Chapter 5
“How the hell is that possible?” she cried out.
“He was escorted to jail by two men. Somehow he managed to strangle both with his handcuffs on.”
She stared at him in horror. “Are you saying he just killed two police officers?”
“And he now has their weapons.” Warrick’s tone was grim.
She shook her head. “Oh, no, no, no. That’s not good.”
“None of it’s good,” he said.
“The hospital is on full alert. The police are sending extra men to help protect the staff and the patients at the hospital. They have even enlisted the navy’s help to safeguard all those people. But that was a warning phone call for us. It’s not just about Nina. It’s also about you.”
She stared at him and frowned. “But I did what he asked me to do,” she said.
“No, in his mind you’re responsible for Nina leaving him, then bringing me in, and I’m the one who took him down. You started this chain of events—in his demented mind. So now he’s likely to come back after you, and he’s likely, as we all know, to go back after Nina.”
“Dear God,” she whimpered. “This is not at all what she or I need.”
“Given that scenario, I highly suggest I sleep on your couch tonight.”
She brightened. “Now that would be something I’d really appreciate because he might show up there.”
“Why’s that?”
“Because he has been to my place. With Nina. He knows where I live.”
“In that case, maybe we should go to my place,” he said thoughtfully.
“Would he know who you are? Would he be able to check the navy’s database and find out where you live?”
Warrick frowned. “If he had my training, the answer is absolutely. I’m not sure what his clearance is, but it’s possible. He’s going to be well trained regardless.”
“So maybe we shouldn’t go to either place,” she said. “The last thing I want is to face him again.”
“I’m not sure we’d be facing him at all,” Warrick said quietly. “There’s a good chance he’d shoot us in the back, instead of facing us, so that we can’t see who it is or when to evade the attack.”
She stared at him. “Why would he do that?”
“Because now he’s got some dedicated purpose to his madness. I don’t think he wants to reconcile anymore. He’s moved from wanting Nina to be with him to killing two cops.”
“Maybe we need to figure that out. We need to go where he isn’t.”
“That’s a good point.” He pulled out his phone and sent several texts. “I’m trying to get more details right now.”
“If he was shooting wildly on base earlier today targeting parked cars in an apparent temper tantrum, then escaped capture there, surely he’s not returning to the base now, right?”
Warrick nodded.
“So, if we were to go on base, since George would be avoiding the base now, where the hell would we go?”
“I could find us a place,” he said. “Even though I live off base, I still spend a lot of time there.”
“Still, to play devil’s advocate here, if we’re off base, won’t we have a better chance of hiding from him?”
“Not really. He just made the dumbest move of his life. Once he killed those cops, every law enforcement officer in the city is after him.”
“So we need to lay low,” she said with a nod. “I think we can do that. We could pick a hotel anywhere in the city. George won’t have time to track us with so many possible locations to check.”
“That’s true enough. So,” he said with a grin, “where do you want to go?”
She thought about it and said, “I haven’t a clue. But I do know I no longer want to go to work tomorrow.”
“I’d be all for that.”
“I’ve got an idea,” she said. “How about I just sit here all night and listen to the waves?”
His arms tightened around her, and he pulled her even closer. “I don’t have a problem with that.”
Her phone rang. She sighed. “Of course somebody is trying to get hold of me.” She pulled it out. “It’s Nina.” She hit the Talk button. “Nina, how are you?”
“He’s free,” she shrieked into the phone. “He’s free! He’ll be coming after me.”
“I heard that, and the police and the navy have men coming to protect you and the other patients and staff,” Penny said, trying for a soothing voice. Obviously that wasn’t working though. Nina screamed even louder. “Calm down, please. I can’t understand you.”
“You have to run. He’s coming after you too.”
“I know that,” Penny said. “Warrick is here with me right now. We’re just figuring out what to do next.”
“Somebody needs to go to my girlfriend’s. She doesn’t deserve to come home and find him there.”
“Tabitha?”
“Yes. I was staying with her. She’s not answering her phone. I’m afraid he’s already there.”
“Did you tell the cops?”
“Yeah. They said they’d get somebody out there, but they didn’t think he’d go there. They figured he would either come here after me or go after you.”
“We can go and make sure she’s okay. And then we’ll probably get a hotel room or something for the night so he can’t find us.”
“Oh, good,” Nina said with relief. “I also heard how they’re bringing cops and navy guys down here, and security is on high alert. But he got in before, so I don’t know how good that’ll be. I won’t sleep again until he’s caught and put away.”
“I know. I can’t say I’m feeling very secure at the moment either.” And yet later, as she put her phone away, she knew that was a complete lie because, cuddled up in Warrick’s arms like she was, it was hard to imagine anything more secure than being right there.
“Who’s Tabitha?”
“The girlfriend Nina has been staying with this week after George broke her two ribs.”
“So we need to make sure her friend is okay. He might or might not know where Tabitha lives but he’d have no trouble tracking the address down as one of many possible places she’d run to.”
“Did he take the cop car too? Or did he find something a little more subtle to drive around town in?” she asked.
“I doubt he took the cop car. Too obvious.” As he was busy sending texts, more came in with tidbits of information. “He did take the cop car, and it had been found abandoned. They suspected he’d picked up another vehicle.” Warrick added, “I’ll let them know we’ll run to Tabitha’s place and take a quick look. The last thing we want is another friend involved in this.”
“God no,” Penny said. She hopped to her feet on top of the log. “Let’s go. The sooner we find this guy the better.”
“We’re not trying to find him,” he corrected. “We’re making sure Nina’s other friend is safe.”
With that, they walked to her car.
She stopped, turned and looked at him with a frown. “Why?”
“In case he tries to track us down, or we accidentally come up on him.”
It took her a minute to realize what he was saying. Then she handed him the keys without a word.
He dropped their garbage into the trash can on the side of the parking lot and went back to the car to find she was already inside, buckled up.
Just the thought of him even considering driving for that reason made her cringe. She wasn’t a scaredy-cat. But a psycho with a gun, well, anybody with a brain should be terrified of that.
He pulled the vehicle out of the parking lot and asked, “Where are we going?”
She gave him directions and hoped Tabitha wasn’t even home. Trying to explain this nightmare wasn’t something Penny looked forward to.
They pulled up to the front of an apartment building. Tabitha’s apartment was on the third floor. They got out and hit the number on the intercom. There was no answer.
The door to the apartment building opened, and somebody came out. He held it for them, and they walked in.
She glanced at him. “I suppose you think that’s not a good thing either, or is it?”
“Of course not,” Warrick said. “Security exists for a reason. What’s the point of it if you’ll just let in every stranger when they come to the door looking to enter?”
She shrugged. “Honestly I hadn’t thought of that.”
“No, most people don’t.”
Upstairs on the third floor they walked to Tabitha’s and knocked. When there was no answer, Warrick knocked several times hard. On his third knock the door unclasped and slid open.
He shoved Penny against the hallway wall and placed a finger to her lips. She stared at him, her eyes huge. He whispered, “Stay here.”
And she realized what the unlocked and open door meant.
*
Warrick stepped to the side of the hinges and gently pushed open the door. No lights were on inside. He couldn’t hear anything. He didn’t have a weapon and had no way to know if somebody was inside or not. He dared not call out, but, at the same time, now that he had knocked, somebody on the inside knew he was here. He waited, listening.
When he thought he heard a thump, he slid in through the front door and assessed the small hallway ahead of him. As soundlessly as he could with his bloody walking cast, he made it to the living room and peered around the area. There was no sign of anyone. A light was on in the hallway down at the other end. Knowing this was likely where the gunman—and/or Tabitha—would be, Warrick approached cautiously.
He hadn’t heard another sound since he’d first entered. A bathroom was beside him. The door wasn’t fully closed, and there was enough of a halo light for him to see in.
Crouching down low, knowing the gunman would likely shoot at chest level, he gently pushed on the door. No shot was fired. He stood and peered around the corner. And his heart sank. Lying facedown was a woman with blood pouring from the top of her head. A large pool surrounded her on the floor.
He quickly checked to make sure she was dead, knowing in no way could she survive that kind of blood loss with her head injury. He checked the master suite, checked the en suite bathroom, did a quick sweep around the rest of the apartment and then brought Penny inside. She took one look at his face and cried out.
He shook his head. “She’s been shot in the head. No way to save her.” He already had his phone in his hand and called it in. He motioned to the couch. “Sit down and don’t move.”
She sat like a little schoolgirl, her hands on her lap and just stared at him.
He answered the questions as fast as he could, saying he could already see the intruder was gone. He needed to find out where he’d go next and how long since he’d been here. They would need the security cameras’ feed from the apartment complex, though that wasn’t his job. He wouldn’t have access. The city police would completely shut out all navy personnel and would have nothing to do with Warrick. At least not until there was evidence George had killed Tabitha.
The cops were at the door within minutes. Warrick let them in. He gave a statement; then the police wanted them to leave the apartment, and that was fine with him. He pulled Penny’s hand, helping her to her feet, and led her out in the hall again.
By then she was shaking. She’d caught a glimpse of Tabitha on the floor, and it wasn’t a pretty sight for anyone to see.
He led her back out of the building, down to the car. Once inside, he sat and just held her close.
“Now what do we do?”
Her voice sounded more frozen than terrified. He’d rather she kicked and screamed and cried than this numbness. “Well, let’s see. We have a killer hunting us. What we have to do is be smart.”
She stared at him. “What does that mean?”
“We need a place to go that’s safe. I’m not sure exactly which direction to go. You need to let me think about it for a minute.”
Just then a vehicle ripped through the parking lot and tore onto the main street ahead of him. Instantly Warrick pulled out in the traffic and chased him.
“What are you doing?” Penny yelled, buckling up and grabbing for the dash. “Why are you chasing that car?”
“Did it ever occur to you it might be George?”
“Did it ever occur to you it might not be? Don’t you wait until you confirm something before you go after somebody like that?”
“Hell no. A lot of criminals stay at the scene of the crime to watch what happens.”
“It makes no sense.”
“Of course it does. He saw you arrive. For all we know, he was coming up Tabitha’s hallway after us, but I called the cops, and he heard them arrive too fast and chose to get away then.”
She stared at him, dumbstruck at the concept.
He wasn’t thrilled either, but it was all too possible. If the killer had been there not very long ago, they might have just missed him. If he’d seen them go up or pull in or recognized her vehicle, George may have wanted to return and kill them at the same time.
For all Warrick knew, George was already on the stairs coming up to Tabitha’s apartment again when he heard the sirens. The fact was, Warrick was following somebody who didn’t want to get caught, and that meant Warrick was interested in who he was. “Do you know anything about George’s family?”
She shook her head. “No, I don’t. Why?”
“Call Nina and ask her to find out if he has a brother to go to, a mother to go to, somebody who would give him a bolt hole to hide out in.”
“Why would anybody do that?” she asked.
“Because often family doesn’t believe the stories about their own relatives. And then consider that a gun is mighty persuasive.”
She pulled out her phone, and he listened as she talked to Nina. “Nina says he has a brother who’s a drug addict, but he doesn’t live in this area. He lives down in the skid row section of San Diego.”
“Get an address if you can,” he said. “I don’t feel like being a sitting duck until this guy finds us.”
“Do you really think he’ll come after us that fast?”
“It’s hard to say. If he’s trying to annihilate everybody even remotely associated with Nina, he’s got a lot of targets to choose from.”
“But you’re thinking we’re at the top of the list.”
“Or Nina is. In his mind, she could be the betrayer, or she could still be the person he loves. There’s no way to know.”
“Down on Dondi Street,” she said. “It’s in the commercial area by the docks.”
He nodded. “I don’t know the area. See if you can bring it up on the city map.”
“We can’t go down there on our own,” she said.
He glanced at her. “I’ll have to call for some backup.”
“We need to call the cops.”
“Then do so,” he said calmly. “Tell them where we’re headed.”
It was obvious the vehicle was trying to shake him. Warrick let him get a block ahead and calm down, and then he pulled in behind him again. The driver was getting rattled. He took a left-hand turn, almost causing an accident as he darted through traffic.
Warrick swore. “Damn it.”
Then there was a break in the traffic up ahead. He pulled a U-turn and took a right, going after the guy again. It took him a few minutes of wandering the blocks to find him, but he came up behind him again. The guy hit the gas and tore off, getting back onto the main highway. This time he headed in the right direction toward his brother’s.
Being a naval officer, George could disappear in an awful lot of places. And those were places that, although Warrick was navy himself, he might not know. The trouble was, everybody knew who George was, and everybody was looking for him.
“The cops aren’t happy. They want you to stop chasing him.”
“I thought you decided it wasn’t him I was chasing,” Warrick said.
“Are you trying to piss off the police?”
He shrugged. “Not necessarily trying to, but I’m not prepared to let this guy go either.”
“Well, you don’t even know who he is.” She tried to speak in a reasonable tone.
“If he’d stop, I’d ask him,” Warrick said with a smile.
Just then the guy up ahead took a quick right and then a quick left. Warrick followed suit. He was determined not to lose him.
“Maybe you didn’t understand me. The cops ordered us to stop chasing him.”
Warrick considered it and then discarded it. “Unless the cops are here to take over, I’m not letting go.”
She groaned. “Are you always this stubborn?”
“Yes,” he said with a nod. “I think I am.”
They kept up the chase for another ten minutes until he saw the docks up ahead. The vehicle had slowed. Warrick had let several vehicles get in between them. As he watched, the car headed toward the warehouses on the left side of the dock area.
“This is definitely not your typical nice neighborhood,” Penny said quietly. “There are prostitutes on the corners, homeless people sitting on the sidewalk.”
“Yeah, interesting choice for him.”
“Again you don’t know it’s him.” She was frustrated.
“Well, if it’s not George, then the cops can’t be upset with me, can they?”
“Whatever.”
He kept his eyes peeled as the vehicle pulled up and around the block just a little bit ahead. Warrick killed the lights and drifted into the turn after him. The vehicle was parked halfway down the next block. Warrick gently braked, trying not to move so as to remain undetected. He watched the driver get out, dashing across the street. Once he entered the building there, Warrick drove the car a couple more blocks, then pulled off to the side of the road and parked, killing the engine so no one would see brake lights either.
He looked at her and said, “Now I’m in a pickle.”
She looked at him in surprise. “Why?”
“I want to go after him.”
“I don’t like the idea of that at all,” she said. “That’s not safe.”
“I’d be going after him regardless of that issue.” Warrick’s voice was hard. “But I can’t leave you alone. Because, if I lose sight of him, he can backtrack and grab you.”
She gave him a bland smile. “Then I guess you can’t go after him, can you?”
He pulled out his phone. “Who were you talking to in the police department?”
“I don’t know.”
He wasn’t sure he believed her, but, at the same time, he already had somebody on the phone talking to him. He pulled out the card that the cop had given him earlier in the day and asked for him. The city police and NCIS were working together on any George-related developments.
Within a few moments the call was transferred over. “Who is this?”
“I’m the guy who walked into the hospital earlier today and disarmed the gunman.”
“What do you want?” But the aggression was gone; instead there was just curiosity.
“I tracked a vehicle from Tabitha’s house, who was Nina’s friend and murdered within the last hour,” Warrick explained. “We’re down at the docks at what appears to be an empty warehouse building a block away from the Willow area, which is where your suspect’s brother lives.”
“You followed him?”
“I did,” Warrick said baldly. “He took off out of Tabitha’s apartment parking lot as we were leaving. The cops had just arrived. I didn’t know who it was, but, given his behavior, I decided I would give chase.”
“Exactly where are you?” the officer barked.
Warrick gave him directions. “The vehicle is parked on the block behind me. I can see it in my rearview mirror.”
“Don’t move. Keep an eye on that vehicle.”
Warrick agreed. “Are you coming yourself?”
“I’m sending black-and-whites first. I’ll be there as soon as I can. Probably in about fifteen minutes.”
“Good, we’ll be here.” Warrick hung up and turned to look at Penny, who was staring at him.
“How come they didn’t talk to me like that?” she protested.
He grinned. “There’s a language. And you don’t speak it.”
“What language?”
He chuckled. “A language between protectors.” And that’s all he said.