Robert Crais - Hostage

Talley knew that a builder wouldn’t bring an entire construction crew that far unless he was building something he didn’t want the locals to know about. Talley already had a sense of where this was going. Organized crime.

“Did you run Cunz through the computer yet?”

“Well, I’m still here at the planner.”

“When you get back to the office, run him and see what you get.”

“You’re thinking these guys are in organized crime, aren’t you?”

“Yeah, Larry. That’s what I’m thinking. Let me know what you find.”

“I won’t tell anyone.”

“No. Don’t.”

Talley closed his phone and stared at the cul-de-sac. Walter Smith was almost certainly a member of organized crime. The Watchman was probably his partner, and the disks probably contained evidence that could put them away. The pressure he felt was like an inflating balloon in his head and chest. Talley knew that he was losing control of the scene, and of the events that would soon happen. When the Watchman’s phony FBI agents arrived, he would have even less control, and that would put the people in the house in even greater jeopardy. The Watchman didn’t care who died; he just wanted the disks.

Talley wanted the disks, too. He wanted to know what was on them. These people would never have taken Talley’s family if the disks in Smith’s house didn’t pose a terrible threat to them. They feared those disks being discovered more than they feared the investigation that would come from having kidnapped Talley’s family. They figured they could survive the investigation, but they knew the disks would make them fall. That meant the disks named names.

Talley believed that he and his family would not survive the night. The men in the car, they could not afford to trust that the police couldn’t build a case against them for what was happening here. They would not take that chance. Talley was absolutely certain that as soon as the Watchman had the disks, he would murder all three of them. Talley wanted the disks first. He thought he knew how to get them.

Talley trotted into the cul-de-sac to join Maddox and Ellison at their car.

“He answer your calls yet?”

Ellison sipped black coffee from a Styrofoam cup.

“Negative. Phone company says he’s still got it unplugged.”

“You guys have a P.A. in this car?”

“No. What’re you thinking?”

Talley duck-walked to the lone Bristo car that remained in the street. He grabbed the mike, then flipped on the public address system. Maddox had followed him over, curious.

“What are you doing?”

“Sending a message.”

Talley keyed the mike.

“This is Talley. I need you to call me.”

His voice echoed over the neighborhood. The officers around the perimeter glanced at him.

“If it’s safe, call me.”

Talley didn’t expect Rooney to call. He wasn’t talking to Rooney.

Rooney’s voice answered from the house.

“Fuck you!”

Ellison laughed.

“It was a good try.”

Maddox said, “What was that about being safe?”

Talley didn’t answer. He tossed the microphone into the car, then crept to the far side of the cul-de-sac, where he sat on the curb behind the patrol cars. He wanted the boy. He hoped that Thomas would understand that Talley had been asking him to call.

His phone rang almost at once.

“Talley.”

It was Sarah, sounding excited.

“Chief, it’s the little boy again.”

Talley’s heart raced. If Smith couldn’t tell him who had his family, maybe the disks could.

“Thomas? You okay, son?”

The boy sounded calm.

“I wasn’t sure you were talking to me. Is my daddy okay?”

This time Thomas sounded even more hushed than before, his voice a whisper. Talley turned up the volume on his phone, but still could barely hear him.

“He’s in the hospital over in Canyon Country. What about you and your sister? Are you all right?”

“Yeah. She’s not in her room anymore. They took her downstairs. I thought they were doing something bad to her, but they didn’t know how to use the microwave.”

“Are you in any danger right now?”

“Uh-uh.”

Talley stared out of the cul-de-sac. The Sheriff’s tactical units were in their positions behind the radio cars. Hicks and Martin would be in the command van, waiting for something to happen. Talley remembered his first day with SWAT, how a sergeant-supervisor told him that SWAT stood for Sit, Wait, and Talk. Talley’s eyes welled as he fought to control his fear. He put his thoughts on the children in the house. If Talley thought either Thomas or Jennifer was in immediate mortal danger, he would launch the breach. He would launch without hesitation. He believed that they were not.

“How’s your battery on that cell phone?”

“Ah, it’s showing half a charge, maybe a little less. I turn it off when I’m not using it.”

“Good. Can you plug it into a charger when you’re not using it?”

“Uh-uh. All the chargers are downstairs. My mom does that ’cause everyone else forgets.”

Talley worried that if the boy’s battery failed, they would lose communication, but all he could do was press ahead and move fast.

“Okay, Thomas, turn it off when we’re not talking and conserve as much power as possible, okay?”

“Okay.”

“Your dad has business partners. Do you know who they are?”

“Uh-uh.”

“He ever mention names?”

“I don’t remember.”

“Was he working in his office today?”

“Uh-huh. He was trying to finish something because a client was coming to pick it up.”

Talley had trouble taking it to the next level, but he knew that this boy was his wife’s and daughter’s only chance.

“Thomas, I need your help with something. It might be easy or it might be dangerous. If you think those guys in there could find out and hurt you, then I don’t want you to do it, okay?”

“Sure!”

The boy was excited. He was a boy. He didn’t understand risk.

“Your dad has a couple of computer disks. I’m not sure, but they’re probably on his desk or in his briefcase. He was probably working with them today. They’re called Zip disks. You know what that is?”

Thomas made a derisive snort.

“I’ve had a Zip drive for years, Chief. Jeez. Zip disks are big and thick. They hold more information than regular disks.”

“These disks are labeled Disk One and Disk Two. When you’re downstairs in the office again, could you get to your dad’s desk? Could you find those disks and try to see whose files they are?”

“No, they wouldn’t let me go to the desk. Dennis makes me sit on the floor.”

The slim hope that Talley had felt only moments before withered. Then Thomas went on.

“But I might be able to sneak into the office if they’re not around. Then I could just swipe the disks and open them on my computer up here in my room.”

“I thought they locked you in your room.”

“They do, but I can get out.”

“You can?”

Talley listened as Thomas described being able to move through the crawl space in the eaves and attic, and how he was able to emerge in different parts of the house through access hatches.

“Thomas, could you get to his office that way, through the crawl space?”

“Not into his office, but I can get into the den. There’s a service door in the wine cellar behind the bar. It’s right across from my dad’s office. My mom says she can always tell when he sneaks across one time too many.”

Talley’s hope surfaced again, but it was dampened by the knowledge that he could not allow this child to risk his life.

“That sounds too dangerous.”

“It won’t be if they don’t see me. Mars spends most of his time in the office, but Kevin is back by the French doors. Dennis walks around a lot. He stays in the safety room sometimes, the one where all the monitors are. But once I’m in the den, all I have to do is sneak across the entry and go to my dad’s desk. That wouldn’t take any time at all.”