Shadows May Fall

by Corcoran, Mell

  “You’ve got about an hour before you get to Thousand Oaks?” Niko asked as he pounded away at computer keys.

  “That sounds about right.” Dillon confirmed.

  “Let me get Connor and Frank in on this and we’ll see what we can dig up.” Niko told them.

  “Detective...” Max was speaking to Lou. “You are not going in there without proper back-up, are you?”

  Lou smiled to herself before she answered him. “We’ve got Ventura Sheriff’s standing by.”

  “And she’s reviewing the plans we got from Building and Safety while we’re parked here.” Dillon chimed in.

  “You are assuming there have been no modifications to the property, Detective Cole.” Max pointed out. “Give me the exact address, please. I’ll send aerial reconnaissance.”

  “You can do that?” Lou asked.

  “Yes, Detective, I can do that.” Max grinned as he typed out a text to his man at the airport. “Address please?”

  Lou recited the address for the estate in Hidden Valley, and Max messaged it off to his pilot. It took only ten seconds for a reply confirming the helicopter would be in the air within the next ten minutes. Max explained that he would have them do a thermal scan of the place before Dillon and Lou got off the freeway. That would be a huge help in knowing how many possible hostiles they were going up against. Max told them he wanted to look into a few more things and would get back to them within the next five minutes. After they had disconnected the call, Max looked at Niko with great concern.

  “I’ll grab Frank and head out there.” Niko told him, knowing exactly what he was thinking. “If we take the bikes, we can be there in twenty minutes.”

  “Provided you don’t get pulled over for going mach five.” Max frowned.

  “Really?” Niko smirked at him. “When was the last time we got pulled over?”

  “Never.” Max continued to frown. “Evading the police in a highspeed chase does not qualify as never having been pulled over. They just never caught you!”

  “Then you should have all the faith in the world in me!” Niko chuckled and headed for the door. “I’ll see what seeds Connor can plant to get Lou that warrant.”

  “Remember, she just needs probable cause.” Max shouted as Niko exited the guest house. “Have comms up so I know what’s going on!” He could hear Niko answering him but wasn’t clear on what he was saying. It didn’t matter; he knew Niko would follow his orders to the letter.

  The fact that Timms and Esterhuizen were even remotely connected to Lou’s case bothered Max a great deal. He felt a personal sense of responsibility that one of his people had a hand in things, regardless of what form or context. It didn’t matter that Cameron Timms wasn’t his subject or under his purview, he was still Sanguinostri, blood born at that. Max needed to make things right somehow, and if Lou was right about Vanessa Sturn, he needed to help her any way they could. Even if that meant fudging things a bit in Lou’s favor.

  Max hit speed dial for Connor. “What have you found on Lou’s suspect?”

  “She is an extremely careful lady.” Connor was still digging. “The property is owned by a shell corporation out of the Caymans and it’s privately held, so I’m having to do a little back-door tap dance to get anything.

  “Even if you do there’s no way Lou will be able to use that information legally.” Max sighed. “Does she have any other digital footprint? GpS on her car? Phone? Some way to get her in a particular location that we could dig up a witness placing her there for probably cause?”

  “She doesn’t even have a car registered under her name.” Connor grumbled. “Tracking her cell is like watching a flea jump around on a dog. It pings in one location a couple times then goes dark for days then pops up again in an entirely different state. She barely uses the thing, so she probably has a burner or two. I show a dozen calls over the past month to a law firm in Century City during regular office hours and absolutely nothing else.”

  “Well, that’s staged without question.” Max understood Lou’s frustration a bit better.

  “Her credit cards are full of purchases for places in Beverly Hills clumped on several different dates.” Connor resumed briefing him. “Then they show purchases in New York for the same types of shops. There’s another card that shows purchases for some pretty fancy dining at some of the top joints in both L.A. and New York. She pays the balances off each month too, but I see nothing out of her personal banking for any sort of utilities, gas, electric, no cable bill, nothing.”

  “What about the trust?” Max asked.

  “I checked that first thing.” Connor told him. “She had taken a chunk about a year ago, but that’s it. The whole thing is managed by a top financial firm for her. What isn’t tied up in hedge funds or other investments is just sitting there accruing interest. So who’s paying this chick’s bills or where is she getting her cash to pay off these bills?”

  “That’s an excellent question.” Max had a bad feeling about all this. “I want you to look at the assets we froze on Albert. Go through it all with a fine tooth comb and compare it to this woman’s expenditures.”

  “You think they know each other?” Connor was frankly surprised at Max’s suggestion. “What the hell are the odds of that?”

  “I’m not taking any chances.” Max was still thinking it through. “So you’re not seeing any financial connection between this woman and any of Lou’s victims?”

  “None with anything under her name and I don’t have enough time before Dillon and Lou get to the property to connect Sturn to the corporation that owns the place.” Connor was running out of ideas. “I could plant something?”

  “No.” Max had thought of that earlier but based on what Connor had told him, there was no way of planting anything without it sticking out like a sore thumb. “She’s made things this clean for a reason. Any-thing we plant will have her looking in Lou’s direction, and if my hunch is correct, we’ll be playing right into Albert’s little plan.”

  “Good point.” Connor understood the predicament.

  “I’m heading back into the main house. Get our feed from the helicopter patched into Joe’s network, comms too. I want to see and hear what Lou and Dillon are walking into.”

  Max disconnected the call before Connor could reply. He skipped the shower and threw on a pair of jeans, a sweater and the first shoes he could grab then did a sprint for the main house. The way things were shaping up it looked like Lou was not getting in that property legally. If Max’s suspicion was right on this woman being aided by Albert von Massenbach in her murderous rampage, Lou was walking into a trap.

  Dillon and Lou had traveled a whopping six miles in twenty minutes, and even Dillon’s fancy GpS couldn’t advise a faster alternate route. Westbound on the Ventura Freeway was the best they were going to get. It was just after six when Max called them back, and Lou sensed something off in his tone that she didn’t like.

  “Unless Sergeant DeLuca comes up with something, I’m afraid there is no way we can get you the probable cause you need for a viable warrant in this short of time.” Max explained. “Sturn has a very predetermined pattern in her traceable financials and her phone records. If we even tried to toss a seed in there to grow any type of connection, she will know, and she will take off.”

  “And all we have now is the element of surprise since she has no clue we are on to her.” Lou said, understanding what Max was saying even though she hated it.

  “Precisely. However...” He qualified his statement. “Niko and Frank are almost there and have a plan to get a read on what’s going on inside the property. Might I suggest you have Ventura stand down and allow us to act off book for you for the moment?”

  “What are they planning on doing?” Dillon inquired.

  “I have one of my pilots checking out the grounds from the air. If you activate your comms to our secured channel, you can monitor what’s going on yourselves.” />
  “Are you patched in now?” Dillon asked as he started pushing buttons on the dash of the SUV.

  “I am.” Max confirmed. “You can terminate this call and we can continue on comms.”

  Lou looked at Dillon a little confused. “What does that mean?”

  “Just hang up the call.” Dillon instructed and pressed several buttons on the car’s navigation unit. After a strange beep, Lou could hear what sounded like heavy engine noise coming through the speakers of the SUV. “Comms are up.” Dillon spoke finally.

  “Roger that.” Niko’s voice rang out first.

  “Reading you loud and clear.” Frank’s voice was next.

  “What is your E.T.A. Air One?” Max asked over the line and a sharp squelch followed.

  “Less than sixty seconds.” A voice that Lou didn’t recognize answered. “Confirming coordinates on target location. Switching to stealth mode.”

  “Roger that.” Max replied. “Rover One, what is your E.T.A.?” Frank was assigned as Rover One. “Coming up on Wendy from Lynn. Three minutes out at most.”

  “Rover Two?” Max asked.

  “Rover Two.” Niko’s voice was shaky. “Running silent through the back side. Fire road off Ventu park.” His voice shuddered indicating he was bouncing on rough terrain. “I should hit the back side of the property in ninety seconds if my calculations are correct.”

  “I got you on thermal, Rover Two.” The helicopter pilot cut in. “Affirmative in your calculation. Head due west on your current path and that should put you center east of our target location.”

  “Roger that Air One.” Niko’s voice continued to bounce.

  Dillon and Lou were over twenty miles away from their exit. Traffic was at a dead stop and all they could do was listen in while Max and the rest of the men worked their magic.

  “I have multiple signatures.” Air One reported. “Four horses in the stables on the east edge of the property.”

  “Black as pitch out here!” Niko complained.

  “Where are your goggles?” Abby’s voice popped up out of nowhere.

  “Abby!” Max scolded.

  “Engaging thermal.” Niko said with a chuckle. “Confirming the four horses on this side. Wait a minute...”

  “What are you seeing?” Lou could hardly sit still.

  “I’m getting additional heat signatures on this side.” Niko told them. “Stand by. Repositioning.”

  “Roger that Rover Two.” Air one acknowledged. “Coming around from the west for another read.”

  “Roger that Air One.” Frank was the one to acknowledge now. “Standing by. Ready for decoy deployment on Rover Two’s mark.”

  “Wait!” Niko shouted. “What the...”

  “Are you reading that too, Niko?” The helicopter pilot asked informally, sounding a bit disturbed.

  “How many do you see, Air one?” Niko asked.

  “I’ve got four on my imaging.” Air one replied.

  “Report!” Max demanded.

  “Lou, move your ass.” Niko broke protocol. “You are about to get one serious anonymous tip and you are going to need a lot of back-up! Rover One, abort. Head to my location on the double.”

  “I said report!” Max shouted again.

  “I’m reading four thermal images, my Dom.” The pilot explained to Max. “It looks like four people being held in the southern stables. I’ve got one in the fetal position. One spread eagle and two others semi-balled up.”

  “What the shit?!” Lou yelled. “Get us off this freeway and get us there immediately.”

  “Lou, you need the tip to come in first! Give us time to set that up!” Niko advised.

  “We can pull one of them out, get her on the fire road and say we came across her hiking?” Frank suggested as his voice shook, indicating he was going through bumpy terrain.

  “Damn I wish Yuri was here. We could get a neighbor to come out and do this.” Abby chimed in.

  “Well, he isn’t here.” Max was annoyed. “Niko, bug out once you extract one of them. Let Frank call it in. Can you get to her without tripping an alarm, Niko?”

  “Looks like there’s a motion sensor on the perimeter. Give me time to figure a way to cut it without tripping the whole thing.” Niko said then went quiet.

  Lou could only imagine what was going on as Dillon hit the lights and siren on the SUV and waited for the cars on their right to make a hole. No one even tried to move. “Jackasses!” Lou shouted as she leaned out her window and flashed her badge at the noncompliant citizen in the car next to her. “Go!” She yelled at Dillon as soon as a gap opened up for him to merge right. Lou kept hanging out and flashed her badge at the next car, along with one seriously nasty look. “Go!” She yelled again, and Dillon merged once more, then again into the right shoulder of the freeway.

  They cut through several off-ramps at about thirty-five miles per hour. It was still faster than they had been going minutes earlier.

  Things got dicey a couple times as the shoulder vanished then opened up again once they got past the accident that had caused the five mile back-up. Dillon was able to keep to the number three lane after they passed the wreck. When Lou’s phone barked through the speakers, Dillon scrambled to shut off his siren and mute the communications channel before answering for her.

  “Donovan.” Lou answered, not knowing who was calling. “Lou, we got a call into Ventura with an anonymous tip about your girl’s place out there!” Vinny yelled, clearly excited.

  “What?” Lou acted dumb. “A delivery guy found a girl wandering half conscious on protero! Said she’s been held captive at that ranch. They patched the call into Shippley as soon as they caught the address. Call him right now and coordinate, screw needing’ a warrant! You got the bitch!”

  “Calling right now!” Lou told him. “I’ll get back to you.” Vinny hung up before Lou, freeing the line for her to call Sergeant Ship-pley of Ventura Sheriff. He was the one that Lou was coordinating with earlier for backup.

  “Donovan?” Shippley asked as soon as he answered.

  “Yeah, just got the news. Where are you on this?” Lou asked him.

  “I’ve got deputies meeting with our tipster and the girl, as well as an ambulance dispatched.” Sergeant Zachery Shippley and Lou had worked together at least a dozen times over the years. They had an excellent relationship, and he always extended every courtesy to Lou whenever he had the opportunity. Frankly, she got real lucky having him on duty when she called in. “The guy who called it in said he was going to move the girl away from the property until we got to them, for her own safety. I’ve got S.W.A.T and all available in the area rendezvousing at the church. You know what’s up here, obviously. I’ve got no problem letting you take point on this.”

  “That’s real good of you, Zack.” Lou took a familiar tone with him. “Should I see what we can muster from Lost Hills?”

  “I wouldn’t say no to the help.” Shippley blew out a breath. “God only knows what we’re gonna find out there.”

  “I’ll hit you right back.” Lou hung up and made the call.

  Lost Hills station was like Lou’s second home, and she knew the majority of the command there from her days at the academy or through her uncle and Vinny. Since she had called in earlier and tried to get air support from them, the Desk Sergeant put her straight through to the Watch Commander as soon as she identified herself and from there she laid everything out. It was like a carefully choreographed operation though everything was being done on the fly. Commander parker already had his people coordinating with Ship-pley’s people and by the time Lou and Dillon crossed over the Lost Hills exit, four more cruisers were pulling on to the freeway behind them, lights and sirens blazing. As soon as Lou hung up with parker at Lost Hills, Dillon resumed comms with Max and the others. Lou was completely unaware that they had been listening in the entire time, but it saved her having to repeat herself.

 
“We’re live.” Dillon informed them.

  “Roger that.” Niko answered.

  “What’s going on?” Lou asked.

  “Frank’s up the road with the girl. Air one bugged out to make way for your official air support, and I’m hanging back up at a donut shop about three miles north-west.” Niko sounded like he was talking while eating something.

  “Are you seriously eating a donut right now?” Dillon asked him. “I know...” Niko swallowed before finishing his sentence. “Total role swapped on the cliche’ right?”

  You could hear Max chuckle. “Bring some back for us at least.” He ordered.

  “Goes without saying, my Dom.” Niko apparently had stuffed another oversized bite in before answering. It made Lou smile.

  “Detectives...” Max addressed both Lou and Dillon. “It appears you’ve got this covered, but I’d appreciate you keeping us updated. Especially since Frank is disconnected and following your lead from this point on.”

  “I’ll figure that out eventually.” Lou said with a snort. She had no idea how to fudge Frank’s involvement in things, but she was sure glad he would be around if she needed anything wiped that could blow back on them.

  For all they knew, Vanessa was in league with Cameron Timms somehow, and if she was, this remote of a location was a perfect place to hide Black Blood or even a harvesting operation. As they pulled in to the church parking lot, they saw at least a dozen Ventura and Los Angeles County Sheriff’s vehicles along with Ventura S.W.A.T. and their own Special Enforcement Bureau. What the hell would Lou do if they all busted in there and it was a harvesting operation? How could she possibly explain that away? Should she even try? Her stomach started churning as she was directed to step up and take point. Why the hell hadn’t she thought this one through better?

  “We’re getting our people in place to cut the power, but we need to assume there is a back-up generator.” Rick from the Special Enforcement Bureau explained. “Air support is taking a look to advise on possible points of entry.”

  “I need to talk to the girl.” Lou stated matter of factly. “We need to know what we are walking into, and she’s our best lead.”