"I don't have time to deal with this shit now," Detective Orr had muttered, leading the trio to his vehicle. "I'll deal with you later."
William turned to Brad before they left with Detective Orr. "I'll go with Lisa; she'll be safe. Go home and start packing some things. I'll make arrangements on the drive up to Big Bear. I'll call you" with the details. When Lisa and I get back, be ready to get on a plane."
They spent the majority of their drive to Big Bear in silence. William Grecko made several phone calls on his cellular. One was to his office to ask his secretary to check airline departures out of Irvine to Las Vegas. He gave his secretary Lisa and Brad's names. "Vegas?" Lisa asked, looking at him questionly. "Why Las Vegas?"
"Why not?" William punched the disconnect button, then flipped through his personal phone book. "It's close enough to get back here quickly if you have to, and I've got contacts there. You'll be safe."
Lisa settled back. in her seat and listened as William made the arrangements. She listened as he connected with somebody on the other line and explained, in vague terms, that he was "sending a young couple out your way who need physical protection twenty-four seven. Think you can set me up?" Lisa knew that Detective Orr was listening in on the conversation too, but what was he going to do? William hung up, called his office, jotted down flight information, then called his contact in Vegas again, relaying all this information. "They'll be getting in on Flight 817 on Southwest Airlines." He gave the contact a brief physical description of Lisa and Brad, hung up, then called Brad at home, giving him the information. "Have your bags packed and ready," he said.
"You know, this is crazy," Detective Orr said after the round of phone calls had been made. They were in San Bernardino, heading east toward the mountains. "I mean, we're on it. We'll probably have these guys in custody by tonight."
"I'm not taking any chances," William Grecko said.
"We'll get Lisa to look at surveillance video at the bank and get some blowups of the suspects," Detective Orr said. "We might come up with a match somewhere. The FBI has gotta have heard of these guys by now, from what Lisa says they're into."
"Maybe" William Grecko said. "But like I said, I don't want to take chances."
Detective Orr was silent. After a minute, he asked Lisa, "Would you be available to look at some video when we get back to Irvine?"
Lisa looked at William, who nodded. "Yeah. Her and Brad's flight isn't until ten-thirty tonight. Long as we can get them on the flight, sure."
They were silent again as they drove through San Bernardino County and made their way to the foothills and began the ascent into the mountain range. When they reached the Lake Arrowhead city limits, Detective Orr broke the long silence. "I'm going to call ahead to the San Bernardino substation at Big Bear and give them our M. If there's anything you remember, don't be afraid to tell me."
Lisa met his gaze in the rearview mirror. 'I won't; she said. The minute they had begun ascending the mountains, Lisa had tried to piece together what she could remember from her trip up with Tim, but she couldn't. She'd been blindfolded! Weren't they fucking listening to her?
William squeezed her hand. `You'll be fine"
Lisa turned to him and made a halfhearted attempt at a smile. She did feel better that William was with her and taking care of her. But the closer they got to Arrowhead, the closer they got to Big Bear. And with that realization came the sinking sense of dread she felt the last time she was up here with Tim Murray. Knowing they were on the same road was creating a sense of fear in her that was churning in the pit of her stomach.
The Big Bear substation was small, about the size of a small-town real estate office; with a closet-sized waiting room, two or three offices, and a holding cell in the back, it bore all the necessary requirements for a small-town police station. They were seated in Sheriff Dean Sweigert's office, and Lisa was beginning to feel claustrophobic.
She had begun to panic the closer they got to the station, and William had rummaged around in his briefcase for some antidepressants. Lisa gulped two of the capsules down and put her head between her knees, eyes dosed, willing herself to calm down. By the time they arrived at the station she was feeling a little better, but she was still nervous.
The first thing Dean Sweigert had done when Lisa sat down was pull up a chair in front of her. He looked into her eyes, his features grim, serious. His brush-cut hair was gray, his face weathered, tanned, features sharply chiseled. She pegged him to be in his mid-forties. "You are a very lucky lady," he said, his tone soft yet strong. "And we're going to find the people that did this, so help me God."
Lisa nodded, not wanting to meet his gaze.
"Detective Orr told me everything on the phone a few hours ago," he said. "1 can't believe that people can be ca- pabJp of such barbarity. And in such a place as Big Bear." He shook his head. He reached for a file on his desk and pulled something out, which he now held up in front of Lisa. It was a photograph. "He told me about what happened to Debbie Martinez during the time she went missing. Is this the woman you saw?"
Lisa looked at the photograph and choked back a sob. It was Debbie Martinez all right. Debbie was seated on a stone ledge with her back to a small canyon, smiling at the camera. It looked like the photo was taken at a natural park-Yosemite, perhaps. She was wearing a white cotton shirt, blue jeans, and a red scarf around her neck. Her black hair fell to her shoulders. She looked beautiful. "Yes," Lisa said, nodding as she held back the tears. "'Rat's her.'Ihat's Debbie…" '
Dean Sweigert placed the photo back in the file. Her husband filed a missing-person report on her nearly two weeks ago. We've combed the entire area looking for her." He looked up at Detective Orr and William Grecko, then back at Lisa. To you think you can help us? Do you think you can remember the cabin you were held in?"
*1 don't know," Lisa said, dabbing at her eyes. "I was blindfolded during the trip up here, and they blindfolded me when they took me out!"
"There's three cabins within a mile and a half of the Martinez place that might be where you were taken," Dean said. "We've spoken to the owners already. Two of them deny having seen her, and the third cabin is owned by a corporation that's involved in multimedia or something. They use it for weekend retreats. They claim it was being rented the weekend Debbie disappeared!
"Were any of these cabins within easy walking distance from the Martinez place?' William Grecko asked.
"One of them was," Dean said, leaning back in his chair. "She could've walked to the other two pretty easily. Debbie ran three miles every day. A mile walk or so would have been nothing to her."
Tim boarded up one of the windows," Lisa said, sud denly remembering her ordeal. She looked up at Dean, then at Detective Orr and Billy. "Right before Debbie showed up, he was boarding up the window to the bedroom I was in so I wouldn't escape. Maybe-"
Dean moved toward his desk and reached for his radio. "I'll have somebody check it out."
"Does the name Tim Murray mean anything to you?" Detective Orr asked Dean.
Dean shook his head. "His name isn't on any of the deeds to the properties we checked out."
"What about Jeff?" Lisa asked. She shuddered at the thought of calling him Animal. "No last name. I never did learn his last name."
"I'm afraid not," Dean said. He was just about to speak into the radio when a tall uniformed ranger poked his head in. Dean looked up. "Yes, Glenn?"