Now I could see it was a girl in her late teens with long blond hair. A beautiful girl. She was dressed casually in jeans and a bright blouse. She didn’t look surprised. All she said was “I wondered if this might happen.”
I stepped up to the front door and said to the girl, “You guys aren’t in trouble. We’re just looking for Kyle. When was the last time you saw him?”
“He was here earlier today. Said he was going to the Tenderloin.”
“What kind of vehicle does he drive?”
“A white Range Rover.”
I remembered the girl we’d talked to, Sasha Terns, mentioning a white SUV.
We needed to search the house quickly, then get over to the Tenderloin and look for this Kyle.
I felt we were definitely on the right track.
CHAPTER100
RICH CONKLIN WASdriving Jackson Brady’s car. We’d both ridden to the house in Pacific Heights in the unmarked white van, but that wasn’t appropriate for driving through the Tenderloin, looking for a suspect.
Everyone else was still at the house in Pacific Heights. We were looking for Kyle Anderson based solely on a brief description: a tall, good-looking man with dark hair, driving a white Range Rover.
Conklin kept his eyes on the road while I scanned the pedestrians. The sidewalks were jammed with people. He said, “You don’t think this is a waste of our time? What are the odds we run into a guy with such a vague description? We don’t have any photos or witnesses.”
“But we have a lead. The girl at the house said he was in the Tenderloin, driving his white SUV. This is as close as we’ve gotten yet.”
There were a lot of people on the street this evening. When we cruised slowly past the Garden Spot, I noticed music playing andyoung people out front. Yesterday’s shooting hadn’t slowed down any celebrations.
I turned to Conklin. “I can’t believe how many tall, good-looking guys with dark hair are in the city.”
“I’m one of them.” He grinned. “But I see what you mean. It’s like looking at aWhere’s Waldobook but not knowing exactly what Waldo looks like.”
I got a glimpse of someone. It wasn’t a man. It was a young woman. Just a flash of black hair. Something about the way she turned her head.
I kept staring out the passenger window and finally got a better view.It’s Lizzie Nunez again!
Lizzie was walking toward us but faded in and out of the crowd. Then I saw something that truly surprised me. She was with someone. She was with a tall man with dark hair who looked a little like Eric Snaff.
I turned to Conklin. “Pull over. Pull over. I think Lizzie Nunez is walking with our man Kyle Anderson.”
“No way,” Conklin said, but he pulled over to the side of the street.
I was out of the car before it even stopped moving completely and started marching directly to where I’d just seen Lizzie Nunez. I was dressed in an SFPD raid jacket, leaving no doubt who I was as soon as I got out of the car.
Conklin caught up to me quickly. He was still wearing his brown delivery uniform, but he’d thrown a windbreaker over it to hide the gun on his hip. The jacket must’ve been Brady’s because it hung on Conklin like he was wrapped in a tent.
I caught another quick glimpse of Lizzie’s face. She and the dark-haired man were headed this way. A line of shops and twoapartment buildings took up this entire block. Just to be on the safe side, Conklin jogged to the side so he could be positioned to stop the man if he ran in that direction.
My heart started to beat faster.
The crowd parted. I was looking straight ahead at Lizzie Nunez chatting cheerfully with the tall, dark-haired man. They were headed right toward me. Lizzie looked up but didn’t recognize me. Until she saw my jacket. A moment later, the man noticed it as well.
Rich Conklin was now in position behind them. Only a few people in the crowd around us realized anything unusual was going on. I held up my badge and said, “Kyle Anderson, we need to talk to you.”
I saw his eyes shift from side to side.He’s going to run,I thought. “Don’t run, Kyle,” I said out loud, less as a command to a suspect as a heads-up for Conklin.
The dark-haired man turned, and made Conklin instantly.
That’s when Kyle pulled a knife from his beltline.
