by Aimée Thurlo
“Where we headed?” Diane watched his eyes.
“I’m thinking our best bet is to find Victor Wayne and stick with him. We’ve got patrols all over the city and sooner or later one of them will spot Charles, if he’s sticking to the streets,” Lee said.
“Okay. And we did notice Charles was calling someone on his phone. Who else do we know he’s been in contact with around here besides us?”
“FPD and Victor Wayne.” Lee smiled. “You may be right, lady. Maybe Victor will lead us to Charles, who’ll lead us to Tanner and his woman.”
“Any idea where Victor is now?”
“His apartment to see if we broke in? We’re going in that general direction now.”
“Yeah, and Charles knows where it is too.”
Dr. Wayne and Charles were standing in the shade beneath the roof of the parking garage across from the fancy apartments, just outside the yellow crime tape still up from the previous incident. Lee and Diane had stopped a block away, around the corner, just close enough to watch the meeting without being noticed.
Diane had the binoculars, and despite the shade, Lee could see inside the covered space where four of Victor’s men stood beside his white SUV.
“What do you suppose Charles is telling Victor?” Diane whispered.
“Well, if he knows exactly where Tanner and Mrs. Walker are hiding, he’s not going to give out that information right now. Once Victor knew that, he wouldn’t need Charles. He’d probably hand him over to FPD.”
“Or bring him along to make sure there are no tricks,” Diane said. Victor had motioned with his head toward his crew, and two of them, and Charles, were getting into the white SUV.
Victor and the other man walked to a second vehicle, a rental van, and climbed inside. The SUV drove out into the street, heading north. The van followed immediately.
“Here we go,” Lee said, following at a safe distance. “If they’re going to check out Charles’s information, they’d better not take too much longer. Another hour and the sun will be setting.”
“Let’s go fishing for information, Lee. I’m going to call Victor and suggest a meeting for, say, within a half hour. If he makes excuses, it’ll be a good way of confirming he doesn’t want us around, which will, in its own way, confirm what he has in mind.”
“Surprisingly, I think I understand what you just said,” Lee said, then grinned.
Diane smiled back and punched out Victor’s cell number. “Hi, Victor. This is Agent Lopez—Diane. We need to meet and talk strategy. Thirty minutes, at a coffee shop?”
She stuck out her tongue and made a face.
“Oh, okay. As soon as you finish up there, give me a call and we’ll set up something. We need to know where to target our search once the sun goes down.”
She ended the call, still watching Victor’s van moving through traffic two blocks ahead. “Lying bastard said he was still working the scene at Sam’s Auto Clinic.”
“At least we can confirm he doesn’t want us to know where he’s going. And that’s a good sign.”
“So what’s the plan when we finally get to wherever Charles is leading them?”
“Make sure they don’t take Tanner alive. At least that’s my plan.” Lee reached down and tapped his hand on the butt of his pistol.
Within ten minutes they reached a bluff looking down upon a box canyon lined with recently paved roads and a few new, upscale houses under construction. At the far end of the development, across the small valley and on the highest location, almost level with them, two rows of new homes were already completed. From the landscaping and the presence of cars in driveways, most of these houses were occupied.
Lee pulled over to the side of the road. They could watch the two vehicles below, winding around the development at slow speed, without revealing their own location. And because the entire development had only one access road that came past their current location, he knew they couldn’t lose their quarry unless everyone took off on foot.
A quarter mile away, in a fenced compound, were several pieces of road equipment, including dump trucks, a road grader, and other vehicles. Several private vehicles were parked in the same general area, including a pickup with camper shell that looked very familiar.
“Check out the vehicle park,” Diane said, the binoculars to her eyes again.
“That Tanner’s truck?”
“Damaged front end, green paint and all,” Diane said.
Lee located the SUV and van again. They were parked side by side at the end of a circular drive that ended in front of the foundation of a future home. No other vehicles were around—it was six o’clock in the afternoon and the workers had already left for the day.
Nobody got out of their vehicles, which suggested they were either planning or just watching. No buildings were close by, and there was little cover if they intended on sneaking up on anyone before dark.
“Do you suppose Tanner and the woman are still in that pickup?” Diane asked.
“Maybe. Where else would they have gone? That vehicle park doesn’t have any better options, except maybe that little site trailer—the one with the name of the construction company on it.”
“If Marci scouted out this backup refuge while Tanner was making his move on us in the parking garage, then they had a reason for picking this particular location.”
Lee looked at the fenced-in compound, then noticed a large drainage pond, mostly dried out from a lack of rain, that fed into a concrete-lined ditch. The ditch continued down the canyon and away from the development. Above the pond were several large culverts that fed runoff from drains at curb level at various road elevations of the circling route.
“Those culverts are big enough to crawl through,” Lee pointed out. “Or for a shorty like you, maybe even walk, hunched over.”
She ignored the tease and followed his gaze. “Only one of the feeder pipes passes close to a building that’s already been completed. That green one with the sign on the patch of lawn two levels down.” She reached for the binoculars.
“The one with the big car and realtor bumper sticker parked in the driveway? It’s a model home.”
She put down the binoculars. “The two of them could have used that culvert to get all the way up there without the presence of a stolen vehicle to give them away. Or sunlight. They might be in the model home.”
“Which means the realtor who owns that car could be in deep trouble.” Lee looked down at the vehicles that had brought Victor Wayne and his crew. “If Charles reached this point and watched them go into the tunnel, he’s thought of that too.”
“If Tanner sees them coming, he’ll know he’s trapped,” Diane pointed out. “But the ball game changes in a half hour or so.” She looked toward the setting sun. “Once it’s dark, Tanner’ll probably be able to get away on foot. The way you have to circle around the road if you’re in a car, he could just go on foot uphill and escape before they could reach the next level.”
“So Victor has to act now if he has any brains. But we’ve already seen one example of his pathetic tactical skills. He could even get himself killed this time.”
“They’re going to do something, Lee.” The two vehicles started moving again. The SUV went left, and the van to the right.
Lee started their vehicle. “We can’t beat them to the model home, and if they try to assault the place before dark, the only exit for Tanner is via the car or down the culvert. We can go up that pipe and cut him off.”
“What do you think I am, a sewer rat? I’m not crawling up that thing. It must be two hundred yards or more.”
“You don’t have to crawl, shorty. Just creep along all hunched over.”
“You’re kidding.”
“Of course I am. You’ll need to stay outside to keep watch for me. Once inside, I’ll be blind to the rest of the world.”
“Think your radio will work inside that metal cylinder?”
“Just yell, the pipe will contain and focus the sound. Or fire a shot outside
it—or two.”
They reached the fence within three minutes. From their low elevation they could only see one vehicle, the SUV circling around clockwise. The van, which was going around to the right, was on the inside lane and the angle was wrong to view it.
There was a gap in the chain-link fence at the gate where someone, probably Tanner, wearing that helmet and gloves, had twisted it around. They slipped through and ran toward the drainage pond and the culverts running uphill from there. The connecting culverts were held in position by concrete supports spaced evenly along their length, and the drainage pond was lined with big boulders, like the bottom of an enormous aquarium.
Lee looked at the openings. The culvert that led up to the road in front of the model home was missing the big wire grate the others had bolted in place. There were rips in the metal where Tanner had pried it loose, probably with a metal bar or fence post taken from the construction site.
“Flashlight?” Diane reached into her jacket pocket.
He frowned.
“Ooops. Sorry, hawk eye. May I offer you the shotgun?”
“Yes, of course. That way, with just one shot inside that tunnel I can completely eliminate all my hearing capacity,” he answered sourly.
“Okay. You’re right. If I yell ‘Yes,’ that means Tanner or the woman has entered the tunnel. If I yell ‘No,’ that means they’ve taken a vehicle or gone in another direction. You should be able to hear my voice all the way to the top.”
“If not, hit the pipe with a rock one time for yes, two for no.” Lee clambered up into the culvert, which was about three feet off the ground, then started up. The structural ribs were deep enough to give him footholds, though the slope was steep. “Wish me luck.”
“Better than that. Good luck,” Diane said, then stepped back, made sure she had a big rock handy, then pulled out her binoculars and looked around. The sun was still up, but at the bottom of the box canyon they were already in shadow.
Diane continued to step back until she could see the roof of the model house toward the top of the canyon. Just the rear of the white SUV was visible a short distance from the building. Then she saw the front of the van, farther down the street, past the house. The road was blocked on both sides now. Tanner, if he was inside, couldn’t use the car to drive away. Then Diane heard a gunshot, then another.
Lee hurried up the big pipe, using his hands occasionally to give himself an extra push. He wasn’t crawling, it was more of a low sprint accompanied by an occasional touch in order to maintain his balance. One of the advantages of being a half vampire was that you rarely got tired. He could have done this for hours, if necessary.
The darkness inside the culvert posed no visual problem for him, and the drainage system was so new it hadn’t experienced enough rainfall yet to get rusty, slippery, or muddy. There was some dust, of course, this was New Mexico, but not nearly as much as expected. And there were no reptiles or rabbits, at least this far in—so far.
He heard what sounded like a gunshot, a distant booming, twice. But it came from above, not below, so all he could do was surmise that Dr. Wayne and his goons were making a move on Tanner. They’d wasted several minutes deciding what to do, and Lee wondered if Tanner would be able to hold out in the house until dark. After that, he’d be in charge, especially if he still had that pistol and enough ammunition.
The gunshots continued, getting louder, and as Lee approached the top end of the tunnel, he heard shouts.
“Where’d he go?” It was Victor’s voice. “Somebody was shooting at us.”
“He didn’t get outside. I’ve gone completely around the building,” a man with a deep voice yelled. “Is there a basement?”
“How the hell should I know?” Victor yelled back. “I’ll keep watch on the outside, you and the others clear the rooms, one at a time. Try not to shoot Tanner in the head or the heart, but put him down quickly and don’t let him get back up.”
“There may be a hostage. They didn’t drive this car here, according to Alderete.”
“Well, don’t kill any hostages if you can avoid it. But if you see Tanner, take the shot. He’ll do the same to you.”
“What about the woman with him, Marci Walker?”
“Take her out if she resists. Besides, we don’t know what Tanner’s done to her. She might be just like him now.”
“What the hell are you talking about?”
“Just do it—now—before it gets dark.”
Lee remained inside the culvert, watching from the shadows. Dr. Wayne was standing on the roof, holding a riot gun, and four men, heavily armed with assault rifles and shotguns and equipped with body armor, were against a side wall, discussing their assault plans.
Lee took out his cell phone and dialed. “Diane, Victor’s people were fired upon, and Tanner and the woman are apparently inside the home. There’s a hostage, but Victor’s pretty much written her off already. Four of his men are about to assault the place. I’m at the top end of the culvert, so Tanner can’t get past me. My bet is that he’ll try to hold them off until the sun goes down. It can’t be much longer.”
“Want me to come up?”
“No. Block the road leading out of the development and use the shotgun. If Tanner gets to a vehicle he’ll still have to come your way to get out.”
“And if he holds out until dark?”
“All bets are off. Just get someplace where he can’t sneak up on you. At least you’ll have a chance.”
“What are you going to do?”
“I’ll help cover the outside for Victor, and keep watch. If Tanner makes a break for it, I’m the only one who can come close to keeping up with him in the dark. Just be careful.”
“Yeah, you too.”
Lee hung up, then watched as the four men split into two assault teams. One pair was obviously going to break in through the front, the other via the back. The realtor’s red Caddy was in the driveway, parked within inches of the garage door. Victor, on the roof, would be watching for anyone coming out a window or door.
He hated the whole thing. He had to stop a killer and he’d do what he had to, but he couldn’t help but sympathize with Tanner. They made his life hell, treating him like an animal, and now were hunting him down like one. Systematic torture had driven him insane and yet there was no one to side with him … to uphold his rights, if he was morally entitled to them after killing at least three completely innocent people. Lee thought about the judge and the lawyer for a second, wondering how innocent they really were. But the mechanic—he made the list no matter what.
Knowing that part was out of his hands now, he focused on the job at hand. One of the assault team had mentioned Charles. Was he still in the SUV? Lee couldn’t check without poking his head out of the culvert, and with Victor up on the roof with the shotgun, it was dangerous to show up unannounced. Victor was obviously jumpy, and would likely shoot first.
All Lee could do was wait. Seconds passed, and Lee could hear an occasional shout, and the sound of a door being kicked open, but no gunshots. Then Lee heard a door closing loudly. Two or three more minutes went by, then there was a thump and a flurry of gunshots, shouts, and screams. After that, it was very quiet again—a bad sign.
Lee noticed that the sun had finally set.
Victor, who’d been pacing back and forth across the roof, waving the shotgun around, went anxiously over to the edge of the roof. “Hey!” he yelled. “Report. You got him, right?”
The front door burst open, and someone ran out in a panic, tripping over a railroad tie that was part of the landscaping. Victor fired, missing and kicking up the turf beside his target.
“No, no, don’t shoot. It’s me, Larry. Tanner got the others. Cover me,” the tall federal marshal yelled, scrambling to his feet and grabbing a pistol from his holster. Lee could see blood on the man’s arm and upper chest, but it might not have been his.
“Crap,” Lee mumbled. He had to do something now before Tanner got away again. “Hey, I’m Officer Hawk.
Over here by the pipe.” Lee waved his left hand, praying they wouldn’t shoot.
“Watch for Tanner. It’s getting dark and he’s already taken out three of my men!” Victor yelled, trying to spot where Lee was located.
“I’m coming out of the culvert. Don’t let Tanner run uphill or get past you.” Lee scrambled out onto the ground. The marshal was spinning around like a top, waving his pistol around in near panic. He wouldn’t be much use.
“Hey, let me out! Hawk, I’m over here!”
Lee recognized Charles Alderete’s voice. The man was inside the white SUV in the driver’s seat, waving an arm and yanking at something. Victor must have handcuffed him to the steering wheel.
“God, Victor, you’re a real piece of work,” Lee yelled, waving at Charles to let him know he’d heard. “Where’s Tanner’s hostage?”
Suddenly there were gunshots, and chunks of the roof flew into the air around Victor’s feet. He started yelling and jumping around like a barefoot kid on an anthill. Tanner was shooting through the ceiling at the sounds of his footsteps. It would have been funny in a movie.
But this was real life, and Lee realized he was running out of trained, dependable backup except for Diane, and she was probably hundreds of yards away right now. Instead of firing into the house, the federal marshal fled toward the van. Victor leaped off the roof into a fountain, dropping his shotgun when he hit the water.
Lee glanced over at Charles. The only way he could free him quickly was by breaking the steering wheel, and then Charles would know he was unnaturally strong. It would also take too long.
Hearing the sound of breaking glass around the back of the house, Lee ran forward, using the house as cover. His phone started to vibrate. He reached for the device, keeping watch as he continued to slip along the side wall.
Water was splashing, and Lee turned for a split second to look. Victor Wayne was feeling around in the small pond for his weapon, all the time looking at the house instead of where he was putting his hands. The man was terrified.