Greg Iles - Turning Angel

”A fucking nightmare,“ Logan grumbles, filling the vacuum. ”It’s an old mansion sitting on sixty acres of woods and pasture. It burned last year, and the absentee owner blamed a prowler. He’s booby-trapped the whole goddamned place since then. He’s got shotguns wired to the doors, spikes in the yard, crazy stuff. He’s even got night-vision equipment up there. He said he’s going to take care of any future prowlers himself.“

”I think Marko Bakic is more prowler than he could handle,“ I murmur.

”The guy stays over in Mobile most of the time,“ Logan says. ”That’s one good thing.“

”For his sake, I hope he’s been there all week.“

Logan slows the Crown Victoria, and I look left as we pass the road that leads into Ardenwood.

”I see it,“ says Kelly. ”Christ.“

The front acreage of the property is ten feet higher than the back, but behind the dark mass of land, a hulking black skeleton rises from between oak and magnolia trees. I can just make out the Greek Revival facade: huge Corinthian columns and an immense white capital.

”Keep driving,“ I say. ”Kill your lights and park in the median.“

The median here is forty feet wide and shaded by oak and pecan trees. We’re at the edge of downtown proper, but to an urban dweller this would look like deep woods.

Logan parks, then sweeps our radios, the wire receiver, and the tape recorder into a black satchel. While Kelly grabs his weapons and gets out, I concentrate on walking without falling down. We cross the road, climb the berm we saw before, then hunker down under a large pecan tree. Logan passes out the radios.

”Now that we know where they are,“ he says, ”how do we play it?“

”I’ve got to move up to the house to cover Mia,“ Kelly says. ”You two stay here and monitor the receiver. I’ll have an earpiece in my walkie-talkie, but you don’t call me under any circumstance but one.“

”What’s that?“

”The girl needs saving. We’ll use two codes: ’Red‘ and ’Blue.‘ If I hear ’Blue,‘ I’ll try to extract Mia without harming Bakic. If you say ’Red,‘ I kill him.“

”Understood,“ I say.

”Got it,“ says Logan. ”Why hasn’t she switched on her transmitter?“

”She will,“ says Kelly. ”She’s got it down.“

He leans his sniper rifle against the pecan tree and shoulders his MP5. ”Either of you know anything about the interior layout of this place?“

”There are usually four rooms on the ground floor and four upstairs,“ I tell him. ”You should find a big central hall downstairs with a wide staircase, then another staircase somewhere else for the servants. I don’t know how much of the interior remained intact after the fire. Even if the stairs are still there, you might not be able to put any weight on them.“

”That’s better than nothing.“ Kelly gives us both a questioning look. ”The codes?“

”Blue for extraction,“ I answer.

”Red is dead,“ says Logan.

Kelly nods. ”Dead as a hammer, Chief.“ He gives me a grin, then turns and starts to walk away.

”Hey,“ I call after him.

He turns and looks back.

”Don’t let anything happen to that girl. She’s pure gold.“

Kelly smiles. ”I saw that right off. Don’t worry.“

”Take care of yourself, too.“

He waves, then turns and races off under the trees.

Logan peers at me, his lips pale in the dark. ”I’m serious about those booby traps, Penn. The owner’s lawyer informed the department so we’d be aware of them. Fire department, too. He was covering his ass in case of a lawsuit.“

”Fuck him. It wasn’t any prowler that burned this place. It was an electrical fire. He let everything rot, and fire was the result.“

”Yeah,“ says Logan.

As I walk over to a tree trunk to lean against it, a sharp squawk makes me jump. Then the sound of music floats through the dark. Coldplay. Then the music fades and Mia whispers to us through the receiver: ”Alicia just went inside. I’m in the car. She took my cell phone and told me to stay put. She said you can get killed wandering around this place. That’s why Marko chose it.“

”She needs to stop talking,“ Logan says. ”Marko might be watching her right now.“

”That’s not why he chose this place,“ I think aloud, looking through the trees at the dark ruin. ”This is just like Sarajevo. That’s why he chose it.“

”Locals don’t even think about this house anymore,“ Logan muses. ”They pass it every day, but it might as well not be here.“

”Here she comes,“ Mia whispers. ”No Marko.“

”He’s there,“ I murmur. ”He’s waiting for you.“

”This is dangerous as hell,“ says Logan. ”It could go really wrong for that girl. Is she even eighteen?“

”Yes.“

”Come on, Mia,“ says a childlike voice-Alicia’s voice. ”He’s waiting, you know?“

The sound of footsteps crunching in wet gravel crackles from the receiver.

”Are you recording?“ I ask.

”Every word.“

”This is bullshit,“ says Alicia. ”I don’t know what you think you’re doing, but this is bullshit.“

Mia doesn’t reply.

”I know you want him for yourself,“ Alicia goes on, her voice warbling with fear. ”Well, you can’t have him.“

”I already had him,“ Mia says. ”That’s not why I’m here. I’m just trying to keep him from spending the rest of his life in jail.“

”You’re a liar.“

The crunching stops.

”They’re walking around the house,“ says Logan. ”On grass. We’d have heard the porch.“

”Right here,“ says Alicia. ”Boost me up.“

”Through the window?“ asks Mia.

”You see me, don’t you?“

Wood scrapes against wood. The girls are climbing through the window. Then I hear a clatter of heels on hardwood.

”Mia!“ cries a male voice. ”So glad to see you, baby!“

The East European accent is unmistakable.

”Give us some space, Alicia,“ Marko says.

”What?“ Anger now. Uncertainty with it.

”Disappear for a while.“

”But-“

”Go.“

The silence after this command is chilling, but then the sound of light footsteps comes to us.

”Not that way!“ Marko snaps. ”I’ve told you a hundred times. Go sit in the front room and watch the driveway.“

”You’re a bastard, you know that?“

”I know this. That’s why you love me.“

More footsteps, slowly fading.

Marko chuckles softly. ”So, we’re alone finally. What’s the big news about Coach Anders?“

I hear a soft, sliding sound. Mia padding around the room in her running shoes? ”This place is wild,“ she says. ”Gas lantern, huh? That sheet on the window keeps people outside from seeing it?“

”Just like back home,“ Marko replies. ”What’s the deal, Mia? What about Wade?“

”He’s recanted his story.“

”What’s that mean, recanted?“

”He admitted that he lied for you. He told the police that you weren’t at his house on the afternoon Kate died. The police are looking for you now.“

A long pause. ”Is that so?“

”Yes.“

To ensure that Marko couldn’t learn the real truth of the situation, Logan called Wade Anders and warned him not to take any calls from Marko. Logan told me Anders sounded scared shitless on the phone.