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But Holman still didn’t believe Marchenko and Parsons had buried their money up here. Carrying that much cash would have taken several trips, and each trip would have increased the odds they would be discovered. Even if they were stupid enough to bring the money up here, the hole needed to bury it would have been the size of five or six suitcases. It would have been difficult to dig in the rocky soil, and anyone else who visited the summit would have easily noticed the large area of disturbed soil.
Holman pointed out the heel prints and scuff marks that had been scratched into the clearing.
“Maybe he had the girl up here, but there’s no way they brought the money. You see all these footprints? Hikers come up here all the time.”
Pollard considered the prints, then walked around the edges of the clearing. She seemed to be studying it from different angles.
She said, “This little hill isn’t so big. There’s not a lot of room up here.”
“That’s my point.”
Pollard gazed down at Hollywood.
“But why did he have to come up here to be with the girl? He could’ve pretended to be a pirate anywhere.”
Holman shrugged.
“Why’d he rob thirteen banks dressed like a commando? Freaks happen.”
Holman wasn’t sure she heard him. She was still staring down into Hollywood. Then she shook her head.
“No, Holman, coming up here was important to him. It meant something. That’s one of the things they taught us at Quantico. Even madness has meaning.”
“You think that money was up here?”
She shook her head, but she was still staring down into the canyon.
“No. No, you’re right about that. They didn’t bury sixteen million dollars up here, and Fowler and your boy sure as hell didn’t find it and dig it up. That hole would look like a bomb crater.”
“Okay.”
She pointed down toward the city.
“But he lived right down there in Beachwood Canyon. You see it? Every day when he stepped out of his apartment, he could look up and see this sign. Maybe they didn’t keep the money in their apartment or hide it up here, but something about this place made him feel safe and powerful. That’s why he brought the girl up here.”
“You can see forever. Maybe it made him feel like he was in a crow’s nest, like on one of those old sailing ships.”
Pollard still wasn’t looking at him. She was staring down into Beachwood Canyon like the answers to all of her questions were waiting to be found.
“I don’t think so, Holman. Remember what Alison told Marki? It always had to be here. He couldn’t perform without his fantasies, and the fantasies were about treasure-having sex on the money. Money equals power. Power equals sex. Being here made him feel close to his money, and the money gave him the power to have sex.”
She looked at him.
“Fowler and your son could have picked up dirt and grass in any vacant lot in L.A., but if they knew what Alison knew, they would have come up here. Look around. It isn’t that big. Just look.”
Pollard walked off into the brush, sca
The only man-made artifact on the summit was a device Holman thought looked like a metal scarecrow. Holman had seen it before. The scarecrow had been set into the ground years ago and bore what appeared to be U.S. Geological Survey markings. Holman guessed it was something for monitoring seismic activity, but he didn’t know.
Holman was in a brushy area ten feet beyond the cage when he found the turned earth.
“Pollard! Agent Pollard!”
It was a small egg-shaped depression about a foot across. The darker, turned earth at its center stood out from the surrounding undisturbed ground.
Pollard appeared at his side, then knelt by the depression. She probed the turned soil with her fingers and tested the surrounding area. She scooped a handful of loose soil from the center, then scooped more. By clearing away the loose soil, she revealed a hard perimeter. She continued clearing loose soil until she finally sat back on her heels. It hadn’t taken long.
Holman said, “What is it?”
She looked at him.
“It’s a hole…Holman. See the hard edge where the shovel bit? Someone dug up something. You saw how it was a depression? Someone removed something, so there wasn’t enough dirt to fill the empty space when they refilled the hole. Hence, the depression.”
“Anyone could have dug this.”
“Yes, anyone could have dug it. But how many people would be up here digging, and what could have been here that someone would want to remove?”
“They had sixteen million dollars. You couldn’t fit sixteen million in a little hole like that.”
Pollard stood, and then both of them stared down at the hole.
“No, but you could hide something that led to the sixteen million-GPS coordinates, an address, keys-”
Holman said, “A treasure map.”
“Yep. Even a pirate’s treasure map.”
Holman glanced up, but Pollard was walking away. He looked down at the hole again as an emptiness grew in his heart. The hole in his heart was larger than this little hole and felt larger than the canyon beneath the Hollywood Sign. It was the emptiness of a father who had failed his only child and cost that child his life.
Richie had not been a good man.
Richie had made a play for the money.
And now Richie had paid the price.
Holman heard Do
Like father, like son.
38
POLLARD BRUSHED at the dirt on her hands, wishing she had a Handi Wipe. Dirt was caked under her nails and would be hell to get out, but she didn’t care. Pollard had a high level of confidence the hole was co
Pollard studied the surroundings and decided it was possible. She and Holman had followed the fire road as it wrapped around the peak to bring them to the communications facility at the top of the Hollywood Sign. The cameras probably included views of the road as it approached the sign and the ante
Pollard opened her phone again and punched up Sanders’ cell number from the memory. Pollard knew Sanders wasn’t in the office because she answered in a normal voice.
“Let me ask you a question, Pollard-what in hell are you and the Hero doing?”
Pollard glanced across the summit at Holman. He was still standing by the hole. She lowered her voice.
“The same thing we were doing yesterday and the day before. Why?”