“I’ll be going on foot from here, just outside the north fence, behind the row of houses on the right. Get back to the house as fast as you dare with the headlights off. And watch for an ambush,” he told Diane and Jack.

  “Diane,” Lee added. “You ride shotgun. Jack’s going to have to watch the road and his side. I’ll take the cell phone and give you a call when I reach Glover’s house—from the rear.”

  “Hey, don’t we still have that bug in place by Glover’s back gate?”

  “I’d forgotten about that. You take the cell and call Richie and Hal. Have them check out the receiver. If Glover goes in through the back gate, they’ll know.”

  “But we’ll be back at the house long before you can hoof it up, Lee,” Jack said. “Maybe you should take the cell.”

  “I’m pretty fast on my feet. Don’t worry,” Lee replied, not elaborating. “I better get going now. Watch for me coming in the back door if I don’t run across Glover and his hostage.”

  Lee jumped out of the pickup and jogged away, heading northwest toward the first house on the right side of Quail Run. He suspected that Glover would park the car down the road and then take Andy through the back the rest of the way—unless she was dead already, of course.

  Trying not to dwell on that possibility, Lee ran up along the fence, passing the first home on his left. Not worried about being heard, Lee looked around for the Camry. All he saw were a small motorboat, a pickup, a children’s swing set, and a fifty-five-gallon drum used to burn trash and weeds. Farther ahead was the second house, still darkened inside and out, like all the others in view.

  He only had time to check out one side of the neighborhood, but Lee figured that if Glover was coming here, he’d be heading to the end of the street via the most direct route—this one. Lee pressed on, wondering if Glover had noticed that nobody in the neighborhood seemed to be at home tonight.

  At the third house, Lee saw a man and woman outside beneath their carport. It was the Sernas, according to the mailbox corresponding to that address. As he got closer, the Camry became visible, parked by the side of the house behind an SUV he’d seen days earlier. Jogging silently by, Lee noticed that Mrs. Serna was pointing at some spots on the driver’s door and that Mr. Serna had a rifle in his hand.

  Deciding the spots on the car were probably bullet holes, from the moment Sully was killed, Lee picked up speed. Diane and Jack had probably already spotted the car on the way up. That meant they were ready for trouble, but it also meant they were in danger.

  As Lee got within a hundred yards of the rear gate to Glover’s house, he saw Jack and Diane’s pickup parked in the middle of the street halfway between his and Glover’s house. The outside lights at Glover’s were on, but there were no lights inside either house and no sign of anyone, anywhere. The absence of bodies, broken glass, and obvious bullet holes in the pickup suggested that his people were laying low, watching for Glover.

  Somewhere ahead he heard a thump. Pistol out, Lee hurried on. The gate to Glover’s backyard was open, which meant that Diane already knew somebody had passed through, thanks to the motion sensor there. Lee stopped, bent down, and looked for footprints.

  There were two sets, large boots that Lee had seen before—Glover’s—and small, pointed ones that couldn’t be more than a size six or seven. Those belonged to Officer Moore—Andrea. Keeping very low to the ground, Lee inched forward. Glover and his hostage were inside the house, apparently, because they weren’t in the backyard. He stepped through the yard at a crouch, ignoring the surveillance camera and following the prints. They led to the large plastic trash container atop a concrete pad maybe three feet square. Lee looked all around the pad, but the footprints had disappeared.

  Knowing that both of them couldn’t fit inside the trash can without removing major body parts, Lee eyed the slab closely. He reached over to set the trash container aside, but it wouldn’t budge. It was stuck on the bottom. Opening the lid, Lee discovered a plastic trash bag inside. It must have contained leaves or paper because it was light and rustled as he lifted it out. Below, at the bottom of the container, was a piece of plywood bolted to the bottom.

  Checking the slab more closely now around the edges, Lee discovered it was actually a wooden door covered with a layer of masonry cement to make it look solid—like movie set concrete. Glover had a trapdoor leading underground, and that’s where he’d gone with Andy. The thump he’d heard was the heavy door closing. He looked over at the big pile of dirt he’d noticed days earlier. Now he understood where it had come from. There was a hole or tunnel somewhere below.

  If the boy had been hidden here instead, they might have had an easier time finding him. Unfortunately, Glover had been careful to keep some distance between himself and his captive, at least until tonight. The good news, and maybe the bad news, as well, was that Glover was desperate and making mistakes now.

  Without a cell phone, Lee was forced to improvise. Looking around quickly, he spotted an eight-foot section of a pine tree trunk, trimmed of branches and destined to become firewood someday, no doubt. He picked it up and set it across the door. The log, about a foot in diameter, easily weighed two hundred pounds. There was no way Glover would be opening this door anytime soon, and, providing the sleazeball was in a position to watch, he’d know why.

  Making sure the sensor was still in place, Lee ran to the back gate, closed it behind him, and hurried in a wide circle around to the rear of his and Diane’s place. Whatever came next would require careful planning if Glover was to be taken without anyone else being killed.

  CHAPTER 21

  “It’s Lee. Hold your fire,” Lee said loud enough to be heard by Jack, who’d moved around to the pickup, the one left behind earlier, at the end of the street.

  Jack jumped and turned, rifle in hand. “How’d you do that, Lee? Damn, you’re sneaky.”

  “It’s the Navajo thing,” Lee said. “Glover is either inside his house or underground in a bunker in the backyard. There’s an access door disguised as a concrete slab below the plastic trash container. And he has Officer Moore with him, judging from the second set of fresh footprints leading to the spot.”

  “You want to tell the others in the house?” Jack handed him a cell phone. “Keep it. Richie gave us each a spare after what happened earlier. They’re all programmed with our numbers.”

  There was a loud noise overhead and Lee looked up. It was a large U.S. Forest Service helicopter with a big bucket dangling below on a cable, heading south. “That’s not for us, right?”

  “No. Hal picked up the radio chatter when it came by on an earlier pass. There was a lightning strike near Capilla Peak, farther down the Manzanos, and the forest service has a lookout tower close by. The copter’s already made one water drop, and this must be another one. Think we could use it to help take down Glover?”

  “Maybe. Something to keep in mind. Ask Hal if he can get them on the radio and have them stand by a few miles away after they make this run.”

  Jack nodded.

  Lee, still watching Glover’s house, called Diane. “I’m with Jack. Glover took Andy in through a hidden entrance in the back just below that plastic trash can. He’s either in some underground bunker, or he’s dug a tunnel connecting with the house. You see anything from where you are?” He paused, then nodded. “Where are you, anyway?”

  “Outside, behind the green pickup, in the street opposite you, keeping out of sight. I’ll wave.”

  Lee saw a hand come up for a second behind the front of the pickup. “I got you.”

  “What’s the plan, Lee? Glover’s not going down without a fight and he has a hostage now. We can wait him out, I suppose.”

  “That’s usually the strategy with hostages, but he’ll know that, too. My guess is he won’t wait, knowing he’ll have a better chance now than after sunrise when we can see every move he makes. As soon as he’s ready again, he’ll come out, probably using Andrea as a shield.” Lee thought about it a second, then continued. “So we’ll have to take the initiative. He can’t cover every direction. We can pin him down, move in from two directions, and do what we can to get Andy back.”

  “We can put him away on what we have already. And once Glover is in custody his provider won’t have any reason not to give up the site, and we can get the blackmail material. At least we don’t have another murder yet to add to the charges. Felix is going to make it, I heard on the way.”

  “Good news. So screw the hard copies. We need to get Officer Moore back.”

  “Thought you’d say that, Lee. I’ll be the tunnel rat and go in from the rear. You guys can hold his attention, right?”

  “Diane, I should be the one going in through the tunnel.”

  “Why? With your physical abilities you shouldn’t be limiting your movement potential. I’ll put on two vests and load up with AP rounds, You know you excel at getting the bad guys’ attention and keeping them really pissed off.”

  “I see your point. I’ll have the guys advance from the front and west side, covering each other with shotgun fire but aiming high unless they have a sure target,” Lee said reluctantly. “Meanwhile, I’ll be everywhere else at once.”

  “Think we can use that forest service helicopter? Maybe make some noise and keep Glover looking up?”

  “I’m thinking of another use right now.”

  “What?”

  “You’ll see. Meanwhile, you slip back inside our house, get armored up, and come over to where I’m at behind Glover’s. Hurry before he makes his move. I can give you cover until you get in that hole. Besides, I need to move a tree for you.”

  “Huh? Never mind, I’ll see, right?”

  Less than five minutes later the assault began. Richie, having sneaked out of the house, turned on the engine of Lee and Diane’s pickup, pulled around, and turned on the headlights, directed into Glover’s living room window. Hal, now over by the green truck, fired a shotgun at the front door.

  Jack, in position to view the surveillance camera and floodlights at the rear corner of the house, shot out the camera with his rifle, then one of the floodlights.

  From the cover of the trees, Lee took out the other rear-facing light, then he and Diane moved forward into the yard, coming through the back gate. Lee watched the windows, covering Diane as she ran to the log resting upon the trapdoor. She then covered Lee as he came up beside her.

  Without a word, he kicked the log away, then yanked up the trapdoor with one hand, pistol in the other. Simple wooden steps cut from two-by-fours led down into a tunnel about three feet high and wide braced with planks on the sides and top. Lee dropped down inside, forced to get on his hands and knees. The tunnel, which required crawling, led a straight path, twenty feet farther to the end. A supporting wooden framework surrounded a wooden ladder leading up.

  “Hey,” Diane whispered harshly. “That’s my job.”

  Lee climbed back out. The blast of gunshots and the massive helicopter swooping over covered their noise quite well. “Wanted to see what you’re getting into before you gave yourself away with a flashlight. Twenty feet farther is a ladder leading up. Watch for traps and trip wires.”

  Diane brought out her little flashlight, twisted the end to produce a strong, filtered red light, and then climbed down into the tunnel. “Just keep Glover busy. When I find Andrea, we’re coming out any way we can. But close up behind me in case Glover looks out a window.”

  “Be careful. And come back,” Lee said. “I need you around.”

  She gave him that crinkly nose grin. “Me, too.”

  He shut the trapdoor, then ran over to the side of the building. Returning fire came from the inside front of the house, and maybe the west side. Glover was fighting back, or at least doing what he could to ward off the assault and keep their heads down. Lee slipped underneath one of the bedroom windows, then cringed as the glass broke from bullets flying out overhead. Glover was now shooting in every direction, just in case, Lee realized.

  The cell phone at his waist vibrated. “Can you hear me?” It was Diane, maybe less than ten feet away, down below beneath the house.

  “Yeah.”

  “I got a quick peek and saw Glover moving around inside, firing and filling a gym bag with CDs and stuff taken from stash spaces in the wall panels. Andy’s on the floor in the bedroom, tied up with duct tape. The trapdoor is in the hall closet. He put something on top and it shifted when I raised it about an inch. If I move it any more he might hear. Can you find a way to make a lot more noise to cover the sound? If you can, I’ll force the trapdoor up, grab Andy, and pull her down into the tunnel. Then you can take Glover out.”

  “I’ve got an idea. How strong do you think his roof is? Never mind. Just hang on a moment while I make a quick call.”

  “Hurry, Lee. Glover is going to bail soon, and probably come in my direction, leading with Andrea.”

  “Understood. Call me back in one minute.”

  Lee jumped up onto the windowsill, then reached to grab the edge of the roof. Suddenly a bolt of pain pierced his right foot. Pulling himself onto the roof, Lee rolled up the slope while bullets punched holes in the shingles. Glover had seen or heard him and was firing blind into the ceiling.

  Standing, knowing it presented the smallest target from inside, he looked up as the big helicopter came up the ridge line behind him. Lee remembered hearing stories about crewmen and soldiers in helicopters over Vietnam. They liked to sit on flak jackets and anything solid they could find to protect the family jewels. Right now, his own undercarriage was at risk. Too bad.

  He called Hal and the tech was on the line instantly. “Hal, this is Lee.”

  “Yeah, I see you on the roof. What’s the plan?”

  “We need some awesome noise to cover a move Diane’s going to make. Can you raise that helicopter directly?”

  “Hell yeah. With our gear I can call the president. You want these boys to hover over Glover’s house? Rattle the windows?”

  Lee explained what he needed, at the same time noting that Glover had finally stopped shooting through the roof. From the way the pain was subsiding, Lee also knew that the wound in his foot was starting to heal.

  Hal spoke again. “You sure about this, Lee? The helo crew is a little concerned.”

  “My responsibility. We need a fucking big diversion.”

  “I’ll convince them,” Hal promised.

  Another fifteen seconds went by. Lee could hear the helicopter moving in. Now, barely a hundred feet above the tree line, he could see the flying crane and the big water bucket dangling down from the heavy cable. Water was sloshing over the edge, scooped from a swimming pool a few miles over the ridge at the FAC development instead of its earlier source.

  “Here they come. Just get off the roof in time, okay?”

  “Don’t worry about me. Once they’re directly overhead, I’m outta here.”

  Lee half hopped, half ran over to the rear of the house, leaned over the edge, and started shooting into the window, angling his rounds down to strike the floor.

  Glover responded and fired back, his bullets flying through the roof where Lee had been a few seconds earlier. By then, Lee was standing fifteen feet away on the crown of the roof, waving up at the helicopter. A spotlight from the big machine swept across the roof, then found and transfixed him.

  Hoping Diane was ready, Lee gave the helicopter a thumbs-up, then ran toward the edge as the copter slipped sideways. Already feeling drops of moisture, Lee jumped down into the backyard. He hit and rolled as hundreds of gallons of water struck Glover’s roof. The ground shook, metal creaked, and wood snapped, but Lee didn’t have time to stop and watch. In three fast steps he reached the hatch of Glover’s tunnel and yanked it completely off the hinges. Hearing scuffling sounds, he thought about dropping inside, but instead he waited and watched Glover’s windows. A shape appeared, and Lee shot high, not knowing for certain it was Glover. Whoever it was ducked.

  “Mumph,” someone muttered. Lee looked down and saw Andrea, duct tape on her face, at the base of the ladder. He grabbed her hand.

  “Hang on.” He pulled her up, hoping the force and angle wouldn’t break her wrist, then took her other hand when it was offered. Swinging her around, he set her on the ground and reached back down, trying to find Diane.

  Suddenly a loud explosion shook the tunnel—a gunshot. Either it was Diane firing cover fire or Glover was firing into the tunnel. Not knowing for sure and not having the time to look, Lee placed his trust in his partner’s skill. It was time to invade Glover’s personal space.

  Standing, he looked around for the log. “Ah, my own battering ram.”

  He grabbed the section of tree trunk, cradling it in his arms, and ran to Glover’s back door. As he reached the step, Lee shoved the log into the door just above the doorknob, using all the strength he could muster. The door flew open as the frame around the latch shattered.

  Lee hugged the wall just outside the utility room, whipping out his pistol. Three quick bullets cut through the air where he would have been standing had he followed the log inside. Then he heard a faint click and a curse.

  Recognizing the sound of a firing pin on an empty chamber, Lee slipped past the wreckage and ducked inside. Glover, trying to watch and reload by feel in the semidarkness, quickly ran out of the kitchen and into the dining area, ducking below the breakfast counter partition.

  A blast came from the front of the house and someone inside grunted, probably Glover. The next sound he heard was a squishy thud on the carpet. Lee jammed his pistol into its holster and took two steps, diving across the kitchen counter, under the pass-through, and into the living room.

  Lee hit the floor and slid on his chest across the wet carpet. Bouncing off the wall, he managed to roll to his feet and turn toward Glover, who was still on his knees, groping around on the water-soaked floor for his carbine.

  “You’re a fucking panther, Indian. You’ve screwed up my life real good and now it’s time for payback,” Glover yelled, scrambling to his feet. His right hand was bleeding, but in his left hand was a marine combat knife. Glover was weaving it back and forth, just like in the movies. Illumination from flares the guys had tossed in the front yard provided long shadows and just enough light for Glover to see.