Page 22 of The Accomplice
‘How did you … You can’t be here. Get these people out of here, right now,’ said Seong.
The feds who had been standing around moved toward us with purpose.
‘Wait, we know how he got into the building,’ said Lake. ‘He hid in the back of Delaney’s car. Daniel Miller got you all riled up with the bomb threat at the hotel. It was a distraction. He had been hiding in the old station wagon and with everyone’s attention on the bomb squad he snuck into the back of her car.’
Seong said nothing, but I could see his wheels turning. By the time the first fed reached to put an arm on me he told them to wait. Then beckoned us over.
‘If you know so much, then tell me what this means. This is the live feed from Delaney’s car over there,’ said Seong, holding up an iPad. I glanced across the parking lot, saw a camera set up on a tripod, pointed directly into Delaney’s vehicle. On the iPad was the live feed. There was something sitting on the dash. It took me a second to realize what it was.
The object was maybe a foot tall. It had been set between the windshield and the dash. At first, I thought I was looking at two whiskey glasses, stacked on top of one another and housed in a wooden frame.
I looked closer.
It was an hourglass. The top bulb had little sand in it now. There was a steady stream of grains falling through the opening into the symmetrical bulb below.
‘How long is left ?’ I asked.
‘We think maybe ten minutes. Our guess is it’s a four-hour sand timer. There have been no demands. No contact. No note in the car. Just this goddamn timer,’ said Seong.
‘How did he get her out of this building ?’ asked Lake.
‘We’re not sure. We’ve checked the camera in the lobby, and he didn’t go out that way. The only camera in the lot covers the entrance and exit and no vehicles left after Delaney drove in. It’s possible he sedated her, dragged her behind him as he hugged the wall up the ramp, beneath the camera’s viewpoint, ducked under the barrier and carried her into a car parked on the street. That’s our best guess.’
‘You can’t drag a body along a New York street for what, ten, twenty feet, and not be seen by half a dozen people. He takes risks, but that is just way too risky for Miller,’ said Lake.
‘You got a better idea how he got her out of here ?’
Together, Bloch and I took a walk to the ramp. A security camera high up on the left side of the wall. Someone directly beneath, their back to the bricks, could skirt up and out without the camera picking them up. But not with a hostage, conscious or not.
‘I don’t like it,’ I said.
Whether Bloch didn’t hear me, or chose to ignore me, it didn’t matter. She clicked a pocket flashlight on and started to look around the lot. I left Bill and the rest of them and followed Bloch. Nearly every space was taken. Forty, maybe fifty cars.
‘I’m sure they checked the lot,’ I said.
‘They would’ve performed a quick sweep. No more,’ said Bloch.
While Lake argued with Seong, Bloch and I walked the lot. Our gaze followed her flashlight to the dark recesses behind and between the vehicles, where the strip lighting could not reach. The smell of motor oil, gasoline and damp filled the space.
A steadydrip, drip, dripfrom the ceiling sounded like an old clock, ticking down the seconds.
Nothing stood out. Bloch shone a light between each car but didn’t linger. She spotted a twenty-year-old Porsche, and checked the interior, then moved on. We finished one side, then crossed over to the next aisle. Bloch stopped at the car parked opposite Delaney’s. It was an older model Toyota pick-up with a tarp covering the flatbed at the rear.
‘You mind telling me what we’re supposed to be looking for ?’ I asked.
‘An older car without an alarm …’ she began, then stopped. Bloch held up a hand, calling for silence.
‘You hear that ?’ she asked.
I listened, but I could only hear the steady drip from pipes. Louder over here. I looked up, trying to see where the drip was coming from, but I couldn’t tell.
‘I can’t see how he got Delaney out of here,’ I said.
‘I think the fed was half right,’ said Bloch.
‘What do you mean, half right ?’
‘I think the Sandman hugged the wall, ducked the ramp and went onto the street on foot. But Delaney …’
