Dark Visions (25 page)

He looked across the room and saw an archway
that opened to another hall. Two entrances to the kitchen and a
pile of debris about three feet high in the center of the room made
it a great spot for an ambush.

Gert sat under the window, his back against
the wall and listened to the helicopter make its passes.

He pulled his gun out, along with the
remaining ammunition and waited, resolved to the end that was
before him.

Chapter 61

Sam didn't want to be a hero. But he was the
only one at the farmhouse and the perp didn't know it. After
radioing in his position, he was told to stand down. Backup was on
the way. An FBI negotiator and the HRT were minutes away.

What the hell would they need a
negotiator for?
He thought.
Sarah's safe and no one is
talking this asshole out of this farmhouse.

Sam had seen this kind of situation a
thousand times and almost every time the perp died. Usually by a
self-inflicted shot after a few hours of fruitless negotiation. Or
some idiots choose death by cop, whereby he comes running out of
the farmhouse shooting. And some sit it out until the FBI storm the
building. In this case, Sam knew they'd be glad to return fire
because this asshole steals little girls and kills cops.

This one man was headed for trouble and Sam
would be his only chance. If he could get him in handcuffs in the
next five minutes, then he could live to pay for his crimes.

This was also personal, Sam knew, because it
marked the end of the task force. This criminal had done a lot of
damage, caused a lot of pain and even Sam wouldn't escape some
consequences.

An arrest like this could win Sam some much
needed credibility.

He checked his watch as he approached the
broken building from the rear. About three to four minutes was all
he could hope for. He'd gotten a pretty good look at the place when
he passed it after watching the BMW pull in. A small copse of trees
planted on the north side gave him shelter as he ran up to the
wall. At the back of the house a shell of a window long since
broken revealed a barren room. With both hands applying pressure on
the sill, Sam began to lift himself into the room.

His peripheral vision caught movement to his
right. With a one quick motion, he released the sill, dropped his
body to the ground and pulled his gun.

The possibilities were quite thin for who
would be standing beside him near the back wall of an abandoned
farm house. With no one around for miles, it had to be the perp,
but his eyes told him different.

Alex, Dolan's assistant, was standing behind
Sarah, holding her by the back of the neck.

Sam kept his gun raised.

"What's this?" he whispered. Why was Alex
here? He thought they were with Dolan on their way to meet the
FBI.

"This is a problem," Alex said. "You are a
problem."

"I'm here to arrest her kidnapper. Why would
you bring Sarah here? And why are you holding on to her that
way?"

"Drop your gun, Sam. We all don't need
another dead cop on our hands."

Alex moved sideways a little, exposing a
weapon that he held pointed into the small of Sarah's back. Sam had
no idea how Dolan's assistant was involved in any of this, but he
did what he was told, bending slowly to place his gun in the foot
long grass. When his eyes met Sarah's he was surprised to see a
cool confidence there. He didn't see fear which made him wonder if
she knew something neither one of them did.

"Okay Sam, here's how it has to work. The
FBI will be in the area within a minute or so. I need you to leave
us alone, but we're running out of time, so I want you to run, not
walk."

"I'm not leaving Sarah alone with you."

"Then you'll die where you stand while you
foolishly try to be the good guy against all odds. Turn around and
get going."

Alex moved the pistol away from Sarah and
aimed it at Sam. He looked at Sarah again. She smiled and nodded at
him.

After about five seconds of silence, Sam
started walking backwards. He couldn't think of another way to
handle this. He wasn't even supposed to be here.

He jumped at the sound of a gun being
discharged.

Alex had fired at him.

Sam turned and ran for cover.

The next bullet knocked him off his feet. He
heard Sarah screaming as he lost consciousness.

Chapter 62

Alex turned and pushed Sarah towards the
open window.

"Climb in," he said as he reached down and
picked up the cops gun.

Sarah stumbled and then righted herself.
"Why are you doing this?" she asked. "You don't have to. It could
end right now."

"Just get in before I kill you here." Alex
stood back and waited as Sarah sized up the window. "Tell me, what
happened to your hair? You're one ugly fucker." Alex shook the gun
back and forth for emphasis as he looked her up and down.

Ignoring his question, Sarah folded her
arms. "I asked you why."

He knew what she was doing; stalling for
time. With the cavalry coming any second she'd have a better chance
of getting out of this outside the building than inside.

"I can see threats aren't really
intimidating to you. You're willing to test me. I like that in an
adversary. In a few words, here's what is about to happen. We're
going through that window. Then we're going to find Gert and he
will be killed with Sam's gun. If Gert returns fire, you'll be in
front of me. If he misses, then the cop's gun will be needed for
you. I walk out of here the hero."

Alex turned at the sound of a vehicle
approaching. It was an old dull blue pickup truck loaded with hay.
He looked back at Sarah. "Everyone will see that I tried to save
you," he said in a voice that sounded contrived. "But Gert shot the
cop while he was running away in the field and then shot you before
I got the chance to get to him. Everyone who knows of my
involvement is gone and I take over where Dolan left off. Get
it?"

"There's only one catch."

"What's that?"

"I'm not going to die today. You are."

Anger rose in him with such power he punched
the wooden wall of the farmhouse.

"You've got some balls kid. I almost shot
you right here for that comment. You're going through that window.
You've got one second to decide."

Wind buffeted his hair. It cooled his brow
where a sweat broke out as he anticipated the FBI's arrival.

"I'll go in because I know that all I've got
to do is remember to not thump, rip and tear. It's better to be
savage."

Alex didn't ask what she was talking about.
While she hopped up and through the window he took one final glance
at the road and saw FBI vehicles converging in a small dust
cloud.

Just in time,
he thought as he
followed Sarah and landed on the broken wooden floor of what was
once a bedroom.

He grabbed Sarah's arm and began looking for
Gert.

They headed for the kitchen area of the
farmhouse.

Chapter 63

The temporary command post was coming
together fast as Jill organized and briefed the Hostage Rescue Team
leader. His team was taking up positions around the perimeter of
the farmhouse.

She was interrupted as her earpiece buzzed
that Sarah's parents were waiting one hundred yards back on the
country road with the department psychologist. She told the driver
to wait for her signal to approach the command post because they
hadn't located Dolan and Sarah yet.

Her tactical team radioed in. There was no
sign of Sam Johnson but his vehicle was found parked twenty yards
behind a small thicket of bush and trees. The stolen BMW SUV was
visible in front of the farmhouse and a silver Honda was parked in
the rear, behind a weathered barn. License plates identified it as
belonging to an Alex Stuart.

"Fergus," Jill turned to her partner, "find
out who Alex Stuart is. And get me Dolan on the phone. I need to
know Sarah's safe before we enter the farm house."

Her HRT commander called in that all his men
were in position. Barricaded by the front of a Crown Victoria, her
negotiator started bellowing on a bullhorn. She saw no movement at
the farm house. He continued his plea for a peaceful surrender.

Jill grabbed her cell phone as it vibrated
on her waist.

"Speak."

"We've got a problem."

She recognized Angus Tran's voice. "Go
ahead."

"Dolan was just picked up by a traveling
businessman five miles from here. He's on the way to the hospital.
It looks like he's been shot more than once."

She couldn't believe what she was hearing.
"Where's Sarah then?"

"Apparently he's been in and out of
consciousness. He told the business man who picked him up to call
us and tell us that Sarah was taken by the guy who shot him. It was
his assistant, Alex Stuart."

Jill lowered her phone and looked at the
farmhouse. That meant Sarah was a hostage again. If Alex Stuart's
Honda was parked in the rear of the farmhouse that also meant Sarah
was in there with two men. Could they be working together?

The HRT was calling in her ear piece looking
for the go-ahead. The negotiator had tried, but there'd been no
response from anyone in the building. What were they waiting
for?

Thoughts assailed her at a rapid pace. All
that she read while debriefing on this case was coming together. A
couple of guys kidnapping for hire. The girl always comes home, but
no perps get arrested. The psychic can pinpoint victims but not the
criminals. That's how Dolan knew where the victims were. It would
seem likely he's involved. But how did he get shot?

How important was this Alex Stuart? She
would have to treat him as a hostile.

Fergus spoke to her through her ear piece.
Sarah's parents were on the move.

She lifted her wrist to talk into the cuff.
"I thought I ordered them held back for now."

"They stepped from the vehicle to stretch
their legs. Caleb walked a little from the Suburban and then bolted
across the grass. He wasn't seen until...well, he should be right
behind you."

Special Agent Jill Hanover turned around and
saw a panting Caleb Roberts walk past one of the Crown Vic's parked
a stone's throw from her.

Her radio crackled as the HRT reported an
emergency. She listened as one of the men said he found Sam. He was
alive but shot multiple times. An ambulance was needed
immediately.

This operation was falling apart fast, she
thought.

She turned to greet Caleb while she ordered
Fergus to get an ambulance here yesterday.

Shots rang out from inside the farmhouse
behind her.

Chapter 64

Sarah couldn't control her shaking. Alex had
jumped through the window behind her. They were in a small room
which probably served as a bedroom when this house was in use. It
had to be at least a hundred degrees where she stood, but she
couldn't stop shaking. She felt it was a delayed stress reaction.
Or maybe her body was finally giving out after days of
malnourishment on the run.

The man standing beside her checking his gun
was probably more dangerous than Gert, yet she didn't feel any
fear. She remembered him watching her at the fair, lurking around.
She'd felt something strange about him then, but it wasn't fear.
Not the kind of anxiety that would accompany a situation like this.
Or was she getting cocky? Mistakes could happen if she got over
confident. She'd have to watch herself, stay alert and be
proactive. Keep a clear mind and seize any opportunity to escape if
one revealed itself.

Alex stopped fiddling with his weapon and
grabbed her arm above the elbow. He pushed her silently toward the
gaping doorway. With no measure of stealth, Alex pushed her into
the hallway and then stopped. She knew he was using her to draw
fire from Gert. She couldn't let that happen, but at the moment she
felt powerless to stop it.

She wrinkled her nose at the smell of mold
and the thickness in the air caused by the beating afternoon
sun.

Even though they inched along the hallway,
the worn out boards beneath their feet left a creaking telltale
sign of their arrival. She'd have to think fast. She needed to
figure out what door Gert was most likely behind so she could duck
Alex's grasp.

That task felt impossible. How could she
ever know something like that? He could be in the attic, the
basement, or the next room.

The hallway opened up on the left. The room
was spacious and bright as the sun shone through the broken glass
of what was once the living room window. One foot in front of her
on the right was another opening. It probably led to the
kitchen.

A breeze floated through the broken living
room window, cooling her. She could hear someone outside announcing
through a loudspeaker that they were looking for a peaceful
solution to this situation.

Alex tightened his grip on her arm to the
point where she knew circulation was cut off.

The speaker outside talked about coming out
of the building with their hands raised or they would have to come
in. She knew Alex was running out of time.

He motioned for her to continue with a nudge
of her arm. It hit her then that the kitchen would be ideal for an
ambush. The heart of the building. Accessible from two sides.

When she crossed the threshold of the
kitchen, she threw herself forward and half stumbled half dove for
the inside wall on the other side of the doorway, keeping low.

It all became a blur of noise as she was
deafened by the blasts. She felt disoriented. To her right was a
mound of broken wood. Studs and pieces of drywall piled three feet
high.

Her sheer will to survive in a room with two
men firing weapons, both of whom wanted her dead, got her moving.
She crawled to the pile and grabbed a two-by-four with a long nail
protruding from the end of it.