“He’s in our sights. Came into the Sand Dune about ten minutes ago. I’m about twenty minutes away: Tito’s bogged down in traffic and is about thirty minutes away.”

Decker gathered his keys and his wallet, then went over to his gun safe, spinning the combination dial, trying to steady his hands enough to align the correct numbers with the wheel notch. “Who’s watching the place?”

“I’ve called up Santa Monica and asked them to send some unmarked units. They’re starting to block off the perimeter area with cruisers, but I emphasized to make sure that nothing was visible. I don’t know how many people are in the motel, but it’s not empty.”

“The last thing we need is a hostage situation,” Decker said.

“Agreed. Last time I checked, there were two plainclothes units in the vicinity.”

“That’s good. Where should we meet?”

Garrett gave him an address. “He ain’t gonna slip away this time.”

The safe door popped open, and Decker slipped his Beretta into his shoulder harness. “I’ll be there in a half hour to forty minutes.”

“Let’s hope it’s all over by then.”

AS HE PULLED out of the driveway, he called Marge and brought her up to date. “I’m on my way. Call Oliver and tell him what’s going on.”

The traffic gods weren’t with him. It took over an hour just to get off the freeway, and as soon as he exited, Decker knew there was trouble. All lanes were at a standstill. He punched in a news channel and when he heard the headlines, he hit the dashboard. “SHIT!”

Click, click, click, click…

“No one knows how many people are in the Sand Dune or how many, if any, have been taken hostage. There have been several unsubstantiated reports of at least one gunman—”

Decker turned off the radio and tried Garrett’s cell phone. When no one answered, he tried Diaz’s cell phone. Still no answer.

He turned on the news station a second time.

“…reports of the gunman keeping at least three women hostage.”

His cell rang. It was Garrett. “How far away are you?”

“Five minutes.”

“You heard?”

“Yeah, I heard.”

“So we’re meeting in front of the Sand Dune. See you in a few.”

Decker took out the top dome light and ran the siren. Even with the bells and whistles, it took another fifteen minutes to weave through snarled lanes and pissed-off drivers. When he finally reached the destination, he flashed his badge to Santa Monica Police and was allowed to proceed.