He watched Vince hurry down the sidewalk, then cut across the neighbor’s grass.
Upon seeing a complete stranger approach, the man released the trigger on his nozzle. It almost looked like the guy got caught taking a piss and stopped midstream.
While Vince spoke, Denise’s neighbor held perfectly still, clearly evaluating if what he heard was a bunch of BS. After thirty seconds or so, Vince showed the man a business card and they shook hands, a good sign.
Vince turned and gave Nathan a nod to join them.
As usual, the introduction was a little awkward because Denise’s neighbor spent a little too long looking at Nathan’s face. They followed the man through a wooden gate on the far side of the property, away from Denise’s place. Their new ally took them through a nicely landscaped area into a backyard containing a swimming pool, hot tub, and a permanent barbecue setup.
I need a barbecue like this, Nathan thought. “Is there a place we can take a look into her backyard without being seen?” he asked, already knowing the answer.
“My spare bedroom upstairs overlooks her rear yard. You want me to go take a look?”
“Yes. Just let us know if anything looks out of place.”
“I’ll be right back.” The guy cursed under his breath when he found the sliding glass door locked. “I have to go around.”
Once the man left, Vince said, “I was surprised when you picked up at the office.”
“I’m not normally there, but when I heard you were on the line, I took the call.”
“I’m flattered.”
“You deserve it. Your surveillance team did a knock-up job for us in Santa Monica last year.”
“Thanks for saying so. Those guys were ISAF vets. Embedded covert stuff with the CIA.”
Vincent wouldn’t say more, and Nathan wouldn’t ask. Nearly all of BSI’s missions during Operation Enduring Freedom in Afghanistan were classified.
“So what’s our plan here?”
Vince shrugged. “If no one answers the door and it’s locked, I say we bust in.”
“I’m okay with that.”
“If it’s all a false alarm, I’ll pay for the damage and give her a raise.”
Nathan tilted his head. “Our friend is back.”
The man stopped at the sliding glass door, unlocked it, reached down, and pulled the dowel. He waved to them to come inside. From the look on his face, something was wrong.
“What did you see?” Vincent asked.
“Her sliding glass door is shattered.”
Nathan exchanged a glance with Vince and asked, “Was it like that yesterday?”
“I don’t know.”
“Is the glass still in place?”
“Most of it, but some has fallen out.”
“Didn’t she say her cat was scratching at the glass?” Nathan asked.
“Yeah,” Vince said. “And unless it’s an African lion, it didn’t do that. Do you know if Denise has more than one cat?”
“She just has the one calico, Miss Kitty. She’s super friendly and comes over here a lot. I feed her when they’re on vacation.”
“Have you ever heard Denise call it any other name? Mr. Paws? Anything like that?”
“No, they call it Miss Kitty. Or MK.”
“Do you mind if we take a quick look at her backyard from your spare bedroom first?”
“Not at all.”
When the man didn’t move, Vince said, “Can we do that right away?”
“Oh, yeah, sure. Follow me.”
The guy’s house was immaculate, and Vince paid him a compliment. He said thanks and quickly led them up the stairs. The spare bedroom offered a good look at Denise’s backyard. Similar in size and shape, it lacked a pool but had a nice expanse of grass and a hot tub. A fairly open trellis covered the concrete patio, which was flanked by low hedges. They both saw it right away. The sliding glass door had turned opaque from thousands of small cracked pieces. Countless shards littered the patio. There was no way they’d be able to get inside the house through that door without being heard.
Like the one they were in, Denise’s house had a second floor. All of the windows were closed and screened by blinds.
Nathan said, “Take a look at the concrete about four feet out from the door. See it?”
“Yeah, it’s a skip mark, all right. Probably medium caliber.”
“That’s my call too. Good thing there’s only a canyon beyond her fence.”
“We’d better get over there.”
“Skip mark?” the man said. “You mean from a bullet? Shouldn’t I call the police?”
Vince shook his head. “Not yet. Give us a chance to assess the situation.”
“I don’t know . . . I think I should call the cops.”
They hurried down the stairs. “We can’t stop you,” Vince said, “but please give us two minutes first.”
“Who are you guys?”
“Let’s just say we have more experience than the police at this sort of thing.”
Denise’s neighbor was on their heels. “That’s not much of an answer.”
“It’s the best we can do. We’re using your front door to leave.”
The windows along the front of Denise’s house were also screened by closed blinds. Nathan knew someone could be peering through the slats, and if that were the case, things were going to escalate in a big hurry. They were in plain sight as they sprinted across her grass.
“If we’re going to get shot this morning, now seems like a good time.”
“You’re such an optimist, Nathan.”
They made it to her entry alcove unscathed. “Think he’ll wait to call the police?”
“Not for a second,” Vince said.
“Shock and awe?”
“Yep. We bust in and shoot anyone who looks threatening. She has three small children and a babysitter, so we can’t shoot through any walls. If we don’t have center-mass shots or clear backgrounds, we hold fire.”
“Let’s try not to nail Denise either.”
Vince said, “Yeah, that’s the general idea.”
“I’ll take the lead and the right side on entry. Once we’re both inside and clear, we’ll leapfrog deeper. Three-meter intervals.”
At times like these, hesitation led to doubt. Nathan knew the longer they stood here talking, the less confident they’d become.
They both pulled their pistols from their waist packs and nodded to each other.
Vince reared back and kicked the door with all his strength.
Even dead bolted, it was no match for physics. More energy was delivered than it could withstand. Wood splintered, and the door slammed the inside wall with enough force to rattle the windows.
In one fluid movement, they were inside.
Nathan focused on the right side and crouched behind some kind of potted fern.
The living room stood empty, but strange, high-pitched sounds emanated from somewhere ahead and to the right. Directly in front of them, a stairwell to the second floor lay deserted and dark.
Vince advanced to a hallway past his position and looked around the corner at waist level.
So far, no one had shot at them. Vince made eye contact, pointed to his eyes, then pointed to the opening beyond the stairs to the left. Nathan believed it led to the kitchen and garage beyond.
Still using the leapfrog technique, he moved past Vince’s position and crouched at the entry to the kitchen. Off to his right, he saw Denise’s children.
And something else.
A pool of blood.
CHAPTER 6
In the television room, three terrified kids sat shoulder to shoulder with their wrists duct-taped behind their backs to the legs of a heavy coffee table. Their mouths were taped shut as well. Several feet away, a woman’s gray face stared at him, her throat laid open, the only source of the bloodstain.
Nathan brought a forefinger up to his mouth.
It didn’t work.
The children continued to tremble and cry
.
He wanted to help them, but the intruders could still be in the house.
For now, the children had to wait.
He rushed past them and looked behind the sofa. Nothing but carpet. That left the kitchen, where someone could be hiding behind the counters. In a whisper, he told the kids he was here to help, which seemed to settle them down a little.
He made a warbling whistle to get Vince’s attention, then made a gesture to indicate he wanted to clear the kitchen. Vince nodded his understanding and took up a position near the landing of the stairs. From there, Vince could cover the ground-floor hallway and the door to the garage, but he couldn’t yet see Denise’s children.
In an aggressive move, Nathan gathered some speed and hopped the countertop as if sliding across the hood of a car. He landed on his feet with his weapon pointed toward the refrigerator and oven. Again nothing. An empty kitchen greeted him.
He diverted to the door leading to the garage and tried the knob.
Locked.
Nathan thought it unlikely anyone would be hiding in the garage—with a key—but not taking any chances, he grabbed the dish towel and tied one end of it to the garage door’s knob and the other end around the base of a glass tumbler. Since the door opened into the garage, he put the tumbler on the edge of the counter. If anyone opened the door, it would pull the tumbler off the counter, shattering it on the floor.
Satisfied with his trip-wire-like contraption, he hurried over to Vince’s position and whispered, “Her kids are scared, but they look okay.”
“Where are they?”
“Middle of the family room floor. They’re duct-taped to a coffee table. There’s a dead woman on the carpet, Latina-looking.”
“Carmen,” Vince said softly.
Nathan felt it best not to mention her slit throat. He didn’t want Vince further distracted. Vince was sharp, but his movements weren’t as crisp as Harv’s would be in this situation. “We’ll have to clear this hallway before we go upstairs. I’ll take point on the lineup.”
“Uh-uh. It’s my turn, Nate.”
“There’re three doors. One of them will probably be a bathroom. I’ll take the right side in each room.”
“Let’s get this done.”
He gave Vince’s shoulder a gentle nudge, the signal he was ready to go. Moving as one, with Vince in the lead, they eased down the hall and stopped short of the first open door. As suspected, they found an empty bathroom, and Nathan used its mirror to clear the glass shower stall. The second door on the opposite side of the hall sat closed. Vince pointed to himself, then made an opening-door gesture. He nodded his acknowledgment and eased forward to Vince’s left shoulder. Seeing it would open inward, he moved to the far side of the door.
Vince crouched, slowly turned the knob, and mouthed the words on three.
Nathan did the countdown with his free hand. When Vince pushed the door, Nathan pivoted to face the room.
And came face-to-face with an empty coat closet.
One door left, also closed.
It also opened inward, so they repeated the same process.
Vince cranked the knob and pushed.
In a fluid motion, he was in the room.
What Nathan saw tugged at his ability to remain calm.
He’d met Denise once or twice, but the woman bound to the chair bore little resemblance to that beautiful woman. The swelling and blood caked around her face and neck were a testament to what she’d endured.
“Cover our six,” Nathan said tightly.
Vince didn’t move.
“Vince. Cover six!”
He saw Vince move to the door and line up on the hallway leading back to the kitchen and TV room.
Denise’s breathing sounded shallow and slow.
“Denise. We’ve got you.”
The woman could only open one eye. The other was swollen shut.
Barely conscious, she whispered, “My babies . . .”
“They’re okay. Not hurt.”
Even with all this woman had gone through, she still managed a smile. “Who are you?”
“Nathan McBride. Vince is here too. An ambulance is on the way.”
“Vince?”
“Yeah, Denise. I’m here.”
She tried to look up, but her head didn’t make it.
“She’s drifting in and out,” Nathan said.
“Denise, we have to clear the rest of the house.”
“Heard them . . . leave.”
“We have to make sure. We’ll be right back. I promise.”
No response.
“Denise? Denise, can you hear me? She’s out again,” he said. “She’s concussed for sure, maybe worse. You’d better call 911 just in case her neighbor didn’t.”
“Good idea.”
Nathan took a defensive position at the door while Vince made the call, reporting a home invasion with a critically injured victim and one fatality. After providing the address, he told the 911 operator he was in the process of clearing the house.
“No, I’m not going to vacate the premises,” Vince said in an irritated whisper. “Just get an ambulance going now!”
At least he’s not yelling, Nathan thought.
His friend cursed under his breath and cut the call short.
Looking at Denise, Nathan knew whoever had beaten her enjoyed doing it. He’d seen enough of this to know the difference. She hadn’t been struck once or twice; she’d been pummeled into unconsciousness. He doubted Denise had offered much resistance, assuming all the intruders wanted was information. As dark as the thought was, if they’d been sexual predators, Denise’s children wouldn’t have been spared.
They left the room and started toward the stairwell landing. Keeping his voice low, Vince said, “Heads are going to roll for this. There’s going to be some serious fucking payback.”
“You can count on me and Harv. We’re going to find whoever did this and bury them.”
“I want a few hours with them first.”
“I’m sure that can be arranged.” Nathan needed to direct their attention back to the task at hand. “I’ll take the lead going up the stairs, and we’ll clear the rooms just like we did down here.”
It took less than a minute to check the second floor. Denise was right: the intruders were no longer here.
They hurried downstairs and approached her kids. Still terrified, they clearly didn’t trust their rescuers. An understandable reaction, given Nathan’s unusual-looking face and everything else these children had undergone this morning.
Nathan had torn duct tape from skin many times, but never from anyone this young. He wasn’t sure if the tape would take their skin with it. Being cautious, he started peeling from one corner slowly.
He asked Vince to keep an eye on the front and back doors while he tended to the kids.
“An ambulance is coming. Your mom’s okay.”
The younger of the two boys didn’t say anything, but the older one asked why this had happened.
“I don’t know,” Nathan said. “But you’re all safe now. I’m a friend of your mom, and I’m here with her boss, Vince. I want you to stay right here with your brother and sister, okay? Promise you’ll do that?”
“What happened to your face?” the girl asked. “Did the bad men hurt you too?”
If only you knew. “I had an accident a long time ago. Your mom’s in her office. She’s okay, but they roughed her up a little.”
“You mean like a bully?” asked one of the boys.
“Yeah, like that,” he said. No doubt they’d heard what their mother had gone through. He repeated his command gently. “I want all of you to stay right here. Okay?”
They all nodded.
The older boy said one of the men hurt his thumb. Nathan saw the swelling right away. The fat part of his thumb was twice its normal size. What kind of an animal hurts a small kid like this? Vince had it exactly right. Some serious payback loomed on the horizon.
After he had the three kids settl
ed on the sofa, he asked Vince to stay with them while he tended to Denise. He glanced at his watch, wondering how much time he had before the police arrived. Given some of the activities he’d engaged in over the years, he preferred to keep under the radar when it came to the police.
Vince must’ve read his mind because he said, “I don’t mind being on the police report, but you probably shouldn’t be.”
“How much time do we have?”
“A few minutes at best. I wouldn’t be surprised if the CHP also responds. Especially if a cruiser’s on the freeway nearby. I’d say you need to be outta here within the next two minutes.”
Nathan hurried back to the office. Denise hadn’t moved. If anything, her head was slumped farther down. When she didn’t respond to her name, he gave her a slight nudge, and she moaned.
“I’m going to get you out of this chair. Sorry, but it’s going to hurt.” He cut the tape binding her wrists and ankles to the chair’s legs and eased her down to the carpet. Her blouse opened in the process; several buttons were missing. When he saw an area of bruised skin, he unfastened the rest of the buttons and clenched his teeth at the sight. Her entire torso, from neck to belt line, looked like it had been used as a speed bag. Literally every square inch of her chest, ribs, and stomach was bruised and swollen. Making matters worse, the underwire part of her bra was pinched across her breasts. He left it in place, reached underneath her back, and tried to unhook it. After fumbling with it for several seconds, he gave up, pulled his Predator knife from its ankle sheath, and cut the bra where it stretched under her arm.
You assholes are going to pay for this.
She stirred but didn’t open her eyes.
“Denise.”
Nothing.
He said her name louder.
Again, no response.
Hating himself for doing it, he gave her a firm nudge. He needed to know what the intruders wanted. He seriously doubted this was a random break-in.
Still nothing, except for her raspy breathing.
He hustled out of the office and found Vince standing near the base of the stairwell.
“What’s going on?” Vince asked.
“I need something from the kitchen.”
Passing by the TV room, he again told the children their mom was okay and that help was on the way.
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