Paradox (FBI Thriller 22)

A Metro squad car pulled into their driveway, cut its lights, and two officers climbed out. “Agent Savich?”

After introductions, Sherlock gave them a quick rundown, then Officers Pattee and Paulette headed out to search the neighborhood. They were back ten minutes later. No sign of their intruder, not that Savich or Sherlock expected them to spot him.

Paulette said, “No lights on in any houses, so the sound of the car engine didn’t wake anybody up.”

“And no neighbors standing on their porches to tell us anything,” said Pattee.

Savich was studying his security system beside the front door. He called, “Come look at this.” Both Paulette and Pattee looked over his shoulder to where he pointed.

“That’s more wires than the back of my TV,” Paulette said.

“Looks untouched to me,” Pattee said, leaning in. “But how can that be possible? The guy got into your son’s window. It’s alarmed, right?”

“Oh yes,” Sherlock said.

Dillon said, “I’m thinking we’ve got a guy with major computer skills.”

“You think he disabled the alarm system remotely, using his computer?”

Savich nodded. “To do it, he’d have to be very good, because I upgraded the system myself. But he succeeded, and now I’ll have to figure out how he did that and fix it.”

The three men studied the complex mess of wires for another couple of seconds, then Paulette turned to Sherlock. “Could we go inside? You can tell us exactly what happened.”

They went into the living room and Officer Paulette switched on a recorder. Sherlock went through it all again, answered their questions, and finished with “I can’t tell you what he looked like. He wore a stocking mask, but I do believe he was young, twenty-five at most. When he ran across the yard, I saw he was limping a bit. From the jump? Maybe. I didn’t notice a limp when he was in Sean’s bedroom.” She closed her eyes, pictured him. “It was his left leg.”

They asked questions, Sherlock gave more details, and finally Officer Paulette switched off his phone recorder and smiled at her. “You really told him you’d shoot his head off?”

Paulette, no more than twenty-five himself, had a great smile, and Sherlock found herself smiling back as she nodded. “That’s what came out of my mouth, yes. Come on, guys, if someone was leaning over your sleeping child with a gun and knife, what would you say?”

“I don’t know if I’d say anything,” Pattee said. “I’d probably just shoot him.”

“Yeah, sure, Joel,” Paulette said, and smacked him on the arm. “That’s what you’d want three-year-old Janet to wake up and see—blood and gore all over her bed.”

Pattee pointed. “Yeah, okay, you have a point. I see a dog toy over there. But no wild barking?”

Savich said, “Astro would have brought the house down if he’d been here. But he’s in love with a neighbor’s new puppy, so our son let him do a sleepover.”

Paulette said, “From now on out, I’ll bet it’ll be the new puppy sleeping over here.”

“You’re right about that,” Sherlock said, “and yes, we’re going to cut those branches off first thing tomorrow.”

Officer Pattee said, “You guys had this plan in place in case something like this happened?”

“Yes,” Sherlock said. “It sure paid off tonight.”

“Now that’s something I’m going to talk about with my wife,” Pattee said. “You know, it would have been easier and cheaper for him to snatch your son off the sidewalk or out of a neighbor’s yard or from the playground at school.”

Sherlock said, “Yes, it would. I hadn’t thought of that.”

Pattee said, “You said, Agent Sherlock, you heard fear in his voice?”

She nodded.

Paulette said, “Well, he wasn’t expecting her to walk in on him with a gun.”

Pattee said, “That isn’t the point. This doesn’t sound like a pro someone hired to kidnap your son for ransom. Those guys have metronomes for hearts, nothing shakes them.” No one had to say it, but everybody was thinking it—maybe the guy was a pedophile.

Savich said, “Officers, we’d like to speak to Detective Ben Raven in the morning. Will that be a problem?”