The sun was starting to set and he was running out of time. His phone rang. He suspected it was Hughes, so he answered quickly.
"McBain"
"Hey Johnny" he heard an automated voice talk back to him and at once he sat up straight.
"Who is this?"
"I'm not giving the answers away now" he said.
"So why'd you call?"
"Wanted to make sure you were going to show"
"I'll be there" he said, "Just tell me where"
"All in due time" he heard over the phone, "there's a couple things I need to know"
"What?"
"Come alone"
"Done" he said.
"No police"
"I said I'd come alone"
"We'll be in touch"
He heard the line go dead before he shut his phone. Truman was smart. Short calls, less than a minute, couldn't be traced. Interestingly, he didn't mention the money. Did he want the money? Did he want the recognition? Or did he just want to play God with all their lives?
He supposed it didn't matter much, in the end. He wanted him to show up, and he would. He was getting her back, one way or another. His computer beeped. On the move again. Where would all this be taking place? There were several places he thought he'd take her. Places his guy had been putting her in his head over the last few days, but places where Truman could control the situation.
The pier. A rooftop. An ally. Could he get up to the Angel Square Hotel rooftop? He'd been thinking about their nights at Rodi's, but Mac wouldn't let this happen there. That's where the ally came into play, because that ally held a lot of possibilities for a criminal.
His phone rang again. He braced himself.
"McBain"
"Brace yourself" Hughes said, "we found the motherload"
"Really?"
"No gun" he said, "which, I know is what you were hoping for" he said, "but we've got pictures of Margret alive. We got copies of the documents Bo allegedly signed off on before and after the forgery. With a contract from Lenny outlining services rendered for the forgery. There's a letter for Manning's kid. Wedding bands, for Blair, I would guess. Picture of his old man with the gun"
"At least the bastard's thorough"
"We got him, John. We can get the arrest warrant. We can get Bo back, all before the night is out"
John looked at his watch, "What took so long?"
"Well, the manager wasn't too thrilled, cuz you know, Spencer is a pretty big client. Add in all the stuff we had to go through, it just took a while" he said, "But the guys are bagging and tagging as we speak"
"You better get it in front of a judge as soon as you can" he said.
"Yeah, we got just a few more things to do here and then I'll head right to the judge on tonight"
"Good" he said, "get Bo cleared first, then get the warrant-"
"John-"
"The wheels are already in motion. Warrant or no, he's going to try and kill her in an hour"
"Yeah" Hugh said, "at least we'll have Bo"
"Yeah" he said, "Good work. Get that warrant" he hung up.
He took a breath. Thank god for small favors. It wasn't going to save Natalie, but at least Bo was going to have his job back after all this. He picked his phone back up and dialed.
"Buchanan" he heard over the phone.
"Hey" he said, "How's it going over there?"
"Well, calls are being made. They definitely meant you only had six hours"
"Lot less than six hours now"
"I know" he said, "what's going on?"
"Well" John said, "Hughes searched Truman's safe deposit box. He's got evidence Truman forged your signature. He's getting your name cleared as we speak. You should get over here"
"He's asking for an arrest warrant, too?"
"Yes, he is" John paused, "but time's ticking"
"Alright, I'll call the mayor on the way"
"Thanks, Bo"
"I'll see you in a bit"
He hung up and turned his chair a bit to the right. He was on his way back towards town. That meant Natalie was also on her way back to town. Where to? That was the question.
He turned to look out the window. The sight over the city as the night came over the town was a sight he'd watched from this window countless times before. But it wasn't until he'd watched it from the rooftop with Natalie that he'd really come to find it was enjoyable. He put his hand in his coat pocket and pulled out his badge. He stared at it.
There hadn't been a time in his adult life he hadn't held a badge. It had been all he wanted from the time he had understood what the badge meant. He'd wanted to follow in his father's footsteps. He'd wanted to protect the people around him. He'd wanted to protect people who couldn't be protected otherwise. First at the ACPD, then at the FBI, and then taking this job a few years ago. He'd been suspended for that brief amount of time, but through the whole thing, all he'd wanted was to get back to the job.
And now he was going to walk away from it entirely. He was sure Bo was getting the department back, and he was sure he'd have his job waiting when all this was said and done. But that hadn't been the case just a few minutes ago, and he was still willing to do it. When he'd made that choice this morning, all hope seemed lost.
He'd finally put her first. He'd done so without thinking. But what he'd told his dad held true, and had since this whole thing started: There would be other jobs. There's only one of her. So the choice had been simple. So simple a choice, he hadn't even thought about it. He wondered if she'd be proud of him if the situation weren't so dire. He ran his thumb over his badge.
"I'm coming Natalie" he whispered.