‘One’s serious, the other critical,’ Deacon told her. ‘But they’re both alive. So if you had him on his knees and he dropped his gun, how’d he get the upper hand?’
‘I’d leaned in to cuff him and he reared back and head-butted my face. Honestly, my attention was split. I was watching Meredith and Mallory out of the corner of my eye because I was afraid he had an accomplice. But it was just him. He had a knife up his sleeve and’ – she pointed to her arm – ‘he got me with it. I kicked it out of his hand, but he was already going for my gun. We fought for it and I shot him in the chest, but he was wearing a vest. Still had to have hurt him. It was point-blank. He got me by the throat, shoved me into the SUV, backwards, then face first. I . . . I was a bit dizzy.’
‘You were curled up on the damn ground,’ Meredith challenged. ‘I thought . . .’ Tears rose in her throat. ‘God, Kate, I thought you were dead.’
Kate shrugged. ‘I might have been if I hadn’t been wearing the wig. He went for the gun again and grabbed at my hair to hold me down. The wig came off, which surprised him so much that he staggered a little. I shoved at him but I was . . . dizzy, so I sat down.’
‘Fell down,’ Meredith muttered, pushing the tears back.
Kate gave her a dirty look. ‘Anyway, I wasn’t sure if I could keep the gun away from him. I couldn’t get up to run away at that point, so I ejected the clip and threw it as hard as I could, then tossed the gun under the SUV. His was already under there from when I kicked it. He tried to get at both guns, cursed a lot, hit me a few more times, then went running after Meredith. She’d stashed Mallory by this point. She came out with a gun, shot the guy in the chest. He must have been on something because he didn’t stop. I mean, yeah, he had on a vest, but that was two direct hits to the chest and he didn’t even act like he felt it. She shot his leg and he retreated. I’d gotten to my knees at this point, but I couldn’t reach my gun or his. But, hey, it was a black SUV, just like at the restaurant. I figured he might have a rifle in there, since he used it to shoot at Adam and Troy earlier.’
‘That was good work, Kate,’ Deacon said. ‘Where did you find it?’
‘Under the driver’s seat. I heard four more shots, got close enough to hear Meredith tell him that he’d have to kill her first, that she wouldn’t let him have Mallory. Idiot.’
Meredith rolled her eyes, but her voice was soft and non-accusatory when she asked, ‘Why did you shoot his arm? Why not his head?’
‘You’re the best shot of any of us, Kate,’ Adam said quietly. ‘What happened?’
Kate grimaced. ‘I was aiming for his head. My vision was a little blurry.’
Meredith’s heart stuttered. Now she understood. This wasn’t all Kate being guilty. This was also fear. Kate’s head had been hit harder than she wanted to admit and she was scared. Oh honey, Meredith wanted to say, but she held the words back, holding Kate’s hand instead. Kate tightened her grip, affirmation of just how terrified she was.
Adam let out a quiet breath. ‘Is it still blurry?’
‘Not as much. They’re going to keep me here tonight.’ She forced a smile. ‘Along with Clarke. Ironic that we brought Mer in for a head injury but we’re the ones who have to sleep over. Maybe we can watch movies. Or listen to them. The light kind of hurts my eyes.’
Adam immediately dimmed the overhead light. ‘Better?’
‘Yeah. Thank you.’
‘Why didn’t you say something to me?’ Meredith asked.
‘I didn’t want to scare you any more than you already were.’
Meredith scoffed. ‘Doofus.’
Kate’s lips curved faintly. ‘Knitted ball gag threat still in effect.’ She sighed. ‘Then I shot the SUV’s tires. I didn’t want him to have an easy getaway. But he got away anyway.’
‘We’ve got half the city out looking for him,’ Deacon assured her. ‘Where’s Cap?’
‘One of the hospital volunteers is keeping him right now. I’ll have to find someone to keep him until Decker gets home.’ Kate swallowed hard. ‘He’s booked on the first flight out tomorrow.’
‘I’ll keep Cap,’ Meredith said. ‘Or, depending on which safe house Mallory’s going to, maybe she can keep him. He seems to bring her peace. Or the idea of him does, at least.’
‘I’d forgotten about that,’ Kate said softly. ‘Please, make sure she can pet him.’
Meredith lightly kissed Kate’s temple. ‘We’ll take care of it. I’m going to see Papa for a while, but I’ll be back before I have to go. You try to rest.’
Twenty-three
Cincinnati, Ohio,
Sunday 20 December, 11.15 P.M.
‘This is a clusterfuck, Adam,’ Hanson grumbled as he took a seat at the table in Isenberg’s briefing room. He’d made a point of being one of the first ones there.
They were all running on fumes. Especially Quincy, Adam thought, who’d been hopping from scene to scene since yesterday afternoon. Quincy had left other forensic techs at each scene to continue the work, but had continued to revisit each one.
Zimmerman had nearly lost three of his agents tonight, on top of Troy’s injury earlier in the day. Kate would recover – although they were all nervous that her vision was still blurry – but the agents who’d been waiting in the van for Kate, Meredith, and Mallory were still unconscious.
Meredith sat in the back of the room, quietly coloring in a new coloring book that Special Agent in Charge Zimmerman’s wife had given her when they’d arrived at the hospital to visit Kate and the other two agents. Thoughtful lady, Mrs Z. She’d also brought food for the team, which they’d wolfed down like feral dogs.
Meredith hadn’t complained, but Adam knew she was exhausted. He should have asked someone to take her to the condo so that she could sleep, but he found he wasn’t quite ready to let her out of his sight. Mallory might have been the target from the beginning, but the shooter at Buon Cibo had fired a second shot at Meredith. Adam wasn’t sure he’d ever be ready to let her out of his sight, not ever again.
Standing by the whiteboard, he waited until all the seats were filled. Deacon, Scarlett, Trip, and Nash Currie had joined them, Nash choosing a chair on the opposite side of the table from Hanson. Which seemed to please Hanson a great deal as well.
Adam didn’t know what had transpired between the two to make them so contrary, but he was going to find out. He had enough trouble without saber rattling.
Isenberg was the last one in. She glanced at Meredith in the corner of the room, then pulled the door closed behind her. He wasn’t worried that she’d disapprove of Meredith’s presence. It had actually been Isenberg’s suggestion, both to keep his mind free of worry and to get Meredith’s take on the case.
They’d come a long way since yesterday afternoon when she’d threatened to pull him from the case if he got too involved.
‘Detective,’ was all Isenberg said, before sitting at the opposite end of the table. He could feel the weariness pouring off her and wondered when she’d slept last.
‘All right,’ Adam said. ‘Let’s get this done so we can grab a few hours’ sleep. You’ve all heard that Mallory Martin identified the man who tried to take her, right? Not by name, but he was one of several men who raped her when she was being held captive.’ He was able to deliver the words impersonally, but his stomach still churned at the knowledge.
Heads nodded grimly all around the table.
‘So,’ he continued, ‘we believe that this man was a friend of the cop who blackmailed her captor into allowing him access to her. She didn’t see their faces, but recognized this man’s voice. The only other thing she remembers was the birthmark or maybe a scar on the chest of the cop.’
Oh. That Voss was being blackmailed suddenly made a lot more sense. Another connection. Two guilty men, both blackmailed by a cop. A glance at Trip showed that he had just put it together too. The rookie was smart. Smart enough to keep Diesel’s info on the down-low for a little longer, because Trip gave him an almost imperceptible nod.