Would it work, though? They were on a fast road, judging by their speed and the lack of stops for lights, but it wasn’t a freeway or she’d hear more noise from other traffic. When she really thought about it, she hadn’t heard the sound of another vehicle since she’d woken up. If she jumped out, he’d simply stop and put her back in.
She tried not to let the despair creep in. She’d bide her time and simply wait for traffic to build up. She spent twenty minutes repositioning herself without alerting Beck or his dog. When the chance came, she’d be ready.
The miles went by. Beck never reduced speed or stopped. Zo? had the dreadful feeling that he’d never slow down. Her fate was to ride in the back of his damn car until the end of time.
Then her body lurched forward under the weight of the SUV braking. This was her chance. She inched her way up to the tailgate. She grabbed the blanket with her bound hands and pulled. She felt it slip through the lock, which meant the latch wasn’t quite engaged. Just as she felt the SUV turn, she tugged on the blanket and slammed her back into the door, causing it to pop open.
Please, please, can I have a soft landing? she thought, closed her eyes, prayed, and rolled out. She hit the road hard, crashing down on her shoulder. The momentum carried her forward faster than she’d expected. She balled herself up as best she could to protect her head but managed to bang every square inch of her body.
Stunned, she lay sprawled in the road, her hands and feet still bound. She’d hoped her fall would break the cable ties, but luck wasn’t with her again. If she needed any more evidence of that, instead of finding a slew of motorists on hand that had witnessed her tumbling from a moving vehicle, she was alone on a tree-lined, two-lane highway. Alone, except for the Tally Man.
He stopped the SUV in the middle of the turn, hopped out, and pounded toward her. She didn’t bother making a run for it. There was no escape while she was still bound. She resigned herself to her recapture and waited for him, taking in the clear sky and fresh night air. It was probably the last night sky she’d ever see.
“That was very stupid, Zo?.” He gathered her up in his arms and carried her back to the SUV. “How long have you been planning that little stunt? Just as I think I can trust you, you prove me wrong.”
He dropped her in the back of the SUV, to the backdrop of Brando’s earsplitting barking.
“You’ve insulted me for the last time.”
All Zo? could think about was how she’d screwed up. “I’m sorry. I’m sorry. You’re still taking me to see Holli, right? Please.”
“Oh yes, I wouldn’t deny either of us of that.”
He brought out a hypodermic needle and jammed it in her shoulder. The effect was immediate. She tried looking at him, but she couldn’t stop her eyes from rolling back in her head.
“Time to sleep, Zo?.”
CHAPTER TWENTY-SIX
Greening stood in front of the Walnut Creek house, while SWAT and Walnut Creek PD officers teemed all over the place. It had all been a bust. They’d woken up a whole neighborhood for nothing.
Ogawa emerged from the house with the SWAT commander. He left the commander behind and crossed the front lawn over to Greening.
“The place is a short sale. It’s been vacant for months,” Ogawa said.
Greening shook his head. He should have seen this coming as soon as the cell phone proved to be a burner with no ownership record. Even the guy’s name, Brad Ellis, was bogus. No such person existed in the Bay Area, at least not matching his description.
Ogawa held up a couple of letters. “These were inside.”
Greening took the letters. They were both from the Richmond Police Department. They were follow-ups on the Tally Man’s cell phone–theft case. They were the icing on the cake.
“He choreographed this stunt to get to Zo?,” Greening said.
“And it’s costing him. Until now, we’ve learned almost nothing about him because he works so anonymously, but going after Zo? has exposed him. Now we have a description and an alias. They will lead somewhere. It may not feel like it, but we’re closing in. We are going to catch this guy.”
It was a good pep talk. Ogawa was right. After weeks of shining a flashlight into the dark, they finally knew who they were going after. Under normal circumstances, he’d be excited, but not this time.
“But are we going to get to him before he kills Zo??” Greening said.
Ogawa didn’t have an answer.
Greening’s cell rang. It was ABC7.
“Inspector Greening, this is Thom Futrell. We spoke earlier. We went through the tape for that news piece, and we do have a headshot of the person who had their phone stolen. We didn’t have much on him as he didn’t want to be interviewed, but we did catch him on camera. I’m texting it to you now.”
Greening needed some hope, and this was it. His phone beeped a few seconds later, and he opened the attached screen capture. It wasn’t the perfect photo. The man had turned his head away from the camera, but it was still a three-quarter face shot of him. If anyone knew him, they’d recognize him. He appeared to be in his late thirties, with a good head of blond hair. His face was blocky with a weak chin. So, this was the face of the Tally Man.
“Who do I have to talk to to get this broadcast?” he asked.