Chapter 41
CHAPTER 41
H ANNA HOPPED IN HER PATROL SUV and started the engine, but Jared was nowhere to be seen. He’d been right behind her. She jerked around when he rapped on the back window, then unlocked the door. He opened it and tossed a bag in the back seat, then climbed in the front seat.
“You have your toys; I have mine.”
Hanna nodded, backed out of her driveway, and then headed for the Buckley compound. She radioed her intentions and asked for county backup.
On the way she explained to Jared what was in the letter Joe had written, the details of how Chase killed Blake and Sophia. And possibly Agent Gilly.
“Why would Joe confess to a crime he didn’t commit?”
“He told me why he did it,” Hanna said. “The bigger question for me is about the prosecutor and the judge who accepted such a scant confession to lock a man up for thirty-five years.”
“The Buckley money, is that what you’re thinking?”
“What else? I’m sure they didn’t want Chase going to prison for murder. That is so hard for me to hear.” Hanna tapped on the steering wheel, fidgeting. “Everett was good to my mom, and he’s never been anything but supportive for me.”
“Maybe he had to be.”
Hanna glanced at Jared. “You’re right. He was holding up his end of the bargain, wasn’t he?” She concentrated on the road.
Jared reached over and put a hand on her shoulder. “I can’t imagine what you’re going through right now. All these years without a dad and then to find this out. I know you’re committed to rush up into the unknown, no matter the danger, and that I should try to talk you out of it.”
“But?”
“I’m going to rush right in there with you, so don’t try and talk me out of it.”
Jared always had her back. Hanna’s heart swelled. They’d traveled a few miles before Hanna felt she could speak.
“Thanks, Jared.” She turned into the long driveway of the Buckley estate, preparing to input the gate code. Everett had given the code to law enforcement and fire personnel. When she rounded the corner, the gate stood open.
“Is that normal?” Jared asked.
“I don’t know. I don’t come up here enough. All the security was upgraded several weeks ago, so I imagine this being open is not an accident.” She saw the fence off to the right was up and completely blocking the access road she’d taken when she’d driven up to tell Everett about Scott’s death.
She made note of the cameras on either side of the gate. They would not be able to arrive unannounced.
It was another ten minutes before they turned the corner, and the main house came into view. Hanna stopped and took a careful survey. Everett always had ranch hands in residence, though only a skeleton crew was working right now. He’d moved most of his horses to a different ranch because of the Crest Fire. From the looks of it, he had not brought them back yet. There was no activity in the corral or the exercise ring. Would there be this late in the day?
Four black SUVs, two pickup trucks, and a van belonging to a local landscaper were parked in front of the house. And there was Nathan’s car, off to the left, in between the landscaper and one of the pickups.
“Nathan’s car.” Hanna spoke half to herself and started to pull forward.
“Looks like everyone is home,” Jared said.
Hanna got on the radio and let them know that she’d found Nathan’s car.
“Can you give me an ETA on backup?”
“10-4, Chief. They are approaching the driveway now, ten to fifteen ETA.”
Hanna acknowledged the transmission and went back to studying the scene. Goose bumps prickled her arms. It was so quiet here. Every other time she visited, it teemed with activity. At the very least there should be seven people here besides Nathan, Everett, his cook, a maid, Timmons, Braden, Chase, and Grover. Things were dead calm.
“Wait in the car, Jared. Better yet, walk around to the back with me and I’ll give you a spare vest.”
“Since this is very creepy, I think I’ll accept that offer.”
They both exited the SUV and met where Hanna opened the back hatch. She pulled a Kevlar vest out and gave it to Jared. Never taking her eyes off the front door, she said, “Will you wait here?”
“Will you wait for backup?”
She stared at him. His expression was calm and set. “Wherever you go, I go.”
“Fine.” She started for the door, then stopped. Broken glass littered the front porch and what looked like several bullet holes pierced the front door. The lock was shot off. She drew her weapon.
Jared stopped her. “Wait for backup.”
“The door is all shot up, Jared. Something is wrong.”
“All the more reason to wait.”
“You’re right, but every second we wait...” Hanna knew she should wait, but this went beyond Nathan now. A lot of lives were at risk.
She bounded up the five steps to the big double door. Pushing the partially opened door a bit wider, gun up, she called out, “Everett, it’s Hanna. Everything okay?” Blood was smeared on the door and on the floor.
She shoved the door wide open. The first thing she saw was Grover’s body.
“Jared, we’ve got a man down.”
She hurried to Grover, hearing Jared’s footsteps right behind her. Grover had been shot. There was an entry wound in his chest, and a lot of blood. Hoping against hope, Hanna checked his neck and found no pulse. Jared knelt and tried as well. He looked over at Hanna and shook his head.
Hanna surveyed the entryway. It looked as if there had been a fight. Broken glass, a shot-up wall. From the way Grover lay and the stains on the wall, he appeared to have been standing when he was hit. She’d been to this house several times, the first when she was a child. She tried to remember the layout, rooms, entries, and exits.
“I’ve got to clear the house,” she said to Jared. “It’s one level, ranch style. I don’t hear anything, but I need to check. Can you stay here and let the deputies know when they arrive and make certain no one comes through that door to surprise us?”
“You got it.” Jared stood and closed the double doors. “Be careful.”
Gun up, Hanna went left, where she knew the living room and Everett’s study was. This should be done with at least two people, but she had to figure out what had happened. The big rooms were clear. She also cleared Scott’s room; it looked no different than it had when she’d been here to search after his crash.
Hanna crossed into the kitchen. The place was a mess. If there had been a fight, it took place here. The window was busted, and as she walked into the room, her boots crunched on broken glass. The intercom on the wall had been shot up. She looked up where she remembered the camera was and saw that it, too, had been destroyed along with the monitors.
Quickly she crossed to the other side of the house. Braden’s bedroom, Everett’s bedroom, three bathrooms—no one else was in the house. It was so very quiet.
She lowered her gun and went back to the entryway, surprised the deputies were not here yet.
“All clear?” Jared asked.
“Yeah, this is so weird.”
She thought back to when Everett had told her about his security upgrades. She tried to remember all that he’d said. Then it came to her.
“Panic room.”
“He has a panic room?” Jared asked.
“Yes.”
“Chief.” Her radio crackled.
“I copy, we’ve got a 929, and maybe other people hurt. Roll medics.”
“10-4, we have a problem. We can’t get the gate open for access.”
“What?” Hanna arched her eyebrows. “It was wide-open for me.”
“It’s shut now, and it’s heavy-duty. None of the codes work. We’ll get it open. Be advised, I don’t have an ETA.”
“So someone closed the gate after we came through,” Jared said after Hanna acknowledged the transmission.
Hanna nodded. “Let’s get down to the panic room and see if anyone made it there. It’s in the basement.” Everett had modified the original canning room to be a panic room.
Hanna went back through the kitchen to the door for the basement. She raised her weapon again, then slowly made her way down the stairs. Charlie’s calm voice came over the radio telling her that Fire was en route with a way to breach the gate. Backup would get here. Would it be in time?
In spite of the questions peppering her mind, calm infused her. Dispatch was a lifeline for cops—and it helped in stressful situations to hear the calm steadiness of a dispatcher who would take care of you.
She continued down the stairs and Jared followed. In the basement there was more evidence of a rampage—bullet holes and shell casings were everywhere. But she did find a working intercom. Hanna hit the button. “Everett, are you in there? It’s Hanna.”
A few seconds later he answered, his voice weak, “Yeah, I’m here. Where’s Chase?”
“I don’t know.”
“He’s not out there anywhere?”
“Not that I’ve seen.”
“How about Braden?”
Hanna and Jared exchanged glances.
“No, Everett, nobody is here.”
There was a minute of silence, then she heard locks being disengaged. Mechanical gears rumbled as the thick vault-like door eased open.
A bloodied Everett stepped out. It appeared as if he’d taken a bullet to the shoulder. He was wrapped in bloody bandages. He leaned against the door, eyes shrouded in pain.
“Chase is on a rampage. He’s got Braden.”