Free In Desperation by Rick Mofina Page B

Keep your eyes on the vehicle, your line open and do not move .”
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    Hackett drove and Bonnie Larson relayed information over the phone to a Tempe police detective who’d turned up his radio.
    â€œTempe’s on the line with the caller now,” Larson said. “The vehicle description fits Lyle Galviera’s pickup.”
    â€œAnd the man and the girl?”
    â€œThey match the general description of Tilly and Galviera.”
    As they wove through traffic, Hackett shook his head, uncertain what to make of this break. If it was Galviera, what was he doing with Tilly? Had the kidnappers released her?
    â€œAdvise Tempe not to send any marked units into the area,” he said.
    â€œThey’re only sending unmarked cars, no lights, no sirens.”
    â€œWe don’t want to lose them.”
    â€œTempe’s dispatching marked units to set up a one-block perimeter to stop the suspect vehicle if he flees.”
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    In Mesa Mirage, Cora waited in agony.
    The investigators who’d stayed behind with her had few updates.
    It was torture, as it had been watching Hackett and Larson scrambling from her home a few minutes ago when she’d begged them to tell her what was happening before they’d left.
    â€œWe have a lead on a truck that looks like Lyle’s,” Hackett had said.
    â€œTake me with you!”
    â€œNo, we don’t know what to expect. We urge you to stay here.” Cora turned to Gannon as Hackett added, “I can’t prevent you or your brother from leaving your home. You’re not under arrest, but you could jeopardize things. That’s why I’m not giving you details on the location. It’s for your own safety.”
    â€œAll right.” Gannon nodded and the FBI agents left.
    â€œBut, Jack,” Cora pleaded, “one of us should be there.”
    â€œHang on. I’ll try to find out where it is.”
    Gannon started to call Henrietta Chong when his cell phone rang.
    â€œJack, this is Henrietta, there seems to be a lot ofactivity coming out of the house and the TV guys listening to police scanners say that something’s going on in Tempe but police are being cryptic on the air.”
    Gannon turned away and kept his voice low.
    â€œCan you get an address from them for me, Henrietta? I’ll fill you in.”
    When she called back with the address, Gannon asked Cora for the keys to her car.
    Now, as Gannon drove alone in Cora’s Pontiac Vibe, the GPS system indicated he was about two blocks from the Burger King. His phone rang. It was Chong, about six blocks behind him with a WPA photographer.
    â€œJack, the whole pack is headed to this place. What’s going on?”
    â€œThey may have found Lyle Galviera’s truck.”
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    The knot in Vanita’s stomach was tightening.
    It was twenty-five, maybe thirty minutes since she’d called police. Every minute or so, the 911 dispatcher asked for an update.
    â€œThe truck still hasn’t moved,” Vanita said.
    â€œThank you.”
    But Vanita worried. Were police here? If they were, they did a good job of keeping invisible. What if the man and girl had slipped out of the restaurant? What if they got away?
    Vanita couldn’t stand it any longer.
    With her cell phone pressed to her ear, she left her car and entered the busy outlet. She threaded through the dining room, unable to find them, concern mounting until she spotted them in a corner booth.
    â€œI see them,” Vanita told the dispatcher. “They’re done eating and getting ready to leave by the door near their truck. You have to do something fast!”
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    The dispatcher relayed Vanita’s alert to Phil Zern, the Tempe police sergeant in charge. Plainclothes detectiveswere positioned in the lot, some in cars, some on foot. There was no time for SWAT to set up and too many people around.
    This would be a rapid takedown.
    â€œEveryone on position, stand by,” Zern