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The scene had been turned over to SWAT who had split off into two teams. As far as Temeke could hear they were determining how the teams would enter and what ordinance would be used. Temeke found himself watching a group of patrol officers fanning out from behind the trees and disappearing around the south side of the Hampton Inn. He could almost see red tell-tale motes darting up and down the walls—sight beads thrown from a rifle in the hands of an expert sniper.
He stood on a patch of concrete a hundred yards behind the perimeter on the east side of the hotel with Malin. Officers from his unit were closer in because they wanted to get a good look at the helmets and flat vests as SWAT dropped to a combat crouch keeping the back door squarely in their field of fire. Suzi was already inside and it troubled Temeke that she took two patrol officers with her and didn’t leave room for him and Malin.
Behind Temeke was the Beercat SWAT vehicle parked on Estancia Drive where a sergeant reviewed quick and dirty contingency plans. Officer Manning’s K-9 seemed to be doing a good job of soaking a tire and it was likely he had been drawn to the scent of oil and flatulence.
“The service went well,” Malin said, looking up at Temeke from under a Blue Lives Matter cap. “When we left the guests were already beating a path to the picnic tables in Haynes Park.”
“I’m sorry for the family.” Temeke breathed in the scent of pine needles and looked up at a blue sky. “Any sign of Rosie Ellis?”
“She was with two other women in the parking lot. I wasn’t close enough to hear what they were saying.”
“I’d rather you keep this between ourselves. But I would like to take another look in Rosie’s house. Preferably when she’s not there.”
“What are you thinking?”
“It was something Violet said. She said Rosie was well educated. Liked to read. Worth checking out that statement.”
From the edge of the trees Temeke thought he heard the panting of a dog echoing off the back wall and the scrape of a boot on the pavement. A bird rustled in a roost above them, took off so fast Temeke didn’t see where it went. He felt the current of air on his head and he heard a sudden gasp seeping into Malin’s lungs. He touched her on the back, saw her settle back down. It replayed a sharp memory in his head, one he hadn’t thought of in years.
He was nine when his father drank a bottle of scotch in the late afternoon and had slept it off under a tree in London’s Clapham Common. Temeke had wandered off to a small peninsular in Mount Pond and played among the rocks and stones until the light faded and everything went black. A leaden sky reflected in a pool of sooty water, and trees and shrubs were mythical creatures rising up out of a crack in the earth, bodies hunched and ready to pounce. He sat there trembling with cold, staring out at the shadows and the terrible silence. There wasn’t a hand on his back to steady him then, but he remembered the sound of each rasping, nine-year-old breath. Until he heard a hi-lo siren and saw a Ford Anglia with a checkered rally stripe. It was his mother’s voice that drifted over the common and the sound of his chattering teeth. David...
Temeke didn’t feel as confident as he did when he first arrived at the Hampton Inn. Quite the opposite. The dial on his watch showed three fifteen and Suzi’s voice seemed to whisper in his ear. You’ll stay there all evening and well into the night if that’s what it takes. A gust shook the trees now and then, but for all the activity outside it was unnervingly quiet.
“Sir. Based on the intel, McCann could be armed, right?”
“Right.”
“Do you think SWAT will drill a hole in the bedroom wall next door and use a pinhole camera to keep an eye on him?”
“I doubt it. That would be operating on a surplus of confidence and a shortage of common sense. They’ll call the room number and tell McCann there’s a package waiting for him downstairs. Us.”
He heard her chuckle and then saw her hike her chin at Luis. “He picked up something interesting on the radio while we were waiting. Suzie asked him how come you thought McCann was here? Luis told her a veteran like you had contacts and many friends. I’d like to know what she meant when she said she’d be laughing her ass off if you were wrong.”
“Kind of warms your heart, doesn’t it?” Temeke didn’t bother to hold back the grimace.
His mood had already taken the course he had feared and the vision of a likely murder weapon found its way into his mind. Photos Maggie had taken of McCann’s old pickup showed a forty-one inch tire iron, or thereabouts, and a crowbar in the flatbed. Something in his subconscious triggered a warning bell.
“What’s the betting McCann’s already left? Probably saw us coming,” he said, mind whirring into overtime. “I say we take a trip to Haynes Park.”
“I’m game.”
Malin’s voice was interrupted by a sharp sound and it took Temeke a few seconds to realize it was a fire alarm. In those few seconds all he could think about was whether Suzi Cornwell could lead a case such as this. Because a fire alarm meant three things. A genuine fire, a test or a stupid prank. If it was the latter, their fugitives would be outside in less than five seconds and it would be a huge loss of prestige for Cornwell.
Three teenage girls in swimsuits were the first to appear, running under the porch in bare feet, purses slapping against bare thighs. An overweight man struggled with the towel around his waist and an elderly couple hobbled as far as the nearest planter. Temeke ran forward to assist, sensing Malin at his left shoulder looking around as he did for any signs of McCann.
Before he had a chance to consider the rear exits, Temeke caught sight of Suzi slouching toward them, hands shoved in her pants pockets. Her expression changed when she spotted him, face plastered with a phony smile.
“Looks like we just missed them,” she said, amping up the smile. “How they got out is anyone’s guess. But let me ask you something? Was it a raw hunch you knew they were here? Or was it a dark red Cutlass one of my officers saw?”
