being slighter, weaker than the men he was assaulting. Or it could simply point to expediency. Goes to figure if you’re attempting to take out a cop, even a retired one, that you’d expect them to be tough to take down. Makes sense to go in prepared to enact the abduction as quickly as possible to avoid being seen.”
Their steps echoed hollowly as they made their way down the long hallway to the front desk. “Three weeks between Parker and Tull. Not quite two between Tull and Christiansen.” When Risa didn’t respond, he slid her a glance, found her frowning slightly. “I expect you to tell me that means he’s escalating.”
“Not necessarily,” she said with an air of distraction.
If that hadn’t surprised him enough, once outside she moved around the hood of the car without stopping to comment again on the message scratched on the car. Something was definitely going on in the woman’s mind. Once they’d both gotten in the vehicle, he said, “Not necessarily?”
She looked up from fastening her seat belt. “Ordinarily I might assume the pattern meant escalation. It’s the victims he’s chosen that makes me wonder. Like we mentioned, cops aren’t exactly easy prey. They’re usually more observant than civilians, more aware of their surroundings. They’ve had plenty of selfdefense training. And there’s a chance they’ll be armed, even off duty. Not to mention that once the murders start, word is going to spread among the force, making everyone doubly cautious.”
“Meaning we can expect him to vary his approach.”
“Yes. It also means if there’s a next one, the timeframe might have more to do with how much he was able to stalk them prior to starting the crimes.” She stared meaningfully at the keys, which he’d put in the ignition but had failed to turn. “If you want me to drive, the offer still stands.”
“Not a chance.” He started the car, began backing out of the parking space in the lot. “You didn’t help with cleanup this morning. You’ve forfeited any chance of taking the wheel.”
“Life is a series of trade-offs.”
The expression on her face said she wasn’t unhappy about the one she’d made. “Okay, he stalks them. Learns their routines.”
“He does, yes. Maybe simultaneously. He also bides his time. That opportunity with Christiansen couldn’t have been planned. All he could do was watch him. He couldn’t know the man would go out on that precise night. He followed him, saw his chance, and made a move.”
He narrowed his eyes in thought. “If the offender was following Christiansen, he had to have left a car nearby. Somewhere easy to slip in and out of.” He made a mental note to look at the area surrounding the convenience store more closely to search for likely spots. If the offender left a car, he had to come back for one. Either way, if there were security cameras anywhere in the vicinity, maybe they’d caught the guy on tape. Slim as the possibility was, he’d make sure it was followed up on.
He came to a halt at a stoplight. Saw a punk elbow his buddy on the sidewalk and point. Then cup himself and thrust his hips forward shouting, “Yo, cop, suck this!”
It occurred to him that some of his coworkers would have even more pithy comments to make. “I’m requisitioning a new vehicle as soon as I get back to the station house,” he muttered. The light turned green then, and he pulled away before giving in to the urge to draw his weapon.
“Good luck with that. The dented piece of tin I had to drive when I was on the force remains the stuff of legend.”
She was right. Requisitions were notoriously stingy, and requests for vehicles were the slowest to process, with the highest incidence of rejection. But he was blessed with imagination and stubbornness. He’d finagle something.
“You realize he’s already picked his next victim?”
Her voice was so quiet he had to strain to hear it. “A moment ago you said ‘if.’ Now you’re assuming there will be a next victim.”
She stared straight ahead into the thick congestion of the normal midday Philly traffic. “These guys were specifically targeted. Someone’s going after cops, yeah, but not just any detectives. The UNSUB selects these particular guys, he stalks them, he makes his move. And I’m guessing the whole thing is tied up in a messy little pile of revenge for him. So when that need for revenge is satisfied, ostensibly he’d be done.”