CHAPTER EIGHTEEN
Vic pulled into the hospital parking lot as the sun started to truly show its face over Los Angeles, dragging another day along with it.
She made her way through the hospital corridors, making her way back to Lisa’s room.
She had to hand it to the woman; wanting to speak so soon after getting out of surgery—no matter how minor—was sort of badass.
When she reached the room, she knocked softly and pushed open the door.
Lisa was propped up in bed, covered up in the bedsheets.
An IV drip fed into her arm, and monitors tracked her vital signs with quiet beeps.
She looked surprisingly awake as Vic entered.
"Ms. Anderson?" Vic showed her credentials.
Lisa smiled weakly. “Just Lisa, please. And yes, I remember you. No need for the ID.”
“Sorry. I guess I was expecting you to be a little out of it.”
“Oh, I am,” she said with a small laugh. “But coherent enough.”
Vic pulled a chair closer to the bed and sat down, careful not to jostle any of the medical equipment. "The doctor called my partner and said you thought you remembered something. Can you tell me what it was?”
"Yeah, I can try. Just…God, it all happened so fast. One minute I was in my car in the parking garage, and the next thing I knew, I was waking up strapped to this harness with balloons all around me.
But…I think I can remember some details…
about where he had me launch from. I can remember some of it… "
Vic pulled out her phone and opened a map application. She gently and carefully reached over and showed Lisa a map of the area.
"The reservoir where you landed is here," she said, pointing. "But you would have drifted in the wind before you managed to free yourself. How far away from the reservoir do you think you were?”
Lisa studied the map, her expression tightening with concentration. "I remember looking down and seeing water. Lots of water. But there were other things too, before the reservoir came into view."
"What kind of things?"
"Buildings. A parking lot with white lines painted on it…and there was this tall tower with red and white stripes on it. Like a radio tower or something."
Vic zoomed out on the map, scanning the area around the reservoir for structures that matched Lisa's description. Her finger moved across the screen, tracing potential flight paths based on wind patterns from that morning.
"If you drifted from northwest to southeast, that puts your launch point somewhere in this area."
She marked a rough circle on the map, then zoomed in closer. A radio tower appeared on the satellite view, its position matching what Lisa had described. Vic felt a small surge of satisfaction.
"Is this the tower you saw?" She held up the phone again.
Lisa leaned forward as much as her injuries would allow.
"Yes. That's it. I remember because I was so high up that I could see the whole structure, all the way down to the base. And right there…" she said, pointing to another small parking lot, “is where he was. That’s where I saw him, looking up at me. That’s where he launched me from.”
“You’re sure?”
Lisa nodded, staring at the map. “Almost certain.”
Vic saved the location data and pulled up the pins marking where Parker and Thompson had been found.
She overlaid all three locations on the same map, looking for patterns or connections.
She was aware of Lisa watching sleepily beside her but didn’t worry about it.
After all, this brave woman may have just given them a huge clue.
But on the other hand, the results were disappointing.
Parker's body had been discovered in the Santa Monica Mountains, roughly thirty miles west of Lisa's estimated launch point.
Thompson's body had been found in the Mojave Desert, forty miles northeast. The three locations formed a triangle with sides measuring dozens of miles, with no obvious geographic center or connecting feature.
Vic zoomed out further, trying to see if there was something she was missing. A highway system, a particular type of terrain, anything that might explain why the killer had chosen these specific locations.
Nothing emerged.
"What's wrong?" Lisa asked, watching Vic's expression.
"The locations don't connect." Vic set her phone down on her lap. "The other two victims were found in completely different areas. If this killer is using the same method for all three attacks, he's launching from different points each time. And those points don't seem to have anything in common."
"Maybe he's just picking random places?" The slurring of her speech made it clear that whatever was in the IV was making her drowsy…and she was ready for sleep.
"Maybe." But Vic doubted it was that simple. Serial killers, even ones as delusional as Kane's disciples, usually followed some kind of pattern. They had comfort zones, preferred hunting grounds, routines that made sense within their twisted logic.
“Lisa, thanks again for your help. Just one more thing, if you don’t mind.” She pulled up the pictures of their suspects, one by one.
“Do you know either of these men?”
Lisa studied them closely but eventually shook her head. “No. Should I? If one of them is the man who abducted me, I…God, I don’t know that I could clearly describe him…”
“That’s. Just checking.”
“Is it them?
"Maybe. We don't know yet. Again, thanks for your time."
Vic offered her a smile and then left the hospital room.
As she exited the building and made her way back to her car, she tried not to feel too defeated.
No, the locations where the bodies had been found didn’t line up in any way, but at least she now knew one area where the killer had absolutely been to, if they counted the climbing gym.
She may not have gotten the clear answer she’d been hoping for, but she at least felt like she was taking a step in the right direction. She hoped the same was true for Kim and Miles.