Shadows May Fall

by Corcoran, Mell

  “We have an unmarked escorting the EMT’s in from the east side of the estates.” One of the other officers informed them. “We can have her brought here before they transport her to Los Robles?”

  “Do that.” Lou instructed. “What do we know about our tipster?” Lou hesitated to ask, but it was better if she got that out of the way.

  “Straight up civilian taking back roads to avoid traffic.” Another deputy reported. “He’s got a new toy. A fancy hybrid electric and gas bike he was cruising around in and just happened upon the girl. We’ve got all his info verified, so he’s good to go unless you have questions for him.”

  “How far is he from the house?” Dillon asked.

  “Half a mile from the back side, at most. That’s where we think the girl came out of.” The same deputy replied.

  “Have him stay put for the moment.” Lou instructed. She needed to figure out a way to keep Frank close in case she needed his memory wiping skills. “We need to identify our points of entry first. Then we make sure he’s out of harms way.”

  “Copy that, Detective.” The Special Weapons and Tactics Commander agreed as he lit up his tablet and laid it on the hood of one of the cruisers. “We need to have teams enter from here, here, here and here...” He pointed to each of the four sides of the property. “I suggest we send in a dummy vehicle, we have flower delivery, pizza and Thai delivery signs we can slap on the side of that UC vehicle there.” He pointed to a blue pT Cruiser parked a few yards away. “Once our man rings the doorbell, someone answers, we cut the power immediately and not only do our four men in the back of the pT jump out and make entry, but all four teams converge and secure anyone on the property.”

  “That’s a lot of ground to cover to get to the back of the house and be any kind of support for your four guys coming in the front.” Lou didn’t like it. “We need a team to breach the property and come in the back of the house at the same time, somehow.”

  “At least we have the cover of darkness now.” Another deputy in the crowd pointed out.

  “Any way we can send in a few guys to push ahead in the black?” Dillon asked.

  “We can try.” The Commander sighed. “But we run the risk of tripping some alarm, even with night vision and thermal.”

  “We put everyone in place with your original plan but give me some guys to go in through the back.” Lou decided. “I want a perimeter set a mile in every direction. No one in or out. Anyone questions why no one is allowed in, blame it on a rabid bull on the loose or something, I don’t give a shit, but I don’t want anyone tipping off anybody on that property. Am I understood?”

  It was like an army chanting in unison. “Yes, sir.” All in one loud and steady voice. Deputies geared up, locked and loaded, tested comms then got to where they were supposed to be. There was no division between counties, departments, units or agencies. Every single one worked together like a well-oiled and finely tuned machine.

  Lou and Dillon put on their vests and waited for the ambulance to arrive with their victim. It only took six minutes, but it seemed like an eternity to Lou. When the EMT opened the back of the bus for Lou to step inside, she lost her breath for a moment at the first sight of the young girl who was curled up in a ball on the gurney inside the ambulance. The other medic finished adjusting the girl’s I.V. before looking at Lou and winking. She recognized him immediately as the Sanguinostri medic that had taken care of her at the warehouse a few weeks ago.

  “Hey! Pierce!” Lou smiled at the man.

  “Good to see you again, Detective.” He gave her a bright smile then climbed out of the back of the ambulance. “Another bus is coming to take her to Los Robles. We’re staying here to handle any other casualties.”

  “I cannot tell you how much of a relief that is to me.” Lou was glad to have someone else on the inside on scene. She hoped they weren’t going to need him, but realistically she knew they would.

  “She’s a jumble as far as a read is concerned because of the damage to her brain.” He whispered to her. “She’s been severely beaten repeatedly over an extended period of time. I sensed huge gaps in her memory which frankly, is a blessing given what they did to her.”

  “Sexual assault?” Lou didn’t want to know, but she had to ask.

  “Repeated.” Pierce sighed. “Multiple assailants too. I’ve requested a sexual assault kit and a full work up from forensics.”

  Lou nodded and swallowed hard. “Can she answer questions?”

  Pierce shrugged. “You can try, but I don’t think she will give you much, or make any sense if she does speak. She’s pretty bad.”

  “I gotta try.” Lou looked at him sadly. “Were you able to get a name out of her?”

  “Just from what I could read. I’m pretty sure it’s Mary.” Pierce told her and Lou’s heart stopped.

  “Mary Sheehan?” Lou held her breath.

  “I didn’t read a last name.” Pierce told her. “Just Mary.”

  As soon as Lou got in the bus and sat next to the girl, curled up in a ball on the gurney, Lou could see behind the dirt and filth, the matted dirty hair, it was, in fact, Mary Sheehan. That the girl was alive was a miracle but whether it was a blessing or a curse wasn’t certain yet. God only knew what the poor thing had endured in that stable for all this time.

  “Mary?” Lou leaned down and whispered to the girl. Mary, my name is Lou. I’m a friend of your father and Leona.” Lou saw the girl’s eyes shift at her words. “You’re safe now, Mary. I’m gonna call your dad, and he’s going to meet you at the hospital.” Mary’s body jerked, and she started to squeal. Her arms flailed, nearly ripping the I.V. Out of her arm as Pierce jumped back in the bus to hold her down.

  “Mary, calm down honey!” Pierce told her in as soothing a tone as possible as he tried to secure her I.V. “Detective, help me hold her still!”

  “Mary, it’s okay!” Lou tried to lean on the girl without hurting her. “You’re safe now! It’s going to be alright! Vanessa can’t hurt you anymore!” Lou only succeeded in making Mary scream.

  “Would you mind not talking anymore, Detective?” Pierce requested as he prepared another sedative. “We have no clue what she was threatened with. Would you mind getting Detective Cole? He might be able to put in a few happy thoughts for her to see rather than bad memories?”

  “I’m sorry.” Lou’s heart was breaking for the girl but remembered that Dillon had the ability to share thoughts. Pierce was right in his request, and as soon as Mary Sheehan stopped flailing, Lou jumped out of the ambulance and yelled for Dillon.

  “Detective.” The Special Weapons and Tactics Commander called to her, snapping her out of her slight panic. “We’re in place whenever you are ready.

  “I got her.” Dillon grabbed Lou’s shoulder then jumped in the back of the ambulance just as the second bus pulled up.

  “Let me get to the tipster. Get our victim out of here and tell me when they are clear.” Lou headed across the parking lot back to Dillon’s SUV, got in and waited for him while she remembered how to breathe.

  Mary Sheehan was alive. Were the rest of the girls in there too? Could that be possible? What had happened to them for all these weeks? Lou didn’t even want to try to imagine, but she had to. The good news was Mary wasn’t hooked up to some blood siphon and whoever was still tied up in those other stables wasn’t either. What scared the hell out of Lou was what they were going to find in the basement and she needed to be prepared for anything.

  Maximilian Julian had fought in more wars than he cared to remember. He had been in the trenches of some of the bloodiest battles that historians were too squeamish to remember let alone write about. It took him a long time to grow accustomed to being in the position of command, having opted to charge headlong with his Aegis whenever they were sent into harm’s way. Standing back and watching things play out didn’t come easily to him. It was counterintuitive and uncomfortable but a necessary thing for a
man in his position. Having to sit and just listen as Lou was walking into unknown dangers was pure torture. He twitched and paced, demanding reports every few minutes despite the fact that Niko was completely removed from things. Frank was disconnected while he played Good Samaritan to give Lou the exigent circumstances they needed to raid Vanessa Sturn’s property. It was maddening.

  Fortunately his faith in Dillon began paying off in spades as soon as he heard the audio feed come in from the watch they had outfitted him with a few weeks ago. Twice now Dillon had the foresight to activate the equipment so that Max and the Aegis could monitor very dangerous and very fluid situations that he and Lou had been in. Though there was very little they could do to help them now, at least Max would be able to know what was going on rather than worrying for Lou’s safety until she was able to check in herself. Of course she had been outfitted with a similar device as Dillon but she seemed to be having a hard time remembering to even wear the thing, let alone activate it.

  “Isn’t there a way for our chopper to stay just within range to give us some sort of feed?” Max asked anyone on the comms.

  “You know he can’t.” Niko answered. “Even if he flies in stealth mode and they catch a glimpse of him or one blip on their radar, that is some explaining we do not want to have to do.”

  Max sighed. “Right. Fine. Frank will give us an update as soon as he’s clear.”

  “Absolutely, my Dom.” Niko agreed. “Remember to breathe.”

  Max scowled but didn’t respond. For Niko’s sake he hoped Lou wasn’t listening in somehow. He needed to be patient. He had been through thousands upon thousands of operations far more dangerous and far more elaborate than the one Lou was going in to. He only wished that she would have opted to call in the Aegis instead of the other Sheriffs first. They could have gone in and swept the place, sanitized it of anything that might have pointed in a Sanguinostri direction. Based upon everything Lou had told him, there was a strong possibility that Vanessa Sturn was privy to Cameron Timms and Johan Esterhuizen’s blood smuggling. Perhaps she was even involved somehow. If those deputies walked in to that property and found cases of blood, or worse, a blood production operation, it was going to be a huge mess that Lou and Dillon would be neck deep in.

  “We have a couple of our guys on scene!” Abby told him as she walked back into the office.

  “We do?” Max looked at her with great surprise.

  “Yeah!” Abby grinned. “I sent our ambulance in with Pierce and Hopper and they are staying on site to help take care of any victims.

  Then we have two of our agents in Ventura Special Weapons and Tactics, one of which is positioned with Lou and Dillon but they haven’t had the opportunity to introduce themselves yet.”

  “We need to make sure she knows every single one of our agents in every single agency that she could even remotely come into contact with!” Max growled. “I do not like her not knowing she has back up!”

  “My Dom...” Abby approached him carefully. “You’re the one who told us to back off and let her figure things out for herself. She was a cop long before we came along.”

  “Yes but she wasn’t walking into a potential Sanguinostri disaster area back then!” He reminded her.

  “She had her suspicions though!” Abby argued. “She should have taken a different tactic. Had us sweep the property first, then brought in her people.”

  Max hated that Abby was right. This was the problem with letting Lou figure things out on her own. She had no idea how complex things could get in her new world and they needed to have a long discussion once this event was over. As with all things Sanguinostri, an ounce of prevention was worth far more than any amount of cure. If he knew Lou at all, he knew she was realizing that with every second that passed tonight.

  West Protero Road had absolutely no streetlights and the lack of any moonlight made things blacker as time went on. Even the bright headlights of the SUV seemed to become more limited in illuminating the road as seconds ticked on.

  “You okay?” Dillon asked as they drove.

  “Too many moving parts that we have no control over.” Lou expressed her displeasure over the situation. “Let’s get to Frank fast. With our luck, some cowboy may decide to breach the perimeter before we get into place. Or worse, Vanessa come rolling in and sees fifty cops just hanging out around the corner.”

  “I highly doubt she’s going to pop up out of nowhere. Besides, they are still waiting on aerial recon, so I wouldn’t worry about anyone breaching without your say so.” Dillon reassured her.

  It took them exactly seven minutes to make the loop around to where the Deputies were detaining their tipster. When Lou hopped out of the SUV she could hear Frank grumbling to the uniforms about the meaning of the word ‘anonymous’ and that they had no right to hold him any further. Lou played along with the disgruntled good Samaritan act after Dillon reminded her that Frank would wipe the image of his face from the detaining officers. Just in case their paths crossed in the future, which was inevitable the way things kept happening. It was going to take a while for her to get used to all of these handy little tricks. As well as retraining herself to think proactively rather than reactively.

  “I got him.” Lou told the uniforms. “Thank you.”

  “No problem, Detective.” One of the deputies replied.

  “We’ll head up and assist with securing the perimeter.” His partner informed them.

  “Perfect.” Lou appreciated not having to tell them where to be. As soon as she turned back to Frank, he resumed complaining about being detained and kept up the riot act until the other Deputies had driven out of sight.

  “Okay, we disabled the motion sensors all along the east and south sides of the property but you guys are on your own for the rest of the place.” Frank told them. “I’m going to have to move way out of range then come back after you guys make entry. There’s no way around it. I can’t even get close with your Sheriffs all over the place.”

  “I know.” Lou acknowledged. “I have got to start practicing worst case scenarios for the future.”

  “After we go through the back with tactical, we’ll break off and head down to the basement.” Dillon voiced a plan. “We’ll try to contain things before anyone else gets down there.”

  “And how is that supposed to work if there is a full blown blood production set up down there?” Lou looked at him like he was an idiot.

  “Well, then we just go in and act clueless, if that’s what’s down there.” Dillon shrugged. There wasn’t any alternative. He also knew that pointing out that it may have been premature bringing Venture County and Lost Hills into the mix was not a good idea right now. The last thing he wanted to do was piss Lou off or undermine her confidence. However, he knew it was going to be a conversation that they needed to have, very soon.

  “Yell if you need me to sneak in somehow.” Frank told them. “Just get in there safely and rescue the other girls. We’ll figure out the rest as we go.”

  “Right.” Lou muttered. “Thanks, Frankie.”

  “You got it.” Frank winked at her as he hopped on his motorcycle then turned to them and made a silly face. “Now I know my rights and you can’t hold me anymore! Screw you!” Lou and Dillon chuckled as Frank rode off. It was the tiny bit of levity they needed to settle the nerves.

  Lou and Dillon rallied with the team that was set up on the back side of the property. Fortunately, the owners of the ranch behind Vanessa’s were out of town and the stable hands had gone for the day. The live-in housekeeper had a fondness for law enforcement and was more than happy to have them use her employers driveway and anything else they needed. Lou and Dillon were updated by the Special Enforcement Bureau through their earpieces while they double checked their gear. After each team was in place and air support had made a third pass to give them as much information as possible, they were ready for Lou to give the signal. They had decided a courier service was the
best way to go to gain access without raising any eyebrows. The undercover officer had raced to the nearest office supply store and mocked up an official looking package of documents. His story was that he was from Sturn’s trust attorney’s office and he was delivering time sensitive documents that required her signature. Even if Vanessa rejected the package, it still got her to the door so they could grab her. Lou thought it was a far better plan than trying to deliver flowers or pizza. No one was supposed to know Vanessa Sturn was there, but her legal council would. They were bound by attorney-client privilege so Vanessa would feel secure enough to let them know where she could be reached if something popped up. It was a solid plan. They just needed to get Vanessa to the front door; then the teams would converge. After running through it one last time with each unit leader, they were all set and waiting for the go. Lou didn’t like being on point, but she put herself in the position, for better or worse.

  “Courier, move in.” Lou instructed as she, Dillon, two deputies and four Special Weapons and Tactical officers climbed over the perimeter fence. Slowly they inched through the blackened night, stopping at the back side of the stables. They could hear the undercover as he buzzed the gate and a male voice answer. After he fed the person on the other end his story, they could hear a buzz.

  “Step one.” The undercover officer advised them, meaning the gate was being open and he was proceeding up the driveway to the main house. It took ninety seconds before they heard the car engine shut off. “Making final approach.” He whispered.

  Lou looked at Dillon and he gave her a nod. “Move in when she takes the package.” Lou whispered through her comm unit and several single squelch clicks sounded off in a specific sequence in an affirmative response from all the other teams in place.

  Lou pointed to the two deputies in her team and they immediately moved south, skirting the back side of the stable wall to take a position at the entrance. The rest of them stayed low and moved carefully towards the back of the main house while listening for their undercover to get Vanessa Sturn to identify herself and hand over the package. Then and only then would they make entry to the house. They just had to get into position to do so in time.