Surrogate Evil, page 26
Sully nodded, his eyes on the image now appearing on the monitor. Diane turned up the volume. Sully’s on-screen image and voice weren’t high quality, but his identity was clear and his intentions obvious.
“Want me to fast-forward to the part that’ll put you in jail?” Diane offered.
“No, just stop the damn thing. Okay, what do you want from me?”
Sully was on the phone, the cell phone he used to call Glover. Lee was sitting on one side of him, Diane on the other. She had brought out her pistol, to provide additional motivation, but Sully was eyeing the long commando dagger Lee was pretending to sharpen on a sandstone coaster removed from Sully’s coffee table.
“Glover, I followed you the other night on that motorcycle and saw where you were keeping the kid. The old fallout shelter inside that fence, secret trapdoor entrance, and everything. I went back to check on him this morning, make sure he was still around, but Klein was gone. There was nothing inside but an empty cage, some canned food in a box, and those fifties survival posters on the walls. You trying to squeeze me? Listen, I paid you a shitload of money to find me a suitable young man for my films. If you don’t make good by tonight, you’re a dead man.”
Lee nodded in approval, the dagger in his hand still now. The rehearsal had helped, at least so far. The emphasis had been on Sully standing up to the man.
Sully, looking more like a deer in headlights at the moment, looked down nervously at the script notes Diane and Lee had prepared for him. He had to make the key points. The rest of the BS Sully could improvise. They’d already made it clear that unless Sully cooperated, he was going to disappear like Glover—but only after everyone who’d ever known Sully, especially his mother in Salt Lake City, got a copy of Glover’s film.
Sully started speaking again. “Me kill you, no. But I’ve still got enough money to get the job done, and I know just the guy to do it. I had a customer stop by my station the other day. Big Navajo man. Turns out he’s Begay, a neighbor of yours, and is just dying for an excuse to blow you away. A few buddies of his are at his house now, I hear, just waiting for a thumbs-up or thumbs-down on your immediate future. Hell, the only reason you’re not dead right now is because I’m paying them to hold off a few more days. I need you to come across with a boy for my movie. My customer base will pay top dollar for kiddie action, but I need youngsters for this market. Real, convincing kids. You can buy adult porn anywhere.”
Lee wished he could hear Glover’s side of the call, but knew the techs across the street from Glover were recording every syllable. “Feeling the heat, huh? Glover, you prick,” Sully responded to whatever was said.
Diane nodded to Lee. It was going well and Sully was convincing.
“You deliver the merchandise tonight, whatever it takes. After that, I’ll trade my Jeep for your pickup, and you can drive on to Mexico or wherever. Just disappear, if you value your life. I think I can convince the Navajo and his girlfriend to take the stuff in your house and call it even. But you’d have to be a real dumb-ass to show yourself around here after tonight. And don’t try to run out on me before delivering what I’ve already paid good money for. My arrangement with Begay and that Diane chick is that I’ll call them every hour. They’re watching your house, and each call is your lifesaver. I don’t call, or you try and leave without my permission, you’re as good as dead.”
Several seconds went by and Sully looked over at Lee and shrugged. Lee held up his hand, instructing Sully to hold on. Finally Glover said something to Sully.
“Okay,” Sully responded at last. “We’ll meet at the same place as last night, eight P.M. sharp. You’ll be watched, of course, but they won’t do anything as long as you keep your part of the deal. After I pick up the boy and Katie, you’re on your own. You’ll have an hour, from my last call, to disappear before I set the dogs loose on you.” Sully hung up before Glover could respond.
“Not bad, Sully. You’ve obviously learned a lot from watching television,” Lee said. “Let’s step into the kitchen while my ole lady makes a few calls of her own.”
Sully led the way into the kitchen, a small, natural-wood-paneled area with a gas stove and refrigerator. A breakfast bar below a pass-through allowed them to see Diane in the other room. Sully sat on one of the bar stools and looked down at his hands.
Lee, still playing the ex-con role, opened the refrigerator. “Got any beer?”
“Just some lackluster California pinot noir, I’m afraid. I opened it last night, but couldn’t even finish the glass.”
“Wine? Gack. No Coors, not even a Bud Light?”
“Sorry. Life is tough.”
Lee nodded, seeing a car pull up outside and recognizing the driver. “You have no idea.”
“Felix is here, Lee,” Diane yelled. She walked to the door and waved him in. “He’s going to be looking out for you, Sully, until we get together again to plan tonight’s meet with Glover. You’re not to make or answer any calls before then, by the way.”
Officer Rodriguez was out of uniform, in casual slacks and a Levi’s jacket, carrying a nonregulation shotgun. He had a pistol stuck in his belt. “Can I shoot this pervo if he gives me any crap, Lee?” Felix said, winking at Diane.
“Just in the leg,” Lee said. “We’ll need him tonight if Glover really does show up.”
“You sure you’re not cops?” Sully whined.
“Do I look like a cop, dipstick?” Diane replied, giving Sully a sharp slap on the side of his head. “Cops would be doing all that reading-you-your-rights crap, then try to psych you out. And, just between the two of us, I would avoid mentioning the poe-leece in front of my boyfriend. He hates cops, prison guards, and lawyers.”
“Add to that girlie men who don’t have beer in the cooler,” Lee said. “Wine? I’d rather be force-fed diet prune juice. Let’s go, Diane.”
Lee was driving, and waited until they were in the SUV, headed for the highway, before he spoke. “What did the techs back at the house get?”
“Glover powered up a computer even while on the phone to Sully,” she answered, looking over at him. “We got his side of the phone conversation, of course, which included a couple of denials that he kidnapped anyone. Hal and Richie were recording Glover’s keystrokes and he accessed his website. They’ve got two passwords, so it looks like we’re going to be able to access and block the site. Once Glover logs off, he won’t be able to get access to whatever he has stored on the Internet site.”
“He could try to bail on us tonight, but he’s got a big investment to hang onto. Without access to his website, he’s going to have to get his hard copies if he wants to back up his blackmail operations with facts and photos. And his first stop should be the model home, where he thinks he’s got more of the goods on Sully,” Lee added. “I doubt he’ll go near that fallout shelter. The details we provided for Sully tell Glover someone else has been there since the kidnapping. He doesn’t know what happened to Timothy Klein or how he got out, either. Obviously the boy couldn’t escape on his own, so it must have been Sully, us, or someone else who contacted Sully—like the cops. And if it was the authorities, Glover knows the place will be under surveillance.”
Diane nodded, then reached for her phone, which was ringing. “Yeah, it’s me. Hi, Andy.” Diane listened for a moment, nodding in approval, then responded. “Good, just as we’d hoped. Just stay with Katie and don’t let her make any calls. Glover is playing our game now. We’ll keep you up to date.
“Glover called Katie, and she apparently did a good job, sticking with the script. Our neighbor sounded pretty tense, according to Andy, who was listening in. He promised her a big bonus if she can bring along a really young-looking guy for Sully. Then he warned Katie that if she didn’t help him, he’d be extremely disappointed.”
“How did Katie handle the threat? She’s just a kid.”
Diane shrugged. “Andy said she did really well, jerking him around a few moments, then finally saying she knew somebody who might work out. When we get back with Richie and Hal, they can play the conversation for us. I wish we would have had these resources from day one. Glover would have already been in custody, and we’d know which of the locals he’s been contacting.”
Lee shrugged. “But then Timothy Klein might still be sitting in that hole. Things have worked out, Diane, at least so far, and the link to the missing boy gave us the edge once that came up. Every agency wanted to get involved in the action. Now that Tim is safe, the pressure is off, in a way. They’ll hang out with us for the next forty-eight hours, at least, hoping to nail Glover for the crime. After that, Logan might have to pull them—at least the techs and their gear. Unfortunately, not too many people can get this kind of hardware—outside the CIA and NSA, that is. Maybe DHS.”
“I hope Hal and Richie will be able to gain access to Glover’s website before tonight. Once we have that, we won’t need to play Sully and the kiddie-porn angle. The whole idea makes me want to puke,” Diane said.
“At least we’ll be getting Sully off the streets. And, hopefully, we’ll also get his list of potential customers. What do you want to bet, ninety percent of them are on the sex offender database already?”
“Once a pervert, always a pervert. Or damn close. What I want, Lee, are the names of those the public doesn’t know about yet. We really need to take a look at Sully’s customer base as soon as this is over.”
“I hear you.” Lee was driving north, just above the speed limit, and he looked down to check his watch. “Almost noon. Let’s stop by and pick up some lunch for our house guests. They’ve certainly earned their keep today.”
CHAPTER 19
“Glover is a smart SOB,” Hal said, turning around in his chair toward Lee and Diane, who were seated in the dining area going over their plans. “He has a series of passwords, apparently, and cycles through them. Until we learn them all, we won’t be able to access any of his website.”
“Isn’t there a password-breaking program you can run?” Lee asked. “We’re running out of time.”
Richie shook his head. “There are various programs we could try, but Glover’s provider is one used by a lot of hackers and computer pros. Every time a user logs on, he can try up to three different passwords. But if those fail, the site denies access to that computer for twenty-four hours. You’d need years, decades to get in unless you had hundreds of computers dedicated to the task, or a hell of a lot of time with one.”
“But we’ve got a temporary block on his site, so he can’t access it, either,” Hal added. “The site owners are cooperating, which is something we couldn’t legally force them to do.”
“That’s because of the child pornography and kidnapping connection. Unless we get something more conclusive on Glover, we won’t be able to serve the provider with a warrant and force them to give us access to his site content. Even then, they might just claim it’s impossible for them to spy on their customer’s data,” Diane said. “All they might be able to do is delete it, and that’s something we can’t afford right now.”
“They might tell their clients that, but my guess is that’s a crock. If you lean on them with a federal judge and keep it out of the press, they’ll let you in—well, if you can convince the judge we’ve got a big enough bad guy here,” Hal said, turning to check his computer monitor again.
“Which we can’t do until we can pretty much prove corruption between Glover and a government official, deputy, judge, or whatever,” Lee said. “Kidnapping is the offense we’d love to prove, but nothing at the old fallout shelter has been found linking him physically to the kidnapping. And Timothy Klein can’t make a positive ID. Glover was careful with his disguises.”
Diane stood and walked into the kitchen. “You guys keep doing what you can. At least we can still monitor Glover’s cell phone. And once it gets dark enough, maybe Lee can place the GPS lump-of-mud tracking bug.”
“Hey, you two do know we can track Glover’s location pretty close just using his cell phone, right?” Richie said.
“The only problem is, it’s mostly an approximation. Not as good as a dedicated GPS, not by half,” Hal added.
“If Glover decides to take off early, before dark, we’ll have to go with what we have,” Lee said.
Gonzales, the trooper who’d been eating a quick dinner in a chair across from the coffee table in the living room area, stood. “I’m going to join Jack outside. Anything special I should pass along?”
“Glover is going to have to make a move soon. I’d recommend you guys keep him guessing and watch out for an ambush. When he takes off, unless he can pull a fast one and slip away, he’ll know he’s going to be followed and that job is going to fall on Diane and me,” Lee replied. “You need to be ready to back us up, move in on his house, or protect yourselves if he gets hostile. He’s a good shot with a pistol, and my guess is that he’s got a noise suppressor available, and a ballistic vest, as well.”
It was getting dark, nearly seven o’clock, and Lee was still watching Glover’s house, waiting for the opportunity to slip out and place the GPS bug.
But Glover was watching, too, mostly from the darkened living room, standing beside doorways that had no backlighting. He was moving around constantly, obviously concerned that his enemies would just be waiting for darkness before moving in. Lee had seen the barrel of some type of assault rifle behind a hassock in the middle of his room and the man had moved around some furniture to block access from windows and provide concealment. He was wary of a direct assault.
Richie, who was responsible for monitoring Glover’s cell phone conversations, interrupted the relative silence of the room. “Glover’s using his cell phone.” He turned up the volume as Lee and Diane moved closer.
“It’s me. I’m going to need your help later today. Stick close to my neighborhood, okay?”
“Okay.”
There was a click. “That’s it?” Diane asked. “Can you play it back? I didn’t recognize the voice.”
“Hang on a second. I’m trying to get a fix on the location of the other party,” Richie said, shaking his head.
“Who was Glover talking to, Lee? It sounded like a man—not Sully.”
“Sounds familiar. But one word … I can’t say for sure.”
Richie played the brief exchange back several times, but neither Lee nor Diane could identify the person being called. Finally Richie looked at the information on his map display. “It was a really short call, so I can’t swear to it, but my guess is that the other party was moving, like in a car. It’s northeast of here, along the highway.”
“My guess it’s one of the deputies we’ve encountered. The older guy, Harmon?” Lee suggested.
“Yeah, it could be him, and it makes sense. Quick call, hard to trace, and not much information for anyone snooping on the deputy. And no names,” Diane pointed out.
“Everyone needs to watch their back if Deputy Harmon shows up.” Lee quickly gave the four men helping them a description of the deputy.
Another half hour passed.
“Glover’s trying to access his Web site,” Hal announced. “He can’t get in, but we’ve got another password now.”
Another minute went by, then Hal spoke again. “He just got offline. Now he’s exiting the operating system. Probably shutting down the laptop.”
“He’s messing with something in a big bag. Now he’s out of sight,” Lee said. He picked up his cell phone and punched Jack’s number. “Glover may be up to something.”
A few seconds later Glover came out his front door. “He’s on the move,” Lee said, loud enough for the three people around him to hear.
Glover strolled quickly toward the passenger side of his pickup Jeep, his eyes going back and forth between the two big trucks mostly concealing Jack and Gonzales, and Lee and Diane’s windows. He had a pistol stuck into his belt, clearly visible, and Lee suspected the big barracks bag Glover was carrying held extra firepower and ammunition, plus his laptop and any cash or valuables he could carry. The man had on a bulky-looking jacket, probably with a flak jacket underneath.
Diane was watching from the other edge of the living room window, her pistol now out and down by her side. “Looks like he’s taking off.”
Glover slipped into the pickup cab from the passenger side, slid across the seat, and started the vehicle immediately. He reached down, out of sight for a second, then sat back up and looked back at Jack and Gonzales, who were moving farther apart from each other to present a more difficult target.
Then Glover backed the pickup out into the road, turned on the headlights, and drove off.
Lee and Diane were already at the door and followed Glover immediately in the SUV, keeping a distance of a few hundred yards. The entire neighborhood was dark, as if there’d been a power outage, but Lee noticed a few people peering out of their windows, watching them pass.
Diane was using the cell phone. “Glover’s moving now, stand by,” she said to Andrea Moore, who’d joined State Policeman Felix Rodriguez around 5:00. The two officers had taken Sully north and were now parked off the highway, hidden from view, about a mile north of the road leading to the FAC Hideaway Homes development. Andrea Moore was dressed and made up like Katie, including a wig, and according to Andy would easily pass for the young hooker at a distance. Katie herself was in protective custody somewhere in the Albuquerque metro area.
Diane had just put the phone down when it lit up and started vibrating again. She picked it up and listened for a moment. “You might want to consider moving to the south side of the house and staying away from the windows facing Glover’s place,” Diane said, then ended the call.
“Lee, Jack took a look through Glover’s front window. There’s something that looks like a motion sensor inside. Our perp might have activated a booby trap to take out any unscheduled visitors.”
“So that’s why you advised them to put a little distance between them and Glover’s place.”
