Hostage

The boy could have gotten all of this information off the news, but so far as Talley knew, no one had as yet reported, or knew, the whereabouts of the mother. They were still trying to locate her.

'What about your mother?'

The boy answered without hesitating.

'She's in Florida with my Aunt Kate.'

Talley felt a blossom of heat in his chest. This might be real. He made a scribbling gesture with his hand, telling Martin to get ready to write. She glanced at Ellison, who fumbled out his spiral notepad and a pen.

'What's your aunt's name, bud?'

'Kate Toepfer. She has blond hair.'

Talley repeated it, watching Ellison write.

'Where does she live?'

'West Palm Beach.'

Talley didn't bother to cover the phone.

'We got the boy. Get a number for this woman, Kate Toepfer in West Palm Beach, that's where the mother is.'

Maddox and Ellison exchanged words, Talley not hearing because he had already gone back to the boy. Martin stepped close, pulling at his arm to tip the phone so that she could hear.

'Where you are now, son, are you okay? Could they catch you talking to me?'

'They locked me in my room. I'm on my sister's cell phone.'

'Where's that, your room?'

'Upstairs.'

'Okay. Where's your dad and sister?'

'My dad's down in the office. They got him on the couch. He needs a doctor.'

'Was he shot?'

'Dennis hit him, and now he won't wake up. My sister says he needs a doctor, but Dennis won't listen.'

'Is he bleeding?'

'Not anymore. He just won't wake up. I'm really scared.'

'How about your sister? Is she okay?'

Maddox said, 'Ask him does he know the subject locations.'

Talley raised a hand, the boy still talking, saying something about his sister.

'What was that, Thomas? I missed that. Is she okay?'

'I said she won't leave. I tried to get her to leave, but she won't without our dad.'

Martin plucked at him.

'Can he get out? Ask him if he can get out.'

Talley nodded.

'Okay, Thomas, we're going to get you out of there as fast as we can, but I want to ask something. You're alone in your room on the second floor, right?'

'Yeah.'

'Could you let yourself out your window if we were down below to catch you?'

'They've got the windows nailed shut. But even if they didn't, they could see me.'

'They could see you climbing out the window even though you're alone?'

'We have security cameras. They could see on the monitors in my folks' room if they were looking. They would see you sneaking up to the house, too.'

'Okay, son, one more thing. Dennis told me that he had set up the house to burn with gasoline. Is that true?'

'They've got a bucket of gas in the entry hall. I saw it when they brought me downstairs. It really stinks.'

Talley heard brushing sounds on the phone, and the boy's voice dropped.

'They're coming.'

'Thomas? Thomas, are you all right?'

The boy was gone.

Martin said, 'What's happening?'

Talley listened, straining now, but the line was dead.

'He said they were coming, then he hung up.'

Martin took a deep breath, let it hiss out.

'You think they caught him?'

Talley closed the phone and put it away.

'I don't think so. He didn't sound panicked when he shut the phone, so I don't think he was discovered; he just had to end the call.'

'Was Rooney telling the truth about the gasoline?'

'Yes.'

'Shit. That's a problem. That's a fucking big problem. All we need is a goddamned barbecue.'

'He also said that there's a video security system. That's how he saw your people approaching the house.'

Martin turned to Ellison.

'Have the I.O. check the phone lines to see if there's a security feed. We might be able to back-trace it to the provider and find out what we're dealing with.'

Talley started to say that his people had already come up empty with that, but he let it go. If it was him, he'd double-check, too.

'He says the father is injured. That's why he called out, to say his father needs a doctor.'

Martin's expression turned grim. She hadn't heard that part.

'First the goddamned gas, and now this. If the man is in imminent danger, we might have to risk a breach.'

Maddox shifted, uncomfortable.

'How're we gonna breach knowing this guy can see it coming, him with gasoline ready to go? We'll get people killed.'

'If we have someone dying in there, we can't ignore it.'

Talley held up his hands like he was pushing them apart.

'The boy didn't say anyone is dying, he just said the man is hurt.'

He repeated Thomas's description of Walter Smith's condition. Martin listened, head down, but glancing at Maddox and Ellison from time to time as if to gauge their reactions. When Talley finished, she nodded.

'Well, that's not a lot of information.'

'No.'

'All right, at least we know we're not talking about a gunshot victim here. Smith's not in there bleeding to death.'

'Sounds like head trauma.'

'So we've got a possible concussion, but we can't be sure about that. We can't very well call Rooney back to ask about the father. He might get it in his head that one of those kids is calling out.'

Talley had to agree.

'We have to protect the boy. If he gets the chance to call again, I'm pretty sure he will.'

Maddox nodded.