by Blink, Bob
“You were off a day,” she said.
Jake shook his head. “No, I wasn’t. Those weren’t from here. Those came from down closer to the water. The S.O.B. chose a new target. He spotted the police yesterday and aborted. Now he’s back. Damnit!”
They worked their way through the building away from the direction Jake could tell the shots were coming from. They exited out onto the street after waiting to ensure no more shooting was taking place. Panicky crowds filled the street, with people hurrying away from the area. Jake saw Patrolman Samuels directing people away from Ghirardelli. Fortunately, the direction he wanted everyone to go was the way they needed to head to get to where they had parked. Jake passed by the patrolman and they exchanged glances, Samuels seeing Jake, but not having any reason to recognize him. He and Jake had never met before this time around.
Getting out of town was as difficult as Jake had predicted. It was two hours before they were on the Golden Gate Bridge and headed north. Reports of the shooting were on the news. The carnage wasn’t as great as it had been the first time around, but more than two dozen people had been killed or wounded, some of them children. These were people that would have been safe. Jake’s call to the police that had prevented the attack in Ghirardelli had caused different people to lose their lives. This couldn’t stand. Jake felt personally responsible, as if he had pulled the trigger. He had targeted these people by his actions.
“You’ve got to back-track and warn the police,” Karin told Jake once they were back at the hotel and sitting in his room.
“It won’t work,” Jake objected. “You saw what happened. He knew the police had been warned and simply delayed and tried somewhere else on another day. The police won’t believe me if I call. You see what happened the first time. Nothing. The killer didn’t show. Another call warning of the same thing will get even less response than the first time. They’ll think someone is playing with them. If they do anything, the bastard will probably get away to try this again somewhere else. It isn’t going to stop unless he’s captured or killed. I don’t see a way to get the police to do that at this point.”
“Damn it Jake, you can’t try and do this yourself.”
“I might have to,” he replied. “I’m not letting the bastard get away. Not only did he kill you, but now he’s caused me to help him hurt people who would have been safe.”
“Killed?” Karin asked softly. She had picked up on his words. He hadn’t told her the specifics of the attack.
“Yeah,” he replied reluctantly. “He shot you twice, once in the head. You were brain dead and didn’t make it more than a few days.”
“Oh Jake,” she cried.
She fell into his arms briefly. For the first time in months he felt once again how warm and soft she was. Then she pushed away.
“We’ve got to check the news. Maybe there is something they will learn this time and you can give that to the police. You can’t go after him alone. It’s dangerous and I don’t like you killing people. That’s got to stop.”
The three of them watched the news channels, but it soon became apparent that the police had no leads. It was a replay of what Jake had seen before. He didn’t know how the bastard did it, but he seemed to get away clean each time. Once again, the weapon and backpack, the same one Jake was certain from the photos, was left at the scene. At midnight the stories had become repetitious. There was nothing new. Karin spent the night with him. After making love and just before they tried to sleep Karin insisted once again he needed to contact the police. At least to try. Jake mumbled something and held her close. Then he back-tracked to the day he’d arrived in Vallejo, more than a day before Ellen and Karin had arrived at the hotel.
Chapter 20
Jake staggered at the sudden onslaught of unexpected memories that arrived as he was carrying his bag from the car to his room in the Vallejo Best Western Inn after checking into the hotel. Damn it! The bastard had gotten away and had shifted his attack. Jake was going to have to try something else. Once again the straightforward plan which had involved contacting the police hadn’t worked out as hoped. He recalled the warm pleasant sensation of Karin’s naked form next to him in bed and the promise he hadn’t made, but had implied, before he had back-tracked. What she wished him to do simply wasn’t going to work. Well, none of that had happened yet, at least not for anyone else. This would be the third time he’d lived through these next few days. Maybe the third time would be the charm.
Jake set down his bag and rubbed his temple. Then he picked up the suitcase and continued on to his room. He’d head into the city as he’d done before, but this time there would be no point repeating his surveillance of Ghirardelli Square. He already remembered what he would learn there, and now he needed information on the second location the gunman would use.
After parking his Chevy in the same slot he’d used the previous time, Jake walked along the waterfront toward Pier 39. This area was new to him. He’d been to Ghirardelli once or twice in previous years, but while he’d heard of Pier 39, for some reason he’d never gone there. Today would be his first visit.
Soon enough he was approaching the entrance to the finger of land that stuck out into the ocean. Unlike many of the other piers that were more what one would expect with places for sea going boats and larger vessels to tie up to shore, this one had been completely worked over as a tourist attraction. With the water on either side, a pair of small breakwaters had been built, and periodic walkways that extended out into the protected water had been established. Hundreds of small private sporting craft were docked here. Jake couldn’t believe the money that was represented by the boats and wondered what it cost to have a berth at this prestigious location. Personally, he would have rather had a spot with a little more privacy.
The dock area had been built up with a couple of dozen structures. These were museums, restaurants, and souvenir shops that extended from the Embarcadero all the way to the tip of the pier well out in the water. Most of the buildings would not have suited the shooter. They had pitched roofs that would have made shooting from above impossible. But conveniently located near the entrance to the pier was a large multistory building with a flat expansive roof. This was where the shooter would choose to attack from. The location had also been better for his escape. Simply exiting the building and joining the throng on the street out front had allowed him to slip away. Had he been deeper into the pier, he would have faced the possibility of being trapped.
Jake walked onto the pier as he examined the building off to his right. Open, with multiple entrances along the front, it beckoned to him. Instead of going inside, he walked along, examining the other structures and the layout of the area. There were multiple places to hide here. It was better for the victims than it had been at Ghirardelli, so that probably explained why the victim count had been less. Still, those caught in the open would have had little time to seek cover.
After passing by the building, Jake walked over to the side and stared at the water and the boats. Pier 39 wasn’t far from Ghirardelli. And now this location. Both obviously well known to the shooter. Jake couldn’t help wondering how many people actually lived on the boats he could see out on the water. Was it remotely possible that the shooter was one of them. Instead of scooting down from the roof and heading out into traffic, he could have slipped along the edge of the pier and out onto the walkway and into his floating residence. The location would have worked well for the Ghirardelli shooting as well.
It didn’t matter, he decided. He wasn’t trying to locate the killer in advance of the shooting. The chances of any success following that route were too small. He needed to determine the best way of being in place when the killer arrived so he could take him down and then make his own escape. He pushed away from the railing he’d been leaning against and started a slow walk back toward the building.
Instead of passing in front as he had earlier, he adjusted his heading so that he would pass along the backside of the structure. It was dirtier alon
g the back. There were several large sets of doors, all closed and locked. Jake had no way of knowing if they could be pushed open from the inside or whether a key would be required to open them from the inside as well. Halfway along the length of the building he found a fire escape extending down from the roof. It was unreachable from the ground where he was, but anyone climbing down from the roof would be able to release the latched segment that would then extend the walkway all the way to the ground. Jake looked back the way he had come toward the docked boats, then the opposite way toward the street. It would work very well for someone trying to go either way. It would be nice to disable the device, but if it came to that point, Jake would have already been unsuccessful in his effort to stop the shooter. Besides, he didn’t know if this was the route the man had taken. The news hadn’t gone into that kind of detail.
Soon enough he was back at the entrance, and he continued to loop around the building so he could go inside. It was later in the day, and the crowds were starting to thin, although a substantial number of people were still here. That was good. He didn’t want to stand out as the only one. He walked around the inside pretending to look at the displays and the shops, but really focusing on the security and the means of getting upstairs. There were multiple stairs heading upwards, and at least one set of elevators. If there was any security, it was of the roving kind or based on concealed cameras.
Satisfied he had nothing more to learn down below, he climbed upwards to the second level, and repeated his slow walk around. He stayed alert and tried to spot any cameras, but was unable to see any. They had either done a good job of hiding them, or there weren’t any. Somehow, he expected the latter. Near the middle of the building a short hallway off the main walkway lead to a solid wooden door conveniently label “roof access”. It was secured by a pair of standard locks, one dead bolt and another in the handle of the doorknob itself. These weren’t the sophisticated electronic locks like he’d seen in Ghirardelli. Jake lingered in the hallway near the door. He figured if there were any cameras that could spot him here, someone would come and ask him what he was doing soon enough. Then he would know. If that happened he would back-track a half hour and try something else.
No one bothered him, so he pulled out the small battery powered lock pick he’d brought along. He’d acquired the device from the same “vendor” that had provided him with his last set of fake ID paperwork. It hadn’t been cheap, but the man promised solid documentation for the ID, which had been proven over time. He’d sold Jake the device and given him a short lesson in its use. Now Jake quickly unlocked the deadbolt, and then the doorknob. He put the device back into his jacket pocket and quickly pulled the door open, slipping through and closing it behind him.
Inside was a narrow staircase leading up to the roof. He could see lights in the ceiling, and supposed there was a switch that would activate them, but he had enough light from the sky to make out the steps and elected to leave the lights off. Carefully he climbed upwards and emerged onto a flat roof with a variety of structures and equipment. Staying in the darkened shaft, he surveyed the area ahead of him. He could see where the shooter had positioned himself. The scene was the same as he’d seen on television when he and Karin had watched the news. Deliberately, he stayed away from the edges of the structure. He didn’t want to be seen from below, and he didn’t want to do anything to contaminate the scene. Hopefully the police would be examining the body of the shooter there in another day.
Jake stayed near the center of the building and walked around looking for the best place to hide. There were several options, but he found one near the air conditioning equipment he liked best. It was easy enough to reach, and offered good concealment, but also a view of the spot the shooter would select. Best of all, the angle was such that any shots Jake fired that might miss his target would pass by the shooter and go out into the water, safely missing any bystanders below or in the building across the way. Jake knew what time the shooter would strike, and he had a couple of hours when the facility would be open before that to get into place. The shooter had fortunately waited until later in the day to ensure a full crowd, and Jake would bet money he hadn’t waited up here any longer than necessary to preclude detection. After a brief check to make sure he knew where the fire escape was for his own exit afterwards, Jake was finished.
Satisfied and with a plan in his mind, Jake made his way back down the darkened stairs. He listened to try and hear if anyone was on the other side, but could hear nothing. He would have to take a chance. Carefully, he pushed the door open enough to have a look, and seeing no one in the hall he stepped through and closed the door softly behind him. It only took a moment to re-lock the doors, and he stepped out into the main pathway, then slowly continued around the upper area until he reached one of the stairways that took him downward.
He walked back toward Ghirardelli and his parked car, then continued on up the hill and reexamined where he would leave the vehicle in the morning. Even though his actions should be silent and not create a fuss, he wanted to have the vehicle well away from the area and on a line that would give him a direct shot at the Golden Gate Bridge and his route out of town. An hour later he was back in Vallejo. He had dinner in the same place he’d eaten before, recalling it had been excellent, then showered and went to bed. The next morning he stayed in the hotel thinking through his plan. There was nothing to gain by heading back into the city.
“Jake?” Karin asked clearly surprised to see him. “What are you doing here? How did you know where we’d be?”
The familiar greeting and the intense feeling of deja’-vu washed over Jake. Of course, he knew why it seemed familiar. This was exactly what had happened before. He followed the same script, and explained what had happened and what must be done. This time he allowed one change. He knew what would happen as a result of his call warning the police. The city would be safe tomorrow as a result. Therefore, he made no attempt to dissuade the women from their intention of going into the city, only urging them to put Ghirardelli later in the day, and to include him in the trip.
“You’re convinced it will be safe?” Karin asked, looking at him carefully.
“The shooting was in the morning. Anything that is going to happen will be over by the afternoon. As long as we stay away from the area, we’ll miss any excitement.”
“Good,” Ellen said. “I don’t believe any of this, but at least we’ll be taking precautions.”
Karin was clearly uncomfortable. She was on the edge of a thought, but the ramifications of the back-tracking were still new to her, otherwise she would have probably tripped to the realization Jake had knowledge of the fact the call prevented the shooting. That would have lead her to the idea he had double back-tracked, which meant something else was up. Fortunately, Ellen kept her enough distracted that she wasn’t able to pursue the thought, and it escaped.
Once again they drove to the city for dinner, and Jake made the call that would alert the police. Then they drove back to the hotel and their respective rooms.
“I think this is all your imagination,” Ellen said the next afternoon as the three of them exited the Chocolate Factory after eating more ice cream than made sense. “Nothing happened here today. It’s quiet and everything looks normal.”
“Almost normal,” Jake acknowledged silently. He had noted an increased police presence compared to the other times he’d been here. They had reacted to his warning, and the presence of the added officers had to be what had chased away the shooter. Even so, Jake made a point of staying between Karin and the building from which the shooter had fired until they were out of the area and down on the wharf.
“What happens now?” Karin asked when they returned to Vallejo after another great meal.
“I guess we’ll have to wait and see if the police find any leads on the guy,” Jake replied, knowing it wouldn’t happen but not wanting to reveal anything about what he knew. “I had hoped they would catch him. I don’t like the fact he is still out there som
ewhere.”
Ellen muttered something Jake didn’t catch. She was still a disbeliever. That was actually good, although he hoped there would be a way to make her forget all about this and no talk about it later.
“Are you going with us to Sea World tomorrow?” Karin asked.
Jake shook his head. “It’s not my thing, and I need to get back home. I had just returned from my trip around the Midwest, and there are things I need to get sorted out. Can I call you when you get back in Reno?” he asked her hopefully.
Karin nodded. “We need to talk. It’s been a long time and maybe we can work this out. I’m glad you called the police. Jake, I know you don’t think so, especially since they didn’t catch him, but at least everyone was saved and you didn’t have to . . . . . you know.”
Jake felt instantly guilty, and knew there would be another argument later, but that would be unavoidable. He couldn’t tell her his plans now. A call to the police wouldn’t help the situation, and she was likely to make such a call if she suspected what he knew. That might put himself and the plan at risk. Going ahead as he planned might ruin the fragile chance he was seeing for reconciliation, but lives he’d put at risk were hanging in the balance, and he couldn’t let that be. Besides, he owed the bastard for shooting Karin, and he wasn’t going to allow him to walk away. Not when he had a chance to put the animal down.
Jake accepted the token kiss as before, then walked down the hall to his room. His sleep was restless and troubled, and when seven AM came, he was awake. He showered, changed, and loaded his gear into the truck. He wouldn’t be back to the hotel, and Karin and Ellen probably weren’t up as yet. Just as well. They wouldn’t see him leave and have any chance to question him.
Jake was in place well ahead of the time the shooting would take place. Today he had only the silenced Sig and three magazines. He shouldn’t need more than one, but one never knew. The pistol had been easy enough to conceal. The weather today was cooler and windy, and the wind breaker he wore did an admirable job of hiding the gun. Jake fully expected to have to toss the handgun afterwards. He didn’t know if he would be able to recover the brass. He wore thin surgeon gloves, and would drop it and the magazines into the water of the bay if he felt it prudent. There was nothing to connect him with the pistol even if it was recovered, and it would be best not to have it on him if he was unable to police up all evidence of its use.