Girl Undercover 10 & 11: The Abduction & Dante's Inferno (16 page)

“That’s not good enough,” Tim said sharply. “I want to hear it announced outside. I’m sure there are law enforcement agents there who can announce this order using a bullhorn so all armed men are clear on the orders.”

“Fine.”

Thirty seconds later, a loud voice boomed out, ordering all officers, including snipers, to hold their fire while the subject received the money and until further orders were given.

“Good.” Tim pulled out a ball cap from his denim vest that he put on his head, pulling the bill low over his face. Then he stuck his hand into a pocket on his pants and fished out a red clown nose that he put on his own nose.

He must be worried that the press out there will take photos of him and wants to remain incognito,
I thought, impressed against my will at this precaution. If he and Javier were planning on becoming fugitives, the fewer people who knew what they looked like, the easier they could remain hidden. It struck me that Tim Dalton was probably not his real name, either. That name would be all over the news soon.

Throwing a glance over his shoulder, he gave Javier a nod. “Be ready to kill off some hostages if they disobey my orders, okay?”

Javier nodded, getting his machine gun ready.

Chapter 5

The people on the floor all tried to make themselves smaller and more inconspicuous, moving toward each other so they became one big human cluster. Dante and I remained several feet away from them, seated together in a corner.

The man with the money must have reached the entrance because Tim opened the glass door and stepped outside. Holding the door, he instructed the man to unload the two backpacks from the trolley and throw them inside the studio.
Thump! Thump!
Both backpacks were on the rubberized gym floor, having landed about a yard beyond the front desk. They were military green and of the sturdy kind with padded shoulder straps.

Tim must be pleased,
I thought grimly.

Dismissing the delivery man, Tim closed the door and moved the backpacks farther into the studio, a good distance away from the entrance, then kneeled beside them. He opened each backpack, removing the airtight seals from the garbage bags and examining all the bundles of hundred-dollar bills inside. He took his time.

“They look okay?” Javier asked eagerly.

Tim nodded slowly. He put the stacks of money back into the garbage bags, screwed the juice container caps on tightly and closed up the backpacks. Then he removed his ball cap and clown nose, tossing both items into a nearby trashcan. He got to his feet and strapped one backpack onto his back. Lifting up the other, he walked it over to where Javier stood with his hands on the machine gun, near the open terrace door.

“I’ll watch the hostages while you put it on your back,” he said to Javier, extending him the heavy-looking backpack. Javier handed him his machine gun in exchange for the backpack that he slipped onto his back like it weighed no more than a small dog.

Yeah, these two are definitely very strong,
I couldn’t help but note. But I still couldn’t figure out how they thought they would get out of here alive. Were they going to jump off the terrace and into the shallow water below, run farther out into the ocean and then try to swim away? Even if they moved fast, they wouldn’t get far before all the cops outside spotted them and could easily shoot them.

“You go first,” Javier said after Tim had given him back his weapon.

“You sure?” Tim said, gazing into the other man’s eyes in a way that spoke of how strongly he felt for Javier, how much he loved him. Javier returned the gaze with equal passion. The tender moment was jarring and sent conflicting emotions through me. On the one hand, the intimate display fascinated me, but on the other, I felt like a peeping Tom watching them, intruding upon this couple’s privacy. Not that they gave me and the other hostages much choice.

“Yes. You know I’ll be able to get farther out than you much quicker,” Javier replied, not removing his eyes from Tim’s. He threw a glance at the hostages, who were all staring at the two men. “We have to go now.”

“Okay,” Tim said. “I love you. Whatever happens, don’t ever forget that.”

Javier smiled at him. “I won’t. I love you, too. Now go!”

Tim leaned in and landed a quick peck on Javier’s lips, then swiveled around and dashed out onto the terrace. While Javier aimed his gun at us, Tim jogged over to a corner outside and grabbed something next to the railing. Suddenly holding onto a very long pole, he sprinted across the terrace, a distance of perhaps six or seven yards, and pole-vaulted himself up into the air and flew over the ocean. He traveled dozens of yards in a big arch before finally touching the water and disappearing below the surface.

Only then did I—and everyone else it seemed—notice that Javier had thrown aside his weapon and was out on the terrace, about to repeat the same act that his lover had just performed. He held the same kind of long, flexible pole in his hands and sprinted across the terrace. A chunky man right next to the terrace door got to his feet and ran over to pick up Javier’s machine gun right as Javier reached the railing and stuck the pole far out into the ocean, vaulting himself away from us. As he flew up into the air, the chunky man fired the machine gun at the flying hybrid over and over.
Ra-ta-ta-ta-ta. Ra-ta-ta-ta-ta. Ra-ta-ta-ta-ta…

One or more of the bullets must have hit Javier because his arch through the air came to an abrupt end, and he dropped straight down into the ocean like he was a bird that the man had just shot. The man lowered the machine gun to his side and stared at the space in the water where Javier had disappeared.

“That’s for killing my trainer, you fucker,” the shooter, squat and curly-haired with a gut, screamed at the water, shaking a fist at it. “Now I’ll
never
get in shape.”

Staring at the man, I didn’t know whether to commend him or scold him for what he’d just done, his final comment was so bizarre.

I decided to ignore him for now as he threw the weapon on the floor and strode over to one of the bodies in the middle of the studio. He sank down beside it and started to cry. I got to my feet and ran out to the terrace to see if I could spot Tim somewhere out in the ocean. While he had vaulted a significant distance, I hoped that I’d still be able to catch him. Unlike Javier, he was probably still alive.

Leaning over the railing, I squinted out into the ocean. But I couldn’t see anything that appeared like a man swimming in the blue vastness despite that the water was calm and it was fairly bright out yet. Was he still swimming under the surface? He had to. There was nowhere else to go but down in order to hide. Being a hybrid, I thought that scenario was far more likely than that he had drowned. He might be able to hold his breath for several minutes, longer than any normal person could, while still swimming fast. Since I couldn’t see him, I had no idea in which direction he was heading in that case. Which meant that he’d probably get away, as long as he had the strength and endurance to swim for a while before returning back to land somewhere along the coast.
No, he
would
get away,
I corrected myself. I doubted these two would have planned to escape this way unless they had what it takes to not only be under water for a long period of time, but to also swim miles with heavy backpacks on their backs.

Well, at least we have Javier,
I thought. His body had appeared and it was floating closer and closer toward land. Several cops had emerged, all of them having entered the ocean.

It dawned on me that it was fortunate that we had his body; surely it would be easy for a medical examiner to determine that he was not your regular human being. All the doctor needed to do was test his DNA. I smiled when I considered how the physical evidence of Javier combined with Dr. Sokoloff’s assessment of me would finally open Brady’s eyes to what was going on, force him to accept the truth.

I turned around and headed back into the room to make sure Dante was taken care of. His wound might have been sealed, but he still needed medical attention as soon as possible.

When I entered the studio again, it was filled with cops and paramedics. Some of the hostages were hugging each other, a couple crying with relief, while others were talking to the cops. I grabbed a couple of the paramedics and directed them toward Dante. A paramedic was already attending to him and instructed the other two to get a stretcher.

“What the hell happened?” Dante asked as I sank down beside him. “Who did that guy shoot?” Sitting all the way in a corner at the other end of the studio, away from the rest of the hostages, he hadn’t been able to see through the windows how the hybrids had vaulted themselves out into the ocean.

By the time I had filled him in on the latest turn of events, the paramedics returned with a stretcher and carried Dante out of the studio.

A black LAPD sergeant went up to the shooter, who was standing up now and had stopped crying. The sergeant said something to him that I couldn’t hear, and a couple of other hostages as well as two cops joined in on the conversation. Pulling out my wallet from my pocket, I walked up to the sergeant. I showed him my LAPD ID card.

“Sergeant, my name’s Gabriella Longoria and I’m a detective with the West Bureau,” I told him. “Narcotics division. Can I talk to you for a minute?”

“Hello, Detective,” he said. “Sure. I’m Sergeant Rodney Jackson with South.” He stepped away from the others. “Were you among the squad cars who responded to the original call? I didn’t see you out there.”

“That’s because I was inside the studio when you guys all got here.”

“You were inside the studio?” He looked confused. “You mean with the hostages?”

“Um, yeah.” I was embarrassed having to admit that I’d been captured by one of the abductors as I’d come to try and help Dante. I still told it like it was, the entire sequence of events from beginning to end, as quickly as I could since I wanted to join Dante to the hospital.

“And you called twice for assistance and no one came to your help?” the sergeant asked, looking even more confounded now.

“Yes, three times if you include the 911 call Dante’s wife made while I was at their house,” I explained. “So there I was on my own. It was either just wait and see if help would ever arrive or proceed on my own. I chose the latter, obviously.”

Sergeant Jackson rubbed his chin and narrowed his eyes. “Hmm. I wonder why no one responded to your calls.”

“Yeah, me, too. It’s very strange. Someone should look into what’s going on at the call centers. And at my division. In fact, I’ll do so myself as soon as I get out of here.”

“You called your division directly?”

“Yeah. I thought I’d get a quicker response that way as it’s so close to Malibu.”

He nodded. “I can see why you thought so. But why didn’t you also radio in the call? You might’ve gotten a better response if you’d gotten it out on the scanner. You don’t have a radio in your car?”

“No, I’m using my private car. I’m on paid leave.” I swallowed, then proceeded to tell the sergeant exactly why I wasn’t working. “My husband was killed in the beginning of this year, so my captain thought I could use some time off.”

“I’m sorry for you loss,” Sergeant Jackson said automatically, then studied me. “Pardon my poor memory, Detective”—he gave a sheepish chuckle and indicated his graying sideburns—“but I’m getting old. What was your name again?”

“Gabriella Longoria. My husband’s name’s Nick Patroni. Detective Nick Patroni.”

His face lit up in recognition. Then his lips disappeared into a thin line and he expelled a breath through his nostrils, tsking. “I heard about what happened to him. Sadistic fuckers...” He shook his head. “And they’re still out there from what I’ve been told. So you’re his wife. That’s why I thought your name sounded so familiar. You found him, didn’t you?”

“I did, yes.”

He put an awkward hand on my shoulder. “Again, I can’t express how incredibly sorry I am for your loss, Detective. That must have been a terrible experience.”

“It was. Thanks.” My throat tightened up as I suddenly pictured Nick in our bedroom. I looked around the room to compose myself. Cops and paramedics were helping the hostages getting out of the studio, a few were kneeling by the bodies on the floor. Then my gaze landed on the curly-haired, chunky guy who’d shot Javier. I told the sergeant that he was the one who’d taken the second pole-vaulter down, remembering how I wanted them to perform an autopsy on the body so they could see that he wasn’t like your average Joe.

“I have reason to believe that something else besides the gun shots might have killed him,” I said. “Or at least affected him profoundly, which was why he and his friend could pole-vault so far out into the ocean with such ease. It seemed he was high on something. Frankly, I’m not sure what’s going on except that something’s up with these two guys. The ME should perform a thorough autopsy on the dead one and see if they can find out what’s going on. Check his blood, heart, lungs. The works. Do you think you can make that happen?”

“I can’t see why not. I’ll discuss it with the Malibu Sheriff since we’re in their jurisdiction, but I doubt he’ll object. I’m gonna have some of my team go out in boats to see if they can find that other hostage taker. He probably drowned. Since he got so much farther out, they’ll have their work cut out until they find him.”

I smiled. “Sounds great, Sergeant. Thank you.” I didn’t have the time or energy to explain that I didn’t think they would find Tim any time soon, at least not by searching the bottom of the ocean; he wouldn’t believe me if I told him the reason anyway. I shot another glance into the buzzing studio. “Well, it seems you have everything under control here. I’ll be happy to leave a statement as to what happened here today, but for now, if you’d excuse me, I’d like to accompany my friend to the hospital.” I gave him the number to my burner phone that I had left in the car so he and the Malibu PD could reach me.

The sergeant gave me his card, then let me leave the premises.

I hurried outside, hoping that the ambulance with Dante in it had yet to take off. I found it in the nick of time, just as it was beginning to pull out of the parking lot behind
Cuerpos.