Chapter 9
CHAPTER NINE
Agent Rapp didn’t make an appearance until the afternoon. Jane only knew he’d entered the office because she heard his deep voice, which distracted her from her research.
Neck deep in the backgrounds of the first two victims, Doctors Ryan Daniels and Julie David, she’d read through their family histories and backgrounds, and nothing seemed to connect.
They’d worked at different hospitals in the city, had lived in various places before coming to Seattle—at different times—and practiced different specialties.
Dr. Daniels worked in family health and Dr. David in pediatrics.
Her eyes crossed as she confused Daniels with David for the sixth time that morning.
“Hell. What time is it?” she muttered to herself as she rubbed her eyes. She needed more coffee.
“Time you got a watch.” Diego smirked at her as he passed her desk, sipping another energy drink. “I know, a dad joke. But it’s still funny.”
“It’s really not,” she said, though she grinned.
“Ha! I saw that.”
“Saw what?” Rapp said as he joined them.
Today he’d dressed in a dark blue suit instead of yesterday’s black.
Same white shirt and blue tie though. For some reason, he looked both perfectly dressed and out of place in a suit and tie.
He needed utility trousers and camo paint on his face, she thought.
A glance behind him revealed Gina engaged in a fierce argument on the phone with someone.
“Diego’s trying to be funny,” Jane deadpanned.
“Trying?” Diego whined.
Rapp shook his head. “Quit screwing off. Where’s my intel on the latest victims?”
Diego made a face and nodded to his desk and a printer that continued to spit out pages. “I’ve been collecting data.” He dropped a stack of paper on the desk Jane was using. “Here. I brought you a present. No one appreciates me.”
“Not true,” Rapp answered. “Our government appreciates you not hacking into its servers anymore. Legal is a nice, non-four-letter word. Keep using it.”
Diego muttered something under his breath and sighed all the way back to his desk.
“Kid needs his meds to stay focused, and I’m not making fun,” Rapp said under his breath, though the “kid” couldn’t be that much younger than he was. Rapp pulled up a nearby chair and sat. “Report.”
“Rapp, I left the Marine Corps four years ago. I don’t do one-word orders. Try again.” She needed to establish boundaries. Best to start as she meant to go.
He just looked at her, and she wondered if he planned on making a big deal right now. “Jane, could you please report what you found, if anything?”
“I see what you did there.” When an angry flush started to creep over his cheeks, she figured she’d pushed hard enough. “I’ve been going through the files on the first two victims all morning. Diego did a terrific job of compiling data.”
Rapp relaxed. “He did. Gina too. She went over the in-person interviews then reviewed them again and gained some new information for us.”
“Ah, yes. Those are pretty detailed, but I can’t find any connection between the first two victims. At all.
I’m sure Diego cross-referenced them, but I went over them too.
There’s nothing in their histories that makes sense.
I also read over the reports from the MEs.
A heart attack and a hyperglycemic reaction that resulted in death.
Neither shout ‘conspiracy’ or ‘murder.’”
“Not until you see that both were injected between their toes with a hypodermic.”
“Which isn’t conclusive according to Dr. David’s—no, Dr. Daniels’ report.
” She rifled through the folders to pull up the medical report on Daniels.
“They couldn’t determine if that spot was due to a splinter he’d received a few days prior, when he’d been camping, or if it was in fact a needle.
Because his wife used sharp tweezers to pull one out and couldn’t remember which toes she’d messed with.
And the tox screens came back negative for anything suspicious. ”
Jane sat back and rubbed her eyes. “I’m happy to help with this, but I can’t see how it’s related. Not even these first two, and I’ve only glanced at the other files.”
Rapp nodded. “I know. I felt the same. But it’s there. Trust me.”
“You mean trust Gambol and/or his source.”
Rapp just looked at her.
“Fine.” She grunted. “But we’re going to need better coffee than what’s in that expensive pot.”
He lowered his voice and said, “Don’t say that too loudly. Gina’s got issues when it comes to her beans.” After a pause, he added in an approving voice, “But feel free to express yourself. I’m all for my subordinates working things out amongst themselves.”
Subordinate? It was like he was trying to annoy her.
“Just be careful,” he continued. “I don’t want to think about how awkward the office dynamics could get if people started pulling hair.”
“Or punching people in their big mouths,” she growled, aware he was deliberately aggravating her.
“Exactly.” He stood, serious once more. “When you’ve schooled yourself on our vics, I have some video I’d like you to watch.”
Gina overheard. “I prepped the files for the fun box. Have at it.”
“Fun box?” Jane asked.
Rapp nodded. “There’s a small room over there, behind the black door.”
“Oh, I thought that was the bathroom.”
“No. That’s down the hall by my office. Men’s and women’s on either side. I don’t care which you use, just don’t leave a mess,” he ended on a raised voice, his focus on Diego.
“The fun box?” she reminded him.
“Follow me.”
She trailed him to the black door and after he pushed it open, glanced inside.
A large monitor, surrounded by several smaller ones, occupied a wide desk. A few computer towers sat on the floor by it. She noticed a pedal on the floor and hand controls on the desk.
“It’s where we like to view feeds. According to Diego, this setup has better power for speed and sound and whatever else you need to smoothly process video.
The monitors are top of the line, and we have access to VHS and DVD players as well.
Most of it’s streaming, but not all. We’ve been grabbing all the surveillance video from surrounding areas to the crimes, which hasn’t been easy, especially considering the doctors’ deaths weren’t suspicious at first.” He paused.
“It’s a lot of footage to wade through. Gina and Diego can attest to that.
They went over it all so far, though we’ve found a little more as time has gone on. ”
“Ah. So this is really why you needed me. For the grunt work no one else wants to do.”
“Partly. And partly because, according to Gambol, you’re not half bad when it comes to spotting things. Even the smallest detail might help at this point.”
She sensed his frustration. “How long have you been on this?”
“Just a month. It doesn’t seem like much, but that’s already four weeks too many.” He paused, and his expression flattened. “One of my brothers is a doctor. Killing people whose job is to save lives rubs me the wrong way. We need to find this scumbag before they kill again.”
She nodded. She might not exactly like Rapp, but she couldn’t argue with his intent.
And while she waited for answers to her own separate investigation, she had nothing better to do than help catch a killer. Believing her uncle wouldn’t have given her name to Gambol if he didn’t trust the guy, she put her faith in him as well.
Time to get back to work and find the patterns that would give this dirtbag away.
Before they hurt someone else.