"You've got a deal," she said.
The Wall removed his cameras, slung them over his shoulder, and followed Hannah through the dark, quiet office into the dark, quiet night.
He savored it while he could.
Chapter Sixty-Nine
The Chinook landed at Fire Station 108 on the top of Coldwater Canyon, then immediately took off to help with the search. Meanwhile, Grand and Gearhart were driven by a Los Angeles Police Department patrol car down the road toward Sunset Boulevard and the site of the massacre. The driver maneuvered through a crowd of TV and print reporters who were clustered at the edge of the driveway behind police guards and yellow crime-scene tape. It did not escape Grand, the irony of being taken inside the one time he really wanted to be outside, searching for evidence of where the cats had gone.
Like the Juncal campsite, the hedged-in estate was spotted with large patches of blood-drenched grass. All the spots were marked by stakes with red flags. The bodies had obviously drained of blood where they fell; holes from nine-inch teeth would have caused that to happen very quickly. That was obviously the reason there was never a trail of blood to follow. Though it was a savage panorama, the absence of bodies made it possible to concentrate on the predators and not the prey. Grand wondered if the cats always brought kills back to their caves. He couldn't imagine that they were challenged by other predators. Perhaps they brought the food back to share with older cats or cats that had unsuccessful hunts in the colder times. If so, it suggested a level of socialization far greater than modern cats possessed. He had to study these creatures at greater length.
There were also the remains of roasts in the open fire pits, though the food was untouched. That didn't surprise him. Most animals in the wild did not eat cooked meat.
Lieutenant Mindar had arrived minutes before. He did not look happy as he greeted the two men. He took a moment to introduce them to young, blond LAPD commander Heeger, who was in charge of the police side of the investigation. Heeger was standing by the rear gate and was on the radio, talking to his field commanders. As Mindar walked Grand and Gearhart toward the pool, he informed them that Chief of Police Gus Mailer was conferring about the next course of action with Mayor Greenburg and with Deputy Chief Janet Dumaman of Beverly Hills Operations and Deputy Chief Kurt Maser of Wilshire Operations, which included the area around La Brea.
"I was afraid of that," Sheriff Gearhart said. "They've got the timid leading the incompetent."
"What does that mean?" Grand asked.
"It means that for now, Professor, the sheriff and myself are on the sidelines," Mindar told him. "The Los Angeles city charter stipulates that the mayor has to declare a level-one state of emergency before the governor can order the National Guard to run security and logistics and also authorize law officers from other counties to become involved in an operation."
"What will change their minds?"
"I don't know," Mindar said. "The chief of police is tight with the mayor. He's apparently convinced him that we should make a stand here in the hills, stop whatever is out there before it reaches downtown."
"It didn't work in Santa Barbara but let's try it again here," Gearhart said. "Show Gearhart how it's done. The bastards. That's the police chief's fuck-you to me."
"Not entirely," Mindar said. "The chief is also concerned that if we move in prematurely with our trucks and hardware, it could cause panic worse than the actual attack. Cars jamming the freeways, end-of-the-world parties, looting-"
"Are they at least evacuating people from the area around the tar pits?" Grand asked.
"Just from the Page Museum itself," Mindar said.
"That's not good enough-"
"They feel that if there is an attack in the area, night staff, cleaners, and security personnel in surrounding buildings are probably safer being inside than out," Mindar said.
"They're wrong. Don't they realize these cats are used to moving through tunnels?"
"Actually, it's worse than that," Mindar said. "They also won't shut down Wilshire Boulevard without a damn good reason."
"Isn't this reason enough?" Grand asked, sweeping an arm toward the blood-stained yard.
"Frankly, Professor, part of the problem-a big part-is that the head scientists at the Page Museum and USC don't believe there are saber-tooth tigers roaming the hills," Mindar added. "They aren't signing on to your idea that their destination is the tar pits."
"This is unbelievable," Grand said. "You've got five specimens up on Monte Arido!"
"Five specimens that only you and Hannah Hughes think are saber-tooths," Gearhart pointed out. "I still think they could be mutations, maybe lab hybrids or bad clones running around out there."
"They're not. I saw where they came from, where they were frozen."
"In any case, a paleontologist from UCLA is en route to examine the specimens," Mindar said.
"That's an hour or more, wasted. What about transmitting video?"
"We can't," Mindar said. "Our uplink signal could be picked off. In fact, as soon as news choppers started snooping around we had to tarp the tigers over. The governor and his advisors don't want those images getting on the news. Until there's a positive ID the police want to remain open to the possibility that they're escaped tigers."
"Escaped from where?" Grand said.
"There are a number of licensed, private owners throughout counties all the way up to Frisco," Gearhart said. "Big cats are the chic thing to own. Kitties of the rich and famous."
Grand couldn't believe what he was hearing.
"If it's any consolation, Professor," Mindar said, "Police Chief Mailer has taken the precaution of moving several barrels of tar to the site, in case they okay your plan."
"I hope there's time for all this caution," Grand said.
"For once, we agree on something," Gearhart pointed out. "Welcome to why I run my town the way I do."
Grand ignored him. "Lieutenant, do you have any idea how many people were carried off?"
"According to the guest list at the front gate there were eighteen people here when the cats struck," Mindar said. "The guest who found the massacre didn't see how many animals there were, and he only caught a glimpse of a few of them as they moved through the hills carrying a body each."
It would have taken most if not all of the rest of the pride to kill and then make off with twenty people. Obviously, the cats were staying together for the rest of their journey. Some of the cats would have had to make two trips, so wherever they came from couldn't be far away.
Grand looked out at the hills. He saw a few flashlights bobbing beyond the top of the hedges. "I've got to get out there and try to find out which way the cats might have gone."
"We've already got a small army out there looking for blood, footprints, pipes, large earthen openings of any kind," Mindar said.
"I know. I'd like to go anyway."
Mindar looked at Gearhart. The sheriff nodded.
"All right," Mindar said. "But we've got to do this through channels. Let me get an okay from Commander Heeger."
The lieutenant jogged over to Heeger and the men chatted briefly. When Mindar came back he called over an aide.
"Commander Heeger had no problem with you going out as long as you stay out of the way of his people," Mindar told Grand.
"No problem," Grand said. They were in the wrong place anyway.
Mindar asked his aide for a radio and a flashlight. The young man ran off to the Jeep to get them.