CHAPTER NINE
Special Agent Hartley ran to the phone on the desk as soon as it rang. She was the only person in the room, as far as Alison knew, who was pregnant, but she still moved faster than everyone else.
"Hartley," the special agent answered.
She didn't put the phone on speaker, and that was the first hint to Alison that something was wrong. Then, when Hartley turned to look at Alison as she spoke on the phone for a long time without the slightest hint of positive emotion, Alison knew her worst fears were confirmed.
They didn't have Mills. He’d escaped them once again. And if he could escape them once when they thought they had him cornered, how many times could he escape them?
Alison looked away. She couldn’t look at Hartley as she continued to speak on the phone, and she couldn’t look at Derek either as she stood by her.
She looked at the floor, unable to think of anything other than that Mills had escaped and he wasn’t coming back.
The feeling niggled at the back of her mind that this was their one chance, and they had failed.
She, Derek, and her father had failed to stop him back at his home, and now, a team of marshals had failed to stop him in Fresco.
"All right, team," Hartley said when the call was done. "Some of you already know what’s happened by the looks on your faces, so let’s go through it."
Alison still didn't look up. She couldn’t look anyone in the eyes, or she might burst into tears.
"I just got off the phone with Special Agent Rodriguez, who’s been leading the manhunt out in the field, and it’s not good news.
They did track Howard Mills to a motel, and then to an abandoned warehouse when he made a run for it.
They surrounded the warehouse, and the tactical team entered from multiple entry points, led by Special Agent Rodriguez.
Unfortunately, they didn't expect Howard Mills to be armed. "
Alison did look up at that piece of information, and she tried to read the look on Hartley’s face. Was she somber because someone had died, or somber because Mills had escaped?
"That’s not been his M.O. up until now. We know he’s killed in the past, but it’s always been random targets he’s watched for a while, and in secluded places, usually with his bare hands.
He managed to get hold of a gun, and he opened fire at the team when they caught up with him on the section level. "
Derek let out a grunted sigh that Alison could read immediately.
Derek had chased him up the concrete steps when Mills had run from his building, but he’d been pushed back down by Mills, cracking and bruising his ribs.
Derek blamed himself. If he had caught Mills there and then, he wouldn’t have escaped to shoot a marshal.
"Thankfully, Marshal Copper was wearing a protective vest that took the brunt of the damage," Hartley continued. "He has severe bruising on his chest and is being treated for that in the hospital, but he’s expected to make a full recovery."
Derek and Alison both let out a sigh of relief. Mills was still out there, armed and dangerous, but no one else had to die to apprehend him. Not yet.
"An officer at the scene suffered some minor cuts and bruises when he ducked for cover after Mills fell from the upper window at the warehouse, shooting at anything that moved. He wasn’t able to tell for sure, but it looked like Mills was hit in the shoulder, and he would have sustained some injuries from the fall.
Still, he got up after falling and managed to make it to the trees. "
Alison still didn't say anything. Neither did anyone in the room. No one had anything to say that could make the situation any better.
"We can add attempted murder of a US marshal to the list of crimes," Hartley continued.
"Not that it helps us at the moment. I’ve been informed by Marshal Rodriguez that they are pursuing Mills and expect to pick him up soon.
They know now that he is armed and dangerous, and that they have been authorized to use lethal force if needed.
They also know he is now injured, and they won't make the same mistake twice and let him slip out of their hands. Dr. Payne, they will catch him."
IT took Alison a few moments to realize she had been addressed. She looked up at Hartley and nodded. She didn't know what to believe, and she had spent so many years not letting hope invade her life, but she had to give in to some now, but under one condition.
"I want him to pay for what he did," Alison said. "I know that if it comes to it, they must neutralize him in whatever way they can. I really hope they bring him back alive. Death is too good for him."
"I understand," Hartley said. "I hope you get that. Special Agent Sullivan." Hartley gestured to Derek. "A word."
"I’ll be there in a minute," Derek said. He turned to Alison. "How are you doing?"
"Awful," she admitted. "I haven’t been able to think straight since this all began, and it’s getting worse. If we just had word that they had him, this would all be over, but it feels like the universe is dragging this out for as long as possible. Twenty-two years, and it’s still going."
"We've never been this close," Derek remained. "If he is injured, it'll only slow him down."
"Or…," Alison pondered.
"What?"
"He got to Fresno before they caught up with him, and by the time he did, he had a gun," Alison pointed out. "That changes things."
"I know," Derek said.
"I keep playing back the interaction at his house.
" Alison gritted her teeth and looked around the room.
Everyone was back to work, on phones or laptops, some discussing what the next move should be.
They were all invested in the case, but it still felt as if they all had an ear cocked to hear what she was saying.
"If I had said something different or we had picked up on his guilt sooner, we could have stopped him from running. Then, you wouldn’t be hurt, and a marshal wouldn’t be in the hospital."
"No," Derek scoffed, looking more disgusted than Alison had seen him previously. "I don't want to hear that at all. You are the reason we got to him. We did everything right in his apartment. Perhaps we didn't do it by the book, but if we had, we might not have known it was him. It was when he ran that we knew he was guilty. If it’s anyone’s fault, it’s mine. I could have stopped him if I weren’t so foolishly confident.
I ran up the steps and didn't expect him to be there to attack me. "
Alison scoffed and placed her hands on her hips.
"Yeah, yeah, I know," Derek complained. "I’m doing the thing that you were just doing, but this is different."
"It’s not different," Alison warned. "It’s just how we try to make sense of what happened and what might happen. Who knows what would have happened if we had done things differently? We might never have caught him. As it stands, we have a chance. Still, he has a gun now."
Derek nodded. "He’s not a regular guy anymore. He didn’t display this type of behavior previously, so what changed?"
"He knows he’s caught," Alison said. "He’s on the run with no place to go. He has no one to protect him, and he knows time’s running out.
Back at his apartment, he knew he was caught, but he made a run for it.
He attacked you and pushed you down the stairs.
That’s his instinct when faced with being locked in a cell for the rest of his life.
When the marshals came, he shot at them. No, he’s not a regular guy anymore."
"So, what does he do?" Derek asked. "Where does he go?"
"Everything has changed now," Alison admitted. "He’s fleeing, and he could continue to do that. He might put as much distance between himself and us as possible."
"Or?" Derek asked, sensing there was another side to the coin.
"Or, he aches for familiarity. He’s lost everything, and either he’s scared enough to try and run forever, or he goes back to what he knows."
"We have eyes on his house," Derek said.
"I know," Alison admitted. "And he must expect that, too. Still, Oakland is all he’s known for his entire life. He’s lived here, worked here, raised a family, and killed here. That will tug at him at some point, and he might decide to return. If he does, he’s going to be far more dangerous than the last time we came face to face with him. "
"You don't think you’re in danger," Derek questioned.
"You, me, my father," Alison stated. "If he does somehow get back here without being caught first, he won't be able to go home. He won't be able to go back to the normal life he had. There’s a chance he might go back to the one thing he knew: killing young women. Or, he might go after the people who ended his normal life. As his mind tries to justify the position he’s in, he might blame us, resent us for our part in it.
He knows he can't run forever. The only thing he has to figure out is how long he can run or how he wants it all to end. "
"Either he fizzles out or goes out in a blaze of glory?" Derek asked.
"Something like that."
"I won't let him get to you," Derek said. "You know that, right? He was last seen in Fresno. If we get a hint that he’s coming back, I’ll make sure he can't get to you.
"Or, I become the bait." Before Derek could respond to that, Alison raised a hand to stop him. "Twenty-two years I’ve been waiting for justice for Emma. I don't care what you tell me or how dangerous it might be; if it comes to it, I’m getting that justice."