“It’s OK,” a voice bellowed over her screams. “You’re safe.”
She paused for a second. Her hands remained balled into fists, ready to lash out at the hint of a wrong move from any of them.
“Get that damn light out of my face.”
“Sorry,” a voice said, and the light was extinguished.
Her eyes adjusted and faces came into focus. Two EMTs and two uniformed cops surrounded her.
The female EMT said, “We need to examine you. OK?”
Zo? nodded.
While the EMTs worked on her, the cops questioned her. She had only one question for them. “Did you catch him?”
“No,” was the crushing yet simple answer.
“Did you know your attacker?”
Yeah, I know him, just not his name. “It was the Tally Man. You need to contact Inspector Ryan Greening.”
“The Tally Man. You’re sure about that?” the cop said.
“Look, we need to get her to the hospital,” the male EMT said.
“Wait a second,” the cop instructed.
“Of course I’m sure. Get Inspector Greening. He knows me.”
“OK, I’m coming with you to the hospital.”
The EMTs put her on a gurney despite her protests and wheeled her out. There’d been a cop on the door to keep her neighbors away. He was forced to clear a path for the EMTs. She hated the stares and questions.
“Vultures,” the female EMT murmured when they got clear of the onlookers. They rolled her to one of the two ambulances.
“I don’t need two ambulances.”
“The other one is for your neighbor,” the male EMT said. “That asshole tipped him over the railing.”
She closed her eyes and shook her head. She couldn’t have another death on her conscience. “Is he . . . ?”
“He’s OK. He has a broken leg, but he’ll be fine.”
They bundled her into the ambulance with the cop who’d done the questioning. They took her to San Francisco General, and a doctor checked her out in the ER. She found bruising and minor abrasions but no broken bones or concussion. Once the doctor gave her the all clear, she was put in a private room with the officer.
Just as he was finishing taking her statement, two inspectors and an evidence tech arrived. The cop and the inspectors talked in the hallway while the tech went over her the way a gorilla grooms one of its own. He took nail scrapings, examined wounds, and took her clothes. She knew the process was a waste of time. The Tally Man was too good at his craft. She hadn’t gotten a piece of him and he hadn’t left a piece of himself on her.
The inspectors reentered her hospital room.
“I’m Inspector Sean Dwyer, and this is Inspector Joel Arnold,” Dwyer said. “Could you tell us about tonight?”
She wasn’t in the mood for another round of pointless questions. “I want to speak to Inspector Ryan Greening.”
She got Ogawa instead. It was an hour before he arrived, forcing her to suffer through small talk with Dwyer and Arnold. He took a seat next to her bed, while Dwyer and Arnold leaned against the walls.
“Was it really him?” he asked. His tone was cool and calm, but she felt little warmth and compassion.
“Yes.”
“You sure?”
“Of course I am. He called me by name and said I put up a better fight than last time. Who else would it be, for Christ’s sake? I don’t believe in coincidence. Do you?”
Someone knocked at the door. Dwyer opened it, and David Jarocki appeared.
The sight of Jarocki in the doorway confused Zo?. “Dr. Jarocki, why are you here?”
Dwyer looked to Ogawa, and Ogawa nodded. Dwyer held the door open for Jarocki, and the psychologist walked in. Then the pieces fell into place, and she glared at Ogawa.
“I asked Dr. Jarocki to come by. I thought you could use his help.”
She saw through Ogawa’s lie. It was for his benefit that he’d brought in Jarocki. He was there to calm down the crazy girl if she got out of hand.
“Do you want me to stay, Zo??” Jarocki asked.
She nodded.
He smiled, then pulled up the remaining chair in the room and sat down on the side of the bed, opposite Ogawa.
He looked her over. She felt his gaze land on her ever-growing collection of injuries. She’d become the universe’s punching bag of late.
“Are you OK?”
“Yes. I fought back.”
He smiled a pained smile and took her hand. “I’m glad, but I wish you hadn’t needed to.”
Ogawa cleared his throat. “I have a few more questions.”
Jarocki released her hand.
“You say it was him, but how did he find out where you lived? Are you living in the same place you were when he abducted you before?”
She shook her head. Moving had been one of her first priorities after the abduction. She’d moved to hide from him. She’d moved to hide from everyone. “I was still in school at Davis when he abducted us, and I’ve been very careful about what public information is out there about me.”