roomy enough. Why waste it?”
“Armory.”
“Mmm-hmm.” Still studying the blueprints, she nodded at Roarke. “He’ll have weapons stashed throughout the house, monitors, too. But he needs those rooms for his work and security. Fitness room, basement level. Another room with a door down there. Maybe a lab. Kitchen and lounge area main, dining room main. I bet he sits all by himself in the dining room and eats his French food.”
“Here’s your last listing. On-screen.”
“Okay. He put the money he got for the villa and more into this one. See there? Storage area, fabricated wood plank flooring, lower level. I guess it’s too fancy to call a basement. Media room, fitness room, bedroom, same level. Full bath down there, fully equipped kitchenette.
“And look there. Fully secured—door cams, alarm system, palm plates, and so on. Even gives the name of the security system. That’s yours.”
“It is indeed.” Roarke smiled at her. “That makes it simple for a change.”
“He’ll have more,” Summerset warned. “Interior cams, locks, alarms, booby traps.”
“Yes. We’ll account for them, won’t we, Ian?”
“Bet your ass and mine on that.”
“This boy’s good.” Cyril gave McNab a slap on the back. “If you ever decide to work in the public sector, you’re hired.”
“Thanks. EDD and New York, that’s home. Can I get a fizzy from the kitchen AC, LT? I could use a hit of the sweet.”
“Get what you need.”
“I’ll see to breakfast. I could use some help with the chairs, a table.”
She gave Summerset a little credit for moving the civilians out. Then focused on the screen.
She saw how it would work—had to allow for complications, but she saw how it would work.
Feeney got there first. He looked like he’d slept in his clothes—but that was usual.
He took a look at the board, then moved to stand beside Eve, studied the screen.
“That’s his hole? Big, fancy one.”
“Yeah. A few decades in a cage makes you want some space.”
“He won’t have it much longer. The kid there?”
She nodded when he pointed to the storage room. “Yeah. That’s where he did the recording. No reason to move him.”
“He didn’t plan on letting the boy out of there breathing.”
“No. But he has to keep him going until noon for the follow-up.”
Feeney checked the time. “We’ll have the kid home in time for his breakfast. Got the security system?”
“Roarke’s working that. It’s one of his.”
Feeney grinned. “Ain’t that sweet?”
When he leaned over Roarke’s shoulder, and they began to talk e, Eve left them to get more coffee.
No booster, she decided. Too close to go time, and she’d found yet another wind. This one, a gale.
She caught the smell of food as Summerset and his friends carried in the domes, plates.
Galahad caught it, too, and he padded in, looking innocent.
“More coming now,” Roarke said.
“Yes. I’ll see to it.” Summerset went out, and minutes later, Baxter and Trueheart came in.
“I knew we could count on you.” Scanning the table, Baxter rubbed his hands together.
“Can I pour you some coffee, Detectives?”
“Ms. Wright.” Baxter laid a hand on his heart. “I fell in love with you when I saw This Side of Morning .”
Laughing, she reached out to take his hand. “You couldn’t have been six when I played Eloise. And that vid’s hardly appropriate for a child.”
“I was twelve the first time I saw it after I figured out how to shut down parental controls. It was love, and no woman yet has met that standard.”
Callendar popped in. “Breakfast! Woo!”
“Let me make introductions,” Marjorie began, and continued as the others straggled in.
“Get food,” Eve called out, still working on the details. “Eat. We’re just waiting on the commander. Jesus, Jenkinson, Potter could see that tie from space.”
“I’ll tuck it into the shirt till we have him, Loo.” And grinning, he fluttered it. “I wore it special. See? A big rat in a little cage.”
A big, glowing, purple rat, Eve noted, in a glittery silver cage. And both on a field of emerald green.
“I see. If I look much longer, I may go blind, but I see. Commander,” she added when Whitney came in. “Please, help yourself to some food, some coffee.”
“I will.” But first, he walked to The Twelve, saying each name as he shook hands. “It’s an honor to meet you all. Though Summerset and I have met many times before, let me take this opportunity to thank you, all of you, for your service to your country, and to the world.
“Let me also extend condolences for the loss of your friend. We will bring Conrad Potter to justice. Lieutenant, you have the floor.”
“Yes, sir. As you’re all aware, this afternoon, Conrad Potter abducted this child. On-screen, Peabody. Devin McReedy, age nine. We have full confidence Devin is being held at this location on Riverside Drive, in this area of that location.
“The safety of Devin McReedy is first priority. When EDD has cleared our way and confirms the boy’s location, and Potter’s, we move in, and move in unison, and in silence.”
She gestured to the back of the room. “Helmets in those boxes. Everybody wears one. As we know from earlier today—yesterday,” she corrected, “he has illegal weapons and will fire. He has combat skills and is likely to resist or try to flee. Multiple weapons, and he very likely has some areas of the house booby-trapped.
“Remember, we move in, in unison, in silence, and with care. Baxter, Trueheart, south entrance, Jenkinson, Reineke, north. Santiago, Officer Carmichael, rear—clear the main level, secure any weapons found. An officer on the rear to block any attempt of escape from the doors leading to the deck or the basement walkout. One each on the side doors.”
“Did I get demoted?” Detective Carmichael asked.
“No. When we go in the front—that’s Roarke, as he’ll deal with any last security, and myself—Detectives Peabody, Carmichael, and Callendar will go in behind Santiago and Officer Carmichael. Peabody’s team goes directly to the basement steps, located here.”
She highlighted on-screen. “Down, through this area to this door. If EDD hasn’t already disengaged the interior security and the locks on this door, you’ll have Callendar. If electronic, she’ll disengage. If not. You’ve got the battering ram.”
“Dallas—”
Eve held up a finger when Peabody started to object. “He’s going to want his mother. He’s nine and he’s scared shitless. We don’t know if Potter’s hurt him just for the hell of it. He’s priority one. You have a way with victims, and with children. I want women to get to him first, as he’ll feel safer with women sooner.
“You get in, signal me. You get him out to safety, and call for medical assistance. When you’re certain he’s secure, contact his parents, give them his location. Peabody, I need you to stay with him. He’ll need someone to stay with him until his parents get there, or if needed, to the hospital.”
“I get it. I’ll stick with him.”
“Officers Shelby and Donovan, you will take the attached garage, clear it, and disable the vehicle inside, secure any weapons you find. Secure that interior doorway. Detectives Carmichael and Callendar will also sweep the basement area for weapons once the child is safe.”
“Leaving a few of us out here, kid.”
“No, getting to you. I need you and McNab in the van or on the ground with a mobile until you’re certain there are no electronic traps the rest of us could walk into. More, that the boy would walk into before he’s all the way out. At that time, you will signal, then take whatever entrance is most optimal. If he gets by me, gets by Roarke, secure the doors, box him in. Take him.”
“Well covered, Lieutenant.” Whitney drew her attention. “I trust you don’t expect me to remain in the clear throughout this operation.”
She had intended to have him remain in the van with the excuse of running comms. But she knew that look. “Which position would best suit you, Commander?”
“Correct question. I’ll go in the front, behind you and Roarke. Up the stairs and begin to clear the third floor with you.
“He won’t get by you, or Roarke, but if he does, he’d still have to get by me. You haven’t addressed possible explosives or gas.”
“We have sniffers for explosives. I don’t expect to find any set to blow. He’s not going to blow up the house. He’s got millions invested in it, and money matters to him. For gas, every field kit has a breather. Everyone takes a breather. He does intend to fill that storage room with the same substance that killed Rossi. He will rig that by remote, but I don’t believe he will until after noon tomorrow.”
She glanced back where the remainder of The Twelve sat. “He doesn’t want to kill any of his targets quickly. He wants them to suffer, wants to taunt them. And he’ll want to watch. He won’t engage the gas until he has one of his targets, and the boy locked in, so he can see and hear his former teammates agonize over the dying boy.”
“You’re very right.” Ivan nodded. “Yes, he’d feel a triumph in that.”
“The only thing he’s going to feel is bitter disappointment. Any questions, ask them now. Then we suit up. EDD team, the Commander, Peabody, me in the EDD van. Everyone else—crap. Roarke, do we have a van?”
“It’ll be out front.”
“Everybody else in that. Jenkinson drives.”
When she’d wrapped up, Roarke brought her bacon and eggs tucked between toasted bread. “You can eat in the van if necessary, but eat. Do this for me.”
“Okay, okay.” She grabbed a helmet, tucked it under her arm, then took a bite. “God, God, that’s good. We’ll get there before sunup. Another advantage. Put on the jacket with the Thin Shield, grab a helmet. Do that for me.”
He put on his jacket, took a helmet as he looked toward The Twelve. And Summerset.
“You’ll know when we have him.”
“And when we do,” Eve added, “get some sleep. It’ll be at least a couple of hours before I bring him into Interview, probably closer to four. There are things to work out, so get some sleep. Someone will contact you when it’s time to come into Central.”
“Will you,” Summerset asked, “get any sleep?”
“Depends on the things to work out.”
When they sat alone, Ivanna put a hand over Summerset’s. “She’s outlined a very good plan. And yes, even very good plans can go astray. We’ll trust this one won’t.”
“More usually I learn what she’s faced down—or they have—when I deal with the blood on her clothes. It’s different, and difficult, to know from the beginning.”
“And different, and difficult for us, even at this point in our lives,” Marjorie said, “to be the ones sitting and waiting.”
“There’s very fine equipment in the lab here.” Cyril looked from face to face. “It’s possible, with a bit of this and more of that, I could hook into the mobile equipment. We can’t be there, but we could see as it happens.”
“What are we waiting for?”
As Marjorie rose, the others rose with her.
The drive didn’t take long. When they parked out of the gate’s camera range, Roarke got to work.
“The trick is to shut down the camera without alerting the system. And it’s an excellent system.”
“You’d know,” Eve said.
“I would, and it has layers to foil someone doing precisely what I’m doing. Can’t just backdoor work-around it,” he said, more to the other e-geeks. “And no drilling the tunnel, no sliding down the pole. It’s a peel, you see, skin by skin, all while doing the cloning.”
“I’m seeing it.” McNab hunkered closer.
“Are you going to inchworm it?” Callendar asked.
“I am.”
“Well, shit, watch that trip wire.”
Roarke nodded at Feeney. “No worries. I have it.” He’d designed it, after all.
“And son of a bitch.” Feeney shook his head. “They’re down. The system reads green, but they’re down.”
“For sixty minutes, and not a second more.”
Eve set her wrist unit to sixty minutes while he melted through the gate locks.
“Exterior house cams.”
“I’ve got the locks,” Feeney said, and his hound-dog eyes gleamed. “Yeah, I see it, I got it. Couple minutes.”
“McNab, get me a read on how many and where in the house.”
“On that. No shields there. Guess he didn’t figure anyone would get this far. Two heat sources, and you can see, Dallas, just where you figured. Both horizontal. No movement.”
“Then we’re moving. We’re go,” Eve ordered. “On foot, comms open, all teams, go.”
They moved quick and quiet through the dark, keeping low. Spreading out. A breeze off the river trickled through the air as Eve watched them peel off to their positions, and headed toward the front doors.
“Exterior locks down,” Feeney said in her ear. “Moving to interior. Different system on the basement doors. Prioritizing there.”
“Too easy,” Roarke muttered. “Feeney, do a U-turn and slide.”
“Copy that. Yeah, tricky bastard. Little booby-trap, secondary alarm. Another minute.”
“Everybody hold,” Eve ordered. “Hold positions.”
A line of sweat trickled down her back as she held.
“You’re clear! Moving to interior.”
“Go for entry, all positions.”
She nodded at Roarke, glanced back at Whitney.
Roarke went in high, she went in low. Whitney swept behind them.
“They’re in,” Harry said in the computer lab. “A lick and a split. If I’d had your boy back in my day, Summerset, oh, the fun we’d’ve had.”
“They’re moving upstairs. There’s barely any light,” Iris pointed out.
“Detective Peabody and her team are in the back.” Marjorie watched the different views on-screen. “Some trouble at the inside door.”
“They’ll get through.” Ivan kept his hands clasped together like a man at prayer. “They have to. That little boy…”
“Locks still engaged here, Cap.”
“Working it,” he told Callendar. “Don’t use the ram. Don’t use the ram till they’ve got the target. It’s coming. It’s… clear.”
“I see that.”
Peabody scanned the stairs. “Pitch-dark basement level.”
“I’ve got you.” Callendar switched on a flash. She swept it, and her weapon, side to side as they went down.
With the blueprints and Eve’s orders in her head, Peabody moved toward the storage room as all three women cleared as they went.
“Door lock still engaged,” Peabody said.
“Different system, got a seal and a runner. Going to take time, fuck it, by remote.”
“I can get it on-site, Cap.” Callendar holstered her weapon, pulled out her reader. “I can get it. You’ve got the seal down. I’m on the runner.”
“Trapdoor! You see it?”
“Yeah, yeah.” Now sweat beaded on Callendar’s forehead as she took slow, steady breaths. “It’s got a trigger, Cap. He could have it triggered to release gas and kill the kid. Or—”
“Don’t pull the trigger.”
“Callendar?” Eve said. “Do you need assistance?”
“No, I got it. I got it. The first read’s a decoy.”
“That’s right. Circle back,” Feeney told her.
“Reassessing, rereading. We’re clear!”
Peabody shoved through the door and into strong light.
The boy lying in the center of the bare room opened his eyes. She saw the scream in them and held up her badge. “It’s okay, Devin. We’re the police. We’re here to help.”
“I want my mom! I want my mom! I want my dad!”
“Got your back,” Carmichael murmured and slipped out the door to guard.
“I talked to your mom and dad.” Peabody spoke softly as she lowered down to Devin. “I’m going to cut off these ties on your wrists. I bet they hurt.”
“I couldn’t get them off. I couldn’t, and I tried and tried.”
“I can see that.” His wrists were raw and bloody where he’d pulled, where they’d dug in. The bruises on his hands told her he’d beaten them against the door. “But look, now they’re gone.”
On a sob, he threw himself into Peabody’s arms. “Don’t let him come back. Don’t let him kill me and my mom and my dad and my brother.”
“We won’t.” Callendar crouched down and pulled a small tube of juice from one of her many pockets. “Here you go. Don’t drink too fast, just take sips, okay?”
He sipped, he slurped, then he sobbed. “He hit me in the face, and it hurt! He made me pee in a bucket and I got pee on my pants.”
“We’re not going to worry about that now. Everything’s okay now.” Because he burrowed into her, Peabody stroked his hair, then picked him up. “We’re going to take you outside and call your mom and dad. Carmichael?”
“Basement level’s clear. Stairs clear. I’ve got the lead.”
“I’m on your six,” Callendar said.
“We’re clear, Dallas. Taking Devin out to the van via the walkout. Minor injuries from the zip ties. I’ll tell the MTs to come in silent.”