Page 56 of Go Alone

“Well, he’s squatting underneath that house,” Kirke said. “I was returning home from a late night at the office. I passed the house and saw someone crouching behind the back porch. I could just make him out when I rounded the corner. It’s an older house, so it has one of those old crawlspaces underneath the porch where you can access the water system and—”

“Can you describe the man?” Kate interrupted.

“Well, I only saw him for a moment in the headlights, but he looked to be in his forties. Tall, a little heavyset. His eyes looked bright blue, but it was hard to tell in the glow of the headlights.”

“Blond?”

“I don’t know, he was wearing a hat.”

“Close enough,” Kate said. “Where is this house?”

“It’s two blocks south of here, near the park. I can give you the address.”

“Go ahead,” Anita repeated.

He gave them the address, and Anita grinned. “Okay. You’re good to talk to the officers. Thank you.”

“Could you ask him why?” Kirke asked. “When you see him? I mean… I really don’t understand why he’d want to kill me. I was only doing my job, and you said that Beverly is happy now.”

“What’s important right now is stopping him,” Kate said. “We’ll worry about the rest later.”

“Yes,” Kirke said. “Of course. Thank you.”

The three of them left immediately for the address Kirke provided. Anita called the third cruiser on the way and told them to bring two more units and surround the house.

Just a little while longer, and they’d have this guy dead to rights. It would all be over soon.

CHAPTER TWENTY-SIX

Kate’s heart thudded as she approached the house. She, Marcus, and Anita were approaching from the back with two officers remaining outside the fence to respond in case the killer tried to exit through a window or managed to make it past the three of them. Four more officers watched the front of the house.

“That panel,” Anita said, thrusting her chin to a piece of wood tilted slightly out of alignment with the others. “That’s how he accesses the crawlspace.”

Marcus called, “FBI! Whoever’s inside there, come out with your hands where we can see them!”

There was no answer.

Marcus called again. “FBI! We are armed, and we will shoot! Exit the house now!”

Nothing.

“Cover me,” Marcus said, holstering his weapon. “I’ll open the panel.”

Kate and Anita stood on either side while Marcus carefully approached the panel. Kate swallowed, trying not to picture a volley of gunfire ripping through the panel and cutting Marcus to ribbons.

Marcus gently worked his fingers through the gap in the crawlspace. He held his other hand up, three fingers raised. He lowered them one at a time. When the final one lowered, he jerked the panel free, stepped back, and drew his weapon.

No one emerged. Kate flicked her flashlight on, but the sun was setting behind them, so she could already see that the crawlspace was empty.

But it had been occupied recently. A sleeping bag lay on the ground, along with a battery-powered lantern and a scuffed leather-bound copy of the Bible, King James Version.

“I’ll check the house,” Anita said. “Marcus, you’re with me. Kate, you have the officers behind you. I assume you want to check that crawlspace for clues.”

Kate nodded. Marcus looked at her, and she said, “Go with Anita.”

Marcus nodded once, and they headed for the door. Anita called the officers in front of the house to arrange for two of them to enter through the front door while two more watched the exits.

They wouldn’t find anything. It was worth checking, just in case, but their killer held property as sacred. He wasn’t against squatting in some situations, or he wouldn’t have murdered Brannigan for driving those squatters off of his property, but he wouldn’t be sleeping under the house if he thought this situation warranted sleeping in a bed.