“Ten-four.”
Rob signed off. “I’m going to shoot you, Jack.”
Jack chuckled. “I never said Maddie was alone.”
Rob switched on the lights and hit the accelerator. A pickup pulled off the road to let him by. At the turnoff to the lake, he had to use the siren on a daydreamer. Fortunately, the road surface was dry, though the sky had begun to cloud over. Snow was forecast at the lake elevation. He covered the distance in seventeen minutes.
When he stopped, lights still flashing, Dr. Tichnor said, “Thank you, Lieutenant. I’ve always wanted to do that.” His eyes shone.
VANCE Tichnor was in a trap. When the fact sank in, he was going to fight like a wolverine.
Earl had not yet closed the highway. It was too soon. While Jack talked to the Klalos, Rob reconsidered his strategy. Maybe removing the construction crew had been a mistake. Maddie was off on her hillside. Todd was God-knew-where. Vance was in the house. Alone.
The house sat a good half mile back from the highway, almost on the banks of Beaver Creek. Earl had sent Linda into the woods to observe. She’d reported that Vance had gone out on his deck a couple of times, once with a cell phone at his ear, but he hadn’t come out to his van. It was just possible he didn’t yet know he was in a trap.
Abruptly, Rob made up his mind. He left Jack talking to a young woman who carried a sign that said desecrator and walked over to where Earl was standing.
“Pull the cars back about a hundred yards.”
“You crazy?”
“No. You can always shoot out his tires, Earl. I just don’t want him to panic when he sees you at the gate. I don’t want him to see you at all.”
A sedan passed. The driver gawked.
“Close the highway in both directions, but set up your flares out of sight of the gate.”
Earl’s face brightened.
Something to do at last, Rob thought sardonically. Earl did not like to wait. “I’m going to walk in the back way with Dr. Tichnor, just like I told you. We’ll talk to Maddie, then we’ll try to talk to Vance. Any word on Todd?”
“No, but that sure was a strange business with Carol.”
“What? Something happened?”
“You must’ve just missed seeing the ambulance on the highway. Jake called from the hospital. It’s weird. Carol was attacked by a rabid dog.”
Rob gaped.
Earl’s eyes betrayed earnest bewilderment.
“I think I want Jake’s version.” Rob called the dispatcher, and she connected him to Jake.
The deputy was still at the hospital. Rob heard him through twice before grasping the salient facts. One, that Meg was all right. Two, that Carol, who would live but might lose her right leg, had confessed to killing Eddy Redfern. Three, that Towser had attacked her after she made the mistake of shooting him. Ridge-backs are normally good-natured, Towser more than most, but they defend themselves with the utmost vigor.
How Towser and Meg came to be frolicking on the shore of Tyee Lake, Rob did not know. He almost called Meg for an explanation, but decided he didn’t need to be distracted from the matter at hand, which had just got more complex. He found the thought of Meg in danger very distracting.
If Carol had killed Eddy Redfern, then the deaths of Brandstetter and Meek looked different. That was the crux of the matter.
Rob signed off, ordering Earl to pull the patrol cars back and block the highway. Then he strode to the car where Ethan Tichnor waited. Jack was talking with Maddie’s warriors.
Rob sat in the driver’s seat. When he understood what had happened to Carol, the doctor wanted to head straight to the hospital. Not a good idea. They argued. Finally, Rob put Tichnor through to the hospital and let him talk to the surgeons.
While the tide of medical jargon washed through the car, Rob got out and told Jack what he knew. It was a risk, but Rob didn’t like the mood of the demonstrators. They were having a powwow good time.
“She killed my nephew?”
“Yes. She’s not in any condition to escape, either. You have a legitimate interest in what we do with the artifacts, Jack, but it seems they’re contaminated with DDT, so you won’t want to handle them without some kind of protection. We’re going to tell Maddie, then I’ll send the two of you out—”
“DDT?”
Rob explained. “They’ll be evidence in a big court case anyway. We’ll have to keep them awhile.” Quite a while. Years maybe. “There’s nothing you can do here.”
“I want to talk to Madeline.”
“Me, too. Let’s go. Tell your crew to take a coffee break or something.”
Jack met Rob’s eyes with no trace of humor in his own. “What you call artifacts are holy things. These kids are not gonna leave until we know The Dancers is safe.”
Rob said quietly, “Isn’t that up to Chief Thomas?”
Jack’s mouth tightened.
Rob waited.
Jack sighed and his eyes lowered. “Okay, let’s go.”
After some talk, the demonstrators retreated to their pickups, which Earl had made them leave a good distance from Vance’s gate.
Rob retrieved the Kevlar vests from the backseat of the patrol car. “Wrap it up, sir. We need to get going.”
Tichnor flapped a hand and went on talking.
Rob tested the bullhorn and hooked it to his belt. He patted his gun, which he would just as soon have left behind, and double-checked that Jack had put his vest on right. Dr. Tichnor got out of the car, looking somber but somewhat reassured. He donned his vest without protest.
Rob ordered Linda Ramos out of the woods and Thayer in. Thayer took his rifle and strict instructions to stay out of sight of the house. Then Rob was ready to go.
He backed the car around, drove to the doctor’s access road, a track really, and jolted down it half a mile. At that point it was better to walk, the brush was so thick. Tichnor was full of questions and so was Jack. Rob ignored them, his mind on the man waiting in the huge, empty house. And on Madeline Thomas.
The snow came thicker and had begun to stick, though it wasn’t terribly cold out. It would start to get dark soon.
Tichnor wasn’t used to hiking. He puffed along behind Jack and Rob, but he didn’t complain. Salal, scrub pine, and blackberry briars tangled the track as it sloped gently to the bed of Beaver Creek. Sword ferns thrust up. Their dark fronds were just beginning to curl with frost.
They crossed the stream on a fallen log on hands and knees, Rob somewhat impeded by the bullhorn. Then their way led uphill, and there was no discernible path through the silent woods. Rob let Jack take the lead.
After twenty minutes of heavy going, they emerged in a small clearing from which they could see the back of Vance’s lodge, the yard, and the footbridge that crossed Beaver Creek. A yard light lit the van, and another light burned in one of the interior rooms, dimly illuminating the larger room that faced the rear deck. Rob saw no sign of life.
There was no sign of Madeline Thomas either.
Rob and Dr. Tichnor sat on a log while Jack reconnoitered. Tichnor was shivering. Rob gave him his wool hat and that seemed to help.
While they waited, Rob checked in. Thayer was in place. Vance had turned on the yard light as Thayer approached through the woods, scaring him out of three years’ growth, but Vance hadn’t come out to investigate. At that point, Earl interrupted Thayer’s slow commentary.
“Guess who just showed up?”
“Who?” Not Meg, please God.
“Todd Welch.”
Rob suppressed a whoop of relief. “No shit? Where has he been?”
“Said he left with the construction crew.”
“Let me talk to him.”
A crackling sound. Rob was going to skin Todd alive when he saw him, but first things first.
“Yeah, Rob?”
“I’m looking down on Vance’s house. Where’s the strong room, if I enter from the back?”
“I didn’t get into it. Tichnor was giving me a dirty look,
so I went on out. That lounge in back gives onto the deck. The secure room is tucked in behind the media center on the left. Door looks like it leads to a closet, but I saw Tichnor come out. The room’s bigger than it seems from the outside.”
“Okay. Will you go over and talk to the Two Falls contingent? Tell your cousins we’re going to start negotiating in a few minutes.”
“That it?” He sounded as if he expected a reprimand.
“That’s it.” For now. “Hand me back to Earl.”
Earl wanted to detail all his brilliant arrangements, but Rob could see Jack coming down through the trees, so he signed off. When Jack got close enough to speak to without shouting, Rob stood up.
“Did you find her?”
“No. She was there earlier, though.”
“What do you think?”
Jack’s eyes were dark with misery. “I think she got impatient and went down to talk to him. I think he captured her. She’s in that place. Call that a lodge? Goddamn.” He began to cry.
“Hey, take it easy. We’re going to talk to him ourselves, and we hold all the cards.”
“Not if he has Maddie.” Jack wiped his eyes on his sleeve.
Rob unhooked the bullhorn from his belt. “Did you bring your cell phone, Dr. Tichnor?”
Tichnor patted his pockets. “Yes. I turned it off so it wouldn’t ring out here and betray our presence.”
“Thanks,” Rob said gravely. “Is one of Vance’s cell phone numbers on the speed dial?”
“Yes. Number seven.”
“Good. I’m going to hail him now, and tell him to answer the phone. Then I want you to call him.”
“What do I do when he answers?” Tichnor sounded nervous.
Rob didn’t answer because he didn’t know. His own stomach was doing flip-flops. He was glad he had skipped lunch. “Here goes.” He thumbed on the bullhorn and walked out into the open where Tichnor could see him.
“Vance! Vance Tichnor! It’s Robert Neill from the sheriff’s department. I want to talk to you.” He waited, watching snow-flakes whirl like dust motes in the distant yard light. There was no response. No gunshots, either.
Rob raised the bullhorn again. His voice always sounded odd through a microphone. “Tichnor, I know you’re in there. I have your brother here.” He beckoned to the doctor, who rose slowly and walked to Rob’s side. “Here’s Ethan, Vance. He has news for you. He’s going to dial your cell phone. When it rings, answer it.”
Jack said, “Somebody’s moving down there.”
“Good.”
It was so quiet Rob could hear the doctor’s cell phone as it dialed the number. The phone rang seven times and a message came on.
“Disconnect,” Rob said. He raised the horn again. “Answer the phone, Vance. Carol’s in the hospital. Your sister. Ethan needs to talk to you.” He thumbed the horn off. “Try it again, sir.”
Dr. Tichnor hit the speed-dial number. This time Vance answered on the fourth ring.
“Vance.” The doctor cleared his throat. “Carol’s been hurt. They think she may have to have her leg amputated. She says…they tell me, she confessed to killing young Redfern. Is that true?”
Vance gabbled something.
“Yes, I know you’re in trouble. I’m trying to help.”
Rob said, “Hand me the phone, sir.”
Tichnor said, “Lieutenant Neill wants to ask you something. You do? Oh, God, Vance, why?” More gabble. He thrust the phone at Rob. “He has Ms. Thomas.”
Jack said something sharp.
“Wait,” Rob said. He put the phone to his ear.
Vance was swearing.
“Mr. Tichnor, will you confirm that you’ve taken Chief Thomas prisoner?”
“Chief? What the hell?”
“Madeline Thomas is principal chief of the Klalos. I’m sure she told you that.” Not to mention the earlier confrontation over the camas meadow.
“She told me a bunch of crap. I didn’t listen. I don’t listen to trespassers.”
Or look at them, apparently. “I want to know whether or not you have her.”
“Yes, I have a hostage, Neill, all trussed up like a turkey, and I intend to use her as soon as it’s dark.”
Rob waited.
Vance went on, bluff, bragging. “I roughed her up a little but she’s all right. Stupid bitch.” He sounded like Hal Brandstetter.
Rob said, “The artifacts in your vault, the one hidden behind the media center, belong to the Klalos. You have Chief Thomas, Vance, but she posted a dozen or so people outside your gate waiting for you to come out. And I have patrol cars blocking the highway in both directions. I warn you not to harm Chief Thomas in anyway.”
The silence crackled. Then Vance said, in something closer to his normal voice, “I won’t hurt her unless I have to. I’m going to take my collection and my hostage and drive out of here.”
Rob drew a long breath. “I have a more plausible scenario for you.”
“What? I suppose you’re going to threaten me, fuzz.”
“Stop talking like a child. I want you to release Chief Thomas now, unharmed.”
Vance cackled. “Not on your life.”
Well, yes. “I want you to agree to exchange Chief Thomas for me.”
Jack gasped and Dr. Tichnor made a noise of protest.
“Why the hell should I?”
“Because I can talk you through those patrol cars, once Chief Thomas has sent her people home. It’s that simple, Vance. Chief Thomas is dangerous to you. You’ve already offended the Klalos by taking their sacred objects from Lauder Point.”
“I didn’t steal them.” Vance sounded sullen.
“You paid Brandstetter and Meek to steal them. The law doesn’t recognize a difference between a crime and the commission of a crime, between theft and hiring a thief to steal. You’re a thief.” He drew a breath. Better tone it down. “The people waiting out by your gate know you stole the petroglyphs and the knife and the ceremonial drums. I wouldn’t give a nickel for your chances while they’re out there.”
Rob was bluffing. So was Vance. It was a game of blindman’s bluff with Maddie Thomas the prize. Rob wondered if he should play the DDT card or save it.
Vance said, “I want to talk to Ethan.”
Rob handed Ethan the phone. “Don’t let him break contact.”
Tichnor nodded, eyes on the ground as if he were embarrassed or ashamed.
Jack took Rob’s arm. “Do you think he’ll let her go?”
Rob said, “Yes. When he does, I want you and Maddie to walk out to the highway on the track we came in on. Go out and send your young people home. They could get hurt in a shoot-out.”
Jack mumbled an assent and let his hand drop.
Dr. Tichnor said something low and angry into the phone.
Rob and Jack looked at him.
The oncologist shook his head. “No, no tricks. I’ll let you talk to him.” He handed Rob the phone. “He wants to arrange the exchange. I’m sorry, Neill.”
Rob said into the phone, “I’m glad you’re willing to see things my way, Vance. We’ll wait while you untie Chief Thomas. Bring her out so we can see her.”
“I’ll bring her out with a gun at her head, Neill. I’m not shitting you. I’ll kill her. I’ve killed before.”
“Yes,” Rob said. “I know you have. But Brandstetter was blackmailing you, wasn’t he?”
“He was bleeding me dry!” Vance sounded astonished, almost grateful to be understood. “He threatened Carol. He was an evil man. He deserved to die. So did Meek.”
“Chief Thomas doesn’t.” Rob kept his tone matter-of-fact. “Untie her and bring her out to the deck. Leave the phone on. When I can see she’s all right, we’ll talk.”
“No tricks. I know you have snipers who can shoot the eye out of a squirrel. The minute I hear anything I don’t like, the bitch dies.”
Rob waited. He could hear breathing on the line.
Then Vance said, “Okay. It’ll take a few minutes.”
In the blank silence that followed, Jack blew his nose and Dr. Tichnor sat on the log again as if his legs wouldn’t hold him up.
Rob felt nothing. He was open to the universe, listening. The wind moaned and a few snowflakes whirled through the cone of light that shone down on the van. His radio crackled.
He keyed it on and spoke low. Earl listened, giving an occasional squawk of protest, but Rob knew he would see the logic of an exchange. He agreed to keep Thayer back from the house. In reserve.
Rob turned the radio off. Suddenly he could hear voices through, but not on, the telephone. Vance must have stuck it in his pocket. He was shouting, and so was Maddie. Oh please, Madeline, just shut up, Rob begged silently. Shut up and for once cooperate.
Perhaps she heard him. The voices stopped. He could hear thumps and brushing noises, as if Vance were bumping into things. A light came on in the lounge. At last, a dark blur appeared at the door that led out onto the deck. After an interminable moment, the door opened. Vance thrust Maddie out ahead of him. Her hands were bound behind her, and he was holding a handgun to her right ear.
He fumbled in his pocket with his left hand and withdrew the phone. “Okay, here she is. What now?”
Rob said, “Untie her hands, Vance. I’ll wait.”
“Not until I know what’s going to happen.”
Rob beckoned to Ethan Tichnor, who stood up slowly as if his knees creaked. “When Chief Thomas has spoken to me and I know she’s all right, I’ll give my gun to your brother. Then I’ll walk down with my hands out where you can see them. Chief Thomas will walk across the deck, down the stairs and across the yard. She’ll meet me at the footbridge. I’ll come over to you when she’s on this side of the creek.”
“How do I know you don’t have hidden weapons?”
Rob said, “Your brother is going to pat me down. I’ll hand him the phone when I’ve spoken to Madeline Thomas. Free her hands.”
“I need to cut the rope,” Vance muttered. “I’ll have to put the phone down.”
“Then do it.”
If Rob had been standing where Maddie was, he could have taken Vance out in the clumsy interval while Vance wrestled one-handed with a pocket knife. He had slipped the phone into his jacket pocket again. Madeline stood head down, as if dazed. Rob hoped she wasn’t.
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