by Blink, Bob
Then he heard the scrape of the door off to his right, and moments later the careful movement of the shooter moving across the rooftop. The man carried a pack like Jake expected. So far Jake couldn’t get a good look at him because he had a hood over his head. Then, as he crouched down near the edge, he pushed the hood back. Jake saw a bearded face not unlike the drawing he had been shown in Vallejo by Detective Howard. As Jake watched, the man pulled the Uzi out of the pack.
There was little point in waiting. This was probably the best time to act as the man’s focus was on getting ready, and despite a certain nervousness and anticipation he had to feel by being here, he would be less alert to Jake’s approach than he would be once he’d settled down and was quiet himself as he prepared to shoot.
Jake decided getting closer would ensure his shots were on target. Shooting from behind the air conditioner would have been difficult, and he didn’t want to miss and give the shooter a chance to turn and unload the Uzi in his direction. Jake had stepped out of his hidden position and was a couple of careful steps toward the man when he sensed movement behind him. Startled, he turned his attention back toward the roof door. A policeman was stepping out onto the roof.
This changed things completely. Improvising, Jake looked at the cop who met his eyes, then pointed in the direction of the shooter. He would have to sort this out afterwards. The cop nodded and reached for his service weapon. Jake looked back at the shooter to see if he’d realized they were there when his brain caught up and he had the thought this was wrong. If the cop had been here before, wouldn’t he have stopped the shooting, or at least captured the man? Jake looked back toward the cop just in time to see the officer level his weapon at Jake’s face. Before Jake could move the policeman fired.
Jake saw the flash and then . . .
Chapter 21
Jake stumbled and fell as his hands went involuntarily to the pain in his head. He landed on the thin carpet of his room but it still took a moment for him to realize he wasn’t shot as expected and was instead actually back in his room in Vallejo. He’d back-tracked instinctively and just in time. The bullet that had been directed his way had to have arrived where he’d been just a fraction of a second after he’d acted. Had he tried to make the jump consciously, he would have been too late.
Damn! There were two of them. And one of them was a cop. That was why the shooter was able to act and get away. Maybe both were cops. Only one had been in uniform, but there was no way to be sure. When he’d called in a warning to the police, he’d also warned the shooter that someone was onto his plans. That was why he’d never shown up, not because he’d detected the increased police presence. The discovery also explained the ease with which the man was able to gain access to the various locations. A cop would have resources no one else would.
Jake found his feet and went to his toilet kit where he found his bottle of aspirin. He swallowed four of them without water, then found a glass to wash away the bitter taste. He rubbed his head. The effect of multiple back-tracks appeared to be cumulative. He could barely think, and he lay on the bed with a pillow over his face. It took almost an hour for the pills to fully kick in and take away the worst of the pain, but he was left with a dull throbbing in his head. While he rested, he tried to think of how to react.
His first thought was to proceed as planned, but now armed with the knowledge there were two of them could he be prepared to take out the cop first and the shooter second? The more he thought about it, the less confident he became. Cops would more than likely be experienced with gun fights, and even with a suppressed handgun the shots to take out the one who had come through the door would alert the second shooter to his presence. With a semi-automatic weapon in that man’s hands, it could get dicey. Jake doubted there would be a chance to wait until the two were closer together. He was certain the second man would remain near the door to watch the back of the shooter. Maybe he could do it, and maybe he couldn’t. If he came up short and didn’t back-track in time . . . well, that was something he didn’t want to think about. For that matter, how many more times could he back-track over this same period. He was in untested territory here. He had never done anything like this before and it made him a bit nervous.
Another possibility was to inform the police when he made the call about the attack at Ghirardelli that there were two of them and at least one was a cop. He wondered what that would do. He had not gotten a good look at the cop, and certainly hadn’t seen a name tag. That left him in a weak position.
He could also elect to simply grab Karin and her friend and make sure they were safe, letting the rest of the situation go forward. There were lots of problems with that. While it took away the fact a warning would remove the concern of alternate people being harmed, he would be leaving many others to their fate, as well as allowing the bastards to get away. To get Karin to leave and not go into the city he would have to tell her why, and she would insist on taking action. He could see no way for that approach to work.
Clearly he needed another plan. He needed a way to even the odds. That meant someone on his team. There was only one person he could think of. Nate. Would Nate be up for such a thing? He didn’t know. It would require him to tell his friend about what he could do, but it might be the answer. He’d sounded like he might be that day they had briefly spoken of this kind of thing. Of course, that was all talk and this was real. He’d just have to see.
As Jake lay there, he kicked around the implications. Finally he decided it was worth a try. He would have to return to Sparks, then see about back-tracking a few more days. That wasn’t something he looked forward to doing. Assuming that worked out, he could approach Nate. If it didn’t pan out, Jake could always come back here and follow the same scenario, perhaps calling the cops on the second day. Maybe they could prevent the shooting, although Jake knew in his heart it would at best be a postponement. But maybe enough of one that he would get a shot at the S.O.B. sometime in the future when Karin was home safe.
Decision made, he packed up the pickup and headed back up the freeway. He didn’t bother to check out. He would either be back, or following a different scenario. Three hours later he was back in Sparks. He spent a couple hours working through his plan, then went to bed. He wanted to be fresh when he back-tracked, and his head was still stuffy.
In the morning he back-tracked to the day after he’d returned to Sparks from his long trip through the Midwest. Jake sat down in the large chair next to his computer and contemplated the convoluted set of memories he’d just inherited. He was pleased and surprised that the headache wasn’t at all bad. His memories suggested his future self had expected it to be extremely bad. Jake was shocked at what had transpired, and wasted no time following up on what he had decided to do. He had a couple of days to try and convince his friends. He’d decided he wanted to explain all this to both Nate and Zack, and then to move forward with whichever approach he needed to pursue. This time it had to come to a conclusion.
“Yeah, I can come over this evening,” Nate said. “What’s up?”
“I might need your help with something, but it’s a lot easier if I can explain in person,” Jake said. He had already gotten agreement from Zack and Cheryl to come over as well.
“Okay. I’ll be there about seven.”
“This is some kind of a joke, right?” Zack asked after Jake had walked through a description of what was going to happen and a brief overview of his ability and how he knew of the events. His wife Cheryl was nodding her head and looking at Jake as though he’d lost his mind.
“Jake, I know you and Karin had some kind of a problem,” Cheryl said, “but whatever you are thinking is not right.”
Jake held up his hand. “I know this sounds crazy. That’s one of the reasons that I’ve never tried to reveal it before. But what I’ve told you is the truth. I can do this. What I explained is going to happen.” Jake blew out a breath. “Remember when we were hiking in Yosemite earlier this summer? There were two boys up above the w
aterfall. They were swept over the edge and killed.”
“No,” Nate objected. “You pulled them out of the water and nothing happened.”
“And why were we there?” Jake asked. “Why did I change our planned route and double time up the trail that day? It’s because the first time around we went the planned way and learned the two kids had been swept over the falls and died. I went back and changed that.” He looked at Nate pointedly.
Nate hesitated. “I always wondered why you made that change. It didn’t make sense at the time. We had just talked about the split in the trail five minutes earlier and you were intent on going the back way. When we got there, you changed your mind.” He looked at Jake thoughtfully.
“Remember us talking about that freeway sniper that was found in Los Angeles earlier this summer?” Jake asked.
“Yeah, I remember,” Zack said. “Someone shot him before he was able to do whatever he planned.”
“That was me,” Jake said. “I shot him. He had killed several dozen people and gotten away clean. I back-tracked and nailed him before he could do what he planned.”
Cheryl put her hand to her mouth. “Jesus, Jake! You’re saying you killed someone.”
Exasperated, Jake went another route. “You’ve all commented about my investment skills before. Think about how easy it would be to be successful if you knew, not guessed, but really knew where the market was going in advance. That’s why I’ve done so well.”
“Talk about the ultimate insider trading,” Nate said. “But, Jake, I’ve known you to guess wrong a few times along the way.”
“Camouflage,” Jake replied. “It wouldn’t be wise to be the only investor in history to always be right. I tried to keep a low profile because of what I’m doing.”
“I don’t know . . .” Zack said. “This is a lot to accept.”
“Okay, here’s the last proof. This is how I first showed this to Karin when I revealed my ability to her. I didn’t have a chance to watch the event on television like I did with her so I could get the draw order right, but I looked up the winning lottery numbers for tonight’s draw before I came back. Here are the winning numbers.” Jake checked his watch. “The drawing is in ten minutes.”
When it was over, they all looked at him oddly, but some of the doubt was gone.
“That’s a pretty neat trick. How did you do that?” Cheryl asked tentatively.
“No trick. I knew the outcome by reading the paper after it happened.”
“If you can do that, why didn’t you get a ticket and win?” Zack asked.
“I don’t want to win. I don’t want the attention it would bring.”
“Let’s say we accept what you’re telling us,” Nate said. “What do you want from us?”
“I’ve tried to resolve this alone as I’ve done in the past. It keeps shifting on me. With a cop involved, perhaps a pair of them, it’s become a lot more complicated. If I attempt to warn the police a second time, these guys are going to know. That means they’ll give the attempt a pass again, and set up somewhere else. Someone else is going to get killed and I can’t keep calling the police. I’ve decided this time, I have to stop them, and I can’t do that alone. Last time around they killed me, and I just got away by some instinctual reflex. I can’t count on that each time.”
“What is your plan?” Zack asked.
“I’d like you and Cheryl to go and intercept Karin and her friend. Keep them out of San Francisco. Preferably get them back here in Reno. I can’t spend time arguing with Karin and get this done. She’s going to insist that I keep counting on the police. We’ve had that argument before.”
“What about the two men?” Cheryl asked.
“Knowing how many there are and how they are working it, if Nate is willing, we can get the drop on them. I need someone to watch my back. Once we have captured them, it will be a simple matter to disable them and then turn them over to the police.”
Jake looked over at Nate. He looked concerned, but nodded his head. Jake thought he would.
“What if this doesn’t work, like before?”
“Then I’ll be back-tracking again. This conversation may never happen, or I might be telling you that it didn’t work and we need to try something different.”
“That is too weird,” Cheryl said.
“We’ll need more information,” Zack said.
“I know. For now, consider the days you will need to be gone. Decide if you are willing to help. We’ll talk again tomorrow.”
There were more questions, mostly about his ability and how long he’d known about it. Jake knew they were still trying to come to grips with a concept that was too far out to be believed. Finally it was time to call it a night. Zack and Cheryl left first, leaving Nate and Jake standing by Nate’s car in the driveway.
“Do you really think we can capture these guys?” Nate asked. “It seems risky to try and grab a couple of cops. They probably have already planned an explanation for such a circumstance.”
“I have no intention of trying to capture them,” Jake explained. “It would be too risky and there is a good chance they would end up free at some point. This needs to be settled once and for all. I intend to kill them. I should say, we will be intending to kill them.”
“That’s not what you implied earlier.”
“I know. I’m not certain that Zack and Cheryl are ready for the idea. Like the old expression. It’ll be easier to ask forgiveness later than permission up front. If they are unhappy later, then I’ll deal with it. I expect this will put my relationship with Karin back in the fire, but it has to be done. People are going to die otherwise. Besides, as I explained. It’s personal. They killed Karin and me both. I can’t let that pass.”
Nate looked nervous. “I assume you expect me to kill someone also.”
Jake nodded. “We’ve talked about the idea before. Being willing to take out a bad guy to save others. That’s what this is all about. I’ll need you to take down the one who comes through the door. I’d handle the one with the Uzi.”
Jake hesitated. “This is real Nate. Think it through carefully. I can’t have you going along if you have doubts. There’ll be only a second or two when you have to act, otherwise it all goes to shit. It won’t be honorable either. You’ll more than likely have to shoot the bastard in the back.”
“It’s one thing to posture on the range,” Nate noted. “It’s another to plan such a thing in a calculating way. You’ve really done this before?”
“Many times, unfortunately. These assholes are more numerous than one would think. It’s what Karin has trouble with.”
“I’ll think about it,” Nate promised. “What are you going to do if we decide we can’t be part of this?”
“I’ll be going ahead on my own. I have an idea or two. Maybe they would work, maybe not.”
“Zack and Cheryl are leaving in the morning?” Nate asked the next day. Jake and Nate were on the way out into the desert where they could do a little target practice.
Jake nodded. “They are going a little earlier than necessary. I told Cheryl to ask Karin about when they made arrangements for the hotel. She’ll learn that it was an almost spontaneous decision, which might help her be more comfortable with what I’ve told her. Given how Karin and Ellen selected their hotel, how could I have known the place and room so far in advance if I wasn’t being up front with my abilities?”
“They’ll be in touch by phone?”
“Only if something goes wrong, or if for some reason they can’t convince Karin to stay out of it. I told them to explain what I’ve done before and why I’m approaching it this way. Karin might not believe we are going to try and capture them, which could throw a monkey wrench into things.”
“How come you had me make reservations down the way in Corte Madera instead of where they are staying?” Nate asked.
“I want to be divorced from the discussions. I know that Karin will argue with me. If she can’t talk with me, hopefully she will stand down rath
er than take some action that might put me at risk.”
“This is too damn complicated,” Nate complained.
“It’s the first time one of these things has involved someone close to me or people who know what I can do. In the past I’ve been able to operate like the fly on the wall, in and out unseen.”
Jake pulled the Silverado to a stop facing into the small canyon he liked to use for target practice. He and Nate climbed out of the vehicle and started unloading the ammunition and targets. Once everything was set up, Jake went and got the box with the guns and the separate case with the silencers.
He had explained to Nate that they would need to use silenced weapons. This added an element of risk, since such devices were illegal in California, but Jake had been through the events before and knew they would not encounter any cops during the encounter. Afterwards they would throw away everything that might get them in trouble. Jake would worry about re-supply in the future. The biggest risk was being caught with the items before they were ready to act.
“I have two weapons that are set up for suppressors” Jake explained. “But I don’t want to risk the documented suppressor. It could be awkward to explain its loss, and I don’t think we need to. I’ll use my Sig-Sauer with its commercial silencer. That is the most accurate and I’ll be firing at the shooter from the greatest distance. You’ll use my Glock with the home grown silencer. We’ll keep the frame and attach the factory parts afterwards. We’ll toss everything else.”