Blindman's Bluff

by Faye Kellerman

  The first barrier was a piece of shit that could be flipped with a flick of a credit card. The second was a dead bolt, a little more challenging but nothing that couldn”t be taken care of with a good set of lock picks. The last obstacle was a chain—a snap once he finished off the dead bolt. He could have cracked the locks sooner except that the policia had nothing better to do than to search the rear area, shining their flashlights over the backyard. On a brick patio was a barbecue and a set of patio furniture—table and stackable chairs. If he had more time and a bigger truck, he would have helped himself to the set, but he had a job to do.

  The first time the policia had come in the back, he”d been caught off guard. Didn”t even hear them until they were almost on top of him. He”d been one kissed cholo because he”d been kneeling, rifling through his bags to get his tools. He was dressed in black, too, making him hard to see. And he”d been extra lucky because he had just taken out the lightbulb over the back door. Even the cops said something about it, that the light must have gone out. But the two fat asses had been too lazy to investigate. They looked around for a minute and then went back to their cruiser, sitting on their butts, probably stuffing their ugly faces with coffee and doughnuts.

  He had to work quickly in case they returned a second time. His only illumination came from a penlight. Couldn”t see too well, but that was okay. Most of the work was done by feel. The scratching of the tools seemed to make more noise than usual, and he was a little worried about that because the neighborhood was quiet. Maybe the dude heard something. But now, the apartment seemed dark and still. All was right.

  As he worked, he thought about how far he had come. He was a fucking pro now, not some shitty, dime-bag drug runner for some other little fuck who was a step higher on the ladder. No more of that shit: he was one of the big boys. And like all pros, he had done his homework, scoping the layout of the place and checking the mark. The gringo was protected and that was a pain in the ass, but he had taken down bigger marks. Being closer to the top meant he had to deliver. The fuck if he was gonna let a few dumb cops stop him.

  So far, he hadn”t even broken a sweat.

  When he was sure that all was clear, he tiptoed into his spot at the back door and pulled out his lock picks: a set of sixteen manufactured in the highest quality of stainless steel. He liked the feel of the sharp points and the heft of the handles.

  He sandwiched the penlight between his chin and his chest, trying to aim the beam at the keyhole.

  There was enough light for him to see the sweet spot and with a single swoop, he inserted two picks inside the keyhole. Jiggling them around, he tried to feel the click of the tumblers.

  He jiggled and jiggled and jiggled. But nothing happened.

  Huh!

  Well, maybe it was going to be a little harder than he thought.

  He let the picks dangle from the keyhole and shut off the penlight. Then he worked by his sense of touch only. It was smart to be in darkness anyway. With the sky being black with no moon out tonight, a penlight could give him away as easily as a spotlight. After a few minutes, he decided that he needed a different set of picks. He carefully chose another set of steel points and put the first two picks in the leather holder.

  Scratching and scratching inside the keyhole, trying to feel the tumblers. Yeah, this time, things were working better. He heard the first click of a tumbler falling into place, then the second, and finally the third. As the dead bolt gave, he slowly opened the door.

  The chain was connected, but getting that puppy off was no big deal. You insert the tool, move the door until it was just about closed, then slide the lock over the…

  His ears perked up.

  Someone was talking…a woman with a couple of guys.

  He heard the beep of a walkie-talkie.

  It was cop talk.

  He didn”t like that at all.

  Hurry up, hurry up.

  For the first time tonight, he began to sweat. It wasn”t supposed to happen like this. He always had a plan, and he usually had time.

  His hands began to shake.

  Concentrate, motherfucker, concentrate!

  Sliding the lock past…hearing the chain drop. Not the most elegant of jobs but it was over. Within seconds, he had slipped inside.

  He flipped the dead bolt back into place and replaced the chain.

  The cops could talk as much as they wanted now. He was safe inside—exactly where he wanted to be.

  THIS WASN”T A dream.

  The scratching sounds were real. The smell was real—sweat and fear from a man.

  Harriman knew he was in trouble.

  As perspiration poured down his face and back, he sat up, his hands shaking as he reached over to his nightstand and groped for his cell phone. In the process, he knocked over the remote control to the TV. It fell to the ground with a muffled thud.

  Did he hear it? Hopefully not. Thank God for carpets.

  More fumbling until there it was in his hot, wet hands, the metal feeling cool and sleek. Depressing the button to turn it on. The man was getting bolder, walking around, not even bothering to tiptoe, his footsteps easily perceived.

  He heard the phone”s jingle as he turned it on. It seemed to take forever. He spoke into the autodial.

  911.

  A moment later, the voice on the telephone.

  911, what”s your emergency?

  Talking as calmly and clearly as he could, but his voice sounded foreign to his ears.

  Someone”s broken into my condo.

  What is the address, sir?

  His mind went momentarily blank.

  What was his address?

  One breath, two breaths…ah, yes.

  He told the lovely 911 lady his address.

  Someone will be out right away.

  Hurry, please! I”m blind!

  When he hung up, he remembered the cops in front of his unit. Then how did this happen? Were they asleep? Did Decker lie and pull them off the job without telling him?

  How the fuck did this break-in happen?

  Do something, you wimp!

  Think, think!

  He kept his phone in his hand and silently eased himself out of bed, dropping to the floor and sliding under his bed. He was naked and shivering, but it wasn”t from cold. He was sandwiched between the carpet and the mattress so he was warm enough, but he couldn”t get rid of the internal chill of dread. He tried to concentrate on what was happening inside his condo, but his breathing was so loud it was as if he was listening with cotton in his ears.

  Steady, steady.

  Concentrate.

  The enemy was in the kitchen. Harriman could hear him clicking the light switch on and off. The bastard wouldn”t get any help there. Harriman never bothered to put any bulbs in the ceiling fixtures.

  Why pay for electricity that you”re never going to use?

  THE BEAMS FROM the flashlights crisscrossed the yard.

  “I still don”t understand why you had to come down.”It was Bud Rangler talking. “Why not just call us up?”

  He was clearly miffed, but so was Marge. The man was giving her attitude that she didn”t need at 12:30 in the night. Rangler was a punching bag on legs—a big barrel chest with short, muscular limbs. In his late twenties, he”d been on the force for five years. He seemed to regard Marge”s personal appearance as an affront to his competence.

  “When the boss says go, I go.”Marge added, “Not a bad thing to remember, Officer.”

  The second uniform on watch, Mark Breslau, was the older of the two and more seasoned. He was an eleven-year vet, and time had mellowed his machismo. “You”re the boss, Sergeant. I think Bud just wanted you to know that we”re doing our job. We”ve been checking out the back every couple of hours.”

  “You can see for yourself, Sergeant,”Rangler said. “Nothing”s been disturbed.”

  “Dark back here.”Marge followed the ray of light with her eyes. “How well could you see if something was disturbed?”
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br />   “The lightbulb over the porch just burned out,”Rangler said. “Before that, the place was pretty well lit up.”

  “Burned out?”Marge turned around and faced him. “Why didn”t you replace it?”

  Rangler said, “I didn”t think replacing lightbulbs was part of the job description.”

  “If it helps you see what”s going on, it sure as hell is.”She turned to Breslau. “Do you have a lightbulb in the car?”

  “No, ma”am.”

  “There”s a twenty-four-hour place just around the corner.”She tossed him the keys to her car. “Go down and get one. I”ll stay with Officer Rangler until you get back.”

  “Yes, ma”am.”

  Marge could hear the young cop chuckle. “Something funny, Rangler?”

  “Not at all, Sergeant.”

  “I thought I heard laughter. Must be imagining things, huh?”

  Rangler was silent. Marge walked over to the back door and focused the flashlight on the socket over the entrance. “C”mere, Officer.”

  Rangler complied, stopping about a foot away from Marge.

  “Take a look up there.”She shone her beam on the light fixture. “How could a bulb burn out…when there”s no bulb in the socket? Want to explain that to me?”

  Rangler started to speak, but then wisely stopped himself.

  Marge swept her flashlight over the ground until she found the molded piece of glass resting in the grass. She picked it up and screwed it back into the socket, bathing the back area in welcomed yellow light.

  “Call in for backup, all units in the area.”Standing off to the side, she pounded on the back door and shouted out to Harriman. Did it again and when she got no response, she hooked her flashlight onto her belt and took out her service revolver.

  “Cover my ass, Rangler, we”re going in.”

  IT WASN”T GOING like he planned.

  None of the fucking lights worked!

  They were pounding at the back door.

  There were the two cops watching the front door.

  Sirens in the background.

  You”re not a stupid guy, he said to himself. Don”t start being stupid now!

  With desperation, he looked around for a way to get out undetected. But both doors were guarded. He was a cornered animal about to be hunted down.

  Think, you asshole, think!

  He took out his piece and held it in his hand. It would give him some leverage, but in the end he was badly outnumbered. A shootout wasn”t the answer.

  There was no place to run; he might as well hide.

  THIRTY-SEVEN

  HARRIMAN COULD HEAR the banging at his back door. His heart, already galloping, almost flew out of his chest. If he yelled from under the bed, could they even hear him? Would he give himself away to the intruder?

  Wait until they were closer.

  Patience, patience.

  Like they say, silence is golden.

  WITHIN MOMENTS, BRESLAU had returned and was breathless. “I heard the call go out.”

  “What call?”Marge pounded the door again.

  “911 from the inside of this address.”

  “Good God!”Marge exclaimed. “If Harriman called 911, someone”s inside. The door”s bolted. I don”t want a hostage situation, but I don”t want to ram the door without vest protection. Guy could have a gun.”

  Her eyes made a frantic search around the yard and landed on the patio chairs. She stacked the four of them together, picked them up, and brought them to her chest, using them as a shield.

  “This”ll have to do,”Marge said. “Cover me.”

  “I”ll ram the door, Sarge,”Rangler said. “I got a lot more weight on me.”

  “This isn”t Kevlar, Rangler. A bullet could rip through this like it was snow.”

  “We all signed up for the job.”Rangler held his arms out. “I got more weight on me. Whoever can do it the easiest, you know?”

  “Can”t argue with that.”Marge would remember the good attitude as she passed the chairs to Rangler. He hefted them as if they were a pile of blankets. Taking two steps backward, he rammed the door.

  Once.

  Twice.

  By the third time, the frame splintered and the back door swung open. In the background, the three of them could hear the sounds of approaching sirens.

  Marge peered inside: dark and silent.

  “Harriman, are you here?”When Marge didn”t get any response, she pulled out her semiautomatic issue. “Rangler, you take the flashlights and shine the beam inside so I can see. Breslau, you”re my cover. Let”s go.”

  There was not nearly enough illumination to discharge a weapon. Marge flattened herself against the wall and inched her way inside, groping for the light switch. When her fingers finally found it, she steadied her breath and lifted it up.

  Nothing happened.

  She did it again and again and then remembered the obvious.

  The guy was blind.

  Marge wondered if there were any active lights in the entire unit. She thought for a few moments. Brett had mentioned something about a girlfriend driving him to Rina”s. She must visit sometimes at night. There had to be artificial lighting somewhere. Assessing her surroundings, Marge was standing in the laundry room, which led directly into the kitchen.

  The kitchen!

  Maybe there was a hood light over the cooktop with a working bulb. She said, “Throw some beams into the kitchen with your flashlights.”

  The area looked unoccupied, but someone could be hiding. Slowly she moved toward the cooktop. She reached under the hood, felt for the switch, and turned it on.

  Voilà!

  The illumination was better but far from adequate. She saw a duplex switch on the tiled backsplash. The first one operated the garbage disposal, but the second one turned on a system of under-the-counter lighting. They could see enough to clear the kitchen and move forward.

  Harriman”s condo sported an open floor plan: living room, dining area, and kitchen bleeding into one another. The good news was that nothing appeared disturbed. There was no upended furniture or other signs of a struggle, but there was just something off about the place.

  Too quiet? The smell?

  Sirens continued to wail in the background.

  Marge said, “Rangler, call in our position to the RTO and tell all units coming to the scene to approach with extreme caution.”

  Her eyes skittered around in the dimness. Off the open public area was a hallway that probably led to the bedrooms.

  “Cover me,”Marge told the officers.

  She plastered herself against the wall and inched her way down the foyer until she came to the first closed door. She knocked hard on the door, announcing herself as the police, telling anyone inside to come out with their hands in the air. When the door remained shut, she threw it open and pointed a gun forward.

  Nothing happened.

  With caution, Rangler shined the flashlights inside the room and it appeared to be empty.

  “Police!”Marge shouted again. “You”re surrounded! Come out with your hands in the air!”

  They waited…one second…two seconds…three seconds.

  They entered the room. The small space was set up as a gym with a stationary bicycle, a treadmill, and a weight machine. The pole lamp inside worked and bathed the area in soft light. Marge pointed to a closed door—probably a closet. Pressing herself against the wall, she turned the knob and tossed open the door.

  Nothing happened, and that was just the way she wanted it.

  As Breslau kept watch at the door and Rangler provided the spotlight, Marge rummaged inside the closet, pushing away clothes and weights just to make sure that no one was hiding.

  She jumped when she heard a pounding at the front door. Rangler let the backup officers into the living room, turning on as many lamps as they could find. Good mood lighting but no romance was in the air. When everyone was safely inside, Marge took a head count—eight including herself.

  “I want on
e at the front door, one at the back door, one guarding the first bedroom and two of you clearing that closed door, which is probably a bathroom.”She turned to Breslau and Rangler. “We”ll check out the last closed door, which is probably Harriman”s bedroom.”

  Heart hammering in her chest, Marge pounded on the door and yelled, “Police. Come out with your hands up.”

  The response was a male voice that screamed out a “Help!”

  “Harriman?”

  “Yes! Help me! I”m under the bed.”

  “Don”t move. Are you alone?”

  “I have no idea.”

  “Are you hurt?”

  “No.”

  “Don”t move!”Marge repeated. “We”ll come in and get you.”Speaking loudly, she said, “We found the occupant. We”re going in. I need a couple more bodies.”

  The two officers who had cleared the hallway bathroom came to help. Marge said, “This could be a setup. Everyone take a position of safety, and I”ll open the door when we”re all ready.”

  When she got the nods, she flattened herself against the wall, turned the knob, and flung open the door.

  Flashlights lit up the dark room, darting around the blackness like giant fireflies on a moonless night.

  “We”re inside, Brett,”Marge said. “Stay put. We”re going to clear the room. Are there any lights that work in this room?”

  “Try the bed lamp on the nightstand. I think that”s what my girlfriend uses.”

  Marge worked her way to the nightstand lamp and turned it on. The space was a decent size with a king bed and two flanking nightstands. Across from the bed was a dresser. One wall had a closet with sliding mirrored doors and opposite that was a closed door, which Marge guessed opened to the bathroom.

  Using standard procedure, she opened the bathroom door. Empty but the shower curtains were drawn.

  “Police!”Marge screamed, pointing the gun at the tub enclosure. “Come out with your hands in the air!”

  The shower curtains didn”t appear to hear because they didn”t even ripple. With great care, she pulled them back and revealed an empty tub.

  “Clear!”She went back to the bedroom. “What about the closet?”

  “Clear,”Rangler told her.