“Get out of my way, Glen,” she said firmly.
“No,” he said, lunging at her with his hands, trying to grab her. “You’re sick, Ann. Everyone knows it. You’re mentally ill.”
Ann stepped back, but she didn’t run. She had to stand her ground, show him she wasn’t afraid. “Get out of my way.”
“Please,” he said, refusing to move. “I don’t look down on you, Ann. I know what it’s like to have problems. There’s a hospital right down the road that can help you. I’ll drive you there myself.”
Ann almost felt compassion for him. He was insane, completely insane. Did he really think he could cart her off to a mental institution and get away with it? Walking backward as fast as she could, she finally reached the lobby. Glen was still in the corridor. Then she jogged out the front of the building, crossing outside to the rear, and leaped into the waiting car.
At six o’clock that evening, Ann, Reed, and Abrams were sharing a pizza in the kitchen and discussing how to proceed with the case. Reed had just informed Ann of the rape exam performed after she was shot, and she was ecstatic. “They’ll have pubic hairs, Tommy,” she exclaimed. “All Melanie has to do is match them with the ones found in the rape case, and we can take this to Fielder. That’s proof,” she said, lifting her glass to toast them. “What else do we need? We’ll arrest him, get him held without bail, and then I can get my son back.” When the phone rang, Noah wanted to answer it, but Ann waved him away. “Yes?” she said, thinking it was David.
“Is this Ann Carlisle, the probation officer?”
“Yes,” she said. “Who is this?”
“I need to see you,” the voice said. “It’s important.” Ann thought she recognized the voice, but she wasn’t certain. “Jimmy,” she said, keeping her voice calm, looking over at Reed and Abrams and pointing at the door. Noah quickly took the cue and raced out the back door to go to the surveillance van. Intent in their pursuit of Hopkins, they had forgotten all about the phone calls. But they certainly wanted to trace this one. “Where are you, Jimmy?” Ann asked.
“I know the police are looking for me. I’m never going back to that jail.” He was talking fast, in a high-pitched voice. “I spent six days in that stink hole when they arrested me the first time. I didn’t shoot you, Ann, I swear. Yes, I was involved in drugs, and I said things about you to cover my ass, but I didn’t hurt anyone.”
“Jimmy,” Ann said slowly, trying to engage him in conversation long enough for them to trace the call, “why did you say those things? Did you really think people would believe you over me?”
“I saw you fucking him in the stairwell,” he said, his voice dropping to a whisper. “If you fucked him, I thought people would believe you fucked me too.”
Ann felt as if something were stuck in her throat and she couldn’t swallow. She’d been right. Sawyer was the one who had opened the door in the stairwell. Was she wrong about the tapes? She had to know. “Have you been calling me, disguising your voice?”
“What do you mean?”
“You know what I mean,” she said, looking in Reed’s eyes as she spoke. “Someone’s been calling me and disguising his voice, pretending he’s my husband.”
“Look, I’ll tell you everything I know if you’ll meet me,” Sawyer said, his voice getting stronger. “But no cops and no district attorneys. If you bring those assholes, you’ll never hear from me again.”
“District attorney?” Ann said, arching her eyebrows at Reed. “Did you say something about a district attorney?” Reed went in the other room to pick up on the extension phone.
“He’s trying to double-cross me,” Sawyer said quickly. “My father told me to call you. He said they’ll kill me if they find me.”
Ann was incredulous. They’d almost eliminated Sawyer and his cohorts from any involvement in the case. Was he saying he was a co-conspirator, that he had been working with Glen? “Who’s trying to double-cross you?” she said firmly, slapping the wall with her palm. “Say his name, Jimmy.”
“Not over the phone. I’ll tell you everything when you come. I’m a witness. If you promise to help me and not let them throw me in jail, I’ll testify for you.”
Ann felt her heart pounding. The whole thing was mind-boggling. Glen involved with Sawyer? Glen was the man who had insisted on Sawyer’s arrest, who had filed the case when no one thought they had enough evidence. “Did Glen Hopkins kill someone and store the body at your house?” she asked, thinking this might be what he had witnessed. “The fingers, Jimmy. If you want to tell me something, tell me about the fingers.”
The phone went dead.
A moment later. Reed was back in the kitchen, hopping mad. “Why did you antagonize him? When you named Hopkins, he panicked, thinking he had nothing to use as leverage. That was stupid, Ann.” He ran his fingers through his hair. “I take it back. It wasn’t stupid, it was fucking dumb.”
“I’m sorry, all right?” she cried defensively. “What if Glen did butcher some poor woman? Don’t you want to know? Christ, Tommy,” Ann said, “the fingers are gone. Sawyer might be our only link to this murder.”
“If there was a murder,” Reed tossed back at her.
Noah came back into the house, shaking his head. There hadn’t been enough time to trace the call. A few moments later, the phone rang again. “Answer it,” he said. “The equipment is set up. Keep him talking.”
“Where do you want to meet?” Ann said, knowing it was Sawyer. “Why don’t you just tell me everything on the phone? How do I know you don’t want to get me somewhere where you can hurt me?”
“Hey,” Sawyer said, far more confident than he had been before. “I’ll tell you about the fingers. And yes, they were real fingers. But you have to meet me at Marina Park in an hour. Wear something white and sit on the bench near the jungle gym. Don’t be late. I’m not going to wait.”
“No,” Ann said, trying to keep him on the line. “Don’t hang up. What about the fingers? Why would I meet someone like you, Jimmy? You could be a killer.”
“Because I’m going to tell you what you want to know.”
He hung up, and she slammed the phone down.
“Next time, Ann,” Noah said for the umpteenth time, “you have to keep him talking longer.”
“There’s not going to be a next time. He wants to meet me,” Ann said, her voice fluttering. “Didn’t you hear him? He’s ready to turn himself in, even testify against Glen.” She stopped and glared at the two detectives. “Get some men together. I’m going to meet Sawyer. I have to know what’s going on. If you don’t, I’m going in alone. And tell them to step on it. We only have an hour.”
Reed grabbed her and shook her, shouting right in her face. “I’m not letting you go out there. He could shoot you. Maybe we’re wrong about Hopkins.”
Noah pulled Reed back. “Let’s not start fighting with each other,” he said. Then he turned to Ann. “Reed’s right, Ann. You shouldn’t go out there.”
“No,” Ann roared. “I’m going. When I don’t show up, he’ll flee and we’ll never know the truth. Those were human fingers.”
They both knew what she was referring to, the possibility that Glen had committed a homicide, and without Sawyer’s information, they might never be able to prove it. As she stormed out of the room, Reed growled and banged the table with his fist. “All right, Noah,” he said wearily, “contact the radio dispatcher and have her begin assembling the necessary men and equipment.”
Chapter 22
Seven unmarked units from the narcotics pool pulled up and parked behind the Alpha Beta grocery store six blocks from Marina Park, along with several additional units from the sheriff’s department. Noah Abrams leaped out and handed Ann the wire, while Reed and the other men huddled together on the opposite side of the parking lot. Ann immediately pulled up the white parka and her sweater underneath, holding the microphone to her flesh while Abrams taped it down. Although it was chilly, Ann was perspiring. “Better put more tape on there,” she told h
im. “I’m sweating and it’s going to slide.”
Abrams took the masking tape and started to position the rest of the apparatus in the small of Ann’s back. Then he felt the Beretta. “You’re packing a piece,” he said. “Shit, what if the guy frisks you?”
“I’m not going to let him frisk me,” Ann answered, turning to face him once the unit was in place. “If he does, he’ll find the wire.”
“I really care about you,” Abrams said softly, holding her by the shoulders. “I wish you wouldn’t do this.”
Ann looked deep into his eyes.
The detective caressed her cheek tenderly with the palm of his hand. “We could have a life together, a good life. I’ve always been crazy about you, Ann, and I’ve always wanted a family. Hey, when Hank vanished, I’m embarrassed to say it, but I was glad.” He dropped his eyes in shame. “Pretty contemptible, huh? Reed didn’t want me to approach you, though. He was adamant about it.” He finally raised his eyes. “I guess he thought I would hurt you. He was wrong.”
Ann was so touched she was speechless. All this time he had been afraid to say something to her. If she’d only known.
“Anyway, we’d better get going,” Abrams said awkwardly, seeing her searching for words. “Here’s the earpiece.”
“I can’t wear the earpiece,” Ann said, handing it back to him.
Noah’s face contorted. “But, Ann, you have to wear it. We can’t talk to you without the earpiece.”
“So, you won’t talk to me. You can still hear me,” Ann responded, anxious to get going before she lost her nerve. “See my hair, Noah? It’s too short to cover my ear. He’ll see it the minute I walk up to him. He’ll never tell me the truth if he thinks I’m wearing a wire.
“This is so dangerous,” Abrams said, walking around in small circles. “Sawyer could be armed to the hilt. He might be coming out here just to blow you away.” He stopped and stared at Ann. “He even admitted the fingers were real. Don’t you see, Ann? We have no idea what’s really going on with this guy.”
Ann ignored him, stepping a few feet away and speaking into the microphone, “Testing, one, two, three. You got it, Noah?” She turned around, and he nodded somberly. Then she stood there jiggling her hands and shuffling her feet, trying to relieve the tension.
At last she let out a deep breath. “I’m ready,” she told him. She climbed in the driver’s seat of a borrowed Range Rover and roared off.
Detective Reed was instructing a group of officers when Abrams joined them. “I don’t want Sawyer to get within a mile of Marina Park,” he told them. “Are we perfectly clear here?”
Captain Mathews walked up just as Reed completed his sentence. “Hold it right there,” he barked, the men already walking off to their units, high-powered shotguns with scopes in their arms. “What are you talking about, Reed?”
“Just what I said,” Reed snapped. Then he realized he was speaking to his commanding officer and changed his tone of voice. “Look, Captain, Ann thinks Sawyer’s coming to spill his guts or provide us with information about Hopkins, but we don’t know what all this guy’s really involved in. If we take him before he gets to the park—”
The captain glared at him. “When you say take him, we’re talking taking the man into custody, right?” When Reed just shrugged, the captain turned to address the men. “You will not fire unless you are fired upon or Ann Carlisle is fired upon. We came out here to obtain information. I have no intention of turning this into a bloodbath.”
Reed pulled Abrams aside. “Did you verify where Hopkins is?”
“Yeah,” Abrams said, “he’s at his house. I called to verify he was at home before we even left Ann’s house. Then I called him again on my cellular phone just a few minutes ago, and Hopkins answered the phone again. There’s no way he could get over here now without us seeing him. He lives all the way up in the foothills. Besides, we have units positioned on every street leading into the park.”
“Good,” Reed said, nodding. “But let’s not take any chances. Have a patrol unit park in front of Hopkins’s house. As soon as we find out what Sawyer has to say, we’re going to pop him anyway. I want to make damn certain this bastard doesn’t show up tonight. That’s all we need right now.” He started to walk off and then stopped. “And I want you to monitor Ann yourself, Noah. Is she on the auxiliary channel? If she isn’t, any transmission she makes could get buried under other radio traffic.”
“Yes, she is,” Abrams said. “I’ve got my portable tuned to her frequency right now.” He jerked a black portable radio up to his ear and listened. “She just notified us that she was walking into the park. Central dispatch is monitoring her transmissions as well. If anything goes wrong, they’ll broadcast it over both frequencies.”
Reed stared off into space, thinking. “Okay,” he said a few moments later, feeling confident they’d covered all the bases. “Get a unit over to Hopkins’s house at once,” he repeated. “Advise them not to make contact unless he tries to leave. And call Hopkins again to make certain he’s still at his house. We don’t want him slipping out before the surveillance unit gets there.”
Reed walked to his unit and jerked his shotgun from the holder, checking the ammo. If the captain wanted to be obstinate and play by the rules, he thought, so be it. If he had to, he’d take Sawyer down himself. For all they knew, Sawyer was a murderer and butcher. No way was Reed going to let him get to Ann.
Just then the detective looked up and saw a flash of red out of the comer of his eye speeding down the road toward Marina Park. Squinting until he made out the license plate. Reed immediately cranked the engine and screamed out of the parking lot, fishtailing around the parked police units. The plate on the red Honda was JINNY, the girl Sawyer had switched cars with in the mall. Reed grabbed the microphone off the seat and shouted into it, “I’m in pursuit. I have the red Honda and I’m almost certain Sawyer’s behind the wheel. We’re headed west from Alpha Beta on Tradewinds now. Get the units ahead of me to cut him off before he gets to the park.”
Marina Park was located in the beach area of Ventura not far from Dr. and Mrs. Sawyer’s house. After numerous problems with juveniles congregating, drinking, and using drugs, the city had closed the park to the public during the evening hours. Ann pulled up and killed her engine, noting that there were no lights in the park itself. A street lamp was located close to the entrance, however, and cast a narrow beam of light across the playground. To Ann, the park looked desolate and terrifying. She stepped out of the car and closed her white jacket. Then she spoke to the surveillance officers via the concealed microphone: “I’m about to walk in.”
Bracing herself, she began walking. She tried to keep her head straight and resist the urge to look behind her, but her fear was raging. First she walked on grass. As she got to the playground area, her feet sank in the sand. A short distance away, she could hear the waves crashing on the shore, and the air was heavy and damp. She saw what looked like a wooden fort for the children to play in, and then she spotted the jungle gym.
Taking a seat on the bench, she waited.
Minutes passed in agonizing slow motion. Ann had never felt so alone in her life. Somewhere off in the distance she heard sirens, wondering what type of incident they were responding to, then telling herself it was probably a fire or an injury accident.
She knew the officers were listening, ready to come to her rescue at the slightest indication of trouble. It didn’t help. By the time they got to her. Sawyer could kill her. Quickly she placed her hand behind her and touched the cold steel of her Beretta.
Hearing a noise nearby, Ann tensed, but she couldn’t tell where it was coming from. Then she almost screamed when she saw a head emerge from the wooden fort, followed directly by a man’s body. “Jimmy?” she said, hoping some drunk or homeless person hadn’t crawled in there to sleep.
Ann was standing, trying to see the man’s face and verify it was Sawyer when the man leaped from the shadows like a wild animal and knocked her to the
ground. Instinctively Ann flipped over onto her stomach, reaching behind her for her gun. She came up empty-handed. The gun had fallen out when he had jumped her, and was now lost somewhere in the sand.
The next second Ann felt the man’s knee press into her lower back, and a hand closed tightly over her mouth. Her screams were muffled inside his palm. She sank her teeth into the skin, but the man didn’t react. Struggling against him, Ann knew the assailant was too strong. With what seemed like herculean strength, he pinned one hand behind her back, holding her other arm on the ground with his body. Fingernails scraped her skin near her chest, and Ann was certain he was going to rape her. But he only ripped the wire off her chest and tossed it somewhere in the darkness.
Ann rolled sideways into his body, knocking him off balance, but he grabbed her and they started rolling together, ending up in the section of the park illuminated by the street lamp. For the first time Ann could see the man’s face.
It was Glen.
“You,” she said, screaming wildly, certain the surveillance officers would be here any second.
She was on her back. Glen on top of her, both her hands pinned now over her head. “They’re not coming for you,” Glen said, smirking. “They’re too busy arresting Jimmy.”
Ann heard something coming from the fort now, heavy radio traffic and police jargon. “A scanner?” she said. “You have a police scanner? That’s how you knew I was meeting Sawyer.”
“What?” he said, his eyes lit by a strange glow. “Do you think I’d let a piece of shit like Sawyer destroy me? Or a stupid woman like you?”
“No,” she yelled frantically. “They’re coming. They’re right down the street. They’ll shoot you…kill you.”
“Poor Ann,” he said, a maniacal grin on his face. “You were so perfect, you know. I really cared about you, but you took the game too far, tried to make it your game.” The grin disappeared and Glen’s face turned hard and cold, an ugly, evil visage that defied description. “Now you want to take all the credit, get all the praise,” he continued. “But you’re not going to do it. I’m the one the legal community will look up to and admire. I’m the one who brought in the convictions on Delvecchio. You know how proud my mother is right now? You think winning just any case would impress her? No, only an impossible case would do.”
First Offense Page 33
