She described Code Blue, keeping his image fresh in her mind, still buzzing off the adrenaline rush.
“I’ve got an artist enroute to the north precinct,” Gina said. “ETA thirty minutes.”
“Good. We’ll beat them there.” Rapp turned at the next street and accelerated. “Jane, tell us what happened. All of it.”
“I did a walk around, looking at the hospital from a bunch of angles. Something about the skybridge, the one between the parking garage and the main building, made sense, so I went up there.”
“On Tallman,” Gina reiterated.
Jane nodded. “I noticed a man looking down at the street. I knew he was our guy. I’ve spent hours watching those videos of the shooting, studying the photos of the crime scenes. I tried not to be too obvious, but he saw me, smiled, and turned away.”
“He smiled?” Rapp sounded intense.
“Yeah. I couldn’t make his features out then. He wore a ballcap under the hoodie.”
“Color?” Gina asked, though Jane had already told Diego.
She repeated what she’d seen. “A dark blue brim, gray hoodie and faded denims. Converse sneakers, well-worn.” Jane went over his description again in her head, adding everything she could think of. Every detail counted. “I didn’t smell anything on him. No alcohol, cologne, cigarettes. Nothing. But he was an inch or so taller than me, so say six feet. Maybe 180, 190 pounds? He sounded like an alto, young, likely in his mid to late twenties.”
Rapp said, “He smiled at you on the skybridge.”
“Yes. I started after him and called you. Then he ran, so I pursued. He’s in fantastic shape andfast.I raced after him until we ended up in a secured parking level under those apartments on Russell Ave.” She frowned. “He got lucky since a car was just leaving, so he slipped in as the garage was closing. I rolled under the gate, and we were locked inside together.”
“Not smart, Jane.” Rapp sounded disapproving. “You weren’t armed. Or were you?”
She didn’t want to answer that. “Hey, he wanted to talk. He knew my name.”
“What?”
“He called me by name—Jane Cannon.” She frowned. “How did he know that? He also knows we call him Code Blue.” Rapp didn’t look pleased by that. “He’s intelligent. He’s got a plan.” She paused. “This is going to sound weird, but it sounded like he was following someone else’s orders.”
“What did he say, exactly?”
Her head started pounding, but Jane ignored it and focused on her ability to recall.
After a moment, she said, “Well, first he said, ‘Jane Cannon. I’m flattered.’ Then I said, ‘You should be.’” She ignored Gina’s snort. “When I asked who he was, he said, ‘You call me Code Blue.’ He’s getting intel about us somehow.”
“I don’t like it,” Rapp growled.
“Join the club.” Jane cleared her throat. “Sorry. Anyway, before I get this backward, I have to tell you he wanted to talk. He had plenty to say about corruption and about getting justice.” She concentrated. “He said, ‘They were supposed to help but didn’t.’”
“Who’s ‘they’?” Gina asked.
“Someone else in the medical profession was my guess. This is a revenge killing spree. But it’s not anything our victims did. He told me that. They’re symbols of a corrupt power that’s spreading. He mentioned conspiracies and cover-ups. And he added that he’s just the messenger.”
“So who’s really calling the shots?” Rapp asked.
Diego said, “It could just be him. He could be hearing God or voices telling him what to do.” He asked Jane, “Did he say he had a boss or partner?”
She frowned. “No, but I got the sense he was carrying out orders that aligned with his mission, yet I don’t think they were his idea in the first place.”
“But you can’t be sure,” Gina said, turned around in her seat.
Jane met her firm gaze, no derision there, just direct attention. “No, I can’t. But make no mistake, Code Blue was there scouting for his next targets. I’m sure of it.”
“Good work,” Rapp said. “Keep remembering him. Go over all your details again and again in your head. We’ll get his picture down, and Diego will find him.”
“I sure will.” Diego frowned. “You look like you’re in pain, Jane. Are you okay?”
