CHAPTER THIRTY-TWO

 

 

May 16, 2015

6:10 P.M.

McCall, Idaho

 

Julia and Lott caught a ride with Annie out to Williams’ home along the lake. Doc and Fleet had sprinted for the airport to contain Williams’ plane and to make sure no one rented him anything.

Fleet had downloaded a floor plan for the big mansion for him and Annie on a tablet as they went into the beautiful, but sterile place.

Wood and stone and glass, along with mostly bright white furnishings and carpet and counters and cabinets made the home feel far, far from a home on a mountain lake. It felt more like the inside of a hospital to Julia.

“This is like looking inside a snowstorm,” Lott said, looking around.

Julia could not agree more. It was awful. The worst design she had ever seen.

Why would you have white kitchen counters, white tile on the floor, white carpet in the living room with white furniture?

As they went from room to room, nothing changed.

The place had no color at all. Just white and glass and white stone.

The FBI had already secured the home and were now patrolling around the edge of the entire lake, both by boat and by land. But as Agent Munn had told them, it was a very large lake. Almost fifty miles of shoreline and coves and hidden homes. They just didn’t have enough manpower in here to do that as well as set up roadblocks on the roads.

And it would take time to get more people, time that allowed Williams to escape.

Fleet had a horde of computer people searching for any record that Williams or one of his many companies owned another property around the lake, but so far that had been for nothing. Just this one huge property that jutted out into the lake.

They looked around, and all of them looked for any kind of secret room that wasn’t on the plans, but one clearly didn’t exist. That was easy to see with the open floor plan. The FBI would bring in sounding equipment to see what was under the building, but Julia doubted they would find anything at all.

“We’re missing something,” Julia said. “He would know we would find more property if he owned it here.”

Lott and Annie both nodded.

“So he wouldn’t really leave this place,” Julia said. “And this would be where he would keep his trophies from all his kills.”

“I agree,” Lott said. “But there is nothing here. And they have searched the out buildings and the empty boat house.”

Julia suddenly remembered what she had seen that had been bothering her. She turned to Annie. “Do you have an aerial shot of this property during the day taken recently?”

“I’ll download it to your tablet,” Fleet said in their ears. He had blocked them from all the chatter from the FBI, but kept the five of them hooked together.

A moment later the aerial image appeared with property lines marked in green dashed lines on both sides. The main house was clear, as was the dock and the outbuildings and boat shed.

Julia looked around the end of the point and studied the trees along the far side of the property.

“There,” she said, pointing to what looked like a faint roofline hidden under the trees. “I’m betting he’s there.”

“Agent Munn,” Fleet said. “Need you and a couple agents at the house at once. We have a lead.”

“Copy,” Agent Munn said. “Ten minutes out.”

Julia looked at Lott who nodded.

Julia knew that she was right, they had a very dangerous killer trapped in that small area. And when that happened, lots of things could go very wrong.

She had once had a bullet smash the bones in her leg in just such a situation.