4th of July - James Patterson [87]
I accelerated the Bonneville up the winding dirt track that was Cliff Road, skidding around the corners like a big rig on grass. I heard Keith’s chiding voice in my mind: “You can’t do this, Lindsay. This is a luxury car.”
I drove through a starless tunnel of eucalyptus trees that finally opened into a wide mountain view. In front of and to the left of us was a round stucco house clinging to the side of the hill.
I looked again into the rearview mirror. “What now, Ali? How much farther?”
Allison pointed to the round tower of a house. Then she clapped her hands over her eyes. Her voice was barely audible.
“We’re here.”
Chapter 137
I PULLED THE CAR just off the road and looked up at the house—a three-story column of glass panes and stucco. Two thin bands of light moved sporadically on the lower floor.
Flashlight beams.
Otherwise, the house was dark.
Clearly, people were inside who didn’t belong there. I slapped at the pockets of my denim jacket and got a sick feeling even before I knew that I was right: I’d left my cell phone on the table beside my bed. I could see it lying against the clock.
This was very bad news.
I had no car radio, no backup, and I wasn’t wearing a vest. If a crime was in progress, going into that house alone wasn’t a real good idea.
“Ali,” I said. “I have to go for help.”
“You can’t, Lindsay,” she said, her voice coming out as a whisper. “Everyone will die.”
I reached around and touched her face with my hand. Ali’s mouth was turned down, the trust in her eyes was heartbreaking.
“Lie down on the backseat,” I said to the little girl. “Wait for me and don’t move until I come back.”
Ali got down with her face against the seat. I put my hand on her back, patting her gently. Then I got out of the car and shut the door behind me.
Chapter 138
BRIGHT MOONLIGHT FLOODED THE hilly terrain, casting long shadows that fooled the eye into believing chasms were opening up underfoot. I stuck to the brush at the side of the road, rounding the clearing until I arrived at the blind side of the house on higher ground.
An upscale SUV was parked beside the house next to a plain wooden doorway. The doorknob turned easily in my hand, and the door swung open into a mudroom.
I groped my way in the dark, advanced into a spacious kitchen. From there, I entered a high-ceilinged great room, luminous with moon glow.
I kept to the walls, skirting the long leather sofas and large pots of palms and pampas grass. I looked up in time to see a flashlight beam disappear at the top of a staircase.
I drew my gun and loped up the carpeted staircase, taking two steps at a time, crouching at the top landing.
I listened over the sound of my own breathing and heard soft murmurs coming from the room at the end of the hall.
Then a high-pitched scream shattered the air. I ran to a doorway, turned the knob, kicked open the door.
I strafed the scene with my eyes. There was a king-size bed, a woman sitting with her back against the headboard. A figure dressed in black held a knife to the woman’s throat.
“Hands in the air,” I yelled. “Drop the knife now!”
“It’s too late,” said a voice. “Just turn around and get the hell out of here.”
I reached for the wall switch and flicked on the light.
What I saw was shocking, horrifying, unbelievable.
The intruder with the knife was Carolee Brown.
Chapter 139
CAROLEE WAS ABOUT TO commit murder. My brain stalled as I tried to assimilate the unimaginable. When it kicked back into gear, I acted, barking out a command at the top of my voice.
“Back away from her, Carolee. Keep your hands where I can see them.”
“Lindsay,” she said in a maddeningly reasonable tone. “I’m asking you to please go. She’s a dead woman no matter what. You can’t stop me.”
“Last chance,” I said, pulling back the hammer. “Put that knife down or I’m going to kill you.”
The woman in the bed whimpered as Carolee measured the distance between us with her eyes and calculated how