by Chris Carter
‘I understand. And I don’t blame you. But when you told him that if he ever harmed Anna, nothing else would matter, not even the law, not even the fact that you were a cop. When you told him that you would hunt him down until you find him, and that you would kill him, no matter what, no matter how long it took . . . it didn’t scare him. It pleased him.’
‘What?’
‘It pleased him,’ Hunter repeated. ‘He even congratulated you, remember? His words were – You did well, Detective Garcia. I like your reaction. A reaction of a man who cares. But you didn’t do anything other than threaten him with death. So what was he so pleased about, and why?’
‘Because he’s a fucking psycho?’ Garcia was still feeding on his emotions.
‘No. It was because you gave him his little victory.’
‘Victory? What the hell are you talking about, Robert?’
Hunter’s eyes peeked at his watch again. ‘As I said, he had no real interest in Anna. He only went after her to get under our skin and to prove a point. And he knew he could do that without the need to touch her. Your reaction told him that he’d more than accomplished his task. You gave him more than a small victory, Carlos. You equated yourself with him when you told him that you would act just like him.’
‘What?’
Hunter shook his head. ‘I don’t remember his exact words. We can play the recording back later, but he said that when a threat or harm comes to someone close to us, nothing else matters. We will even forget who we are. We may even act like monsters. We’ll do anything to protect those we love. Your reaction proved that . . . And it pleased him.’
Garcia said nothing.
‘One of the last things he said before disconnecting,’ Hunter continued. ‘Was that his work there was done . . . as in finished, nothing left to do. He got what he wanted. Anna is of no interest to him anymore.’
Garcia still remained silent.
‘He also talked about people not always having a choice,’ Hunter said.
Garcia nodded. ‘I remember that. He said that sometimes choices are made for us by others, and there’s nothing we can do about it. He gave Anna as an example.’
‘No, not nothing,’ Hunter countered. ‘He said that we can react. That’s what you did. And I think that’s exactly what he’s doing.’
Things started to frantically move around in Garcia’s head, searching for the right place to slot in. ‘You think something happened to someone close to him? That’s why he’s going around torturing and killing people? He’s reacting?’
‘I’m not sure,’ Hunter replied. ‘Right now we can only speculate. But in the past, every time he called us, he was always calm, never excited, never angry, never remorseful . . . never nothing. His tone of voice never gave anything away . . . no emotion. But not today.’
Garcia had been too angry and scared for Anna’s life to notice.
‘Today, for the first time, anger crept into his tone when he talked about people not always having a choice. He said that anger and emotional pain were good things. It proved that we, as humans, are still alive inside. That we still care for something. He used Anna and your love for her to prove that.’
Silence.
‘He wasn’t talking about me and my anger,’ Garcia finally said. ‘Or my reaction to what I would do if Anna was ever harmed. He was talking about him and his anger. He was talking about his reaction.’
Hunter nodded and looked at his watch for the third time. ‘Carlos, look, I understand that I’m asking you to trust me with your wife’s life, and that is asking a hell of a lot, but if you still don’t want to trust me, trust yourself. Forget about everything I think I picked up throughout your conversation with the killer. Take a step back and do what you know how to do – analyze the whole scenario. Analyze the facts. Right now Anna is walking down a busy street, and she isn’t alone, which means that as long as she stays on that busy street, the killer can’t approach her without grabbing her friend’s attention as well. That means that he can’t drag Anna away from that street without either neutralizing her friend or taking her with them. Abducting one adult from a busy street without alerting anyone else is already a very hard task. Abducting two without causing a commotion is almost impossible. Even if he wanted to take them both, which I’m sure he doesn’t, he would still have to wait for the right moment to do it, and that moment won’t come while they’re out in the open, in the middle of a crowd, or in a busy place, like a café. This killer is bold, but he isn’t stupid. Now you’ve got two options, Carlos. You either make that call and we get a move on, or you don’t, and we sit here, imagining the worst and wondering how long we should wait until you eventually call her to find out if the killer kept his word or not. It’s your choice.’
Sixty-Two
‘So . . .’ Patricia said matter-of-factly. A devilish smile curving the edge of her lips. ‘When are you going to properly introduce me to that detective, you know, Carlos’ partner?’
Anna stopped walking and looked at Patricia over the rim of her sunglasses.
‘What?’ Patricia said. The smile was still there, just a little bit more pronounced now. ‘Everyone knows he’s hot. And I know he isn’t hitched ’cos you told me.’
Patricia had met Hunter only once before, two months ago, during Anna’s birthday party. Hunter hadn’t stayed long. But after he left, Patricia had been one of three friends who’d asked Anna who the quiet good-looking guy was.
Someone riding a black and red Harley-Davidson motorbike turned the corner and decided to park it just a few yards ahead of them. For a moment no one could hear anything over the double-barrel exhaust noise.
When he finally switched his engine off, Anna faced Patricia again. ‘I thought you were seeing someone.’
They began walking again.
‘I was, but not anymore. Hence the request.’ She smiled again.
Anna gave her the look.
‘He was just a fling. It lasted a few weeks, that’s all. Don’t worry about him.’ Patricia gave Anna a dismissive wave.
They both stepped onto the street to avoid zigzagging through the many tables set outside a bustling Italian pizzeria. Anna caught the smell of freshly baked pepperoni pizza coming from one of the tables, and her stomach rumbled. She quickly pushed her pace to avoid giving in to temptation.
Patricia followed.
‘Now,’ she said, catching Anna’s attention again. ‘Carlos’ partner, Robert, isn’t it?’
‘Are we still talking about this?’
‘Yes, we are. He’s not seeing anyone, is he?’
‘No, I don’t think so.’
A renewed, suggestive smile from Patricia.
‘I can introduce you to him if you want,’ Anna finally said. ‘But don’t get your hopes up.’
Patricia looked hurt.
‘Oh no, it’s not you. Nothing to do with you. I know you could charm any man alive. I’ve seen it.’
The hurt look softened.
‘But Robert is just—’ Anna’s eyes wandered, searching for the right words ‘—unique, and a complete enigma. He’s a loner by choice, not because he’s a difficult person to get along with, far from it. He’s probably the easiest-going person I know. But he shies away from relationships as if they were a curse.’
‘Bad past experience?’ Patricia asked.
‘No one knows.’ Anna shrugged. ‘I’m telling you, he’s an enigma. He’ll talk to you about anything but his job or his personal life. I do think he had someone important in his life once, years ago, but he just won’t talk about it.’
‘So he doesn’t date?’
‘I never said that. I said that he doesn’t do relationships. He dates plenty.’
Patricia smiled. ‘There you go, then.’ A hip-hop swagger found its way onto her words. ‘Hook me up, sista.’ She smiled, but it didn’t sound like she was joking.
‘You want me to try to hook you up for a one-night stand with my husband’s work partner?’
‘Are y
ou kidding? With that man I’ll take meaningless sex any day of the week, and twice on Sundays, thank you very much.’
Anna knew that Patricia was serious.
‘You are incorrigible.’
‘I know, but that’s what makes life fun.’
As Anna heard the ringtone of her cellphone come from inside her handbag, Patricia started eyeing a skimpy black dress with white details in the window of the trendy shop to their right.
Anna riffled through the contents of her bag. She found the phone and brought it to her ear.
The man standing just a few feet behind Anna and Patricia smiled.
Sixty-Three
‘Hey, hun!’ Anna said into her cellphone. ‘This is a surprise.’
Garcia kept his voice as calm as he could manage. ‘Anna, listen. Where in town are you right now?’
‘What?’
‘I know you’re out shopping with your friend, but where exactly are you now?’
Anna looked at Patricia and pulled a face. ‘How do you know I’m out shopping with a friend?’
‘Anna, please . . . I don’t have time to explain everything. What I need is for you to tell me exactly where you are, OK?’
‘Um . . . I’m in Tujunga Village . . . Carlos, what’s going on?’
Located near bustling Ventura Boulevard, in Studio City, but seemingly a world away from everything, Tujunga Village was nestled between the Colfax Meadows neighborhood and Woodbridge Park. The heart of the Village was the block-long stretch of Tujunga Avenue, between Moorpark and Woodbridge, where boutiques, restaurants, cafés and miscellaneous stores catered for even the most discerning of visitors.
‘Baby, I told you, I don’t have a lot of time to explain,’ Garcia said. ‘But I need you to trust me right now, OK?’
Anna nervously tucked a loose strand of her short black hair behind her left ear. ‘Carlos, you’re scaring me.’
‘I’m sorry. There’s no need for you to be scared. I just need you to trust me right now. Can you do that?’
‘Yes, of course.’
‘OK. Who’s with you?’
‘Um . . . Pat, my friend from yoga. You remember her, right?’
‘Yeah. She came to your birthday drinks, right?’
‘That’s right.’
‘OK. Listen, I need you to find a busy place – like a café, or a pizzeria, or a burger joint, whatever, and go sit in there with Pat and wait for me. I’m on my way to you now. Do not engage in a conversation with anyone. No one at all. And do not leave the place, under any circumstances, until I get to you. Do you understand that, baby?’
‘Yeah . . . but . . .’
‘Call me as soon as you find a place, OK?’
Anna knew Garcia too well to be fooled by his calm tone. He’d never questioned her about her whereabouts, or who she was out with, or anything else for that matter. They had always trusted each other, pure and simple. That was the foundation their relationship was built on. And he had never before told her what to do, unless she had asked for his advice first. Something was definitely off.
‘Carlos, what’s this about?’ Anna’s voice weakened a notch. ‘Did something happen? Are my parents OK?’
Patricia was standing next to Anna with a concerned look on her face.
‘No, baby,’ Garcia replied. ‘Nothing has happened to anyone, I promise you. Look, I’ll be there in twenty-five minutes, half an hour tops. I’ll explain everything then. Just trust me. Find a place and sit tight.’
Anna took a deep breath. ‘OK. Look, I already know where we’re going to go. We’ll be inside Aroma Café. It’s halfway up Tujunga Village. We’re just coming up to it now.’
‘Great, baby. Get in there, grab a coffee and I’ll be with you in a few minutes.’
Garcia disconnected.
Sixty-Four
Garcia saw Anna even before Hunter finished parking right in front of the Aroma Café. She and Patricia were sitting at a small table toward the front of the glass-fronted store.
Anna had sat there deliberately, her nervous eyes wandering up and down Tujunga Avenue, as if following a tense, invisible tennis match. As she saw Garcia and Hunter step out of the car, she got up and dashed outside. Patricia followed her.
Garcia met her by the door, and instinctively threw his arms around her as if he hadn’t seen her for years, kissing her hair as she buried her face into his chest.
‘You OK?’ he asked, relief taking over him.
Anna looked up at her husband, and the tension of the moment filled her eyes with tears. ‘I’m OK. What’s going on, Carlos?’
‘I’ll explain in a moment. Did you drive here?’
Anna shook her head.
‘We took the bus,’ Patricia said. She was standing next to Hunter, wide-eyed and confused, watching the scene between Anna and Garcia.
Hunter’s eyes were scanning the street, searching for anyone who looked to have taken any sort of interest in their group. No one seemed to care. People on both sides of Tujunga Avenue were just getting on with their lives. Some window-shopping, some entering or exiting one of the many cafés or restaurants on the busy road, and others just enjoying a leisurely walk at the end of a nice Californian autumn day. No one inside the café seemed interested in them either.
Hunter had also already surveyed the street for CCTV cameras. There weren’t any. Unlike many cities in Europe, some with as many as one camera for every fourteen people, Los Angeles wasn’t a surveillance-crazy city. There wasn’t a single government or law-enforcement CCTV camera in the entire Tujunga Village stretch.
‘Oh, I’m sorry,’ Anna said. ‘Robert, this is my friend Patricia.’
Hunter shook her hand. ‘Pleasure to meet you.’
Patricia was a little over five foot five, though black high-heeled boots added a couple of inches to her height.
‘The pleasure is mine,’ she replied, sending him a sincere smile.
Hunter handed the car keys back to Garcia. ‘Carlos, you take the car and take Anna and Patricia home,’ he said. ‘I can make my way back to the PAB from here. Though I might stay and look around for a little while.’
‘Look around for what?’ Anna asked. Her eyes settled on Hunter, as she knew her husband wouldn’t offer an explanation.
Hunter’s gaze rested on his partner for only a split second before moving to his wife. ‘Nothing in particular, Anna.’
Anna’s stare remained hard. ‘That’s bullshit.’
‘Look,’ Hunter said. ‘Trust us on this. Carlos will explain everything to you later.’
‘I promise I will,’ Garcia said, squeezing her hand. ‘But right now, we need to go.’
Sixty-Five
As soon as Garcia dropped Patricia off in front of her apartment block in Monterey Park, Anna turned and faced him.
‘OK, I’m not waiting until we get home so we can talk about this, Carlos. What the hell is going on?’ Anna still sounded rattled. ‘I could see there was nothing happening in Tujunga Village – no squad cars, no one being arrested, no emergency, nothing out of the ordinary to speak of.’
Garcia shifted a gear and joined North Mednick Avenue, going south.
‘This has got something to do with whatever you’re investigating at the moment, hasn’t it?’ Anna asked rhetorically. ‘I know because Robert was surveying the street like a man on a mission. Who are you guys looking for? How did you know that I was out shopping with a friend? Why are you scaring me like this?’ Tears welled up in her eyes.
Garcia took a deep breath.
‘Talk to me, Carlos, please.’
‘I have to ask you for something,’ Garcia finally said, his voice steady.
Anna leaned back against the passenger’s door, wiped the tears from her eyes and stared at her husband.
‘I need you to stay at your parents’ for a few hours. I’ll come and pick you up later.’
Anna took two whole seconds to digest the request before her nerves took over again. ‘What? You said that nothing had happe
ned to my parents. Are they OK?’
‘Yes, yes, they’re fine, baby. Nothing happened to them. I just need you to stay there for a few hours. I need to go back to the PAB and sort a few things out. I’ll come and get you in a short while.’
Anna waited.
Garcia said nothing else.
‘And that’s all you’re going to say?’ she challenged.
One of the reasons why Garcia and Anna’s relationship worked so well was because they both knew they could always talk to each other, no matter what. And they always did. There was never any recrimination, jealousy or judgment. They were both great listeners, and they supported and understood each other better than they understood themselves.
Anna could see Garcia was struggling with it.
‘Carlos,’ she said, placing a hand on his knee. ‘You know I trust you. I always have, and I always will. If you want me to go stay with my parents for a few hours, I can do that, it’s not a problem, but I have the right to know the reason why. Why don’t you want me to go home? What is going on?’
Garcia knew Anna was right. He also knew that there was no way he could give her the real reason without frightening her, but he had no other alternative. If he lied, she would see right through him. She always did.
He took another deep breath and told her what had happened earlier in the day.
Anna listened without interrupting. When he was done, tears had returned to her eyes, and Garcia felt his heart tighten inside his chest.
‘He was right behind us?’ Anna asked. ‘Filming us?’
Garcia nodded.
‘And he was broadcasting it live over the Internet?’
‘Over the Internet, yes,’ Garcia said. ‘But not open to everyone, just to Robert and me. No one else could see it.’
Anna didn’t want or need to know the technical details.
‘Please, Anna, just stay with your parents for a few hours. I need to get a few things in motion, and I want to check our apartment.’