As they got the second piece of furniture into place, a crack appeared in the entry. ‘Lean against it, Amber.’
Amber pushed with all her strength but she was losing ground. Charley jumped in and shoved as hard as she could.
‘What the hell are you doing, you sniveling little snot? Let me in there now.’
To their great relief, the pressure on the other side eased and the door slammed shut. Charley pulled open the door to the closet and forced it all the way open, wedged against the bed. ‘C’mon. Sit on the floor in front of the closet door.’
Amber, Andy and Charley sat with their backs against the door, their feet digging into the floor. Charley punched the screen of her iPhone, feeling the pressure on her back of renewed pushing from the hallway.
THIRTY-EIGHT
Afraid that it was not actually Jake on the other end of the line, despite the name on the screen, Lucinda answered, ‘Pierce.’
‘Hey, Lucy! Looks like I’ll be back home tonight after all. But I’ve got a few things to take care of first, so don’t expect me for dinner.’
‘Jake, are you OK?’
‘Sure, sure. Just took a drive. Everything’s fine. Don’t worry about a thing. Don’t wait up. I’ll snuggle you when I get there.’
‘Do you need help?’
‘Don’t need a thing, Lucy. I’ll see ya sometime tonight.’
‘Jake, where are you?’
‘Oh, you did? Well, I wasn’t getting a signal out in the country so I never heard it ring.’
‘Are you saying you’re not alone and can’t talk to me now?’
‘You got it, girl!’
‘So you’re on your way back from Smith Mountain Lake?’
‘Sure thing, sweetheart. Hope you get your errands done soon and get to head on home. I’ll meet you there as soon as I can. Talk to you later. Bye.’
Lucinda pulled into a convenience store parking lot and called Captain Holland. ‘Lovett is on his way back, sir.’
‘Do you know where he is?’
‘Just that he is somewhere between Smith Mountain Lake and home.’
‘Is he in trouble? Does he need assistance?’
‘He obviously wasn’t alone and couldn’t talk freely but he made it clear that he didn’t want or need any help and had everything under control.’
‘Well, you’re needed back here anyway. Does the name Tom McCallister mean anything to you?’
‘Yes, that’s Brittany Schaffer’s date last weekend. I interviewed three teachers and she was on the top of my list for possible involvement in the explosion. I was in the middle of writing a report to you when the crap hit the fan over Lovett.’
‘He’s here waiting for you right now. We told him we weren’t sure when you’d get back from the field but he insisted that he was staying until you were.’
‘What made him show up there?’
‘He said that he heard you wanted to talk to him and he sure didn’t need you showing up at his place of business and causing problems. So, here he sits.’
‘I’ll be there in an hour or less,’ Lucinda said, then circuited the parking lot and pointed the car back toward town.
Back in her office, Lucinda sat down with an extremely attractive but obviously conceited Tom McCallister. ‘Sir, I just have a couple of questions for you—’
‘Yes, I did go out with Brittany Schaffer on Saturday night. Yes, I did spend the night at her place and left late Sunday morning. And, yes, I sure would like it if you could keep this very quiet. My wife won’t be too happy to learn that I wasn’t out of town on business.’
‘My, my, my, Mr McCallister, you are full of surprises.’
‘Yeah, yeah, can I go now?’
‘Just a couple of additional questions. Did you see Ms Schaffer’s truck when you were at her house?’
‘No.’
‘Could it have been parked in the garage instead of out in the drive?’
‘Absolutely not. When I arrived, I parked in the garage. I didn’t want anyone seeing my car there.’
‘Did you stay in all night?’
‘Nah. We went out for dinner and some dancing.’
‘Was the truck there when you returned to Ms Schaffer’s house?’
‘No.’
‘How about the next morning?’
‘I wish it had been but no, it wasn’t there.’
‘Are you sure?’
‘Yeah, I’m sure. I wanted her to give me a ride back to my car.’
‘Back to your car?’
‘Yeah, we had a bit too much to drink Saturday night and had to take a cab back to her place. So, the next morning, I had to get a taxi again to pick up my car.’
‘What cab company did you call?’
‘Darned if I know. Brittany called them and I didn’t pay any attention.’
‘Did you ask Ms Schaffer about the whereabouts of her truck?’
‘Yeah, she said it was in the shop. You need anything else?’
That’s one of Brittany Schaffer’s lies uncovered – what else might she be hiding? Lucinda wondered. ‘No, sir, that’s just fine,’ she said, rising to her feet. ‘Thank you for your cooperation.’ She stepped out into the hall and watched him walk away. He certainly was a rude guy but definitely fit in the eye-candy category. She returned to her desk to finish up her report to Captain Holland.
She was nearing the end when her cell phone rang. Before she could say a word, she heard Charley’s voice yelling, ‘Lucy, I need you. I need you now.’
THIRTY-NINE
Outwardly, Jake worked to appear calm and relaxed. His thoughts, however, sped down the road faster than the car. He had to release the hostages without raising Connelly’s suspicion. Then, somehow, he had to get the unbalanced man into custody before he had any inkling that Jake was not his comrade-in-arms. Connelly appeared still to be asleep but Jake could not be certain if it was real or feigned.
Jake drove past the city limits sign and said, ‘Hey, Dr Singh, I was thinking I should drop you off a couple blocks from your office in case anyone is watching your place – wouldn’t want them to see you two with us.’
‘Good idea, Agent Lovett,’ the doctor said. ‘There’s a drugstore at Fifth and Market. We could go in there and buy something before we walked back to create more distance.’
Jake was impressed with Dr Singh’s ability to fall into the role forced upon him with such ease. ‘Good idea. Great cover.’ Jake eased to the curb and said, ‘Thank you, guys. I’ll catch up with you later through the usual channels.’
‘You got it, Agent,’ the doctor said as he and his patient stepped out of the car.
Connelly started and sputtered awake. ‘Where are we? Why have we stopped?’
‘I just dropped off the undercover operatives a couple of blocks from their headquarters in case their place is under surveillance,’ Jake said as he pulled back into the traffic. ‘I’m going to give the office a call and make sure they don’t need us to go anywhere else before we come in.’
Jake held his cell tightly to his ear. When the call was answered, he said, ‘Hey, this is Lovett. What do you need from me now?’
‘Oh, thank God, sir. We have been very worried. Are you on your way in? When can we expect you?’
‘You’ve got a suspect in custody?’
‘Excuse me, sir?’
‘A person of interest from the Middle East? Very interesting. Sure, sure, we’ll be there in twenty minutes. Put him in interrogation room B. Connelly and I will conduct the interview,’ Jake said.
‘Sir, are you telling me you need me to put someone who appears to be an Arab or Pakistani in B within twenty minutes in order for you to do something I don’t understand and you can’t explain because you’re not alone?’
‘You got it,’ Jake said. ‘See you soon.’
As soon as he finished the call, Connelly said, ‘A suspect? Really? They have a suspect?’
‘Yes,’ Jake confirmed. ‘They picked up a man who is on the terrorist
watch list. Had no idea he was here in town until someone spotted him going into a mosque. They are pretty sure it’s our guy.’
Connelly’s eyes glowed with self-righteousness. ‘I told you, didn’t I, Lovett? That incident at the high school was part of a master plan to bring us down and subject us to the Sharia law. That should teach that woman cop a lesson.’
‘Woman cop? You mean Pierce?’
‘Yeah, worthless local,’ Connelly said with a sneer.
‘Hate to tell you, Connelly, but that’s one hell of a stubborn woman. I doubt that she’ll come around to your way of thinking even now.’
‘Like I said, worthless. So how do you want to handle this interview?’
‘I thought you’d take the lead, Connelly. You’re senior officer and you have more experience in this arena than I do.’
When they arrived at the FBI field office, Jake led the way inside. Standing by the door, Special Agent Jim Ford stood with folded arms. ‘Agents, I am going to have to ask both of you to leave your weapons at the front desk. We’ll lock them in the safe but you can’t take them in that room.’
‘What’s the problem, Ford?’
‘Homeland Security orders, sir. The bastard we brought in has a nasty history. Took a revolver off a federal marshal, shot him dead and escaped from custody the last time. They don’t want us to take any chances of a repeat performance.’
‘What kind of idiot would let someone in custody close enough to seize his weapon?’ Connelly asked.
‘Apparently, he was a twenty-year veteran with the federal marshal’s office. Homeland figures if he can be taken by surprise, anyone can.’
‘Not me,’ Connelly argued.
‘Connelly, I want to get in there. I don’t want to get bogged down in negotiations with the damned bureaucrats in DC. I want to talk to this guy,’ Jake said as he pulled his gun out of the holster and handed it to Agent Ford. ‘C’mon, let’s go.’
‘I’m going to file a complaint,’ Connelly threatened.
‘You and me both. But, for now, let’s just get in there.’
Connelly grumbled as he turned over his revolver. He pulled out a small notebook and jotted down Jim Ford’s name. Shaking his head, he followed Jake down the hall.
Entering the room, Jake nodded to the armed officer in the corner and gestured Connelly to the chair opposite a swarthy-looking man, who appeared handcuffed to the wall and aware of nothing beyond the surface of the table in front of him. He didn’t look up.
As Connelly eased into the seat, he said, ‘You are in a deep vat of bubbling oil, buddy. Your only hope of survival is if you take the help I’m offering you. But you gotta be straight with me. I need the names of any accomplices and of everyone in your sleeper cell. Otherwise you’re gonna cook to death pretty darned quick.’
Out of the corner of his eye, Jake saw the armed officer move into place behind Connelly. The man across from the ATF agent slowly raised his head and looked Connelly in the eye. ‘Listen to me carefully. You are under arrest for the abduction of two American citizens. There may be additional charges.’
Connelly started to rise but was pushed down by a hand on his back. The armed officer grabbed his wrist and twisted until Connelly gasped in pain and bent forward. A cuff snapped on one wrist, Connelly bucked and pulled his other arm out of the officer’s reach.
The supposed suspect reached across the table, grabbed Connelly’s shirt front and jerked him forward. The armed guard moved fast to secure Connelly’s other wrist.
Connelly raged like a frustrated toddler. He twisted his head to Jake and screamed, ‘Judas! Judas! When I’m released, I’m coming after you, Lovett. You won’t get the best of me ever again.’
Jake watched the other two men wrestling Connelly out of the room and down the hall. Jake felt like crap. He knew what he had done was in the best interest of the investigation, the two hostages and even Connelly himself. Still, he’d betrayed a fellow agent and even now, after all that had happened, it felt very wrong.
FORTY
Charley Spencer’s plea for help upended all of Lucinda’s priorities. ‘What’s wrong, Charley?’
‘That man has us trapped. He’s drunk. And he’s yelling. And I’m scared.’
‘Where are you?’
‘Amber’s house. Oh, please hurry, Lucy. I’m scared.’
‘Are you alone with him?’ Lucinda said as she sprinted down the hall.
‘No. Amber’s here and Andy and he—’ A loud cracking noise echoed in the background as the children shrieked.
‘What was that?’ Lucinda said, running up to Sergeant Robin Colter’s desk and motioning to her.
Robin jumped up and followed Lucinda.
‘The door is cracking,’ Charley wailed.
‘Stay with me, Charley. Sergeant Colter and I are on our way,’ Lucinda said as she climbed into the passenger’s seat of Robin’s vehicle.
Robin popped the bubble on the roof of her car and pulled out of the parking lot with a squeal of tires. She placed a call for uniformed back-up to meet them at Amber’s home.
Lucinda heard another crack. ‘Charley?’
‘He’s hitting on the door with something,’ Charley said as Andy whimpered in the background.
As the car approached a busy intersection, Robin laid on her horn. Some vehicles pulled to the side of the road; others just braked to a stop where they stood. Robin weaved through and around them.
‘Charley, we are still five minutes away. Is there a window?’
‘Yes.’
‘Can you open it?’
‘Amber,’ Charley said, ‘can those windows open?’
‘One of them can – the other’s painted shut,’ Amber said.
‘Lucy, one of them can open but if me or Amber aren’t pushing against the door, I think he’ll be able to get in.’
‘Can Andy open the window?’
‘I don’t know,’ Charley wailed.
‘Get him to try,’ Lucinda said and listened as Charley instructed Andy to grab the chair from the desk, unlatch the lock and push up on the wood frame.
‘Lucy, he’s trying but—’
‘Tell him to keep trying. As long as the door holds, I want you to stay in that room. But the second he breeches it, you all need to get out of there. We’re only a couple of minutes away.’
‘It’s up, Lucy. Andy got it.’
‘Tell him to try to kick out the screen.’ Lucinda despaired at her current state of helplessness as she listened to the blended sounds of some tool pounding on the door, a little boy’s feet smashing into the screen and the urgent words of confidence from Charley and Amber to Andy.
‘It’s bending, Lucy,’ Charley shouted. ‘Andy, keep kicking in that same spot. It’s bending more, Lucy.’
Lucinda heard a clatter and scrape coming across the line and then silence. ‘Charley? Charley? What’s happening?’
‘Andy did it!’ she said. ‘The screen fell out.’
‘I don’t hear the pounding on the door any longer. What’s going on?’
‘I don’t know, Lucy.’
‘Do you know where the man is?’
‘No.’ Charley’s voice cracked as she answered.
‘We’re just a couple of blocks away.’
The voices of the children’s screams ripped through Lucinda’s ears. ‘Hurry, Colter.’
Robin took the last turn at high speed, causing the wheels on one side to lift from the ground and then slam back down as she regained control. She drove straight up on to the lawn before applying the brakes.
Robin and Lucinda burst out of the car as if they’d been ejected. Robin went straight to the front door. Lucinda circled around to the side of the house. When she reached the back corner, she paused, raising her gun and spinning into a shooter’s stance.
Eddie Springer had one leg raised up on the windowsill, his head jerked toward Lucinda.
‘Lower your leg and get down on the ground. Now!’
Instead of obeying Lucind
a’s order, the boyfriend lurched forward and rolled inside the house. Lucinda was right behind him, pointing her gun straight at his head. The man grabbed a squealing Andy in one arm and held the boy up in the line of fire.
Lucinda heard muffled voices out in the hallway. Then she heard pounding, cracking and scraping as three policemen burst through the door, aiming their weapons at Springer.
‘Set the boy down,’ Lucinda said in a soft voice.
Andy screamed out as the man clutched him tighter.
‘Sir,’ Lucinda said. ‘Right now, there are four guns pointing at you. The odds are not in your favor.’
‘Make that five,’ Robin said as she stepped into the frame of the window.
‘I’ll strangle the little bastard,’ the man threatened, causing Andy to whimper.
‘I promise you, we will kill you before you can kill him.’ While keeping her eyes on her target, Lucinda spoke to the girls. ‘Charley, Amber, please walk across the bed and out the door.’
‘But my little brother—’ Amber objected.
‘We will take care of Andy,’ Lucinda said, ‘and it will be easier if we don’t have to worry about you at the same time. Charley, get her out of here.’
Charley grabbed Amber’s hand and tugged. Amber allowed herself to be guided across the bed. She took one last look back at Andy and followed Charley out of the room.
‘Let Andy go, sir.’
‘I can break his arm faster than you can shoot me.’
‘Oh, I’m sure you can, macho man. I imagine you’ll feel pretty good about yourself after hurting a little boy.’
‘Shut up,’ he said.
‘You break anything on that child, big man, and you’re dead before he can cry.’
At that moment, Andy sunk his teeth into the boyfriend’s arm and held on. The man fell back screeching with the little boy hanging on like a pit bull. A uniform reached out, slinging an arm around the boy’s waist. ‘Let go, son. I’ve gotcha.’
Andy released his jaws and the officer swung him out of the danger zone. Another policeman pushed Springer against the wall and spun him around. Using one hand to press the man’s face into the wall, the officer snapped a cuff on one wrist, then released the man’s head to grab the other wrist and fastened it, too. He jerked on the chains.
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