Chương 4
“And now we may have one hour to pull it down.”
The overhead speaker crackled. A voice called Mitchell to the control station.
Leah lowered her voice. “The court has not issued a stay. The governor will not intervene unless the phone is recovered or the state bureau verifies that recovery is imminent. The attorney general is arguing that the prison cannot act on hearsay.”
“What are you arguing?”
“That executing a man while agents are driving toward potentially exculpatory evidence would be grotesque.”
“Legal term?”
“It should be.”
Gavin sat on the concrete bench. “Ruth thought Hale was outside her house.”
“I know.”
“Chloe is with her?”
“Yes.”
“Are they safe?”
“They’re in a conference room on the administrative side. Mara’s with them. Two officers outside.”
“Officers Hale might know.”
“Gavin.”
“He trained half the county.”
“This is a state prison.”
“He worked with the prison intelligence unit.”
Leah’s pen stopped. “When?”
“During the contraband investigation three years ago. He interviewed men on C block.”
“You never told me that.”
“It had nothing to do with my appeal.”
“It has everything to do with whether he knows the building.”
“I didn’t know my daughter was going to walk in with a recording.”
Leah picked up one of her phones. “I’m telling Mitchell.”
“Tell him Hale knows the staff entrance near the kitchen. He used it when he came for interviews.”
She stared at him.
“What?”
“You remember routes better than faces.”
“I’m a carpenter. Spaces stick.”
The phone vibrated in her hand. She checked the message.
“They’re at the house.”
Gavin stood.
Leah raised a palm. “Mrs. Mercer is on video with the agents. They’re entering through the back.”
“The latch.”
“Mitchell told them.”
“They need to go upstairs. Second room on the left. Sewing room. Blue-painted floorboards by the closet.”
“I know.”
“One board has a split near the nail head.”
“Gavin.”
“What?”
“Breathe.”
He tried. The air caught under his ribs.
Leah put the phone on speaker as a call came through. A man identified himself as Special Agent Daniel Cho with the State Bureau of Criminal Investigation. His voice was clipped and distant, accompanied by movement and the faint creak of an old house.
“We are inside the residence,” Cho said. “Mrs. Mercer, can you see the video?”
Ruth’s voice came from another connection, thin and agitated. “I can see Agent Franklin’s shoulder. Tell her she’s in the wrong room.”
A woman said, “I’m in the room with the sewing machine.”
“That’s my room. Elise’s room is across the hall.”
“There are two sewing machines.”
“One is a quilting machine. That doesn’t make it a sewing room.”
Even Leah looked briefly at Gavin.
He almost laughed. Ruth could turn an execution emergency into an argument about appliances.
Agent Cho said, “Mrs. Mercer, please direct us to the correct location.”
“The room with the yellow curtains.”
“The curtains are white.”
“They used to be yellow.”
“Which side of the hallway?”
“Left if you’re coming from the stairs.”
“We came from the rear stairs.”
“There are no rear stairs.”
“We entered through the kitchen and used a narrow staircase.”
“That’s the back staircase.”
Agent Cho paused. “All right.”
Gavin pressed both cuffed hands to his forehead.
Leah whispered, “Quiet.”
Footsteps sounded through the connection. A door opened.
Agent Franklin said, “Blue floorboards located.”
“Closet side,” Ruth said. “Third board from the wall. I put the rug back over it.”
“There is no rug.”
Gavin’s head came up.
“What?” Ruth asked.
“There is no rug in this room.”
“I left it there.”
Agent Cho’s breathing changed.
“Hold position,” he said.
The call filled with a silence that was not empty. Gavin heard fabric shift, a radio click, the subtle movement of people reaching for weapons.
“Mrs. Mercer,” Cho said, “did anyone else have access to this house after you left?”
“No.”
“Are you certain?”
“I locked both doors.”
“Is there a key hidden outside?”
Ruth did not answer.
“Mrs. Mercer?”
“There’s one in the ceramic frog.”
Leah closed her eyes.
Gavin struck the bars with the side of his fist. “Hale knows about the frog.”
“How?” Leah asked.
“He found it during the original search.”
Agent Cho’s voice sharpened. “We may have an unauthorized person inside or recently inside. Franklin, clear the closet. I’ll clear the adjoining—”
A crash cut him off.
Someone shouted.
The connection broke into static and then silence.
Leah called back immediately.
No answer.
Gavin gripped the bars.
“Call Mitchell.”
“I am.”
“Call them.”
“I am.”
“Call—”
“Stop saying that!”
Her shout echoed through the holding area. Brennan looked over from the desk.
Leah’s hands shook as she dialed. “I am doing everything I can do.”
Gavin pressed his forehead against the cool steel.
“I’m sorry.”
“Don’t be sorry. Be quiet.”
They waited.
The clock in the control station changed to 5:23.
At 5:25, Agent Cho called back.
“No injuries,” he said. “A man exited through the attic access and dropped from the porch roof before we cleared the second floor. We did not obtain a visual identification. Franklin is pursuing with local state patrol support.”
“The phone?” Leah asked.
“We found the floorboard disturbed. The compartment is empty.”
Gavin closed his eyes.
Ruth began speaking over the call. “No. No, I put it there myself. I wrapped it in Chloe’s old green scarf.”
“Mrs. Mercer,” Cho said, “was anything else inside the compartment?”
“A charger. A piece of paper with the passcode. I didn’t trust myself to remember.”
“Both are gone.”
Leah braced one hand against the wall.
“When did you last see the phone?” she asked.
“At three twenty, maybe three twenty-five. I called your office at three thirty-one. Nobody answered. I called again. Then the gray car came.”
“Did you see who was driving?”
“No. The windows were dark.”
“Did Chloe see?”
“She saw it from upstairs.”
Gavin lifted his head. “Ask whether the phone backed up.”
Leah looked at him.
May you like
“Ask her.”
“Mrs. Mercer,” Leah said, “did the recording upload anywhere? Cloud storage, email, another device?”
