Orlando made no move to acknowledge the steps echoing off the asphalt behind her. She was just someone enjoying a good story. As the person from the Jeep moved past the table and onto the beach, Orlando turned the page again. The clacking echoes were now replaced by shifting sand along the wall.
Orlando softly clucked her tongue once, letting the others know the woman was heading toward the crack.
“Got an owner on the car. Karla Bishop. Age thirty-seven.” Nate read off an address. “Checking the map…okay, got it. It’s in the hills northwest another ten miles or so. Satellite image doesn’t really show much. Looks pretty overgrown.”
“Move to position number two,” Quinn told him.
“Copy.”
“Orlando, what’s going on there?”
“She’s almost there,” she said as low as she could.
The woman slowed as she approached the crack, and then leaned against the wall and looked out at the ocean. So normal and natural. A real pro. Orlando’s position prevented her from seeing the crack itself, but when the woman leaned to the side, she knew it was to tease out the envelope.
Orlando clicked her tongue three times.
“Copy,” Quinn said. “Tagging the vehicle.”
While Orlando continued pretending to read, she kept the woman in sight, ready to warn Quinn the moment she neared the parking area, but the woman seemed content to remain at the wall. Again, a pro move, selling the sense that nothing was up.
“Clear,” Quinn said. “We’re all set.”
“Ready on our end, too,” Nate said. He and Abraham would now be waiting closer to the main highway to follow the Jeep.
When the woman finally began moving again, Orlando clucked once, staying focused on the book.
Footsteps coming up the ramp, growing closer and closer and—
“Getting a little dark to read, don’t you think?”
Orlando looked up. The woman was standing five feet away, and though the color of her hair had changed, Orlando knew from the picture Nadine had shown them that the woman was indeed Desirae Rosette.
“Not too bad yet,” Orlando said. “I can probably get in another twenty minutes.” She turned back to the book but could feel the woman’s gaze on her.
“What is it?” Desirae asked.
“I’m sorry?”
“The book. What is it?”
Orlando held it up so Desirae could see the cover.
“What’s it about? Sheep?” Desirae said.
“No,” Orlando said with a smile. “It’s actually science fiction. Kind of.”
“What do you mean, kind of?”
Orlando could tell Desirae was testing her, but as a proponent of being prepared, she’d asked Abraham to give her a quick rundown of the plot.
“There are these people living in a silo with no apparent way out. Thousands of them. Not sure why. Haven’t gotten there yet.”
“Good?”
“Yeah. Really good.”
“Well, have a nice evening,” Desirae said, and then headed into the parking lot.
“That sounded like fun,” Quinn said as Orlando climbed into the car and tossed the book into the backseat.
“She didn’t bash my head in so I’ll take that as a win,” she said.
Quinn hit the gas and headed for the highway.
On the console between them was his phone, open to the app tracking the Jeep. Orlando picked it up and looked at the screen.
“Heading northwest,” she said. “Fits with the address Nate found. Who was the Jeep registered to again?”
“Karla…Bishop, I believe.”
Orlando leaned between the seats and retrieved her laptop. Within moments she had a mobile connection and her browser open. Unfortunately, she wasn’t able to turn up anything more about Karla Bishop. The address on the Jeep’s registration had a different name as property owner — Susan Drake. A search of that name also came up blank.
As Gloria had done at the four houses they’d visited so far, she approached the door of house number five with only King as company while Nolan and Andres waited by the sedan, ready to spring into action if things went bad.
Her knock was greeted by an elderly Asian man. “Yes?” he said.
“I’m sorry to bother you. I’m Detective Baker and this is Detective Kendrick. We’re with the county crime investigation unit.”
The man looked surprised. “How can I help you?”
She asked him a few innocuous questions, hinted at an investigation of someone else in the valley, and in the end decided he and his wife — the only other person who lived at the house — were unlikely to have been the ones Eli had talked to.
With a thank you and good-bye, she and her team moved on to house number six. Like several of the other places, there was a gate across the driveway. On one side was a mailbox with the name Drake printed on it, while on the other an intercom at driver level. When Gloria pushed the button, she received no response.
She peered past the gate and down the long drive. She could make out a portion of the house off to the right, tucked beneath several trees and surrounded by brush. The rest of the property seemed overgrown, too, as if the owner had given title back to the jungle. What she didn’t see were any cars.
She pushed the button again but again no one answered.
“Mark this one,” she said. “We’ll come back.”
She backed out of the driveway and headed down the road to house number seven.
The golden tones in the sky had begun to give way to black as the Jeep turned onto the mountain valley where the property owned by Susan Drake was located. Since there was no other way out of the area, Quinn had Nate and Abraham wait for him and Orlando at the base of the valley. By the time they met up, the Jeep had stopped moving at the exact coordinates they’d expected.
After consolidating into one car, they headed into the valley. The Bishop/Drake residence was the sixth property up the road. There was a gate across the driveway and an intercom to the side. While he couldn’t see any, Quinn was sure a camera was there, too.
He started to roll down his window to access the intercom.
“She knows me,” Abraham said. “Let me try.”
It was a sound idea. Quinn pulled forward enough so that Abraham could lean out his window and press the button.
For a long moment, it seemed as if no one would answer, and then the same voice Quinn had heard speaking to Orlando on the beach blared out of the speaker. “This is private property. Leave now or I will call the police.”
“Desirae,” Abraham said. “We just want to—”
“Get off my property!”
“It’s Abraham Delger. I know you haven’t forgotten the last time you saw me. When I brought her to you.”
Silence.
“Please,” he said. “Please let us in.”
A few more seconds passed before they heard the sound of an electric motor and saw the gate swing open. Quinn drove forward before Desirae could change her mind.
“Nice job,” Nate said to Abraham.
“I don’t think the job’s done yet,” Quinn said as the front lanai came into view, revealing Desirae Rosette standing at the top of the steps cradling a Tavor assault rifle.
CHAPTER 32
“Do not get out of the car,” Desirae said. “I don’t care why you’re here. I don’t know what lies you told my mother. I don’t want to hear any of it. I only let you come this far so you could see how serious I am. You are not welcome. Just your presence here has already ruined our lives. If you come back tomorrow, we will be gone. Now turn around and don’t come back.” She emphasized the last of her words by leveling the barrel of her rifle at them.
Orlando said, “All we need is a few minutes of—”
“Leave. Now.” Desirae braced the rifle against her shoulder.