Murder on Sagebrush Lane (20 page)

57

Thursday, June 12

Harrie sat up in bed, her heart pounding. She looked around the room, forcing herself to focus. The substance of the dream evaporated when she woke, but the cold fear lingered.

The clock showed 5:50 a.m. Might as well get up and get going. DJ was already out for his morning run. She tiptoed in to check on Katie and found her standing up in the crib, looking out the window.

As Harrie walked into the room, Katie turned and held out her arms. Harrie picked her up and nuzzled the little girl’s neck, causing an eruption of giggles from the child. They played quietly for a few minutes, and Caroline came into the room.

“I thought I heard you girls in here.”

Harrie grinned. “Yes, we were having a giggling contest. Did we wake you?”

“Gracious, no. I was up in time to have coffee before DJ left on his run. I just can’t seem to sleep past 5:30 or 6:00 anymore.”

“I know,” said Harrie. Katie squirmed to get down and immediately headed for her toys.

Caroline tilted her head. “Are you okay?”

“I had a dream that woke me this morning.” Harrie rubbed the back of her neck.

Caroline frowned. “I hope it wasn’t one of those disturbing ones.”

“I have no memory of the dream itself. I only know I was in a panic when I woke up.”

“Maybe it’s because of the intrigue you’re facing this morning.”

“Perhaps,” Harrie conceded. “But I have the sense it’s more than that.” She blew out a breath. “It annoys me when I can’t remember a dream like that.”

Harrie took Katie into the kitchen, and she sat her down with a bowl of oatmeal and raisins. The raisins seemed to delight Katie. Harrie smiled at the child and poured herself a cup of coffee. She reached for the package of English muffins, and as if on cue, DJ returned from his run.

“Shall I make your breakfast?” Harrie smiled and indicated the muffins.

“I’ll take you up on that,” DJ said. “I’ll have a quick shower and be ready in ten. Could I have a scrambled egg with the muffin?” He kissed the top of her head.

“Of course you can. I’ll time you.”

Everyone had been fed and Harrie was mostly ready for the day by 7:30. DJ went over the plan with her one more time before he left.

“You know, my part in this operation isn’t all that complicated. I think I can handle it without coaching.” Harrie frowned. “It’s not like I’ll even get a glimpse of the creep. I’m spending my morning in the vault.”

DJ took her in his arms. “I’ll be in the vault with you, if it makes you feel any better.”

She grinned. “That could be fun if it weren’t for all the company we’ll have with us.”

He tilted her chin up and leaned in to kiss her. “Just be careful until you join me in the vault, okay?” He released her. “With any luck, this will all be over today.”

“I suppose,” Harrie said, but sounded unconvinced. “I have this weird feeling there’s another shoe waiting to drop.”

DJ left, and Harrie went in to put on her black jeans and white shirt. She still felt annoyed that she wouldn’t be the one handing over the flash drive to The Creep. She pushed it out of her mind while she made the bed and picked up clothes and put them away. Her mind churned, trying to put together the facts as they knew them. She retrieved a pad she kept in her purse and jotted down a few notes. There were things she needed to check out when she got to the office.

She looked at her watch and realized she had less than twenty minutes to get there. She hugged Katie goodbye before she turned to Caroline. “I don’t know what the plan is today. Presumably, Alexis will be taking her before bedtime. I’ll get back here as soon as I can.”

“Don’t worry about a thing,” Caroline said and hugged her. “You concentrate on what’s happening this morning. We’ll be fine here.”

When Harrie backed out of Caroline’s garage, she felt almost giddy being in her car, driving to the office. A bright blue, clear summer sky greeted her, and the scent of honeysuckle drifted in the car window. She breathed it in, along with the sense of freedom she felt today. The drive to her office kept her attention away from what lay ahead. Maybe the situation really would be resolved by this evening. Either way, at least things would happen.

Harrie’s car pulled into the parking lot at 8:25. She parked and checked her image in the rearview mirror. She liked the glasses. They made her look mysterious. “Okay,” she said out loud to the mirror. “It’s showtime.”

She held her head high and walked into the office, radiating confidence and composure. Her insides quaked a little, but she felt sure it didn’t show.

She greeted everyone and got coffee before retiring to her office. When she took the dark glasses off, she remembered to put them on the desk. She looked around the room, satisfying herself everything appeared as it should. She opened a file and went to work. At 9:00 she looked up to see a young woman, dressed so much like Harrie that it made her do a double take.

“You must be Sgt. Paiz,” Harrie said. She came around the desk to shake hands with her twin.

“It’s good to meet you, Mrs. Scott.” Sgt. Paiz smiled and gripped Harrie’s hand firmly.

“Oh please, call me Harrie. I feel like I already know you. By the way, how did you come in? I didn’t hear the front door.”

Sgt. Paiz smiled. “You can call me Cabrini, and I came in the back door. I arrived quite a while ago in a telephone company van. The repairmen are up on the pole now, giving every appearance of working on the phone lines. I had coveralls on over my clothes and a hat hiding my hair.” She smoothed her blouse. “Do I look okay?” She patted her long red hair.

“You look great,” she said. “Wish that outfit looked as good on me as it does on you.”

“As long as we convince our expected visitor I’m you, everything will be fine.”

DJ and Swannie came into the office together. Swannie produced a listening device for Sgt. Paiz, and she inserted it in her ear.

“Thanks, Lieutenant,” she said.

“What’s that?” Harrie pointed to the earpiece.

“That, my dear, is an earwig. It fits in the ear so compactly our subject won’t notice it. I can give her information without anyone knowing I’m speaking to her.”

“Clever,” said Harrie. “But will
you
be able to hear
her
?”

Swannie smiled. “We’ve been busy this morning. Those phone company workers out there are really our tech guys. They installed listening devices here in your office and out in the reception area.” He pointed to his right ear. “I can hear everything through my device.”

Harrie smiled. “I’m impressed, Swannie. You’re on top of everything.”

DJ stepped forward. “You’ll need this.” He handed Sgt. Paiz the phony flash drive. She nodded, and he turned his attention to Harrie. “Okay, come with me. Good luck to you, Sergeant.”

DJ escorted Harrie to the vault in the back of the building. Lieutenant Swanson joined them moments later.

The vault door’s location off to the side made it completely hidden from view. A small table and four chairs furnished the room, and a telephone hung on the wall. Along the adjacent walls several tall file cabinets stood neatly in a row. The building’s surveillance system occupied space on one wall. A small video monitor with a screen split into four sections showed activity at the front door, back door, kitchen, and one main camera overlooking the entire reception area.

“Wow,” Swannie indicated the monitoring system. “This is great.”

“They installed it during the time the savings and loan occupied this space,” Harrie said. “Since we have all our file cabinets in here, being able to see what’s happening in the outer office is very helpful.”

“It’ll still come in handy,” Swannie said. “We can see when The Creep comes in.”

Harrie smiled. “I’m glad you approve, Swannie.”

Harrie gazed thoughtfully at the monitor mounted on a wall device that allowed it to swivel. “We always thought if anything went wrong, we could lock ourselves in here.”

“If anything goes wrong today . . . .” DJ paused.

Harrie shook her head. “Don’t even say that. Nothing will go wrong.”

They settled in for the wait. Swannie kept his eyes on the monitor, and DJ paced for the first ten minutes. Ginger came in and said, “We only have two transcribers here today. Should I send them home? I don’t want them here if anything goes wrong.”

DJ looked at Swannie and nodded. Swannie said, “Have them leave together in one car. Makes it look as though they’re out for coffee.”

Ginger nodded. “Okay. I’ll stay in my office so I can answer the phones. I‘ll close the curtain and the door so he won’t see me when he comes in.”

She went back out and instructed the typists to take off the rest of the morning for a coffee break outside the building. Then everybody went back to waiting.

“You know, he may not come,” Harrie said. “He didn’t show up last time.”

Swannie said, “If our man is Randy Lynch, he did show up, remember? That’s where we got his photo.”

“Do you really think it’s Randy Lynch? What if it’s that CIA guy?” She turned to DJ, “What’s his real name, Crowder, Carter?”

“Crider,” DJ said. “I doubt it’s him. I don’t see him as being that stupid.”

A large industrial wall clock hung above the file cabinets. They watched it with intense interest, but the hands refused to move faster.

Harrie’s eyes got big. “If neither of those guys shows up, then what? What if an entirely different person comes through the front door?”

In response, DJ stood and focused all his attention on the video monitor. “I think we have our answer. Tell me if I’m wrong, Swannie, but I believe our guy just arrived. And unless I’m mistaken, Randy Lynch wins the prize.”

58

Randy Lynch looked like any average guy you’d see walking down the street. He appeared to be about 5 feet 11 inches, and carried his weight comfortably. Neither fat nor thin, he would go unnoticed under ordinary circumstances. But today was not ordinary.

He looked around the reception area and seemed hesitant to go farther.

Swannie spoke softly into Sgt. Paiz’s earwig. “He’s here. Come out and get him.”

Cabrini left Harrie’s office and confronted the visitor.

“I’m Harrie McKinsey Scott,” she said, making the lie sound convincing. “Are you my 10:00 a.m. appointment?”

Lynch studied the area, his eyes surveying everything like a skittish deer. After a few seconds of silence, he spoke. “Did you bring it?”

Cabrini gestured toward Harrie’s office. “It’s in here. Follow me.” She turned away, not waiting for him.

He hesitated, looked around once more, then followed her into the office.

She went to the desk and waited. Lynch stood in the doorway, surveying the room. He squinted at her. “I don’t see anything.”

Cabrini reached into her pocket and took out the flash drive. “Is this what you’re looking for?”

Lynch’s forehead wrinkled, and he tilted his head to the side. “What the hell is that?”

Lt. Swanson spoke into her ear. “Be careful. We may have a problem.”

Cabrini held out the flash drive, inviting him to take it. He reached for it and studied it curiously. “What kinda trick is this?” He tossed it onto the desk. “You said you had what I wanted. Where is she?”

Sgt. Paiz frowned. “What are you talking about?”

Lynch approached her, a menacing snarl on his face. “Look, lady, I’m tired of playing games with you. I warned you what would happen if you didn’t cooperate. You’re jerking me around, and now you try to give me this . . . this . . . .” he broke off and pointed to the flash drive on the desk, unable to vocalize his frustration.

Understanding spread across Cabrini’s face. “You don’t have a clue what this is, do you?”

Lynch squinted his eyes, and said, “Don’t try pulling any tricks. You know exactly what I want. I came for the kid, and I don’t see her.”

Back in the vault, Swannie jumped to his feet and spoke to Cabrini. “This guy thinks you were bringing Katie to him.” He headed out the door, with DJ following.

Harrie was right behind them, and DJ turned to her. “You stay here,” he whispered. “Don’t leave this room.” Then he went after Swannie.

Randy Lynch had turned to leave Harrie’s office when Lt. Swanson and DJ came into view. Lynch jumped back into the office and slammed the door. He grabbed Cabrini and put his right arm around her neck, effectively placing her in a choke hold. It was the last thing he should have done.

Reaching across her body, she gripped his right arm with her left hand. Holding on to him with a death grip, she bent her knees into a crouch, and pressed her right hip against him. Lifting with her legs, she thrust herself straight up and over, pulling him by his right arm with her left hand. He flipped easily over her shoulder and hit the floor with a heavy thud, as her right hand grabbed his wrist and gave it a vicious twist. She put full pressure on it, twisting it, and forcing him over on his side. He screamed out in pain, and at that moment, Swannie, gripping his Smith & Wesson .40 caliber semiautomatic pistol, and DJ with his Glock 22, crashed through the door.

Sgt. Cabrini Paiz sat squarely on Randy Lynch, pinning him to the floor as he whimpered. She looked up at her would-be rescuers and grinned.

“Thanks for joining me, fellas.”