Andrew Grant - Even

To him, there was only one reason you couldn’t find something.

You were looking in the wrong place.

The first time I was taken to Lesley’s house it took fifty minutes, in the trunk of her car. Driving myself that night in Lavine’s, it took thirty.

The Westchester County police were already there, waiting, when I arrived. I could see red and blue lights beckoning to me through the foliage as I took the final corner. They were coming from a squad car. It was parked sideways, blocking the entrance to her yard. I slid to a halt next to it and saw three more cars lined up nearer the house. I looked for the officers. I counted eight. They all had shotguns and flak jackets, but their body language seemed pretty relaxed. Almost bored. One was on his own, down by the garage entrance, leaning on the doorframe. Another was squatting on the ground outside the open front door. Five of them were hanging around in the space between the fence and their vehicles. And the final guy was ambling across the gravel, toward me. I jumped out of the car and moved around to intercept him.

“I’m Officer Rossi,” he said. “I’m in charge here. You the English Navy guy? Commander Trevor-Lyon?”

“Trevellyan,” I said, showing him my ID.

“Well, sir, looks like you’ve wasted your time. Nobody here but us.”

The knot in my stomach wound itself another notch tighter.

“You’ve checked inside?” I said.

“Every room, top to bottom,” he said. “Looks like no one’s been here since CSU cleared the place.”

“When was that?”

“Tuesday. Late p.m.”

“And after that? Have you kept the house secure?”

“No, sir. No one asked us to. We drove back out, just now, when the Bureau called.”

I set off toward the path.

“Are you going to take a look, anyway?” Rossi said.

“That’s why I came,” I said.

“Do you want me to show you around?”

“No, thanks. I know where I’m going.”

“OK. If you’re sure. One thing, though. I’ve got to ask you to take care if you go in the home office. First floor. End of the corridor. We’ve still got a situation going on in there.”

The officer at the front door looked over to Rossi, then shuffled aside to let me pass. I made my way straight through the hall, down the stairs, and into the basement. I figured that if Tanya had been brought to the house, they probably would have kept her in one of the dog cages, at least for a short while. She was intelligent, resourceful, and well trained. The way she’d chosen her words on the phone showed she was thinking on her feet. If there was a way to leave a note or sign, she would have found it. I was confident of that. But there was nothing down there for me. The basement had been completely stripped. Even the cages were gone.

I headed back up the stairs and kept going until I reached the landing. I could see Lesley’s office door was shut this time. It was stuck to its frame with yellow and black tape. I held down the handle, burst it open, and continued into the room. A cluster of numbered, yellow evidence markers had appeared on the floor, like a crop of angular plastic fungi. They were in a wide, flat U-shape where the end of the table would have been. The crime scene guys must have been busy with their ultraviolet lights.

The laboratory bottle had also been replaced with an evidence marker, but the trolley was still there. It was in the same place it had been when I was here with Weston. And the leather straps were just as empty. Tanya wasn’t attached to it. And if she ever had been, there was no sign of her now.

I took out my phone, pulled up the picture of Tanya, and held the screen next to the trolley. The frame looked similar, but I couldn’t be sure it was the same. The image was too small and too dark and too blurred. There was nothing to say Lesley didn’t have two trolleys. Or more. And nothing to pinpoint the location. The photo could have been taken anywhere. I felt as if I’d been tricked. No, that wasn’t right. Cheated. Out of the only thing that really mattered just then. The only thing that Tanya and I really couldn’t afford to lose. Time.

Officer Rossi was waiting for me in the hallway.

“Find what you need?” he said.

“No,” I said.

“Sorry to hear that. Anything I can help you with?”

“The woman who owns this house. Does she have any other places around here? Homes, offices, shops, garages, storage facilities? Anywhere with some privacy?”

“No, I don’t think so.”

“Then there’s nothing you can do. I’ll head back to the city. Thanks, anyway.”

“I could do a search online? There’s a terminal in the car.”

“There’s no point. Records of anything she owns will be well hidden. I need firsthand information. From someone who knows her. And I’ve got the perfect people in mind.”

“Will they play ball? The way I hear it, the woman’s pretty brutal.”

“Oh, yes. They will. They’re dying to. They just don’t know it yet.”

I waited until I was around the corner, out of sight, then called Lavine.

“Did you find her?” he said.

“No,” I said. “The house was untouched. Lesley must have another place her people can use.”

“Any idea where?”

“Not yet. So I need a minute with those two guys. The ones I caught at your office. They obviously work for her.”

“David, it’s better if I don’t know things like that.”

“I’ve got no choice. I need your help. You put them in the system. You can find out where they’re being held.”

“Be reasonable. Talk about compromising my position.”

“How about we talk about Tanya’s position. How compromised that might be.”

“Fair point. I’ll call you back.”

Lavine was back on the line before I reached the freeway.

“I’ve got bad news,” he said. “And I’ve got really bad news. Which do you want first?”

“I can always rely on you to cheer me up, Lavine,” I said. “Give me the really bad news.”

“The two guys you were asking about? Both are dead. They’re gone, David. I’m sorry.”

“When?” I said.

“Ninety minutes after they were popped.”

“They lasted that long? How did it happen?”

“Their throats were cut. I don’t have the ins and outs. But it has Lesley written all over it. She can’t have trusted them to keep quiet, I guess.”

“Damn. I’ll have to lean on Lesley herself, now. And she’ll be a much tougher nut to crack. Anywhere with witnesses, anyway. Where is she now?”

“Yes. Lesley. That brings me to the bad news.”

“What is it? She’s dead, too?”

“Not dead. But just as hard to talk to. We’re nowhere near finding her. The NYPD has turned up nothing. Same story for our guys. We’re chasing shadows.”

“Tell me you’re joking. Tell me now, and I’ll spare your wife and children.”

“I’m as pissed as you, David. And you should have heard what Varley said.”

“Do we even know what happened?”

“She pulled a switcheroo. Feigned illness, swapped IDs with another sick prisoner, and broke out of the secure hospital. The oldest trick in the book.”

“When?”

“Yesterday morning. It took them thirty-six hours to get to the bottom of it. We’ve only just got the full picture, ourselves.”

“So what’s been done about it?”

“Our field office is all over it. The NYPD has pushed descriptions out to all their patrols. They’re staking out that tenement building you found of hers, and searching for any more property she could own. And they’re going to recanvass Tanya’s building. They’re still trying to get a solid lead on the guys who snatched her. I’ll keep the heat turned up. As soon as I know anything, you’ll know.”