Book Read Free

The Naked Eye

Page 27

by Iris Johansen


  Lynch House

  “LET ME GET THIS STRAIGHT.” Sam pushed away from the desk to stare at Kendra, Lynch, and Eve. “You want me to do an ALPR hack?”

  Lynch finished jotting down the license number and slid it across the desk to him. “Can you do it?”

  “Of course. The only problem is how long it might take.”

  “ALPR?” Eve asked.

  “Automatic License Plate Reader,” Lynch said. “The DEA started using them in border states a few years ago to track possible drug trafficking. Then the Department of Homeland Security started throwing money at local police departments to install them in jurisdictions all over the country. They’ve given away at least $50 million to do this, probably a lot more. These devices are sometimes clamped on freeway signs, mounted in patrol cars, or even just apps in mobile telephones. They can be anywhere.”

  “To track terror suspects?” Kendra asked.

  “That’s the idea, but anybody who’s been on an interstate highway in the past few years has had their license plate automatically photographed, logged, and filed away in a database somewhere.”

  “Several databases,” Sam said. “It’s kind of a mess right now. Homeland Security is working on combining the license-plate traffic data gathered from thousands of jurisdictions all over the country. One day, they’d like to be able to track any car from one side of the country to the other in real time.”

  “That’s a little scary,” Kendra said.

  Sam nodded. “The ACLU and other privacy advocates aren’t crazy about it. I’m not either. But for Beth’s sake, I sure wish they could do that right now.”

  “You and me both,” Eve said. “So what can you do?”

  Sam studied the license-plate number in his hand. “It depends on how quickly the local ALPR databases are updated with the license-plate numbers they capture. I assume the FBI is doing everything they can on their end?”

  “Yes, but I’ve been part of enough investigations to know how difficult it is to quickly pull this kind of data together from all the various sources: California Highway Patrol, SDPD, San Diego County Sheriff’s Department, all the various municipalities … Like you say, it’s a mess.”

  “In other words, the FBI doesn’t have a Sam Zackoff,” Kendra said.

  “And they don’t have a Tom Sims,” Sam said soberly. “But even he would have been at a disadvantage here. There are miles of red tape that any official entity has to wade through for a multijurisdictional project like this.”

  “My thought exactly,” Lynch said. “We don’t have time to cut through that tape right now. You know what I’m asking. You went around the system before to track his streaming video message. I want you to do the same thing with this.”

  Sam leaned back in his chair as he frowned down at the license-plate number. “Not impossible, but when you start crossing swords with Homeland Security, they have a way of getting nasty. And fast. You’d better be ready to smooth things over with them if they come down on us.”

  Lynch pointed to the walls. “Built to withstand 40mm grenade launchers, remember? I’ll try not to test them, but I guarantee I’ll buy you all the time you need while I make our explanations.”

  Sam leaned toward the cobbled-together computer rig that dominated Lynch’s office. “I’ll see what I can do.” He added grimly, “It’s not gonna be pretty. I’m going for speed, so I’m not going to even try to cover my tracks when I invade those police departments’ networks. Get ready for some hell to rain down.”

  * * *

  “YOU’VE HELD UP AMAZINGLY WELL,” Colby said as he removed the pillow. “No tears. No begging. I’ll have to tell Kendra what a brave little soldier she had for a friend.”

  “Don’t—do—that.”

  “Why, that was almost begging. Or was it an order? It’s difficult to tell when you’re panting like that.”

  “Bastard.”

  “Ah, it was an order. You don’t want Kendra to know how I made you suffer. But that’s part of the package, Beth.” He laughed, and she could hear him moving away. “A package that is very close to being opened and revealed…”

  * * *

  KENDRA’S PHONE RANG.

  Sam.

  Thank God. They had been waiting for hours for word from him, and she was a nervous wreck.

  She punched the access as she showed the ID to Griffin and Lynch. “It’s Sam.” She spoke into the phone. “Sam, I just put you on speaker. I hope you’re telling me you have something.”

  “City Heights, off the I-15 freeway at either University Avenue or El Cajon Boulevard. That’s Exit 5A or 5B in City Heights.”

  Griffin stepped closer to the phone. “What are you basing that on?”

  “It’s a set of DEA license-plate readers on the Escondido Freeway. If you can get the DEA to give you access, you can see for yourself. Every time that van’s license plate has appeared on any of the local ALPR databases, it entered and left the I-15 freeway at either University Avenue or El Cajon Boulevard. That’s Exit 5A or 5B in City Heights.”

  Griffin turned to Agent Metcalf. “Find us a city plan for that neighborhood. I want architectural details for as many houses and buildings there as you can dig up.”

  “Including those with basements and cellars,” Kendra added.

  “Exactly. There aren’t many of those around here. But we’ll need to go visual with our boots on the ground. House to house, building to building.”

  “Without alerting Colby,” Kendra said.

  “That goes without saying. We’re not amateurs, Kendra.”

  “All it takes is one mistake, and Beth is dead.”

  Lynch stared at a large map of the city that dominated the wall at the end of Griffin’s office. “City Heights. It’s a large area.”

  That’s what Kendra was thinking.

  A very large area.

  And Beth only had a little over one hour left on the clock.

  Griffin was already on his office phone, ordering the massive increase in manpower needed.

  Kendra joined Lynch at the map, her gaze scanning the City Heights area, trying to see something, anything, that would make the search go faster, easier.

  She could see nothing.

  And she couldn’t stay here, helplessly waiting for other people to save Beth. Boots on the ground. She whirled and headed for the door. “Let’s get over there.”

  * * *

  “ARE YOU READY?” COLBY ASKED.

  The words he’d used during all those hours of torture.

  “Where’s your pillow, you son of a bitch?”

  “Not necessary.” He smiled down at her. “You’ve graduated, Beth. I just came to say good-bye.”

  She went still. “Then do it, damn you.”

  “Oh, I will.” He turned away and went toward the stairs. “Right now.”

  She stared at him in confusion.

  He looked back at her and smiled. “You believe all your training may have been for nothing? No such thing. I’m just adjusting it for another form. Remember the lack of breath. Your lungs struggling. Your heart pounding. The helplessness of not being able to fight what’s being done to you.”

  “I could hardly forget.”

  “Exactly.” He opened a utility box on the wall and then turned a nozzle. “It’s time for anticipation to become reality. Sorry I won’t be able to see it. But I’ll be able to imagine …

  “I’ll be back in a moment. I have a few things to do before I leave you.” He turned, opened the door, and was gone.

  Gone? What the hell was he doing? It was a complete shock that he—

  And then she heard it.

  First a trickle, and then a gushing.

  Water.

  * * *

  KENDRA’S PHONE RANG WHEN SHE and Lynch had just left the FBI office for City Heights.

  Let it be Sam telling her that he’d narrowed down the area where they could find Beth.

  “Time’s up, Kendra,” Colby said.

  She stiffened wi
th panic. “No, it’s not. You can’t do that. I have another forty-five minutes.”

  “He who holds the power makes the rules, or breaks them. According to what he decides is most amusing.” He chuckled. “But, as it happens, I still may slide under the time limit I gave you.”

  “What are you talking about?”

  “I mean, I started your Beth’s death gasp, but it won’t take effect for a bit. I wanted it to be very slow. Anticipation, you know.”

  “I don’t want to know. What did you do to her?”

  “Why, I spent the past twenty-four hours preparing her, and now she’s waiting for it to happen.” He paused. “But probably not patiently. She fought me to the very end. She didn’t want me to tell you how hard she had to struggle.”

  “Did you hurt her?”

  “Yes, not in the way I hurt Stokes, but the mental torment was considerably worse.”

  “You son of a bitch.”

  “You mustn’t speak to me like that. I’m complimenting your Beth. I actually grew to admire her.”

  “Then let her go.”

  “Oh, no, you’ll have to go and get her. But we both realize there’s a time restraint, and I’ve put a small obstacle in your path.”

  “Tell me where she is.”

  “Suppose I show you. I’ve grown so fond of all these computer bells and whistles that Northrup installed for me. A picture tells more than a thousand words. Do you have your computer?”

  “Yes.”

  “I thought you would. Turn it on.”

  She switched on the computer. “You’re wasting time. Stop stalling and—”

  The picture came in clear and bright.

  “Dear God, what are you doing?”

  Water. Water gushing. Flooding the floor, lapping against the walls and the shelves and the first rungs of the metal embalming table where Beth lay bound.

  “You can see what I’m doing. I made sure of that. I kept Beth in the dark so that she would be disoriented but I wanted you to know instantly what was going on.”

  “You’re going to drown her.”

  “Yes, some people say that drowning is an easy death. I don’t agree. Particularly when you’re expecting the suffocation and lung failure. I made certain that Beth would know what to expect.”

  She closed her eyes as the horror hit home. Then she forced herself to open them and look back at the video. “How long does she have?”

  “Perhaps the forty-five minutes I gave you.”

  “How do I know she’s not already dead, like Stokes was?”

  “I never promised that the Detective Stokes show was a live broadcast. Trust me, I want you to see your friend die as it happens.”

  She believed him. Colby was just that sick.

  “But give me a number, and I’ll have our Beth hold up the same number of fingers so you can have your proof of life.”

  “Four,” Kendra said.

  After a few seconds, Beth flashed two peace signs from her restrained hands.

  “There you are,” Colby said. “But I guarantee you, as clever as your Sam Zackoff may be, I’ve made sure he won’t have time to trace this webcast. Good-bye for now, Kendra. This is the last time we will speak for a while.”

  “What do you mean?”

  “You’re wasting time. Good-bye.”

  He cut the connection.

  On her laptop, Kendra watched as Colby waded through the shin-deep water toward Beth. He leaned over her and said something inaudible.

  “What in the hell is he doing?” Kendra said.

  Colby pinned what appeared to be a rolled-up freezer bag to Beth’s sweater. Then he stepped out of the frame.

  Kendra’s cell phone rang again. She answered it on speaker, this time it really was Sam.

  “He called you, didn’t he?” Sam asked.

  “How did you know?”

  “I’m watching it here. I cloned your computer, remember? I’m forwarding it through my server to the FBI and the police. They’re in the City Heights area, so now they’ll have a description of the clothing he’s wearing.”

  “Providing he doesn’t change clothes. Colby thinks of those details.”

  “But they’re also looking for his van. Put them both together and—”

  “That’s one advantage we do have,” Lynch said. “He doesn’t know we have the name he’s using, or the make and license-plate number of the vehicle he’s—”

  “None of that is going to do any good if we can’t get to Beth in time,” Kendra interrupted. “He’s killing her.” She added unsteadily, “Sam, you have to find him. He was so sure that even you wouldn’t be able to trace him in time to save her.”

  “Then I have to prove him wrong, don’t I? Because we have to find her.” He paused. “But I was thinking while the bastard was spouting off that we may have a third advantage. In the years since Colby went away to jail, much of San Diego County went from water company meter readers … to a central-office networked-based system.”

  “Meaning what?”

  “Meaning … there’s another possibility. I’ll call you back.” He hung up.

  “Another possibility,” Kendra repeated. “Let’s hope it’s a good one. Colby was so sure.”

  “He’s an egomaniac. Of course, he’s sure,” Lynch said. “That doesn’t mean he won’t be wrong.”

  “No,” Kendra said. “But it tends to shake the confidence.” Her hand was trembling as she reached for her phone again. “I have to call Griffin and make sure he noticed that video shows that Beth is being held in a cellar. I couldn’t tell before in the other videos because he only had close-ups. But this time he wanted me to see how helpless she was and the rising water, so he panned around the place. The walls are tarred and there were stairs leading upward. It’s a cellar. It will make a difference. We’re looking for a house with a cellar.”

  “Griffin will probably have noticed,” Lynch said quietly.

  “I have to be certain.” She started dialing. “I’m not as confident as Colby. Nothing else must go wrong.” But it might go terribly wrong if Sam or Griffin didn’t come through for Beth. “Get me to City Heights. I’ll ask Griffin to give me addresses of all houses in the area with cellars and eliminate searching any of the others.”

  * * *

  SAM PUT DOWN THE PHONE AFTER talking to Kendra and turned to Eve. “Evidently I’m about to be brilliant.” He added soberly, “Good wishes and prayers will be appreciated.”

  “Good. And you’ll have them. But I can’t stay here and just spin my wheels, Sam.” She picked up Kendra’s remote key fob from the desk. “Kendra left her car here for me to use. I’m going to City Heights. If that’s where Beth is, that’s where I need to be.”

  Sam unplugged his laptop. “Me, too. Let’s go. I’ll work in the car.”

  A few minutes later, Eve was driving away from the Lynch house and glanced at Sam in the seat beside her. “Is there anything I can do to help?”

  “You can drive as fast as legally or illegally possible to get us to City Heights.” His head was bent over his computer. “And let me concentrate on finding one of those houses in the area that’s registering a hell of a lot of water pouring out of the pipes into it.”

  “You can do that?” She made a face. “What am I thinking? Of course you can do it. You’re going to hack into the Department of Water and Power usage.”

  “Well, I’m certainly not going to wait and try to cut through red tape in that bureaucracy.” He was rapidly typing into the computer. “It could take days…”

  And they had only minutes, Eve thought. It had terrified her when she had seen Beth bound on that table when they had watched Colby’s video to Kendra. Beth had looked so … helpless.

  It was still terrifying her.

  She drove slowly, watching the GPS, waiting for Sam to say something.

  Finally, she couldn’t stand it any longer. She swerved onto the shoulder of the congested I-15 freeway and glanced over at Sam. “Anything?”

  He
angled his laptop screen out of the sun’s glare. “Hacking into the Department of Water site was no problem, but there are seven possibilities in the immediate area. Six of them are probably swimming pools being filled.”

  “Welcome to Southern California,” Eve said.

  “Right. But the seventh has to be Beth, wherever she is.” His fingers flew over the keyboard. “I’m checking each of these addresses against Google Earth. That’ll give me an overhead satellite shot and show if there’s a pool on the property. So far I’m two for two.”

  The car shook as they rolled over raised reflector strips on the shoulder.

  “Sorry,” Eve said. “El Cajon Boulevard is just ahead. Should I still get off there?”

  “Yes, and turn right.” He squinted at the screen. “Three for three.”

  His phone rang. “Kendra.” He tapped his headset to answer. “Kendra, I know I told you I’d call you back. I got distracted. Where are you?”

  “Where do you think I am? Heading for City Heights. Sam, Beth’s not got much—”

  “I’m working on it. I’m getting near the area now. Stand by for an address. Shit! Another pool.”

  “What?”

  “Nothing. Look, I’ve tapped into the water-usage meters, and I’m eliminating the swimming pools. And … I’m now five for five. Why can’t we get a break? I hope I’m right about this being the right neighborhood.”

  “You’d better be. Half of the police department and all of FBI’s local tactical response team are there breaking down doors.”

  “Damn. It seems like they’re all pools. Only two to go. Cross your fingers. We’re running out of options. I don’t know where we can possibly go after—” He stopped. “Oh, my God.”

  “Sam?”

  “This has to be it! It’s a small two-story commercial building. I think it used to be a bakery, with maybe an apartment above.”

  “Where?” Kendra asked.

  “At 4276 Euclid Avenue, just south of El Cajon. Tell the cops—4276 Euclid. We’re almost there.”

  “Five minutes.” Kendra hung up.

  “I’ve got it.” Eve gunned the engine.

  Two right turns and two minutes later, Sam and Eve were approaching the former bakery, which was already surrounded by police cars with flashers blazing.

 

‹ Prev