Alex pulled up Leo’s number on his phone and hit ENTER. “Leo, it’s Alex. Are you with Laurie?”
“No, I’m just pulling into the police station to catch up with Detective Reilly. Is everything okay?”
“I have a horrible feeling,” Alex said. “Laurie figured out who killed Susan. And now he has her. Richard Hathaway has our Laurie.”
76
Laurie felt a surprising sense of relief when Hathaway ordered her to turn left out of the parking garage, away from the hospital. No matter what happened, at least Timmy, Alex, and Grace, who were waiting for her, would be safe.
“Up here,” Hathaway barked. “Take a left at the next light.”
This was not the same cool, confident man she’d seen over the past week. He was ranting to himself under his breath. She could almost smell his desperation.
“You must have access to cash and a plane,” she said. “Just let me out. You take the car.”
“And give up everything I’ve worked for my whole life? No, thank you. Take a right up here, after we pass Santa Monica Boulevard.”
She did as instructed.
“Tell me about the video, Laurie. What exactly did Dwight see? And don’t play stupid or this will be worse for you than it needs to be. Tell me what Dwight knew.”
“I’ll never be certain,” she said. “He left a message but died before I could speak to him. But I think he was calling me about you,” she added. “To tell me that Susan went to your lab before her audition.”
“And the boat?”
“What boat?”
“Were there cameras on Dwight’s boat?” Hathaway yelled. “And don’t forget, I can go back for your son if you need an incentive to talk.”
Not Timmy, she thought. “Yes,” she blurted, “Dwight had hidden cameras on his yacht.”
“What do they show?”
“I have no idea. The police haven’t found the digital upload yet.”
“Take the next left.”
As she hit her blinker, she could feel him calming down in the passenger seat. He mumbled something about his ability to find the data files before the police.
She slipped a hand into the pocket of the door to awaken her phone. She risked a glance at the screen and saw a list of recent calls.
As she took the turn, she let her hand drop into the door pocket one more time. She tapped the screen to redial her most recent caller.
Please, God, she thought, please let this work.
77
Alex had never heard Leo sound so panicked. “What do you mean, Hathaway has Laurie?” Leo demanded.
“She thinks Hathaway killed Susan Dempsey, and Timmy just saw her drive out of the garage with someone in the passenger seat. She was only alone for a minute-”
Alex heard the beep of an incoming call. He checked the screen and saw one name: Laurie.
“Wait, that’s her now,” Alex said. “I’ll call you right back.” He clicked over to the incoming call. “Laurie, where are you?”
But he didn’t hear Laurie’s voice in response. He heard silence, then eventually the sound of a man’s voice. It was Hathaway. “Slow down,” he ordered, “and stop swerving. I know what you’re doing. If you get pulled over by a cop, I’ll shoot you both, and that’s a promise.”
“Where are you taking me?” Alex heard Laurie say. “Are we going to your house? Why are we heading into the Hollywood Hills?”
Alex hit the mute button on his phone to block his end of the line. “Grace,” he said, waving her over to the alcove. “Call Leo back and have him put Detective Reilly on the line. Laurie’s giving us clues about their location.”
Within seconds, Grace handed Alex her phone.
“Reilly,” Alex said, “I’m certain of it now: Hathaway has Laurie and is taking her to the Hollywood Hills.”
If something happened to Laurie, he would never forgive himself.
78
Laurie didn’t dare steal another glance at her phone. She just had to hope that the call had connected and that Alex was able to hear her.
“Just do what I say, and no one else will be hurt,” Hathaway said. “Your son and your father will be fine.”
But not me, she thought. You have other plans for me.
Maybe if she kept him talking, she could buy herself more time. “Why did you do it? What did Susan see in the lab that afternoon to make her such a threat to you?”
“It didn’t need to be such a big deal. Dwight had already done so much of the code work. Whether REACH was his idea or mine was just a matter of semantics. She overheard us and completely overreacted. It was worth millions. Did she really expect me to turn it over to a bunch of academic know-nothings?”
Hathaway was almost talking to himself at this point, but Laurie was able to piece the story together. She remembered the article published in the campus newspaper when Hathaway retired. It mentioned that, as a faculty member, Hathaway did not own any of his own research. She pictured Susan walking into the lab as Hathaway enlisted his favorite student to take the credit for his work so they could both profit from it.
Hathaway suddenly stopped muttering and told her to take another turn. His expression was cold and determined.
“Don’t do this, Hathaway.” She made it a point to say his name. If nothing else, maybe Alex would know who did this. “You’ll never get away with it.”
“I may live my life under suspicion, as you call it,” Hathaway said, “but I won’t be convicted. There’s no real proof I killed Susan. As for Dwight, I can find the video files from his boat faster than any low-level hack working for the LAPD. And once I’m done with you, my next stop will be to Keith Ratner. He’ll kill himself, leaving behind a distraught note confessing to the murders of both you and Susan. This entire thing will go down in the history books as being wrapped up with Advocates for God.”
Laurie remembered taking this exact route when they’d driven to the spot where Susan Dempsey’s body was found.
“You’re taking me to Laurel Canyon Park, aren’t you? We’re going to the place where you killed Susan.”
“Of course that’s where we are going,” Hathaway said. “It’s exactly what Keith Ratner would do in a meltdown over the downfall of his beloved church leader-a demise that you brought about.”
Laurie thought about the terror Susan must have felt when she realized Hathaway was trying to kill her. It was about to happen to her, too.
She had to find a way to save herself.
79
Alex felt helpless as he continued to listen to the open line. Hathaway was forcing Laurie to drive to the spot where he killed Susan Dempsey.
Good, Laurie, he whispered. Just keep talking.
She had already gotten Hathaway to admit to killing Susan Dempsey, and now he had a plan to kill Laurie and pin all his crimes on Keith Ratner.
“He’s taking her to Laurel Canyon Park,” Alex said to Reilly, who was doing his best to overhear through Grace’s phone. “You have to send police cars there now, Reilly. You have to find Laurie.”
Laurie could see the park entrance approaching. They were just seconds from what Hathaway intended to be her final destination.
Just as she knew he would, Hathaway instructed her, “Take the left turn up here, into the park.”
She turned slowly, hoping to see a cavalry of police cars waiting for them, but the park was empty, dark as pitch.
This was it-her one chance. She remembered the exact location of the sycamore tree she’d noticed when they were filming here with Frank Parker.