My blood pressure dropped, and the sweat on my hands made the gun’s trigger slippery. I continued to gauge my shot at Hinton.
I jockeyed for a better angle, and Hinton turned the dazed little girl toward me. I could see that he was dazed himself.
“Bob,” I said, putting my heart into it. I wanted him to believe me. “It’s your choice. But I’ll blow your head off if you don’t drop that knife and get right down on your knees.”
Bob stooped, dipping his face behind Allison’s head, turning her into a shield. I knew he would put his blade across her throat next and tell me to throw down my gun. I’d have to do it.
I didn’t expect the look of terrible sadness that came over his face as he pressed his cheek to Allison’s. “Oh, Ali, Ali, you aren’t old enough to understand.”
Ali shook her head.
“I know everything, Bobby. You have to give up. I have to tell Lindsay all of it.”
A flash of red tore my attention from the haunting tableau in front of me. Melissa Farley half fell through the bathroom doorway. The front of her nightgown was dark with blood.
“Ambulance,” she panted. “Get an ambulance. Please! Ed is still alive.”
Chapter 142
ABOUT TEN MINUTES LATER, sirens wailed and the flashing lights of patrol cars raced up the winding road below. Medevac chopper blades roared overhead.
Melissa Farley was back in the bathroom with her husband. “Allison,” I said. “Please go downstairs and open the door for the police.” Bob still held Allison tightly in his arms. She turned her round-eyed stare on me. Her lips were quivering as she held back sobs.
“Go ahead, darling,” Carolee said from where she lay on the floor. “It’s all right.”
Ten steps away from me, Bob’s face sagged; his expression was that of a beaten man. He squeezed Ali’s shoulders, and I gasped involuntarily. Then he released the child.
As soon as Ali was safely out of the room, my anger exploded.
“Who are you two? What made you think you could get away with this?”
I stepped over to Bob Hinton, ripped away the knife, and ordered him to put his hands against the wall. I Mirandized him as I frisked him.
“Do you understand your rights?”
His laughter was shrill but sardonic. “Better than most,” he said.
I found glass-cutting tools and a camera on Hinton, which I removed. Then I forced him to the ground and sat on the edge of the king-size bed, holding my gun on him and Carolee.
I didn’t even blink until I heard heavy footsteps rumbling up the stairs.
Chapter 143
IT WAS AFTER THREE in the morning, and I was back at the police station. Chief Stark was with Bob Hinton in the interrogation room, where Bob was describing in detail the many homicides that he, Carolee, and Keith had committed in Half Moon Bay.
I sat with Carolee in the chief’s office, an old Sony tape recorder between us on Peter Stark’s messy desk. A detective brought cups of coffee into the room in a cardboard box, then he took a position inside the doorway as I interviewed Carolee.
“I think I’d like to talk to my lawyer,” Carolee said flatly.
“You mean Bob? Can you wait a few minutes?” I snapped. “He’s giving you up right now, and we’d like to get it all down.”
Carolee gave me a bemused smile.
She flicked a strand of hair from the front of her black silk turtleneck, then folded her manicured hands in her lap. I couldn’t help but stare.
Carolee had been a friend. We’d traded confidences. I’d told her to call me if she ever needed me. I idolized her daughter.
Even now, she was dignified, articulate, seemingly sane.