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 hiscomputers 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.
