“Who? You? Me?” Baccus smiled. “No one on the force is as valuable to him as Dana Apple.”
“Except me!” Lennie clicked her nails. Baccus looked at her, but she spoke before he could. “I’m your daughter. You’ll move heaven and earth to save me. At least, that’s what you’ve got to say to him.”
“You’re not going in.”
“I am a police officer, Dad, and as a police officer, it is my job is to put my life second to the people I serve—”
“Cut the shit, Lenny. You’re not going anywhere. If you go in, all that will mean is we’ll have two dead people on our hands. Three with the guard.”
“Guerlin can’t control Dana and me at the same time. Every time he takes his eyes off me to look at Dana, I’m a threat—”
“Not if she’s tied up. Not if he decides to kill you.”
“Then convince him that it’s in his best interest not to kill me.” Lennie blew out air. “Look, I’m betting I can get Dana out alive. What happens after that . . .” She threw her hands up in the air and let them fall by her side.
Baccus laughed mirthlessly. “What happens after that . . .” Another laugh. “Get the hell out of here. You’re an unwanted distraction right now.”
Her eyes pleaded with Decker’s. He finally said, “I have a daughter who’s a detective. I wouldn’t send her in, either. As a father, I couldn’t. But . . . she has a point.”
“Get out of here, Lenora!” Baccus repeated.
“Dad, every time I have tried to stretch, you have stood firmly in my way!” She raised herself to her maximum height of five ten and stuck out her chin. “Not this time! You can’t afford to show favoritism. No one in the department will ever trust you or me again if you do. You have to let me try!” Silence except for the clicking of her long, red nails. “At least ask him if he’s willing to exchange Dana for me.”
“Guerlin knows his demands won’t be met,” Decker said. “They can’t be met. But even a psycho like him would probably rather shoot a cop than a kid. Ask him if he’s willing for an exchange—any exchange. Use Lennie as a last resort. And even then, he probably won’t go for it. Talking to him is a good stall until you can figure out your next move. And it’ll not only give him a sense of power, it’ll keep the communication open.”
“And how many hostage situations have you done successfully, hotshot?”
“Los Angeles is a big city, sir. I’ve done enough to feel it’s worth a try.”
Baccus waited before he spoke. Then he said, “I’ll tell the negotiator to bring up an exchange.”
“You want me to do it?” Decker asked. “Negotiate with him?”
“You’re that experienced, Decker?”
“No, but this is my thinking: a guy like Guerlin would rather talk to a working police officer than a civilian hostage negotiator. Cop to cop. Man to man. But it’s up to you.”
Baccus looked around—at the blinking police cars, at the arc lamps, the news media, the cameras, the ambulances, the SWAT van, the negotiator’s van. His eyes took in Yvonne sobbing in the backseat of a police car, shoulders heaving, hands over her face. He regarded Paul standing nearby, leaning against the black-and-white, motionless and pale.
His eyes went to Decker’s face. “The negotiator is in the SWAT van. C’mon, hotshot. Let’s see what they teach you in the big city.”
Chapter 32
It took a little more convincing, but Victor Baccus caved. There was wisdom in Lennie’s ideas, and no one else came forward with a better position than hers. If only they had enough time to plan. Instead, decisions had to be made fast and furious.
She was going in weaponless and defenseless except for the vest, police combat training, and her own wits. When she was being outfitted in the uniform, she was shaking. Afterward came the preternatural calm. This is what she had been schooled for. This was her job. She turned to Decker. “You really need some medical attention.”
“When this is all over.” His heart was going a mile a minute. “He’s a mean guy, Lennie. He’s a murderer with no remorse. And he probably won’t take you seriously because you’re a woman—”
“No prob—”
“Don’t interrupt. So he may look at you as a pushover—which might work to your advantage. Whatever you do, remain steady. Don’t beg, don’t buckle, but don’t antagonize. To build a rapport, you have to do a lot of listening. Don’t offer any advice or any interpretation to what he might tell you. You’re a mirror. Reflect back, but change the wording slightly. Otherwise he may think you’re mocking him.”
“Got it.”
“Remember you’re going in there as his representative. You’re there to facilitate his demands.”
“Understood.” She started to click her nails, but then clasped her hands. “Where’s my dad?”
“He’s in the van with SWAT, buttoning up the details.”
They had told her the strategy in broad terms. They were planning to cut the power to the monitors so SWAT could go in without being picked off. At the moment, they were trying to figure out how the men could sidestep the monitors, so they wouldn’t be seen while working on the electricity shutoff.
Decker said, “As soon as the place goes dark, they’ll do an immediate takedown. That’ll be your chance to get the girl out.”
“And that will be in about an hour?”
“We’re hoping an hour.” Decker checked his watch. “Start checking the clock after forty-five minutes. And I shouldn’t have to tell you this. Stall him as long as you can.”
“And if they can’t shut off the power to the monitors without being seen?”
“They’re working on plan B, plan C, right through plan Z. We’re all behind you.”
“I’d like to see my dad before I go in.” When Decker sighed, she said, “Or is he absenting himself on purpose?”
“You know this is killing him.” Silence. “I’ll get him—”
Lennie held on to Decker’s arm. “No, it’s fine. Let him do what he’s good at. It’s certainly not emotion. But if something happens to me, tell him I love him and Mom very much.”
“Nothing will happen to you.”
“You don’t know that.”
Of course he didn’t. He was lying. “I’ll relay the message.”
“Thanks.” Taking the megaphone from Decker’s hand, she announced to Guerlin that she was coming in. Her back was covered by numerous guns pointed at the shop as she walked to the door. It took a minute for Guerlin to open it, and when he did, he had his arm around Dana’s neck and a gun to her head. He shouted, “In, in, in, in!”
As soon as Lennie stepped across the threshold, the door closed and everything was shrouded in darkness. She had to squint, but she did see a form lying at the back of the store, motionless. No time to dwell on that. She had to move quickly as he raced through the secret paneled door and down the small hallway: a walking shadow of death and misery. Guerlin settled in Yvonne’s office, where the security camera monitors were giving him a bird’s-eye view of the activity outside. He motioned Lennie in, closed the door, and took the gun away from Dana’s head. He kept his forearm around Dana’s neck. He aimed the barrel at a chair. “You sit. Don’t move.”
Lennie complied. Guerlin pointed the gun at her face as he took his arm away from Dana’s neck. “You know the drill, girlie. Sit in the corner. You move, you’re dead.” He gave her a small push. “Go.”
Dana reeled over to the spot. Even in the shadows, Lennie could tell she was beyond petrified. She sat small and huddled, a stick figure of pain and anguish. Burying her head in her arms, her knees to her chest, a nest of long curls looping over her face. It was hard to tell, but Lennie guessed she was silently crying.
Guerlin barked to the air. “You.” Meaning Lennie. “Stand up.”
Lennie stood.
He said, “Are you wearing a wire?”
“No,” she lied. “Just a Kevlar vest.”
“If you’re lying, I’ll kill you. Are you wearing a wire?
”
“No.”
He did a superficial pat-down. Then he said, “Take off your clothes.”
She hesitated a fraction. “You want me buck naked?” He smiled. For some reason, it didn’t bother her. His face looked wild but not lecherous.
She stripped nude.
Still waving the gun, he checked her mouth, her ears, her vagina, and her anus. He looked at her skin and felt her scalp. “Take off your earrings.”
She did as told. “I’d like them back. They were a gift from my dad.”
“Your dad . . .” A snort. “In that case . . .” He threw them across the room.
They tumbled and landed in a corner. And so that’s where the microphone sat. Hopefully it would be sensitive enough to record what they were saying. She said, “Can I put my clothes on now?”
He looked her up and down. “Everything but the vest.” He opened the door to the office and threw it out. “You might have stuffed a wire in there.”
She dressed quickly. “No wire. You can check.”
“Sit down and shut up.”
“Okay.” She sat up, taking in his size and girth. He was a stocky guy, but muscular. Big arms. Even in the dark she could make out a smudge on his wrist that was probably the tattoo: definitely the man who had covered the security camera lens to her apartment. He wore a short-sleeved black T-shirt and black pants. Her eyes tried to engage his, but he was pacing. His eyes were glazed and unfocused. His entire demeanor suggested disorganization. Whatever his plan was, it wasn’t well thought out. “What are they doing out there?” He turned the gun to her. “Don’t fucking lie.”
“They are trying to figure out how to end this without anyone getting hurt.”
“What did Mayhew tell you?”
“Mayhew?”
“Yeah, Mayhew. What’s he blabbing to you?”
“Mr. Guerlin, we have no idea where Denny Mayhew is.”
Guerlin looked confused. “You’re lying.”
“No, sir, I am not.” A pause. “Would you know where he is?”
“Just shut up. I don’t want to talk about Mayhew. Lying scum. It’s all his fault.”
“Okay . . . how’s that?”
“Shut up.” Lennie was quiet. “Why’d they send you in?”
“I’m Chief Baccus’s daughter, Lenora. It’s meant to show you that he’s serious about negotiations.”
“What does he want?”
“To end this peaceably. What do you want?”
“I told them what I wanted.” He looked at his watch. “Your daddy has a little over two hours. Then I start shooting.”
Her emotions wanted to plead with him, but her instructions were to listen. “Okay.”
He became agitated. “C’mon, c’mon, what’s the plan? SWAT’s working on something.” He was waving the gun at her face. “Maybe I should tell your dad I just shortened his time.”
“You can have as much time as you want,” Lennie said. “No one is going to do anything while we’re here. And they know you can see everything.” She pointed to the mounted monitors.
That seemed to calm him down. “Why’d they send you in? To talk me down?” He snorted. “I am not going to prison, and if I go down, you go down with me.” She nodded. “You both go down with me.” When she didn’t answer, he said, “Why the fuck are you really here? I’m not doing a swap. You had to know that. You have a death wish?”
“No, sir, I do not.”
“Then why the FUCK are you here?”
She saw his neck artery throb. She took a moment to organize her thoughts. “I won’t insult your obvious intelligence. Two people are harder to watch than one. I think we’re all hoping that you let Dana go. As long as you have me as a hostage, my father won’t do anything.”
He inhaled and let it out slowly. He said nothing.
The clock ticked.
One minute.
Two minutes.
Five minutes.
He looked at his watch. “They’re running out of time.”
Lennie looked at him. “Can you give them a little more time?”
“So SWAT can organize better?”
“Up to you, sir.”
“Yeah, you’d better fucking believe that it’s up to me.” He started pacing again. “Why the fuck did you open up the case anyway? It’s been settled for over twenty years. Why didn’t you just leave it alone?”
“Superior orders.”
“Whose? That idiot Dexter? Who the fuck is he?”
“Detective Decker is from Greenbury. He’s investigating Brady Neil’s death. Neil is Brandon Gratz’s son. He thought that maybe Neil’s death had something to do with the father, and one thing led to another.”
A long pause. “I did that.”
Lennie didn’t react right away. “Did what, sir?”
“Brady Neil and Joe Boch. I killed them both.”
“Okay.” Lennie swallowed hard. “Can I ask why?”
“No, I don’t want to talk about it.”
“Okay,” Lennie said. “You’re calling the shots.”
Silence.
Then Lennie asked, “What about the bombing?”
Guerlin was quiet. “I did that, too. Gregg Levine was a little weasel. As soon as I saw him walking into the police station, I knew it was over. He deserved to die.”
“How did you plant a bomb that fast?”
“I planted it three days ago. All I had to do was tie it in to the ignition switch, which took about thirty seconds.” He looked at Lennie. “If you get out in one piece, I’d check the undercarriage of your car.”
So that’s what Denny Mayhew had been doing when he ducked down in the parking lot of Bigstore. He was planting a bomb. How did SID miss it? It must have been tiny.
Lennie said, “Gregg Levine didn’t die.”
“Huh?” Guerlin looked at her. “What are you talking about?”
“The car exploded, but Gregg wasn’t killed.”
Guerlin closed his eyes. “Shit!” He gave out a miserable chuckle. “The best-laid plans, huh? Doesn’t matter now! It’ll all be over soon.”
Lennie shuddered, but she didn’t say anything. The minutes ticked on. She finally found her voice. “If you killed Brady and Joe, can I ask why you left Jaylene Boch alive?”
He whipped around, aiming the gun at her face. “I told you, I’m not talking about that!”
“Understood.”
It was a curious thing why he didn’t kill her. Maybe she had been in on the original heist and Guerlin didn’t perceive her as a threat. Gregg Levine did identify the car as belonging to Joseph Boch Senior. Maybe Guerlin thought she was as good as dead when he left her tied to her wheelchair. Whatever the reason, Lennie knew Jaylene was afraid of him. Why else would she have had a panic attack when they visited her in the hospital? She took a chance and spoke. “I think you left her alive because maybe you were friends with her a long time ago?”
Guerlin sat in Yvonne’s chair, his eyes darting between the monitors and Lennie’s face. He said, “I should tie you up.”
She paused. “Go ahead, but I’m not going anywhere.”
“When this is over, you tell them I treated you good.”
Thumbs up. “I will do that.”
Another minute passed.
Guerlin said, “I knew Jaylene, yeah.” A pause. “I also had dealings with her moronic husband. He was an asshole.”
“That seems to be the consensus.”
The minutes passed.
“He knew the code—or how to bypass the code. He wouldn’t give us the number, the prick. All that asshole had to do was switch off the alarm. He couldn’t even do that right.”
“What happened, if I may ask?”
“He never showed up.” He faced her, gun in hand. “It tripped when Gratz and Masterson went in. I ran over there as fast as I could, but Mayhew was already there, wondering what the hell was going on.”
Silence.
Guerlin looked up. “I had to give him a cut. Lu
cky he was the one who caught the call, because I knew he was bent. I should have just plugged him when I had a chance.”
Lennie said, “If Mayhew was murdered, it might have thrown attention on you.”
He stared at her. “Maybe.” A minute slipped by. “It wasn’t my idea . . . the robbery.” When she nodded, he said, “Jaylene brought me in. She and Gratz were having a thing.” He let out a laugh. “She was having a thing with everybody back then. You wouldn’t know it to look at her now, but once she was more than a pathetic old bitch.”
“Yeah, she’s pretty pathetic,” Lennie said. “Why were you brought into the robbery?”
He didn’t answer, continued to watch the monitors.
Lennie switched the subject. “Any idea why Jaylene Boch had old pictures of Margot Flint hidden in her wheelchair?”
“Margot Flint?” Guerlin didn’t talk. Then he said, “I haven’t heard that name in a while.”
“Some people say she was behind the robbery.”
“Wouldn’t be surprised. She was fucking Levine and went apeshit when he pressed charges against her and Mitch. She was another one who got around.”
“Do you have any idea why Jaylene hid pictures of Margot in her wheelchair?”
“How the fuck would I know?” A minute passed. “Jaylene hated her—Margot.”
“Why?”
“Like I said, Margot got around. You do the math.”
Lennie nodded. “Margot was doing Joe Boch. Did he organize the robbery for her?”
“He couldn’t organize a trip to the john without stepping on his dick. If anyone organized something, it was Margot. People say she wanted revenge. Maybe she got it.”
“Did Joe drag Jaylene into the robbery?”
“Stop asking me questions.”
“Sorry.”
Five minutes of silence passed.
“I don’t know whose idea it was,” Guerlin said. “I was paid to keep the patrol cars clear of the area when the robbery took place. They weren’t supposed to get shot—the Levines. That wasn’t part of the plan.” He was silent. “All of them were fucking assholes. I’m an asshole. I got greedy.” He checked his watch. “It’s under two hours. Call them up and ask where they are with the demands . . . no, fuck that. They’ll just say they’re working on it.”
Walking Shadows Page 29