The Vanished Man

uneasy; she was the partner most likely to leap into the middle of a dispute, even if it involved combatants twice her size.
    “The sounds, you know. Hard to tell. You know what I’m sayin’? Where they’re coming from.”
    Franciscovich was focusing on what her partner had said. Damn spooky place, she added silently.
    Seeming miles of dim corridors later, finding nothing out of the ordinary, the security guard paused.
    Franciscovich nodded to a doorway in front of them. “What’s through here?”
    “Be no reason for students t’be there. It’s only—”
    Franciscovich pushed the door open.
    Inside was a small lobby that led to a door labeled Recital Hall A. And near that door was the body of a young woman, trussed up, rope around her neck, hands in cuffs. Eyes open in death. A brown-haired, bearded man in his early fifties crouched over her. He looked up, surprised at their entry.
    “No!” Ausonio cried.
    “Oh, Christ,” the guard gasped.
    The officers drew their weapons and Franciscovich sighted down on the man with what she thought was a surprisingly steady hand. “You, don’t move! Stand up slow, move away from her and put your hands in the air.” Her voice was much less firm than the fingers gripping the Glock pistol.
    The man did as he was told.
    “Lie facedown on floor. Keep your hands in sight!”
    Ausonio started forward to the girl.
    It was then Franciscovich noticed that the man’s right hand, over his head, was closed in a fist.
    “Open your—”
    Pop . . .
    She went blind as a flash of searing light filled the room. It seemed to come directly from the suspect’s hand and hovered for a moment before going out. Ausonio froze and Franciscovich went into a crouch, scrabbling backward and squinting, swinging the gun back and forth. Panicked, she knew the killer had kept his eyes shut when the flash went off and would beaiming his own weapon at them or charging forward with a knife.
    “Where, where, where?” she shouted.
    Then she saw—vaguely thanks to her frizzled vision and the dissipating smoke—the killer running into the recital hall. He slammed the door shut. There was a thud inside as he moved a chair or table against the door.
    Ausonio dropped to her knees in front of the girl. With a Swiss Army knife she cut the rope off her neck, rolled her over and, using a disposable mouthpiece, started CPR.
    “Any other exits?” Franciscovich shouted to the guard.
    “Only one—in the back, around the corner. To the right.”
    “Windows?”
    “No.”
    “Hey,” she called to Ausonio as she started sprinting. “Watch this door!”
    “Got it,” the blonde officer called and blew another breath into the victim’s pale lips.
    More thuds from inside as the killer beefed up his barricade; Franciscovich sprinted around the corner, toward the door the guard had told them about, calling for backup on her Motorola. As she looked ahead she saw someone standing at the end of the corridor. Franciscovich stopped fast, drew a target on the man’s chest and shone the brilliant beam from her halogen flashlight on him.
    “Lord,” croaked the elderly janitor, dropping the broom he held.
    Franciscovich thanked God she’d kept her finger outside the trigger guard of the Glock. “You see somebody come out of that door?”
    “What’s going on?”
    “You see anybody?” Franciscovich shouted.
    “No, ma’am.”
    “How long you been here?”
    “I don’t know. Ten minutes, I’d guess.”
    There was another thud of furniture from inside as the killer continued to blockade the door. Franciscovich sent the janitor into the main corridor with the security guard then eased up to the side door. Gun held high, eye level, she tested the knob gently. It was unlocked. She stepped to the side so she wouldn’t be in the line of fire if the perp shot through the wood. A trick she remembered from NYPD Blue, though an instructor might’ve mentioned it at the Academy too.
    Another thump from inside.
    “Nancy, you there?” Franciscovich whispered into her handy-talkie.
    Ausonio’s voice, shaky, said, “She’s dead, Diane. I tried. But she’s dead.”
    “He didn’t get out this way. He’s still inside. I can hear him.” Silence.
    “I tried, Diane. I tried.”
    “Forget it. Come on. You on this? You on it?”
    “Yeah, I’m cool. Really.” The officer’s voice hardened. “Let’s go get him.”
    “No,” Franciscovich said, “we’ll keep him contained till ESU gets here. That’s all