They had begun their descent. The great lake shimmered in its bowl.
What had Bova tried to tell her? Flint wanted him to tell Nina that he didn’t kill that woman. He must have meant Sarah Hanna. Flint had beaten Bova and accused him of killing Sarah Hanna. Just how demented was Flint?
Flint had said, “Nobody rides piggyback on me.” That was how Nina’s dream had returned to her; the phrase was sitting in the back of her mind, waiting to be processed.
She let it all turn to a mishmash in her mind and watched the mountains, and two phrases kept going round and round.
Hidden variable. Ride piggyback.
The case has a hidden variable, she thought. Can’t figure it out the way I’ve been thinking. Look behind the veil. Ride piggyback.
Somebody’s piggybacking. The hidden variable is piggybacking. On something.
“Nobody rides piggyback on me.”
Meaning… meaning… he had done the robbery, no question of that. Did he mean that someone had piggybacked on the robbery?
Shot Sarah Hanna, with Flint’s gun? Elliott had been alone with Flint. But why would Elliott shoot Sarah Hanna?
Someone else? The timing had been so quick.
The chill spread downward and rooted in hell. If Flint hadn’t shot Sarah, had run, and someone had picked up the gun, then who had killed Chelsi, and Silke, and Raj?
Who was the hidden variable?
31
SANDY AND WISH WAITED AT THE runway. The cold dry air of the mountains filled Nina’s lungs.
“Sergeant Cheney called. Flint is at Dave Hanna’s house in Placerville.”
“What?”
“He’s got Mr. Hanna.”
No one acted as fast as Flint. Nina blinked back tears. “I can’t stand to lose him, Sandy. Not another death.”
“He’s still alive, we think. The Placerville police got a 911 from Roger Freeman and surrounded the house. We figured you’d want to get down there.”
Wish took her briefcase. “I’m driving.”
They tore over Echo Summit, careened down the winding Highway 50. Nina sat in the back, holding the oh-shit strap in the ceiling, numbly watching the snowbanks turn to patchy white.
She descended for the second time that day, from winter back to autumn. Sandy had brought the running shoes Nina had kept at the office. Nina pulled off her stockings, put on the shoes, and tossed her jacket to the side.
A parked police car and a yellow tape across the entry to Hanna’s neighborhood greeted them. “I’m Hanna’s lawyer,” Nina said. The officer made a call and let them through.
There were a dozen police and sheriff’s-department cars a few hundred feet down, past two empty houses. An ambulance idled in back. Hanna’s picket-fence gate hung crookedly on its hinges. The windows were shut, the blinds drawn.
Roger Freeman stood with Sergeant Cheney. He was shouting something, gesticulating. “Stay here,” Nina said to Sandy and Wish. Sandy nodded.
“Roger,” Nina said.
Roger’s arm came down. “Dave’s a hostage,” he said. “I couldn’t protect him after all.”
Sergeant Cheney said, “I thought you’d be along.”
“What happened?” she asked Roger.
“I came over at two to check on Dave. He usually starts drinking at noon, but he promised me he’d stay sober. He said he could take care of himself. Dave’s got a rifle. We used to hunt together. I thought he’d be okay during the daylight hours. What could I do? He wouldn’t come stay with me.”
“I should have tried to have him put into protective custody. But Flint moves so fast. I worried, but I didn’t really know he’d go after Dave,” Nina said.
“The gate was like that, and I knew something was wrong. I called to him from outside. Flint shot at me. I heard Dave shout for help, and that’s the last I’ve heard from him.”
“I don’t think he meant to hit Roger,” Cheney said. “The shot went wide.”
“Are you sure there’s nobody else in there?” Nina said.
“Doesn’t seem to be,” Cheney said.
“What’s happening now?”
Cheney said, “Placerville police are trying to make contact. He won’t answer the phone, so they’re going to try a bullhorn.”
“He’ll kill Dave if he wants to,” Nina said. “He’s a security expert. He’ll know whatever hostage-rescue protocol you use.”
“If we hear a shot, we’ll rush the house. That’s all we plan to do now. When night comes we can do more. Aerosols and so on. Meantime, he has to see that if he shoots again we’ll rush the house.”
“You talked to Jimmy Bova last night, Sergeant.”
“Yes. Flint again.”
“He-Flint-was trying to communicate with me. Did Bova tell you that?”
“It was just junk talk.”
“I think he believes he didn’t kill Sarah Hanna. Maybe he’s crazy, but that’s how I understand what he told Bova.” She explained her thinking, but Cheney didn’t look impressed.
“Then he’s a liar,” he said. “Or delusional.”
His radio crackled and he stepped away from them.
Roger slumped against a police car. It was five in the afternoon and the shadows lengthened, leaving the house dark. “I’m going to tell you something. The truth is, I never liked Dave. Not from the first day I met him, hanging on Sarah at the Sacramento County Fair. Now I’m wondering if he wouldn’t stay with me because he knew it all along. Because he’s proud. Then Flint wouldn’t have found him at home.”
“Stop it, Roger. Flint might have come to your house. You might be a hostage, too.”
“Dave said he had his rifle. He’s a good shot. We’ve hunted wild boar, wild turkeys, deer together. But he’s a drunk.”
“You couldn’t prevent it.”
“What did Flint think he could gain?”
“It’s a surefire way to end a lawsuit,” Nina said. “Dispose of the plaintiff. It’s no way to end a murder investigation, though. Flint is very violent, Roger. Thank you for checking on Dave and calling the police. I believe he would have been dead hours ago if you hadn’t. Flint would have come and gone.”
“I don’t know if Dave is alive or dead,” Roger said. He breathed out heavily. “I don’t feel well at all. It’s too much. My daughter.” He slipped to the ground. “I’m so tired,” he said.
“Do you need a doctor?”
“Just tired.”
“I’ll be right back.” Nina ran to the van and asked Wish for help. Together they brought Roger back and laid him down in the back seat, covering him with Wish’s parka. “Rest there,” Nina said. “If you don’t feel better soon, we’ll get you to an ER.”
Sandy had been standing by. She said, “What now?”
“It’ll get dark, and they’ll make a move.”
They heard an amplified bullhorn. Nina could see a uniformed man holding it. “Mr. Flint, please pick up the phone. That’s all we ask. We are not interfering with you. Please pick up the phone so we can talk. We need to find out what you need right now.” He lowered it and waited. Nothing happened.
“He doesn’t need a gun to kill Hanna,” Wish said, voicing the thought that was also in Nina’s mind.
“Maybe he’d like to talk to me,” she said. “He sent me a message last night. Maybe he wants to know how I reacted.”
“Let the cops handle it,” Sandy advised.
“I’m going to ask Cheney.” The sergeant was huddled with a group of Placerville deputies on a neighboring property. Nina steeled herself and went to him. “He might talk to me,” she said. “He has said that he wants to talk to me.”
One of the deputies said, “He’s not talking to anybody.” But Cheney puffed out his cheeks and considered her.
“Better to let trained people try,” he said eventually.
“They’ve been trying.”
“You’d be out of range. You’d be safe.”
“I’m willing.”
“I don’t know. You’re not known for your soothing qualities. What makes you think you can sweet-talk him?”
“I’ll just ask if there’s anything he wants to tell me,” Nina said. “If he doesn’t respond, I’ll get out of the way. I’m very worried about my client, Sergeant. His brother-in-law has collapsed and his wife and his niece have been killed by this asshole. I’m all he has out here. Just knowing that I’m here might help Dave.”