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.
Chapter 43
While 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.”
Chapter 44
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.
MORSE: You had not asked to see the contents of Mrs. Shire’s computer before this time?
WADE: No. I’d been busy investigating multiple homicides. I knew California Highway Patrol would be looking at it.
MORSE: And I’ll ask again—did it not occur to you that Arthur Rozland had stolen Mrs. Shire’s computer because of that video?
WADE: I may have entertained that thought briefly. But it didn’t seem likely at the time.
MORSE: Once again, I am amazed at your answer, Sergeant Wade. Hannah Shire had reported being harassed by two men posing as FBI agents, demanding to know what Morton Leringer had told her before his death. She gave them a copy of the video. Why wouldn’t these same men return to her house for her computer if they thought that computer might contain the video as well? They were clearly trying to recover any and all copies.
WADE: We know all these details now. A lot of the dots have been connected, and hindsight makes everything seem obvious. It’s this way in many cases, Chairman Morse. I’ve investigated a lot of homicides, and often it takes weeks, months, even years to solve a case. When it’s all done, how easy it is for someone outside the investigation to armchair quarterback. “Why didn’t you do this? Why didn’t you see that sooner?” But I have to keep reminding you how complex the events of that day were, and how fast one twist came upon another. Do you realize how few hours had gone by since I’d first even heard Hannah Shire’s name? So let me state this clearly: at the time I didn’t know the men posing as FBI agents were aware Mrs. Shire had retained a copy of the video. And let me also remind you—when Harcroft and I heard she’d made that copy, we told her to erase it.