Vanish: A Rizzoli & Isles Novel

intercom.
    “Yes, Louise?”
    “I’m sorry to bother you, but I thought you and Agent Dean should know . . .”
    “What is it?”
    “Something’s happening across the street.”

ELEVEN
    They ran outside, into heat so thick that Gabriel felt as though he’d just plunged into a hot bath. Albany Street was in chaos. The officer manning the police line was shouting, “Stay back! Stay back!” while reporters pressed forward, a determined amoeba threatening to ooze through the barriers. Sweating Tactical Ops officers were scrambling to tighten the perimeter, and one of them glanced back, toward the crowd. Gabriel saw the look of confusion on his face.
    That officer doesn’t know what’s going on, either.
    He turned to a woman standing a few feet away. “What happened?”
    She shook her head. “I don’t know. The cops just went crazy and started toward the building.”
    “Was there gunfire? Did you hear shots?”
    “I didn’t hear anything. I was just walking to the clinic when I heard them all start yelling.”
    “It’s nuts out here,” said Abe. “No one knows anything.”
    Gabriel ran toward the command and control trailer, but a knot of reporters blocked his way. In frustration, he grabbed a TV cameraman’s arm and pulled him around. “What happened?”
    “Hey, man. Ease off.”
    “Just tell me what happened!”
    “They had a breach. Walked right through their goddamn perimeter.”
    “The shooter
escaped
?”
    “No. Someone got
in.
”
    Gabriel stared at him. “Who?”
    “No one knows who he is.”
     
    Half the ME’s staff was gathered in the conference room, watching the TV. The set was tuned to the local news; on the screen was a blond reporter named Zoe Fossey, standing right in front of the police barrier. In the background cops milled among parked vehicles and voices were yelling in confusion. Gabriel glanced out the window at Albany Street, and saw the same scene they were now watching on TV.
    “. . . extraordinary development, clearly something no one expected. The man walked right through this perimeter behind me, just strolled into that controlled area, completely nonchalant, as though he belonged there. That may have been what caught the police off guard. Plus, the man was heavily armed and wearing a black uniform very much like those you see behind me. It would have been easy to mistake him as one of these Tactical Operations officers . . .”
    Abe Bristol gave a
can-you-believe-this?
snort. “Guy walked right in off the street, and they let him through!”
    “. . . we’re told there is also an inner police perimeter. But it’s inside the lobby, which we can’t see from here. We haven’t heard yet if this man penetrated the second perimeter. But when you see how easily he walked right through the outer line, you can imagine he must have caught the police inside the building by surprise as well. I’m sure they were focused on containing the hostage taker. They probably didn’t expect a gunman to walk
in.
”
    “They should have known,” said Gabriel, staring in disbelief at the TV. “They should have expected this.”
    “. . . it’s been twenty minutes now, and the man has not re-emerged. There was initial speculation that he’s some self-styled Rambo, trying to single-handedly launch a rescue operation. Needless to say, the consequences could be disastrous. But so far, we’ve heard no gunfire, and we’ve seen no indication that his entry into the building has touched off any violence.”
    The anchorman cut in: “Zoe, we’re going to run that footage again, so that the viewers who’ve just joined us can see the startling development. It took place about twenty minutes ago. Our cameras caught it live as it happened . . .”
    Zoe Fossey’s image was replaced by a video clip. It was a long-shot view up Albany Street, almost the same view they could see out the conference room window. At first, Gabriel did not even know what he was supposed to focus on. Then an arrow appeared on screen, a helpful graphic added by the TV station, pointing to a dark figure moving along the lower edge. The man walked purposefully past police cars, past the command post trailer. None of the cops standing nearby tried to stop the intruder, though one did glance uncertainly in his direction.
    “Here we’ve magnified the image for a better look at this fellow,” the anchorman said. The view zoomed in and froze, the intruder’s back now filling the screen. “He seems to be