Hidden ( CSI Reilly Steel #3) (40 page)

So Ellie must have been his daughter. ‘Tell me more about Ellie.’

McAllister shook his head, smiling. ‘She was the first to come to us. So troubled, so afraid and suspicious of everything and everyone. The only thing that seemed to calm her was stories, especially the story of the swans.’ He smiled. ‘I suppose that’s why she got the tattoo.’

Reilly frowned.  His daughter had had the same tattoo? ‘You didn’t tattoo Ellie yourself?’

‘Oh no. That would have been frowned upon. I think that’s why they took her away, but I don’t know. I just know that shortly after she got the wings, she never came back. Ironic really.’

Never came back …

‘And then of course, they let her die all alone like that. It was barbaric…which is why I brought her back, brought her home.’

Reilly’s mind was struggling to make sense of it all. She needed to be very careful here, given his muddy perception of dreams and reality. ‘Ellie and your wife … you lost them at the same time?’

‘Of course not. How could that be? Ellie was taken from us long before … that. If it wasn’t for Sarah, I’m not sure how we’d have coped, especially when they wouldn’t give us anyone else.’

Now Reilly was seriously confused. Who
were ‘they’? She could see he was deep in thought, deep in memories, so she said nothing further, hoping he might offer some insight into what he was talking about.

‘After losing Miriam, Sarah was my rock, all I had left in the world. I was so afraid of losing her. After all, it was my job to protect her.’

‘But you did lose her, David.’ Reilly braced herself for a reaction, not knowing if she was talking to the deluded fanciful David McAllister, or the weary broken man who’d lost his family once before and was now trying to surround himself with a world he thought he could control.

‘
It’s time to end it, you know that,’ she said.  ‘You’ve done your very best to offer these children a haven from a world gone mad, but in the end you can’t protect them from themselves. They have to be allowed to change, to grow, to have the freedom to find their own place in the world, and you can’t give them that. It’s what Sarah wanted.’

When he didn’t reply, she decided to press further, hoping her words were striking a chord. ‘Sarah flew the nest. And I think you know t
he time has come for the others to do the same. What happened to her doesn’t have to happen to them. We can help them.’

‘What do you mean?’ he asked suddenly. ‘What happened to Sarah, where is she?’

She paused, not sure what to say. Of course, McAllister would have no clue that Sarah had died on the road. Should she use this, she thought, maybe it would help draw him out…

‘She’s safe and waiting for you,’ she lied.

He shook his head. ‘Not out there. She’ll never be safe with him around.’

Reilly frowned. Never be safe with who around? The father of her child, maybe?

Just then, the photographer called out in pain, and Reilly went over to check on him.

He was complaining of pain in the region of his left kidney, and she was worried about how deep the pellets had gone
. Whether it was from the pain, or from an infection setting in from the wounds, she couldn’t tell, but he was starting to drift off. ‘I could do with a drink,’ he murmured. He was still lying face down on the table – with the pain he was in, there was no chance of him sitting or lying on his back.

Reilly
got him a glass of water, and handed it to him. ‘You doing OK?’ 

He sipped the water
awkwardly, and looked over at McAllister, who was still sitting gazing at the empty fireplace.

‘
He doesn’t expect me to get my assignment in today, does he?’

The
comment caught Reilly by surprise. ‘Assignment?  What are you talking about?’

O’Connor nodded towards McAllister. ‘My editor. He’s a real stickler for deadlines usually, but I was hoping that getting shot in the ass would give me a little leeway…’

Reilly took t
he empty water glass from him. ‘I’m sure you’ll be given time to get better first.  Why don’t you close your eyes for a bit?’

‘Be the first time if he does…’  He laid his head back down on the table.  ‘Think I might close my eyes for a few minutes – wake me up if he starts getting shirty, right?’

As soon as O’Connor looked settled, Reilly
moved over to rejoin McAllister.  He had his back to her – wild thoughts crossed her mind – maybe she could grab something heavy and beat him over the head with it? 

But what looked easy in the movies
was a lot harder in real life. She doubted her own resolve, and worried what would happen if it didn’t knock him out – what if he fought back? 

He was close to the edge
. Reilly attacking him might be all it took to push him past the edge of reason – and if that happened they could all wind up dead.  No, she had to work with what she had – words, her ability to keep him calm, and the trust they had built up.

‘About your family …’

          ‘Take a look at this,’ McAllister said, handing her a large book, worn from years of gentle handling. She opened it slowly, McAllister peering over her shoulder, his alcohol breath engulfing her as he talked.

‘This is
of all our swans, going back over the years…’

He pointed to the first page – a little child’s picture was glued there, a mass of squiggles and colors, the kind of thing on
ly a parent finds fascinating. ‘That was Ellie’s first picture,’ he informed Reilly. ‘She said it was the swans.’

He leaned over clo
ser, and turned the pages for her. ‘Ah, look at that one.’

This was slightly more identifiable – a lumpy brown animal with four legs, gre
en grass below, blue sky above. ‘Conn drew that – the pony we used to have…’  He thought for a moment.  ‘What was that pony’s name? I can’t remember.’

Reilly
looked up. ‘They’re lovely.’  She searched for the right words – the ones to move him forwards. With the photographer getting worse and McAllister moving back and forth from fantasy and reality, there was little time to waste now. ‘But you can’t live forever in the past. Children aren’t butterflies, you can’t pin them to a board and expect them to stay there.’

He swayed slightly as he looked down at her. 
‘We should not be blinkered by society. Just because the world operates a certain way doesn’t make it right, only those who choose their own path can truly live a blessed life…’ He clasped his hands together and looked into Reilly’s eyes.  ‘The world beyond the reality my little herd knows is lost – it was already lost to them before they came to me. The only chance an innocent child has is by being protected from its cancerous touch. That’s my calling, and I’ve seen and heard in you something that tells me it was no mistake that you came to us.’  He suddenly grew very serious, and crouched down level with Reilly, stared into her eyes.  ‘It’s not me who has to make a decision, Miss Steel, it’s you. Look into your heart and find the answer … you know these swans will be safest with me. Like Sarah’s mother knew it was better to get her away from the leering eyes of her so-called father.’

‘I don’t understand,’ Reilly said, completely confused. ‘You knew Sarah’s mother?’

‘Of course,’ McAllister replied as if it was the most obvious thing in the world. ‘She’s my sister.’

Kennedy nodded towards the door of the trailer to indicate for Chris to follow him.

O
utside he puffed at his freshly lit cigarette. ‘Well, what do you reckon on surfer boy?’

Chris snorted. 
‘Let’s say we agree to disagree.’

‘
So he’s running the show, and we’re shut out?’

‘S
omething like that.’

‘Was it his
idea for Reilly to go in alone?’

‘His, hers.
You know what she’s like when she’s got the bit between her teeth. Thinks she can save the world.’

‘
She’s pretty hard to say no to once she’s made up her mind, that’s for sure.’ Kennedy dropped his cigarette after only three or four long pulls, and stubbed it out with his foot. ‘I don’t like it though.’

‘Me neither, and I really don’t like sitting around waiting for
—’

They were interrupted by the ringing of Chris’s mobile. ‘It’s the lab,’ he told Kennedy, answering. ‘Delaney here. Hi
, Julius. No, she’s … unavailable at the moment. Anything I can help you with?’

He listened for a couple of minutes and then looked at Kennedy, his face changing. ‘Are you absolutely sure?’

              His partner gave him a questioning look.

‘OK, thanks. I’ll follow up on it.’

When he clicked off, Kennedy spoke. ‘So what was all that about?’

‘I’m not sure what it means yet,’ Chris replied, frowning, ‘but it seems our information is bad …  we’ve got the timeline all wrong on this somehow.’

‘What do you …’ The rest of his sentence was cut off by a shout from one of the officers nearby.

‘
Heads up, somebody’s coming out of the building!’

Chris ran down to the perimeter, closely followed by Kennedy.

Staggering down the drive was a man wearing no trousers, blood running down one side of his left leg, as he limped and looked around, confused. Several times he lost his footing on the loose gravel as he tried to pick up the pace.

‘The photographer … Reilly must have convinced
McAllister to let him go,’ Kennedy said.

Chris breathed a relieved sigh. ‘Which hopefully means this is almost
over.’

Back in the trailer,
Steve Jacobs reached for the radio and pressed the answer button.

‘Mr McAl
lister, how is everything?’

‘
This is not a social call, Jacobs, just do what I say,’ McAllister bellowed down the radio, clearly irate. ‘Listen very carefully. I want you to have one person drive a van up here, back it up close to the door, and leave the keys in the ignition. No games, I’ll have my sights on it. My family and I are leaving now, and we do not expect to be followed.  My little swans don’t like it here. We want to go home…’

Jacobs’
s voice was calm and measured. ‘We’ll get somebody working on that right now. It’ll take a few minutes though. Can you put Reilly on the line so we can organize the details?’

The radio clicked off.

‘Damn…’

‘
What did that photographer say, what’s happening up there?’ O’Brien demanded as Kennedy and Chris reappeared in the trailer.

‘
We haven’t been able to talk to him,’ Kennedy said. ‘Paramedics are with him at the moment, and he looks in poor shape.’

‘
I want somebody out there now to see what they can get out of him. And then I want him arrested and charged!’ O’Brien spat, venting his anger and venom at the easiest target.

‘Have you heard
anything from Reilly?’ Chris asked Jacobs, who shook his head.  Chris turned to O’Brien, his jaw clenched. ‘Sir, this has gone on long enough. We need to get a team in there.’

‘Detective, m
ight I suggest we buy some time, play along, tell him the van is on the way?’ Jacobs said, holding the radio.

‘
Chris is right, the time for talking is over,’ Kennedy agreed, looking at Nolan, the ARU chief, hoping he would step in with a suggestion.

Nolan
nodded. ‘I have to agree with the detectives. This has gone on long enough. We need to act.’

‘
Any suggestions about how we should act?’ O’Brien blustered. ‘We have a senior investigator in there as a hostage.’

‘
Sir, can I make a suggestion…’ Jacobs began, before getting abruptly shot down by Chris.

‘
Stay out of this, Jacobs, the talk shop is shut. All you’ve done is sit around here talking crap, and sent one of us in to do your job.’ Chris’s face flashed angrily.

‘What’s your suggestion
, Jacobs?’ O’Brien asked, ignoring Chris.

‘Reilly
and the children’s safety is our ultimate priority now, and if we just charge up there, who knows how it will end?  So I was thinking… we give McAllister what he wants.’

‘That’s it
? That’s your brainwave?’ Chris yelled, and Kennedy put his hand on his arm to calm him down.

O’Brien shook his head. ‘W
e give him the van and then what? He takes off home…back to the lake or Tir Na Nog or wherever the hell he thinks home is… we’d be back to square one.’

‘Not quite,’ said
Jacobs. ‘My thinking is that we send him a Trojan horse. Give him his van but with a surprise inside.’

They all contemplated the sugge
stion.

‘
It’s the only way to get my men up there safely without arousing any suspicions,’ Nolan agreed. ‘We put a four-man tactical team in the van, back it up good and tight to the door, and use two men on the flanks with two others in the back. When we get a visual we either take him down, or get him out.’

O’Brien massaged his temples. ‘
OK set it up. Jacobs, get back on the radio. Tell McAllister his van is on the way, and ask to speak to Reilly again.’

It was risky and a lot could go wrong
, but right then it was all they had.

Reilly could feel the water churning above her.

F
ew women surfed at Maverick’s; it was a potential graveyard.  The ocean swell that had charged thousand of miles through the ring of fire and then crashed into the sharp continental shelf south of San Francisco made it a must for elite surfers.

Or
those with a death wish.

Reilly fell into the second category
. Witnessing so much suffering, so much death had left a void, a chasm that would temporarily vanish when faced with her own mortality. Life or death.

It
was just her versus nature, and as the gurgling monster of the Pacific ocean hammered over her, her board was dragged one way and her body the other as her tether cord reached its elastic limit.

M
ore water pounded in – which way was up, which way was down, Reilly didn’t know, but she also knew there was no point in panicking.

The next wave struck
, sending her board back towards her like a bullet, the rear edge hitting her on the head with all the force the ocean could muster. The pain struck first, then silence and finally the blackness. Mother Nature was winning. Her body was limp and relaxed, floating. She felt a tight grip on her arm, tugging, shaking her …

‘Come on, time to go. You have been chosen to help me.’

Reilly’s head throbbed
as she came to. Where was she? She struggled to open her eyes, but it was as though they were made of lead.  Searing pain shot through her temple.

‘
Miss Steel, wake up now, the time has come for us to return. You can come with us; you will have true peace.’

Reilly slowly remembered what had happened. She kept her eye
s shut.

How
long had she been out? What had happened to O’Connor? She remembered him trying to make a run for it while she and McAllister were talking ... but everything had happened so fast after that she wasn’t sure … Had he got out? Or had McAllister …?

Jo
lted upright by a strong grip, she opened her eyes and groaned in response.

‘
Ah good, you’re awake.’ McAllister returned to the window and the radio crackled to life.

‘
Mr McAllister, the van has arrived.’ Reilly heard Jacobs’s voice but wasn’t sure what was going on … Was McAllister surrendering? ‘We are going to cut the chain on the gate so the driver can drive up.’

He reached for the radio.
‘OK, but remember I can see everything from here, don’t try to trick me.’

‘
What’s going on, where are you going?’ Reilly asked as she stood up for the first time.

Blood
immediately rushed to her brain and stars appeared before her eyes. She bowed her head, thinking she would faint. A wave of nausea hit, and she vomited on the floor beside the table, unable hold it in.

McAllister walked towards her, seeing her knees tremble with the weakness.

‘Come, come, sit, I’ll get you a drink.’

He hooked her under the arm to support her
, placing the gun on the table. Reilly saw it through watering eyes. It was now or never. She took a deep breath, and wiped her eyes.

‘Here
, let me—’

T
hen summoning every ounce of energy she had,  Reilly charged into McAllister, catching him completely by surprise.  He lurched sideways, trying to keep his legs under him but became entangled with a chair and crashed to the ground.

Reilly grabbed the gun from the table.

‘Don’t move,’ she commanded, as he tried to get back on his feet. ‘It’s over, stay right there. I will use this, don’t let the children bear witness to your death.  I
will
fire …’ she warned again.

He looked up at her,
got slowly to his feet then put his hands in the air.

‘
Move over there towards the door,’ Reilly said as she reached for the radio. Outside, the bang of the van door startled them both.

Jacobs
’s voice cracked through the radio. ‘OK, Mr McAllister, the van is outside, the driver’s on his way back. Now we need something in return, let me speak with Ms —’

She grabbed the radio. ‘
Jacobs, it’s me, I have him, get somebody up here!’ she cried breathlessly.

‘
Are you OK?’

‘
I’m fine, just get somebody —’

There was a loud crash, then a bang and Reilly felt herself sailing through the air.

She heard the ARU officer shouting something in the distance. ‘Team Trojan, go! Suspect disarmed, secure and confirm!’

The back doors of the van burst open as the
armed unit flew out and charged the door. The first two officers entered, guns raised.

Coming into the room
they saw Reilly on her back struggling to sit up from where she’d landed after McAllister had charged.

‘The gun…’

One of the officers secured the wea
pon while the other stood over the injured McAllister. He unclipped his radio and called the trailer. ‘Suspect down and injured, officer injured, send in paramedics.’

Just then,
Chris and Kennedy rushed through the door.

‘
Reilly, are you OK? Jesus… are you hit?’ Chris asked, helping her to her feet.

‘
I’m OK, he charged me … I think the gun went off … is he …?’

‘
Don’t worry about that, here, sit down.’ Chris ushered her to a nearby chair and she was grateful for the strength of his arms around her.

‘
Ms Steel, can you confirm the suspect was alone?’ one of the ARU officers asked.

‘
Yes, there was a photographer here as well … I don’t know where he is now. He tried to get out, and McAllister went ballistic. He cracked me in the head with the gun, I think. I don’t know what happened after that.’

‘
Where are the kids? Have you seen them?’ Chris asked.

‘Out back somewhere, I think. I’m not sure,’ Reilly said, as she sat forward on the chair, her hands starting to shake as the adrenaline began to wear off.

‘
I’ll go take a look.’ Kennedy walked towards the other door.

T
he paramedics rushed in to check on Reilly and treat McAllister.

‘Was
he hit?’ Chris asked.

‘Yes. He’s
lost some blood, but the pellets seem to have missed any major organs or arteries,’ he confirmed as McAllister let out a loud groan and tried to move.

‘
I want him sedated.’