I leaned against the doorway, soul-sick.
Aunt Margie sat down beside Mom and put an arm around her. “Shh, now, she’s only trying to help you.”
“She’s
not
helping!”
My aunt patted Mom’s shoulder as she locked eyes with me.
“Did you find it?” I mouthed.
She shook her head. “You can see where I was on the screen.”
I took her cue and left the room, hoping Aunt Margie could calm Mom down. She couldn’t fail any worse than I’d done.
“Listen, Carol, you remember you told me about the Bad People?” Aunt Margie’s voice filtered to my ears as I walked down the hall. In the bedroom I stopped and prayed. “Lord, help me do this. I’m terrible on my own.”
The memory of Mom’s screams still zinged my nerves.
How much time did we have before the policemen showed up? I checked my watch. A new sense of urgency filled me.
With a deep breath, I headed to the desk and sat down. The monitor showed hits from a search for
nathan eddington + san carlos.
The top links were for newspaper articles about his death. I searched for a few pages, then got a better idea. In California, the tax evaluation on homes was public information. I typed in
nathan eddington san carlos tax.
Up came a link for the San Mateo County property evaluation for the Eddington house.
Address: 1287 Sloat Street.
For a moment I stared at it, wishing it hadn’t been this easy. Now I really had to go there.
I grabbed a piece of paper and wrote down the address.
Back in the hall I could still hear Aunt Margie’s soothing voice. Mom was quiet. I went to the bathroom. Then to the kitchen, where I guzzled a glass of water. I put the address in my purse. After that I found myself in the TV room, trying to think what needed to be moved from my car to Aunt Margie’s vehicle. Probably everything.
Except Samuelson’s gun. That still lay in the tote bag. If the lights went out tonight and stayed that way, would Aunt Margie need it for protection?
But if the police searched her house and found it, she could be arrested.
She may be arrested anyway, as soon as police spotted my car in her house.
I dropped my face in my hands. I couldn’t even make this simple decision. How was I supposed to drive over three hours back to San Carlos? I’d fall asleep at the wheel. And that would be just the beginning of what I faced.
Footsteps sounded in the hall. I walked that direction—and saw Mom headed for the bathroom.
Aunt Margie approached me, her cheeks pale. “I’m so sorry you had to go through that.” She kept her voice low. “Don’t know how I managed to calm her down. For some reason the logic worked.”
“I know why.” My throat tightened. “Because you’re not me.”
“Oh, Hannah, don’t say that.”
“It’s true. I’m her caregiver. And she takes it out on me.”
“She doesn’t know any better.”
“I realize that. Still, it’s . . .” I looked at the floor.
Aunt Margie squeezed my shoulder. “You’re wonderful with her. It wouldn’t be easy for anyone.”
I managed a nod.
Down the hall the bathroom door closed.
My aunt turned toward the kitchen. “I’ll get you my car key and cell phone.”
“And I need to move our things over to your car.” I walked out to the garage and transferred the items over. When I picked up the tote bag, I hesitated, then took it into the kitchen. “Aunt Margie, there’s a gun in here. A big one with a silencer. Do you want it?”
Her eyes rounded. “Whatever would I do with that?”
“Protect yourself.”
She considered the bag. “I’d just shoot myself in the leg. You keep it.” She shuddered.
I returned to the garage and put it in the trunk of her car.
As I stepped back through the kitchen door, I found Mom standing at the sink next to my aunt, drinking water. “Margie has some water bottles for us,” she told me. “And some cookies. Isn’t that nice?”
Did she even remember her outburst?
“Yes, Mom, that’s nice.”
She set down her glass. “We’re going to find the daughter now, aren’t we. In Raleigh.”
I gave her a sad smile. She wasn’t too far off. “Yes.”
“So we can keep our promise to Morton.”
“That’s right.”
“He was such a nice man.”
“He was.”
“How he must have suffered.” Her chin trembled.
“I know. That’s why we have to fix this.”
Mom cocked her head. “Hannah, you can’t fix everything. Sometimes you just have to let God do it.”
Her words struck the core of me.
“Like the Bible verse says, ‘He guards the steps of His faithful ones, for a man does not prevail by his own strength.’” Mom’s gaze drifted out the window. “I can’t remember what book it’s in . . .”
My aunt and I exchanged a glance. What was that in her expression? Agreement? Surprise? Sadness?
Maybe all three.
I aimed another smile at my mother. “You’re a very wise woman, Mom.”
She beamed at me.
A few minutes later the three of us were in the garage, hugging each other. “Aunt Margie,” I had to warn her one last time, “you know you’re going to be in trouble if the police come and find my car here.”
She shrugged. “Don’t you worry about me. I’ll handle it.”
But what if she got into the hands of the wrong police officer? Someone who was working with Wade and Harcroft? “Maybe you should go with us.”
That was insane. She’d be in even more danger with me.
Aunt Margie chuckled. “You want to be responsible for
two
old women?”
I opened my mouth, but no answer came.
She patted my arm. “Don’t you worry about me. Just go and do what you have to do. Someday you’re going to tell me the whole story.”
My throat tightened. I gave her another hard hug. Then turned to help Mom into the car. I buckled her seatbelt for her.
Aunt Margie moved to open the garage door. “I’ll be praying. Call me when you can.”
“I will.”
The garage door opened, and we backed out into the unknown.
S
tone picked up his cell the second it started to ring. The ID was from Fresno.
“Yeah, Mack.”
“I’ve spotted ’em. They’re driving away from the house in a blue car.”
Stone smacked a fist against his thigh. “Why weren’t you there sooner? Two minutes, and you’d have had them in the house.”
“Got here fast as I could.”
Stone seethed.
“At least we found ’em. I’ll follow the car. When they stop I’ll get ’em.”
“
Don’t
let them out of your sight
.
”
“Won’t happen.”
Stone checked his watch. Twelve thirty. As long as the women remained in a car the police weren’t looking for, law enforcement had less chance of finding them. Which gave his man some time.
“Check in with me every half hour, let me know where they are. If we’re lucky, they’ll lead us someplace important.”
“Will do.”
Stone ended the call and punched in Tex’s number to leave a message. “We’ve found the women in Fresno. Call me as soon as you land.”
M
om was fumbling with the side of her seat. I glanced at her. “What are you trying to do?”
“See if the seat will go back. Oh. There.” Her arm moved—and the seat reclined. “Hah!” Mom eased herself back and settled in.
In five minutes she was asleep.
I drove out of Fresno and turned north on Highway 99. My back was ramrod straight, arms tense. Every thirty seconds my eyes flicked to the rearview mirror, looking for police cars. I saw none.
A half-hour later I turned west onto Highway 152.
Once again I warred with myself. To call my daughter or not? If I didn’t, she’d worry. Plus I had no doubt she’d end up at the Eddington’s house anyway. As long as we were both headed there, we should coordinate our efforts.
Talking on a cell phone while driving was illegal in California. I checked for police once more, then picked up Aunt Margie’s phone and keyed in the number. Emily answered immediately. “Mom! You okay?”
“We’re fine. In the car.”
“I was worried. It took you a long time to call back.”
“I had to get Mom up. And I wanted to get off 99. Not as many cars now.”
“How far away from San Carlos are you?”
“Maybe two and a half hours. How about you?”
“About three. You get the address?”
I told her the address already branded into my mind. “You know where the street is?”
“Yeah. Don’t do anything until I get there.”
“Okay.”
“What are you planning?” Emily asked.
“I have no idea.”
“Well, do you think you’re just going to ring the doorbell?”
“Maybe, who knows?”
“Mom, what if cops are there?”
“Emily, I
don’t know
. Besides, I doubt if they are. If anything, family has gathered.” Family who would be ultra protective of Ashley Eddington and just as suspicious of me. “We won’t know how to do this until we get there.”
“Kinda like flying blind.”
Yeah. Kinda like that.
My eyes flicked again to the rearview mirror. One car behind us in the distance. “Look, I better go. I’ll call you when we arrive.”
“Okay. Love you.”
“Love you too.” I ended the call and set down the phone.
For the next two and a half hours I drove. Part of the time I was numb. Then my brain would fly around in circles, no place to land. Other times I fought to keep my eyes open. And still others I begged God to help me. Help our nation. And keep Mom and Emily safe. Because of me they’d been dragged into this. Whatever it took, I had to protect them both.
And, please, Lord, help me trust in You like Mom does. Like I should.
Mom slept the entire trip. No having to stop for bathroom breaks. In the silence, questions crowded my mind. What condition would Mom be in when we reached San Carlos? Rested and willing to do what I told her—or volatile?
And what about Aunt Margie? Had the police been to her home by now? Twice I started to call, then stopped myself. What if they were there when the phone rang? What if they saw the ID with my aunt’s own name? They’d know I had her cell phone.
What about that man I shot? Could he possibly be alive in some hospital? I’d seen nothing on the news about him. If he was dead, was a wife mourning for him? Maybe children. How could I ever face them, tell them how sorry I was? It wasn’t their fault, what their loved one had done.
We drew closer to San Carlos. With every mile I felt more like a refugee. I’d be in my town but couldn’t go to my home. Couldn’t show my face to friends or coworkers. To anyone.
What would it be like tonight if the electricity went out—and stayed that way? Then more blackouts in the next two days—until the whole country was hit? How would we live?
For the first time, I took a serious look at that dismal scenario. How to make a cup of coffee? Fry an egg? Think of the cold, especially in Washington, D.C. People would die from no heat. No computers, televisions, ovens, microwaves. So many jobs could not be done without electricity. What about the transportation systems? Food and other goods would fail to reach their destinations. With higher unemployment, lack of food and heat, even law-abiding citizens in the blacked-out areas could rise up in anger. What kind of lawlessness would ensue?
What would I do in such a world? How would I take care of my mother? I’d still be sought by police.
I turned onto I-280. And before long I passed the Woodside and Farmhill exits. The Edgewood exit—mine—was next. What to do when I reached it?
With a final glance around for police, I picked up the phone to call Emily.
W
hile Stone was on his cell phone, a beep sounded in his ear. He checked the ID and cut the first call to switch over. It was the fourth call in two hours from his man in Fresno. “Yeah, Mack.”
“She’s almost to San Carlos.”
Stone planted a fist on his hip. What was she doing
there
? She couldn’t be going home. Nothing but danger for her in the area. Unless some friend had offered to shelter her.
Or maybe she was on to something.
Stone ran through the options in his mind. He wanted Hannah Shire before the police got to her. Police would just make things more complicated. But he also wanted to know where she was headed.
“All right. Stick with her. If she stops somewhere, call me.”
He smacked off the line and called Tex. “You set to go?”
“Anytime.”
“Good. Got a job for you.”
SPECIAL HOUSE SELECT COMMITTEE INVESTIGATION INTO FREENOW TERRORIST ACTIVITY OF FEBRUARY 25, 2013
SEPTEMBER 16, 2013
TRANSCRIPT
Representative ELKIN MORSE (Chairman, Homeland Security Committee): When you failed to find the flash drive anywhere in the substation, what did you think had happened to it?
Sergeant CHARLES WADE (Sheriff’s Department Coastside): I had no idea. It was an absolute mystery to me. But not one I could think about for long. There was too much to do.
MORSE: It never occurred to you that someone in the substation had taken that flash drive?
WADE: I had no reason to suspect such a thing.
MORSE: And, just to press the point—the disappearance of this crucial flash drive was a surprise to you.
WADE: A complete surprise.
MORSE: Again, you must understand how convenient this appears. First you ignore the video. Then, when you
have
to look at it due to the calls from Homeland Security, the flash drive is gone.
WADE: I cannot control how the truth
appears
to you, Chairman Morse.
MORSE. Well. I could hammer the point, but we will move on. What did you do upon learning that the flash drive was missing?
WADE: Turns out we did have a backup. Remember, when Arthur Rozland’s body was discovered in his car, Hannah Shire’s computer was also found. That computer was logged into evidence by the California Highway Patrol. What if Mrs. Shire hadn’t erased the copy of the video she’d made? It was our one hope at that point. So I contacted Highway Patrol and asked if someone there could check the computer for that file. They did—and found the video.