Hostage

'What can you tell me about Krupchek?'

'Not so much. He showed up one day looking for work when I needed a guy. He was well-spoken and polite; he's big and strong, you know, so I gave him a try.'

'Did he know the Rooneys before he came on the job?'

'No, I know that for a fact. I introduced them. You know, Mars this is Dennis, Dennis this is Mars. Like that. Mars just kinda stays by himself except for when he's with Dennis.'

Talley pointed out the tattoo.

'What's this mean, "Burn it"?'

'I dunno. It's just a tattoo.'

Talley glanced at Anders.

'Did you put out the tattoo as an identifier?'

'Yes, sir.'

Identities on the NCIC computer could be crosschecked by permanent identifiers like tattoos and scars. Talley turned back to Brad Dill.

'You know what he did before this?'

'No, sir. Nope.'

'Know where he's from?'

'He doesn't talk so much. You ask him, he doesn't say so much.'

'How does he get along with the other men?'

'Well enough, I guess. He never had much to do with anyone until Dennis came back. That was only a week or so ago. Before Dennis came back, he would just stay by himself and watch everyone else.'

'What do you mean, watch everyone else?'

'I don't know if I'm saying it right. When the guys go on a break, he doesn't sit with'm. He sits off by himself and watches them, kinda like he was keeping an eye on them. No, wait, that's not right. It was more like he's watching TV. Does that make sense? Sometimes it'd make me think he'd fallen asleep the way he'd do that. He was just, I dunno, staring.'

Talley didn't like what he was hearing about Krupchek, but he also didn't know what to make of it.

'Has he ever demonstrated violence or aggression toward the other men?'

'He just sits there.'

Talley handed the photograph back to Anders. Mars Krupchek might be retarded or suffer from some other mental impairment, but Talley didn't know. He had no sense of who Mars Krupchek was, what he was capable of, or how he might act. This left Talley feeling anxious and wary. The unknown could kill you, and was often worse than you imagined.

'Mr. Dill, do you have an address for Krupchek?'

Dill pulled a tiny address book from his back pocket and read off an address and phone number. Anders copied them.

Talley thanked Brad Dill for his help, told him that Anders would bring him home, then took Anders aside out of earshot.

'Check that Krupchek's address matches with the billing address listed with the phone. If it does, call the Palmdale City Attorney's office and ask for a telephonic search warrant, then head to his residence. After you've got the warrant, go in and see what you find. Take someone with you.'

As Anders and Dill drove away, Talley tried to recall the things that he still needed to do. Mrs. Smith had to be found, his officers had to be fed, and he wanted to check the perimeter positions of the newly arrived Highway Patrol officers to make sure that Jorgenson hadn't placed them too close to the house. When he realized that he would have to call Rooney again soon, a swell of panic threatened to overwhelm him. He would have to call Rooney every hour throughout the night; interrupt his sleep, break down his resistance, wear him down. A hostage barricade was a war of attrition and nerves. Talley didn't know that his own nerves were enough to see it through.

Metzger's voice cut through his radio.

'Chief, Metzger.'

'Go, Leigh.'

'The Sheriffs are inbound. Ten minutes out.'

Talley slumped against his car and closed his eyes. Thank God.

DENNIS

Dennis tried not to look at Mars after his conversation with Talley, but he couldn't help himself. He thought about what Kevin had told him, about Mars wanting to shoot that cop who had come to the door, about Mars lying that the cop had pulled his weapon and Mars firing first. Maybe Talley had something; maybe Dennis could beat the rap if it was Mars who shot the officer, and not him. If Kevin backed him up, they might be able to cut a deal with the prosecutor for their testimony against Mars. Dennis felt a desperate hope, but then he remembered the money. If he cut a deal, he had to give up the money. He shoved the phone aside and turned back to the others. He wasn't ready to give up the cash.

Kevin looked at him anxiously.

'Are they giving us the helicopter?'

'No. We gotta find another way out of here. Let's start looking.'

The girl and her fat brother were still kneeling beside their father. She started on him right away.

'There's nothing to look for. You've got to do something to help my father.'

She still held the washcloth to her father's head, but now the ice was melted and the cloth was soaked. Dennis felt a flash of annoyance.

'Shut up, all right? I've got a situation here, in case you haven't noticed.'

Her face worked harder.

'All you're doing is watching yourself on TV. You hurt him. Look at him. He needs a doctor.'

'Shut up.'

'It's been hours!'

'Put more ice in the cloth.'

'Ice doesn't help!'

The fat boy started crying.

'He's in a coma!'

The girl surprised him. She lurched to her feet with the abrupt fury of a jack-in-the-box and stomped toward the door.

'I'm getting a doctor!'

Dennis felt outside of himself, as if the weight of the cops and his being trapped in this house were all suddenly real where they hadn't been before. He caught her in two steps, slapping her just the way his old man used to lay out the old lady, that shrill bitch. He caught the girl square on the side of the face with the weight of his hand, knocked her flat fucking down to the floor. The fat boy shouted her name and charged, pummeling Dennis like an angry midget. Dennis dug his fingers into the soft meat on the back of the boy's neck, and the fat boy squealed. Then Kevin was shoving him away.

'STOP IT!'

Kevin pushed the fat boy down with his sister, placing himself between them and Dennis.

'Just stop it, Dennis. Please!'

Dennis was in a blood fury. He wanted to beat Kevin down, to smash his face and kick him into a pulp. He wanted to beat the fat boy and the girl, then throw the cash in the Jaguar and crash out of the garage and shoot it out with the cops all the way down to Mexico.

Mars was staring at him, his face a shadow, his eyes tiny glints of strange light like ferrets peering from caves.

Dennis shouted, 'What?'

Mars made the quiet smile and shook his head.

Dennis stepped back, breathing hard. Everything was coming apart. Dennis looked back at the television, half expecting to see the cops storming the house, but the scene outside was exactly as it had been minutes before. The girl was holding her face in her hands. The fat boy was glaring with hate-filled eyes like he wanted to cut Dennis's throat. Their father was breathing noisily through his nose. The pressure was making him crazy.

Dennis said, 'We gotta do something with them. I can't deal with this shit.'

Mars lumbered to his feet, large and gross.

'We should tie them up so we don't have to worry about them. We should have done that anyway.'

Dennis hooked his head toward the girl, speaking to Kevin.

'Mars is right. We can't leave these assholes running around like this, getting in the way. Find something to tie'm up with, and take them upstairs.'

'What do I use to tie them?'

'Look in the garage. Look in the kitchen. Mars, you find something, okay? You know what we need. This turd doesn't know anything.'

Mars disappeared toward the garage. Kevin took the girl's arm as if he was afraid that she would hit him, but she stood without resisting, her face working and the tears coming harder.