Baltimore 03 - Did You Miss Me?

and last a long time,’ Quartermaine said. ‘It would have to be a cocktail, with a second medication taking effect before the first wears off.’
    ‘That makes sense,’ Joseph said. ‘Let’s assume Zacharias was a surprise. Our shooter tases Ford, then is startled. He shoots Zacharias twice because he keeps coming.’ He looked to where the missed electrodes had landed. ‘That leaves the girl.’
    ‘Who’d already started to run,’ Brodie said. ‘That’s what was bothering me – where those electrodes landed. He aimed for her when she was several feet from where Ford already lay. She’d gotten a good head start.’
    ‘Because she knew it was coming,’ Ruby said.
    ‘Exactly,’ Brodie murmured. ‘He probably stabs her. She’s bleeding, but crawls to her car and grabs the door handle. He had to have left her alone after stabbing her.’
    ‘Because Ford and Zacharias are only down temporarily,’ Joseph said. ‘He’s got two hundred pounds of angry cop that he wasn’t expecting. So he adapts. This guy thinks fast on his feet. He’d planned to knock out Ford and the girl for transport.’
    ‘He can’t give the girl’s cocktail to the cop,’ Quartermaine said. ‘She’s too small. I listened to the BOLO details on my way over here – Asian female, five-feet-one-inch tall, one hundred five pounds. She weighs about half what the cop did. Her dose wouldn’t have kept the cop down. He had to give the cop Ford’s cocktail.’
    ‘And Ford got the girl’s dose,’ Joseph said slowly. ‘It slows him down, but not enough, so the attacker grabs his hair and smacks his head on the pavement.’
    ‘Thus the blood and blond hair,’ Brodie said.
    ‘So why did the cop die?’ Ruby asked. ‘Did the attacker intend for Ford to die? And why slit the cop’s throat if he was already dead?’
    ‘Good questions,’ Joseph said. ‘And how did he get Ford and Kimberly out of the alley? Where was his vehicle parked? Did he roll them out? Dolly, cart, wheelchair?’ He saluted the doctor. ‘Welcome to Baltimore, Dr Quartermaine. Call me as soon as you have anything. Dr Brodie has my contact info. I have to meet Agent Novak.’
    Tuesday, December 3, 1.20 P.M.
    ‘Watch your head, Daphne.’ Detective Hector Rivera hovered over her as a nurse transferred her from a wheelchair to the backseat of an FBI unmarked car. Black, of course. She’d protested the damn wheelchair, but it was ‘policy’ and she’d finally given up, too weary to argue any more.
    A decorated Baltimore PD vice detective, Hector was clean-shaven today, but dirtied up he made the most convincing drug addict she’d ever seen. She’d been relieved to see his familiar face on her security detail.
    I have a security detail . Before, it had been Paige and Clay providing security ‘just in case’ the Millhouses were serious. It hadn’t seemed real. But they were serious. It was real. They have my son .
    Obediently she slid into the backseat of Hector’s sedan. Leaned back. Closed her eyes. Tried not to be sick. Ford .
    ‘Daphne, wait!’
    Recognizing Grayson’s voice, Daphne leaned forward and out the door. Grayson was jogging across the hospital parking lot.
    Hector immediately blocked her view, pushing her back into the car. ‘Don’t do that.’
    ‘But it’s only Grayson,’ she said quietly.
    ‘“Only Grayson” could be the break a lurking gunman out there is waiting for.’
    She nodded dully. ‘I’m sorry. I didn’t think.’
    He crouched in the open doorway, his face creased in sympathy. ‘I don’t mean to bark at you, Daphne. It’s my job to keep you alive for when your son comes home.’
    He stepped aside and Grayson took his place, holding out his hand palm up. ‘I brought you this.’
    ‘My phone.’ She took it, feeling the return of a small level of control. ‘Thank you.’
    ‘JD found it in the pocket of your coat. These are from me.’ He handed her a thick folder. ‘A copy of your Millhouse file. VCET has the original. If you need to keep busy, you might want to look for connections. Maybe something only you’ll recognize.’
    ‘Thank you,’ she said quietly. ‘For everything.’
    ‘I should be thanking you. You risked your life, throwing that camera bag at Marina. If there’s anything I can do to help you, just name it.’
    ‘Where are you going from here?’ she asked.
    ‘To draw up the arrest warrants, then on to Interview. I want first crack at Bill.’
    Fury bubbled up from her gut. ‘Then