The Chase (42 page)

Lieutenant Mallory slapped his palm against the desk. “Okay, I think we’ve got them.” He turned to Jake. “How well do you remember the layout of the farm and the garage?”

“Pretty well.”

He picked a legal pad off Doug’s desk and handed it to Jake. “Draw me a map of the farm, and as detailed a diagram of the garage as you can.”

“What’s our next step?” Doug asked.

“I’ll call Chester Rawls to assemble his FBI team, and we’ll bring in a SERT team and surround the garage.”

“What’s a SERT team? Is that like a SWAT team?” Anne asked.

The lieutenant nodded. “Same thing. It stands for Sheriff’s Emergency Response Team.”

She frowned. “But you can’t predict how McGraw will react to that. He might go crazy and hurt the kids. Shouldn’t you comply with his ransom demand first and see if he releases the children, before sending in the troops?”

“We can’t take that risk. Realistically, the odds are against us that McGraw will release the children as promised. If we can zero in on their location and surround them, we’ll have the upper hand.”

“What do you want me to do?” Doug asked.

“I’d like you and Mr. Dawson with me at the scene.”

Anne looked at her watch. “It’s three-forty-five now. What time do you want to leave?”

“As soon as possible,” the lieutenant said.

“In that case, let me go say good-bye to Samantha and tell Ben we’re going to be leaving.”

“Anne.”

She stopped and looked at Doug. “What?”

He glanced at Lieutenant Mallory.

“Mrs. Cummings, I don’t want any nonessential people there. Just Mr. Cummings and Mr. Dawson.”

“I’m a
nonessential person
, Lieutenant? It’s all right for my husband to risk his life, being bait for Zeb McGraw, but I can’t be there?”

Doug sighed. “Anne, please.”

The lieutenant gave her a reassuring nod. “Mrs. Cummings, I promise you, I won’t risk your husband’s safety. I need him as the go-between with McGraw, but I will not put him in harm’s way.”

Anne folded her arms across her chest. “You obviously don’t know my husband very well, Lieutenant. He’ll do whatever it takes to save those kids.”

“And I’ll do whatever it takes to keep him safe.”

She looked away and Doug put his arms around her. “It’s going to be all right,” he whispered, pressing his lips to her forehead. “I promise.”

K
endall stiffened at the sound of the door unlocking. “Follow my lead,” she whispered, squeezing Albert’s hand.

The door swung open and Zelda stepped into sight. “Come on, camp counselor.”

“Before I go anywhere, can I take the girls to the bathroom?” Kendall asked, rising stiffly to her feet.

Zelda snorted “There you go again. Acting like this is some kind of hotel.”

Kendall forced a smile. “We’ve been using a bucket for the kids to pee in, but now a couple of them have to do number two, and it’s really going to smell in here if they use the bucket.”

Zelda shrugged. “Let it smell.”

Kendall stepped closer to her. “You’re a mother, Zelda. You understand how it is with kids. What can it hurt to let them use the toilet?”

“There ain’t no toilet here anyway.”

“What about going outside?” Kendall struggled to keep her tone casual. “They can go in the bushes.”

Zelda regarded her for a moment.

“Hey, Zelda, what’s taking so long?” McGraw shouted.

“Come on.” Zelda slammed the door closed and grabbed Kendall by the arm, pulling her towards the bus.

Kendall heard the sound of raised voices, and as she climbed the steps into the bus, she saw McGraw jump out of his seat.

“I ain’t going to argue with you about which vehicle to take,” McGraw shouted. “The truck stays where it is. We’re going to meet Cummings with the van.”

Earl shrugged and stayed seated. “Suit yourself. But I still think it’s a stupid shit idea to take a van that the cops are probably already looking for.”

“So change the damn plates. We need the van so Cummings will think the kids are in the back,” McGraw said.

“Go ahead.” Earl made a sweeping gesture towards the bus door.

McGraw spun around and pushed Kendall towards the door. “Come on, move it.”

Zelda stepped out of the way, and McGraw shoved Kendall ahead of him down the bus steps.

“Open the garage door,” McGraw ordered Zelda as he stormed past her.

“Ain’t you going to wait for Earl?” Zelda asked.

McGraw didn’t respond, and when he was off the bus, he muttered under his breath, “Fuck Earl.”

Zelda followed them off the bus. “Zeb!”

“Open the door,” he yelled, not turning to look at her.

“Fine.” She stormed to the front of the garage and slapped her hand at the green button that opened the door.

The mammoth door had begun to creak towards the ceiling, when Earl screamed, “
Shut the door!
Someone’s out there.”

Kendall strained to look out the door, but McGraw drew his gun and ran towards the other side of the van, dragging her in front of him like a shield. Through the van window, Kendall could see Zelda repeatedly hitting the red button, even though the door was already sliding back towards the floor.

Earl, with his gun aimed towards the door, sprinted across the garage and took refuge with them behind the van.

“What’d you see out there?” McGraw asked.

“I saw someone move in the bushes on the other side of the driveway.”

McGraw narrowed his eyes. “You sure it wasn’t the wind blowing the bushes around?”

“It wasn’t the wind,” Earl replied, glaring at him. “I saw someone out there.”

The door clunked to a stop as it met the concrete floor and Zelda removed her hand from the button and ran to join them.

She grabbed Earl’s arm. “What’s going on?”

“Earl thinks he saw somebody outside,” McGraw said.

Earl scowled. “I did see someone outside. I ain’t imagining things.”

“Who was it?” Zelda asked.

“I don’t know; I didn’t get that good a look.” His eyes darted towards the door, and he gestured with his gun towards the narrow line of windows that ran about chest high across the garage door. “I’m going to take a look.”

As Earl approached the door, Kendall crossed her fingers and silently prayed.
Please let it be the police out there
.

Earl poked his head into the opening and stood watchfully for a moment.

“Shit!”

“Who is it?” McGraw demanded, tightening his grip on Kendall.

“It’s the cops. I see two of them in the bushes across the drive.”

McGraw pulled the cell phone out of his pocket. “Cummings is going to pay for this.”

D
oug flipped open his cell phone. “Hello?”

“You just gave those kids a fucking
death sentence
, Cummings.”

The muscles in Doug’s chest tightened and he felt sweat bead on his forehead. He drew a deep breath. “Calm down, McGraw.”

McGraw’s voice bellowed over the phone, and Doug eased the cell away from his ear. “Don’t you tell me to calm down. I told you no cops, and now we’re surrounded by them.”

Doug stared at the garage through the trees. “I have the money, McGraw. Let’s just make the trade. You release the kids, and you’ll get the money.”

McGraw let out a laugh. “What good does the money do me if I go back to the slammer?”

Doug said nothing.

“Where the fuck are you, anyway?” McGraw asked. “You out there with them?”

“Yes.”

It sounded as if McGraw had covered the phone, and Doug could hear muffled voices; then McGraw’s voice hissed in his ear. “I’ll give you one last chance to save the kids.”

Doug swallowed. “Okay.”

“You bring the money in here. Then I’ll let the kids go.”

Doug closed his eyes and felt a knot form in the pit of his stomach. “You know I won’t do that, McGraw. You can have the money, but first I need to know the girls are safe.”

“Cut the crap, Cummings. You already talked to one of the kids.”

“That was hours ago. I—”

Two rapid-fire gunshots rang from the building and a woman’s scream drifted over the cell phone.

“Oh Jesus.” Doug gripped the phone tighter. “McGraw!”

“See what happens when you piss me off, Cummings?” McGraw spoke in a low voice, his tone chillingly emotionless.

Doug’s breath escaped in a rush. “I’m not trying to piss you off.”

“Too late, Cummings. You already did.”

The sound of another shot exploded in Doug’s ear.

“All right, McGraw, stop!” Doug took a step towards the building. “I’ll do whatever you want.
Just stop shooting.”

“I’ll stop shooting when I have the money.”

“It’s in my car,” Doug said, lying. “By the front gate. I need time to get it.”

“You got five minutes.”

“All right. Just don’t hurt Kendall or the kids.”

Silence.

“McGraw?” Doug saw from the display on his cell phone that the call was no longer connected, and he let his hand drop to his side as he turned to Lieutenant Mallory.

“What’d he say?” the lieutenant demanded.

“I told McGraw the money was in my car. He said I have five minutes to get it or he’ll start shooting again.”

“What does he want you to do with the money?”

“He said if I bring it inside, he’ll let the kids go.”

The lieutenant stared grimly at him. “Yeah, I’ll just bet he will.”

Neither spoke for a moment.

Doug drew in a deep breath. “I’ve got to give it a try.”

Lieutenant Mallory shook his head. “That’s out of the question.”

Jake stood off to the side. “Let me take the money in,” he said, stepping towards them.

“This isn’t just about the money,” Doug said. “McGraw’s looking for revenge. That’s why he wants me in there.”

Jake nodded. “Yeah, I know. But I’ll bet his vendetta against you pales in comparison to the way he feels about me.”

Lieutenant Mallory held his hand up. “Let’s dispense with this kind of talk right here. If anyone goes in there, it will be one of my men. Someone trained for this.”

“McGraw will never go for that,” Doug said.

The lieutenant’s face creased into a frown. “Then we need to try to buy some time to get the SERT team in place and see if we can penetrate the building. I’ve got a chopper on the way. Do you think you can stall him?”

“No.” Doug gave a quick shake of his head. “McGraw sounds like he’s ready to blow. If I’m not ready with the money when he calls back, God only knows what he’ll do. We can’t take that risk.”

Lieutenant Mallory’s jaw muscles worked as he studied Doug. “Then you’ve got to talk him into a compromise, because going inside that building would be suicide.”

Doug’s cell phone rang and his heart skipped a beat as he pressed the button to answer the call.

M
cGraw flexed his muscle and the crook of his arm tightened against Kendall’s throat.

She clawed at his arm. “I can’t breathe.”

“Shut up.”

Kendall’s head was pinned tight against McGraw’s chest, straining her neck muscles, and a piercing pain shot through her left shoulder and down her arm.