Chapter 24
CHAPTER TWENTY-FOUR
Though Jane appreciated Rapp’s idea to try something new, shockingly, Gina continued to argue with him about his plan, thinking her time would be better spent reinterviewing witnesses and friends and family of the victims.
“We can’t know where he’ll strike next.”
Huh. Poor Gina’s day appeared to be one big waste of time.
That made Jane really look forward to this outing.
Plus, she agreed with Rapp. She had a good feeling about his idea.
She would have done it before, but in an effort to be a team player, she’d done what was asked instead of going off on her own.
And they had so much data to look over, she had more than enough work to do behind a desk.
“I know we don’t know where he’ll strike next,” Rapp agreed. “But perhaps if we scout it first, we’ll see what’s attracting him to the scenes.”
The four of them stood outside the building, preparing to head out.
Diego nodded. “The unsub has struck every two to four weeks in the south and the east. I think he’ll move north, in a counterclockwise pattern.”
Jane didn’t think so. “I don’t know. That’s feels too easy. He’s got to be choosing these medical professionals some other way.”
“Then tell us, Jane, how’s he doing it?” Gina asked in an uber-polite voice.
Jane shot her a disgruntled look. “I don’t know. But I don’t think he’s motivated by cardinal directions.”
“Fine,” Rapp said. “We do know he’s striking those who work for major medical centers, not the smaller clinics or urgent cares. So we split up.”
Please, no working in pairs, she thought as hard as she could.
As if he’d heard her unspoken plea, Rapp smirked at her before adding, “Though I know you’d all love to work together, and we’re conscious about safety, we need to cover as much ground as we can. Everyone be on your guard but take a good look around. See what he might see.”
He assigned everyone an area, giving Jane the Swedish Medical Center in Ballard out west, as she’d wanted. “And stay out of trouble,” he warned.
Jane glanced at him and Gina, both looking stern and official, Gina because she dressed that way and Rapp because he continued to have meetings outside the office.
She and Diego looked a lot less impressive, but she liked it that way.
Jane wanted to blend in, to move among the possible victims, to see and feel what her prey—the unsub—might feel.
This method of hunting down bad guys had always worked for her uncle and a few of their more vicious members of Team Ten—mercenaries who lived for the hunt with boots on the ground. Drones and computers didn’t belong when tracking targets in the mountains or jungles.
She felt the same, getting a rush out of using all her senses to find her quarry. “I’ll be good.”
“Check in on the hour. All of you.” He shot Diego a look.
Diego sighed. “I know. I will. I’m hoping the guys at Montlake will be more cooperative than the techs at Virginia Mason.”
“Amen to that,” Gina muttered.
Motivated to be doing something, Jane drove through traffic that could have been worse. She parked and did a thorough walk-around, searching for a clue to Code Blue’s motives. Without knowing why this guy kept killing medical personnel, she couldn’t be sure of where he might strike next.
He’d used poisons to fake heart attacks, actual poison to point at murder in addition to drugs for a fatal overdose, and shot his last two victims. What was next? A hanging? Knife attack? Fire?
She hoped he didn’t turn to arson. Thus far, he’d killed six people without wounding or disturbing anyone else.
Studying the area around the hospital, she walked up and down Tallman Avenue, taking note of the parking garage across the street for visitors as well as the nearby buildings and the skybridges as well.
Close to busy NW Market Street, she could see a bank, a ton of condos, restaurants, and local businesses.
Plenty of places for Code Blue to linger while studying the hospital and those who used it.
She still wondered how Gambol had known these murders were tied.
Despite being good at her job, she’d never have pegged the deaths as related. The first two doctors hadn’t even looked like murders.
Rapp hadn’t told her everything. How did they know the crimes were linked…unless the unsub had told them? And if he had, then why the big mystery? Why not let the team know?
The thought occurred to her that maybe Gina already knew.
Jane liked having all the information on a case before delving into it. She could see not telling Diego. The guy clearly knew his computers but only worked for Rapp because of a court order. Jane was on loan, another set of eyes and a brain to work the puzzle pieces.
Why hadn’t a serial killer stalking first responders become a larger investigation?
She hated having so many questions without answers.
Rounding the block, she circled back on Barnes Avenue, pausing by some vehicles parked near the cancer institute. Had the unsub lost someone to an illness then placed the blame on all doctors, nurses, and paramedics?
Something to consider, though she knew the others had followed similar investigative avenues before she’d been brought onto the task force.
Putting herself in the unsub’s shoes, she backtracked and returned to her starting point, at the main entrance to the complex. She glanced up at the skybridge and saw a few people walking to and fro.
A good place to observe and not be noticed.
Making her way up to the main skybridge over Tallman, she remembered she’d seen another one closer to the emergency entrance, connecting the Tallman emergency building to the main building.
Code Blue’s last EMT victims and the violence of their deaths made her think the EMTs meant something more. Though he hadn’t started with them, the crime had felt more direct. Up close and personal. He’d fired without hesitation and with deadly accuracy.
Again, a detail that had been gone over to death—no pun intended—without results.
She climbed the stairs in the main building and reached the skybridge. People below came and went, unaware of being observed. Nothing too exciting. Inside the skybridge, a family and two couples clustered near the exit by the parking garage.
She decided to head to the bridge closer to the emergency room. Her scalp prickled. After a pause, she turned around.
A man in a hoodie and ballcap stood at the opposite end, staring down the street. A pair of people in scrubs and jackets walked under them, heading toward the emergency building.
He seemed to be watching them. Slowly, he lifted his head and, ignoring the older gentleman who’d just walked past Jane, looked directly at her.
Nothing about the guy in the hoodie would raise any suspicions.
Except she knew. It was him.
The Code Blue Killer.
She’d watched the videos of the EMT shooting so many times, she’d committed to memory the way the unsub moved, held himself, cocked his head.
Her heart raced, but she forced herself to act casual, glancing past him then back and raised a brow when she saw him still staring at her.
She couldn’t see the upper part of his face, masked by the shadow of a ballcap under his hoodie. But she swore she saw him smile before he turned and walked into the parking garage.
Jane didn’t have to think.
She started after him and called Rapp, hurrying so as not to lose their guy in the parking garage.
“This is Rapp.”
“It’s him. He’s here. Skybridge over Tallman Ave at Swedish in Ballard. Heading into the parking garage.”
She disconnected just as their unsub glanced over his shoulder, met her gaze once more, then bolted.
Jane followed, in hot pursuit.