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But he couldn’t do that right now. He checked the time and cursed. He needed to get clean. O’Ba
Checking the security of Sean’s bonds, he shoved a cloth gag in his son’s mouth before cleaning his knives and putting them back in their case. Then he took them and his laptop back into the house. He started the hot water in the master bath as he stripped off his fouled clothing. He’d throw the clothes in the pit with what was left of Sean.
Ken climbed under the hot spray, feeling every one of his forty-seven years. His daughter was in prison and he needed to find a way to get her out. And he had to do it from a long distance away. Because only one thing was crystal clear: he would be on that plane tomorrow when it left for Papeete, no matter what. He’d do what he could for Alice from there.
He considered his options as he lathered off the grime. He could—
Suddenly the lights went out and the AC motor whined as it shut down. No power. The power had gone out. Which it wasn’t supposed to do. They had a backup generator. It should have kicked in already, but it hadn’t.
Something was wrong.
Ken quickly rinsed himself off and crept from the shower.
Cinci
Wednesday 5 August, 11.10 P.M.
The wall with its iron gate, evenly spaced cameras and high voltage was exactly as Kate had described, Marcus thought as he and Scarlett followed the agent through the woods. Scarlett lurched forward to tap Kate’s shoulder, bringing them all to an abrupt halt.
Scarlett pointed to the mounted camera. ‘How did you know they were live?’ she whispered.
‘The red lights were lit on each of them,’ Kate whispered back. But the lights weren’t on now. She cocked her head. ‘The hum of the high-voltage wire is gone too, and there was more ambient light overhead because of spotlights inside the wall.’
‘Someone didn’t pay their power bill,’ Marcus said. ‘If the back fence is also dead, we can go in that way rather than waiting for Sweeney to come through the gate.’
Kate checked the time again, then sent a quick text from her phone. ‘To Deacon,’ she said quietly. ‘I’m telling him that we’re going in. We don’t know if the power outage is pla
They set off at a jog through the trees until they reached the point where the wall ended and the chain-link fence began. Marcus plucked a leaf from a tree and dropped it on the fence, relieved when there was no fizzle. He pulled the bolt cutters from the pack and cut a section of fence, three feet wide by five feet tall. The fence curled away, leaving an opening large enough for them to dive through. Even if the power came back on, they had a quick escape route.
Kate disappeared to the left, into the trees in the direction of the two small sheds that she’d seen. Scarlett had already run to the chain-link gate set into the back wall and was cutting away a portion of the gate similar in size to that which Marcus had cut in the fence itself.
She handed him the bolt cutters and he slid them back into the pack. She crawled through the hole she’d cut, fearless but careful. Marcus was right behind her.
Hold on a little longer, Gayle, he thought. I’m coming for you.
Cinci
Wednesday 5 August, 11.15 P.M.
Special Agent Kate Coppola looked over her shoulder to see Marcus and Scarlett disappearing behind the wall of the compound. She silently wished them luck, starkly aware that they’d taken the more dangerous search. Back here in the forested area, there was cover galore should she need to hide, but inside the compound there was a house, its attached garage and a lot of wide-open space.
Marcus O’Ba
She moved through the forest as soundlessly as possible, headed for the larger shed because it was the closer of the two. The structure was about as large as a high-school gymnasium, the walls made of corrugated metal. The roof was a big canopy that rose to a peak in the middle, like that of a circus tent. There was no foundation that she could see and the walls were of the prefabricated type that could be quickly put together and taken apart.
A temporary structure? Probably. But what were they using it for?
She heard the loud crack of a twig and ducked back into the trees. A man was approaching from the large shed, but it wasn’t Sweeney. Sweeney was in his forties, with dark hair. The man walking toward her was blond and fucking huge. Nearly as big as Marcus’s friend Diesel. She didn’t want to have to shoot him and alarm anyone in the house, but she also didn’t want to have to tangle with him hand-to-hand unless she got the drop on him.
Sliding her rifle over her back, Kate grabbed the limb of the nearest tree, swung herself up onto it, then climbed a few limbs higher until she was certain the man wouldn’t see her.
She waited until he’d gotten a few body lengths away from the tree before dropping from the limb to land nearly soundlessly in a crouch. She shoved the barrel of her rifle into his back.
‘Hands in the air.’ Slowly he complied. ‘Higher.’ She dug the rifle barrel a bit deeper into his back. ‘Higher, I said. On the ground, face down, Blondie. Do it,’ she hissed, and he dropped to his knees, flattening his body on the ground. ‘Arms spread, palms down, fingers straight.’
Once again he complied, and she snapped cuffs on while he put up relatively little resistance. ‘Where’s your boss?’ she asked.
‘Depends. Who are you?’
She gave the rifle another shove between his shoulder blades. ‘I will shoot your fucking head off, make no mistake. Boss. Where?’
‘Inside the house, I think. At least he was a few minutes ago. Don’t shoot.’ He turned his face to the side so that he could look up at her from the corner of his eye. His very blue eye. ‘Who are you? Please.’
Her rifle was steady in her hands. ‘Special Agent Coppola, FBI. Who are you?’
He let out a breath. ‘Finally. You need to send a message to your SAC ASAP. Tell him “Pineapple under the sea”.’
‘“Pineapple under the sea”?’ Startled, Kate went down on one knee to study his face more closely. It could be him under all that grime. Carefully she pushed up his pants leg to his knee and checked for the identifying scar. It was a match. Quickly she unlocked his cuffs. ‘Well I’ll be damned. Special Agent Davenport, we’ve been looking for you.’
Cinci
Wednesday 5 August, 11.15 P.M.
Scarlett and Marcus ran from the back gate toward the garage attached to the house. There were six bay doors, with one open. Hopefully that meant that Sweeney hadn’t left yet.
She figured the bastard would bring Gayle to the meet, just to get Marcus to come close enough to be grabbed or shot. Once Sweeney had gotten Marcus, Scarlett had no doubt that he’d kill Gayle next, then anyone who happened to be in his way. He’d already sprayed bullets throughout the Ledger building. He was an indiscriminate killer.