A Trace of Hope

by Blake Pierce

  “I know you’re probably bouncing off the walls, Keri, but we’re going to solve this. Keith, I’m assuming that was Wasson in the video. Can you still track him using that taggant stuff?”

  “Already on it, Detective Sands,” Keith said. “I figured that might be him and I’m driving up closer to the house now to try to get in range. Once he entered the property, I stopped focusing on him. But I think I can relocate him. The problem is, pinpointing his location on my map doesn’t tell me exactly where in the house he is. So I’m also pulling up specs for the estate, so I can try to pinpoint the actual floor and maybe even the room he’s in.”

  How long is this going to take?” Ray asked.

  “It might take me a few minutes. I have to get close enough to get a good trace on Wasson but not so close that I draw attention from the security guys. And pulling up an accurate floor plan for this place might take some work. My Internet connection is a little sketchy in these hills.”

  Keri finally got the headset attached.

  “Can you hear me?”

  “Yes,” both men said at the same time.

  “You have to move fast, Keith. I know it’s a lot to ask. But that was Wasson. And I have a bad feeling about the ‘do what you will’ part of his time with Evie. They could be bringing her to him right now and I need to get there before he does anything to her. He doesn’t just want to kill her. He wants to break her.”

  “I’m working on it, Detective,” Keith insisted. “The good news is your headset works as a tracker too. So once I get accurate specs on the house, I’m hoping I can tell you exactly where you are in relation to Wasson and get you to him quicker.”

  “Where are you now, Keri?” Ray asked.

  “I’m in an empty second-floor bedroom. It’s in a corridor that can’t be more than a hundred feet from the main party room. I could hear the crowd laughing clearly when the narrator guy joked about me being dead.”

  “Okay,” Ray replied. “I think I know where you are generally. All of the johns and their girls have left the party area through the same exit so I suspect it leads to your neck of the woods. I’m going to try to work my way to you in a minute. But first I need to find a quiet, out of the way place to make a call.”

  “What call?” Keri asked.

  “I think now would be a good time to alert County SWAT to that meth lab down the way, don’t you?”

  “Absolutely,” Keri agreed as she stood up and grabbed the appetizer plate. “In the meantime, I’m not sure what to do here. I’m in this bedroom with a tray of cold mushroom appetizers and wearing a suspicious headset. If I run into a guard while searching the halls, it might be hard to explain away. But every second I’m stuck in here is a second wasted.”

  “Just stay put a little longer,” Keith pleaded. “I’ve pulled over just down the road from the house. I see Wasson’s taggant signature on the screen now. I promise I’ll have a floor plan up soon and be able to tell you where he is.”

  Keri was about to sit back down on the bed when she saw the bedroom door handle start to turn.

  “Change of plans,” she whispered as the door began to open.

  CHAPTER NINETEEN

  For the briefest of seconds, Keri considered just flinging the tray at the head of whoever entered the room. But what if it was a john or some teen call girl and the security guy was behind them? She’d lose the element of surprise and a potential weapon. Better to use the disguise first and avoid a confrontation if possible.

  “What does that mean?” she heard Keith say but ignored him.

  The door opened wide and light streamed in, blocking her vision, which would have made throwing the tray accurately difficult anyway. A figure stepped into the light and she saw that it was indeed a security officer. His hand was on his hip where a weapon would be but he hadn’t unholstered it yet.

  “Hello?” she said warily, trying to sound as innocuous as possible.

  “Who are you?” he demanded. “What are you doing in here?”

  “I’m sorry. I’m part of the wait staff. I had to pee but the line for employees in the back was too long so I came looking for a bathroom up here. This bedroom door was open so I just came in real quick to take care of my business.”

  She saw his hand relax on his holster but not come off it. She could also see the earpiece cord dangling from his ear. All it would take was one word from him to call in others or alert his superiors.

  “You shouldn’t be in this area of the house, lady,” he said, stepping inside and waving for her to pass by him into the hallway. “The instructions were very explicit about that.”

  “I know,” she said apologetically as she moved past him. “It’s just that when nature calls, everything else flies out the window, you know?”

  He smiled in understanding, then gave the room a quick once-over to make sure everything was in order. She saw his smile fade slightly and, immediately realizing something was wrong, made her move.

  “There’s no bathroom in h—” he started to say.

  But before he could complete the sentence she hit him in the right temple with the flat edge of the appetizer tray. Mushrooms flew against the wall. He stumbled back, slightly stunned but nothing more. Keri swung the tray back the other way, this time clocking him in the bridge of the nose just before he could get his hands up to block the blow.

  With his arms now up and his torso exposed, Keri slammed into him as hard as she could, leading with an elbow to his solar plexus. As they both smashed into the bedroom wall, she heard a grunt as he exhaled and knew she’d knocked the wind out of him.

  She didn’t have long before he’d recover, just a matter of seconds, so she had no choice but to err on the side of decisiveness. She pulled out her gun and smashed the butt of it onto the top of the guy’s skull. He moaned, disoriented but still conscious. His right hand was flailing, trying to grab at the “speak” button on his comm.

  No choice.

  She lifted the butt of the gun and came down hard again, only an inch away from where she’d landed the first blow. This time he slumped to the floor, out cold.

  She wanted to roll over and lie down next to him, at least for a moment, so she could catch her breath. But she couldn’t risk it. Instead, she forced herself to get up, hurried over to the bedroom door, closed and locked it.

  “Can you guys hear me?” she asked as she returned to the guard and yanked his comm, earpiece and all, from his body.

  “What happened?” Ray asked.

  “I had an unexpected, unwanted visitor. But he’s taken care of, at least for the time being,” she said as she dragged his heavy body around behind the far side of the bed where it would be out of view.

  “Are you okay?” Keith asked.

  “Not too bad, all things considered. But I don’t know how long we have before this guy’s absence will be noticed. How often do they do check-ins, Ray?”

  “Every fifteen minutes. Last one was four minutes ago, immediately after the video presentation.”

  “That doesn’t give us long,” Keri said as she used a pillowcase to tie the guard’s hands together behind his back. “Once he fails to check in, I can’t imagine they’ll take more than sixty seconds to go into alert mode. These guys don’t strike me as the casual type.”

  “Agreed,” Ray said. “That means we’ve got about ten minutes, tops, before someone in authority decides there’s been a breach. So I’m dispensing with the whole meth lab thing. I’m calling SWAT now to give them the address.”

  “Good,” Keri said. “Just one thing before you do. I don’t know what these guys’ protocol is for a breach scenario but I’m guessing that it involves either moving or killing Evie. So midnight is out as our deadline. The new drop dead time to find Evie is…eleven forty-seven p.m. Got it?”

  “Got it,” Ray said. “I’m going quiet for a few to make that call now.”

  “You still there, Keith?” Keri asked as she stuffed one of the guard’s socks into his mouth.

  �
��I am.”

  “Okay, well, I’ve got this guard pretty well indisposed for the next ten minutes. So I’m hoping you’ve got a new assignment for me. How’s that floor plan coming, buddy?”

  “I’ve got it up now,” Keith said. “Wasson’s signal isn’t moving, which means either something is wrong with the connection or the guy is already where he wants to be.”

  “I’m guessing the latter. They’d bring her to him, not the other way around. Where is he?”

  “It looks like he’s one floor up from you, in what seems to be some kind of massive third-floor bedroom.”

  “How do I access it?” Keri demanded.

  “Well, I’m looking at your current location and you’re actually not that far. The problem is that you’d have to go down two main hallways and up a set of stairs to get to the room. I’m guessing that there will be a fair bit of security along the way.”

  “Good guess, Keith,” Keri said, trying to keep the exasperation out of her voice. “Any other routes that don’t have me running into the guys in red jackets, alerting the entire security team to my presence and putting my daughter in even more mortal danger?”

  “No pressure there. I do have one idea. But it will require that Vicodin to still be working pretty well.”

  “I’m listening,” Keri said.

  “If you go right at the end of the hallway your current room is in, there’s a glass door opening onto a small balcony. That balcony is below the balcony for the third-floor bedroom. So theoretically you could climb up from the second to the third floor and get into the bedroom where Wasson is that way.”

  “Theoretically?”

  “Well, it looks like a pretty big leap from floor to floor. The plans I’m looking at aren’t that detailed but the jump looks to be at least…four feet high.”

  Keri looked at the time. 11:40.

  I have seven minutes until all hell breaks loose.

  “Let’s do it. I’m going to try to pass for a waitress to get to that balcony, so I’m picking up my appetizer tray and putting away the headset. It’s too suspicious when I’m walking the halls. I’ll be in audio mode only. Keep me apprised of any developments on Wasson’s movements and have Ray update me on security changes, got it?”

  “You got it, Detective.”

  “Here goes nothing,” Keri said.

  She peeked out into the hall and, seeing no one, stepped out, making sure to lock the door behind her. She walked confidently in the direction Keith had instructed, made the right turn, and saw the balcony where it was supposed to be. There was no one in sight. Apparently everyone had followed the instructions to return to the Festivities Hall.

  She reached the sliding glass door and pulled. It was locked. For half a second, she debated opening it. What if there was some kind of alarm?

  If there is, I’m screwed anyway, so I may as well just go for it.

  Keri unlocked the door and yanked it open. A frigid blast of air hit her with unexpected force. The wave of cold felt like an electric shock. Inside the warm house, she’d forgotten just how chilly it was outside.

  But now, as goose bumps magically appeared over every inch of her exposed skin, it all came back to her. Standing there, in just lingerie and a thin robe in forty-something-degree weather, she felt her body start to shiver.

  Keri stepped outside and yanked the door closed, hoping the cold air wouldn’t waft down the hall and alert anyone to something unusual. She moved to the edge of the balcony and looked up. Keith was right—it was going to be a leap.

  From the top of the second floor wall to the very bottom of the third floor was more like five feet than the four Keith had estimated. And the balcony wall wasn’t really a wall. Rather, it was a railing comprised of a series of horizontal metal bars stacked on top of each other.

  That was actually a positive. At least if she was able to jump high enough, she’d be able to grab onto the bottom bar and pull herself up rung by rung. That was, if she didn’t miss the bottom bar completely and plummet to the ground below.

  The main concern was that in order to grab the bottom rung of the third-floor railing when she jumped, she’d have to clear the base of the third-floor balcony, which was pretty thick. If she didn’t get higher than that, there’d be nothing to grab on to.

  Keri looked over the side of the balcony. It was too dark to tell the exact height. But the house was built into the back of a hill and she guessed it was at least forty feet to the ground—nothing survivable.

  She put the tray down on the ground, kicked off her heels, and climbed up onto the top bar of the second-floor railing. She put her hands on the underside of the ceiling for balance and eased herself out over the empty expanse below.

  She glanced at the clock one more time: 11:43 p.m. She bent her knees, steeling herself for the jump, when a voice suddenly cut into her earpiece. It was Ray.

  “I’m back. Sorry for the delay. I put the call in to LA County SWAT. They’re en route and should be here in six to eight minutes. But I have bad news. That may not be enough time. My call must have tipped someone on the inside here because they did an immediate security check-in. One guy isn’t responding. They’re sending a team to his tracker location now. So I’m guessing you have less than sixty seconds before they find him, order a general alert, and pull Evie out.”

  Keri clutched the ceiling tighter, suddenly afraid her legs would give out beneath her. For the briefest of seconds, she thought she might collapse under the pressure of the moment, as she had so many times before.

  No. You will not crumble. You will be strong.

  Her head cleared. Ray continued.

  “Keri, I heard you say you’re in audio mode only, so listen closely. I’m going to draw them to me down here, make them think the intruder is on the first floor, not the third. That should give you a little extra time—maybe even pull a few guards away. But it will be short-lived. So you need to move now.”

  Keri wanted to tell him not to do it, that it was a suicide mission. But like he said, she was in audio mode only, so she couldn’t say anything. Besides, apart from the likelihood that it would kill him, it was good plan. It would draw them away from her.

  But most of all, the decision was out of her control. She couldn’t change it. And she had less than a minute before guards might burst into the room above her and take her daughter away or worse. She had no choice anymore.

  So Keri jumped.

  CHAPTER TWENTY

  Her fingers found the bottom bar of the railing but she felt them start to slip almost immediately. Somehow, the index and middle finger of her right hand clung to the bar as she slammed her left palm down on the edge of the balcony, where the tile met the metal.

  She pushed up hard, getting enough leverage and height to grip the railing with her entire right hand and hook her left arm between the first and second bars. She felt an odd twinge in her left shoulder as all her weight bore down on it at an extreme angle.

  Ignoring the pain, she grabbed the highest bar she could with her right hand and hooked her elbow around it while she extricated her left shoulder from its position and flung it over the top railing. Using her remaining strength and the adrenaline coursing through her system, she pulled herself up the rest of the way until she felt her feet plant on the top of the balcony floor.

  In Keri’s ear, gunshots and yelling were audible, little of it coherent. She forced herself to push it out of her head and focus on what was in front of her.

  From the balcony, she couldn’t see past the heavy bedroom curtains. She climbed over the railing and grabbed the door handle, ready to shoot the glass if the thing was locked. It opened easily.

  She stepped inside and was almost immediately overwhelmed by the strong scent of incense. The room was dark, with candles everywhere. Loud ambient music played over the sound system. It took her a second to get her bearings.

  Then she saw him—a corpulent man on a huge bed. He was naked and his hairy back, with its endless folds of fat, was to Keri.
He was thrusting down on someone who wasn’t visible under his massive form.

  Keri pulled out her gun and started toward him, trying not to let her fury overwhelm her focus. Suddenly a voice cut into her head. It was Keith.

  “Keri, I can see you’ve reached the third floor. You need to move quick. I’ve patched into the security channel. They’ve found the guard you knocked out and they’re sending guys for Evie now.”

  Almost on cue, the door to the bedroom opened and two men in red jackets rushed in, both holding weapons. Keri turned to face them. She felt surprisingly calm, considering the circumstances. Keith’s voice, the sounds of music, gunfire, and shouting, the smell of the candles—they all faded into the background as she centered her attention on the men in red.

  She shot the first one in the chest before he even had a chance to raise his gun. The second man was starting to aim at her but she pulled the trigger before he’d fully squared up in her direction and hit him in the right shoulder. The gun dropped from his useless hand as he fell to the ground. As she crossed the room to the door, she shot him a second time, this time in the chest as he writhed on the floor in pain. He lay still, no longer a threat.

  Keri closed the door, locked it, and grabbed a chair, which she jammed under the doorknob. It wouldn’t stop them for long. But she didn’t need long.

  She turned her attention back to the bed. Herb Wasson had been busy while she dealt with the guards. He was still on the bed, but now he was on his knees, facing Keri. He was holding a girl in front of him, clutching her close to his chest with his left arm wrapped around her. The girl’s hands were cuffed behind her back. His right hand was holding a knife to her throat.

  Keri refused to look at the girl’s face. If it was Evie, she feared she’d lose her will, her focus. She needed to keep all of her attention on Wasson, staring into his beady, darting black eyes.

  “Drop the knife,” she said evenly, stepping slowly toward him.

  “You’re supposed to be dead!” he shrieked more than said.